Questions:
1. Are you more talkative or quiet? What is your most comfortable form of communication? Face-to-face private conversations, back and forth conversation in a small group of people, “having the microphone,” talking on the telephone, e-mail, texting, facebook or something else?
2. Read Colossians 1:24-29. When confronted by the risen Christ, Paul absolutely and completely embraced the Lordship of Jesus. “His thinking about Christ is vast, majestic, overpowering, dynamic.”[1] “Paul’s sense of mission and center of thought were transformed utterly by his encounter with the Christ of the Christian proclamation. The persecutor-preacher of Jewish persuasion became the persecuted preacher of Christ.”[2]
What do you think of when you hear the word “preacher?” What dynamics in our culture have created an image of someone who is a “preacher?” Do you think being persecuted and preaching go together? Why or why not? Is there any Scripture you can point to that would validate your answer?
3. Read Acts 9:1-16. From the beginning of his conversion and ministry Paul understood that unique suffering would be a part of his life.[3] How might this knowledge have strengthened Paul?
4. When Paul was converted, instead of a self-righteous murder, he became a lover of people who willingly suffered, most likely to the point of martyrdom, to bring many to a saving knowledge and eternal redemption in Christ.[4] Paul, the former angry enforcer of legalism became a dynamic apostle of grace reaching out to people of all backgrounds with no prejudice, becoming “all things to all men” in order to have the privilege of sharing God’s plan of salvation to many.”[5]
Paul was not only willing to suffer but rejoiced in his sufferings for the Colossian church (Colossians 1:24)[6]. Why do you think he could rejoice in suffering?
5. Paul had a special mission of inclusion for the Gentile believers. Paul planted churches in Gentile, pagan territory.[7] How might this have made Paul a target for persecution?
6. Paul mightily exercised the powerful communication tool of the spoken word. We find two diverse viewpoints on the power of Paul’s verbal abilities. One fact is certain - Paul talked ‘all the time’. While for some people this attribute might be considered a weakness, perhaps even an annoyance - for Paul, empowered by the Holy Spirit, it was a magnificent strength. Paul did not consider himself eloquent, yet he seemed to take every opportunity to speak to, implore, reason with and persuade individuals, as well as crowds, concerning His Lord Jesus Christ and His power to give everyone who confessed their sins and expressed belief in His deity, eternal salvation.[8]
According to Colossians 1:28 what was Paul’s motivation?
7. Read I Corinthians 2:4-5. Paul’s preaching provoked his listeners to action. “The normal response to the preaching is that listeners are called to decision; they either believe or refuse to believe.”[9] Paul’s self-perceived lack of eloquence was not a weakness and actually a positive factor in his spiritual life for he rightly understood that the gospel’s power did not come from a polished delivery, but from the Spirit’s supernatural power.[10]
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being terrible and 10 being fantastic, how do you think Paul would rate himself as a speaker? Do you like to speak publicly?
8. Read Exodus 4:10-12. Jill Briscoe tells us, “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that all God’s heroes were very ordinary people. The thing that made the difference was that they had a relationship with an extraordinary God living within them, and this is a privilege accorded to every one of us who recognizes our need to know God in a personal way.”[11]
In the case of Moses and Paul, why do you think God chose to use spokesmen that didn’t feel very positive about their speaking abilities to communicate God’s message?
9. Paul said, “I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church…” “Clearly Paul expected the willingness to work hard to be a normal characteristic of the Christian leader. Human hearts are the soil where the Christian leader sows the seed of the Word of God and where the fruits of his labors are produced. While never easy work, it is for the sake of the harvest that the Lord’s husbandman gladly engages in the demanding toil.”[12]
When we consider what Paul’s “share” was for the church, how might that understanding cast a light on what our “share” might be? After considering Sunday’s message and this study, how is your level of passion for the things of God, and in what area do you feel God stretching you?
[1] Shillington, George, Paul’s Success n the Conversion of Gentiles: Dynamic Center in Cultural Diversity [Direction 20 no 2, Fall 1991], 129. http://firstsearch.oclc.org/WebZ/DARead?key=0384-8515%2528199123%252920%253A2%253C125%253APSITCO%253E%26fsapp4-32843-g1mzcks3-fjchm4%26b881ef3d6cc2f594daa2cca2e94706f028641bf7faffad09586d57f6bf7cfeb5&sessionid=0&db=ATLA_FT&format=PDF
[2] Shillington, George, Paul’s Success n the Conversion of Gentiles: Dynamic Center in Cultural Diversity [Direction 20 no 2, Fall 1991], 126. http://firstsearch.oclc.org/WebZ/DARead?key=0384-8515%2528199123%252920%253A2%253C125%253APSITCO%253E%26fsapp4-32843-g1mzcks3-fjchm4%26b881ef3d6cc2f594daa2cca2e94706f028641bf7faffad09586d57f6bf7cfeb5&sessionid=0&db=ATLA_FT&format=PDF
[3] Melick, Richard R. Jr. The New American Commentary – Philippians, Colossians, Philemon [Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press 1991], 237.
[4] II Corinthians 11:29 (New American Standard)
[5] I Corinthians 9:22 (New American Standard)
[6] Colossians 1:24 (New American Standard)
[7] Melick, Richard R. Jr. The New American Commentary – Philippians, Colossians, Philemon [Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press 1991], 237.
[8] Romans 1:16 (New American Standard)
[9] Thompson, James W. Paul’s Preaching Ministry: Evangelistic and Pastoral Preaching in Acts [Restoration Quarterly], 22.
[10] I Corinthians 2:4-5 (New American Standard)
[11] Briscoe, Jill Here Am I Lord…Send Somebody Else! [Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2004]. 4.
[12] Hiebert, Edmond D. Pauline Images of a Christian Leader. [Bibliotheca sacra 133 no 531, 1976], 220.
