VERSE 1 (spoken)
I want to tell you about Paul.
Paul was an Apostle.
Now an Apostle (at least when Jesus was on earth in human form) was one chosen by Christ during his earthly ministry, to be with him & to go out and preach.
Paul was radically converted. In becoming a Christian he first had to lose his sight. God blinded him & told him to go to Damascus.
In Damascus lived a disciple of God called Ananias. And the Lord called him in a vision to find Paul & lay healing hands on him. Paul regained his sight, was filled with the Holy Spirit & was baptised.
- - -
Paul acted on what he heard from the Lord. It’s perhaps inspiring to note how Paul & Barnabas were sent into mission.
They were at the church of Antioch when after worshipping the Lord, praying & fasting the Holy Spirit spoke to them:
“Set apart for me Barnabas & Saul for the work to which I have called them”.
Then after further fasting & prayer, they were sent off.
CHORUS
An apostle!
An example!
An apostle
An example, yeah.
VERSE 2 (spoken)
You know Paul argued with fellow Christians. Or maybe they argued with him.
Have you, (if you're a Christian), fallen out with a brother or sister in Christ, over failing to agree on an issue? So did Paul. He could not agree with Barnabas over whether Mark should journey with them, so much so that they parted company.
However elsewhere Paul commends both Barnabas and Mark — so I guess the lesson there is not to harbour resentment.
And as it says in Ephesians 4:2, bear with one another in love. We are after all a mixture of personalities.
- - -
Not everything went smoothly for Paul.
In fact he was often thrown in jail, beaten up & persecuted by angry crowds on behalf of the name of Jesus.
But incredibly he counted suffering on behalf of Christ as gain.
I hope it inspires you to live the calling God has for your life. Paul inspires me.
SOLO
CHORUS
An apostle!
An example!
An apostle
An example, yeah.