Our Turn in the Story

Most of us did not discover Jesus entirely on our own.

Somewhere along the way, someone prayed for us, invited us, taught us, encouraged us, or helped us understand what it means to follow Him. That raises an important question:

Who are we helping take a step toward Jesus?

As we come to the end of Acts, one thread stands out. The early church was living on mission. Again and again, ordinary followers of Jesus were being changed by Him, learning to love like Him, and helping others follow Him.

Those same movements still define the church today.

We Want to Be People Who Are Being Changed by Jesus

In Acts, conversion is never presented as merely adopting a new set of beliefs. It is the beginning of a life being refashioned by Jesus.

Saul is one of the clearest examples. In Acts 8, he is trying to destroy the church, dragging men and women off to prison. By Acts 9, he is still “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.”

Then, on the road to Damascus, he meets Jesus.

Within days, Saul is preaching that Jesus is the Son of God. The people listening are stunned. They know his history. They know who he used to be. Yet now they are watching the beginning of a transformed life.

Not everyone’s story will be as dramatic as Paul’s. Some changes happen quickly. Others take years. But encountering Jesus should change us.

We want to be more than people who believe in Jesus. We want to be people who are being changed by Jesus.

That transformation touches our character, relationships, priorities, habits, and the way we see the people around us.

We Want to Be People Who Love Like Jesus

By Acts 11, something remarkable is happening in Antioch. Gentiles—people who were not Jewish—are responding to Jesus in large numbers.

The church in Jerusalem sends Barnabas to see what is happening.

Barnabas could have arrived suspicious. This was new. It was messy. These people were different from him.

Instead, Acts tells us that when he arrived and saw the grace of God, “he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.”

That is a beautiful picture of loving first.

Love sees what God’s grace is doing in people and helps them become who God is calling them to be.

Then Barnabas does something very Barnabas-like. He goes looking for Saul.

Saul has a complicated past. Yet Barnabas finds him, brings him to Antioch, and serves alongside him for an entire year.

Loving like Jesus is more than being nice. It means welcoming people who are different from us, encouraging them, and believing that God’s grace can change them.

What would it look like to be a church where people experience the love of Jesus because they first experienced it through us?

Sometimes it starts with a simple question: “Where can I help?”

Recently, one of our members asked Pastor Ralph, “Could you use some help with funerals?” She stepped in to help with details and soon found herself walking alongside a woman who had lost her mother and was overwhelmed.

That may not feel dramatic, but it is deeply significant.

Our world needs people who love like Jesus.

We Want to Be People Who Help Others Follow Jesus

Acts 18 introduces us to Apollos. He is knowledgeable, passionate, and already teaching accurately about Jesus. But he still has more to learn.

Priscilla and Aquila hear him speak, invite him into their home, and explain the way of God more fully.

They do not embarrass him. They do not compete with him. They simply help him grow.

And Apollos becomes even more effective in helping others understand and believe the gospel.

That is multiplication in action:

Paul. Priscilla. Aquila. Apollos. Others.

Multiplication is always relational.

We see the same thing in small ways all the time. Recently, during one of our three-minute challenges, three women met one another for the first time. It was not flashy. But that is how community begins.

We learn to follow Jesus in community.

If you follow Jesus, then you have something valuable to give someone else—your wisdom, your prayers, your story, your encouragement, your experience, your ability to listen, your willingness to mentor.

We want to be a church that gives away what God has given to us.

Our Turn in the Story

When I think about Calvary, my greatest hope is not simply that more people walk through our doors.

I want to see people who are far from Jesus begin moving toward Him.

I want to see mature followers of Jesus becoming more like Him.

I want children and students surrounded by adults who know their names and care about their faith.

I want neighbors experiencing the love of Jesus because someone from Calvary noticed them.

I want to see disciples become people who make disciples.

That is the kind of church the book of Acts points us toward.

The story did not end when Luke put down his pen. The mission continues in every generation through people who are willing to be changed by Jesus, love like Jesus, and help others follow Jesus.

Now it is our turn in the story.