Intersections: Slowing Down for Meaningful Connection & Deeper CommunitySample

Paul Meets Ananias (Wise Counsel)

CONSIDER

Roads take us to and from places. They’ve been a form of navigation since the beginning of time. The earliest followers of Jesus traveled up and down roads, encouraging the church and growing in deep community with one another. We're meant to do the same. At the end of the roads we travel, we find people – at the gym, school, and work.

SCRIPTURE

At our first stop, Paul’s life intersected with Jesus on the road to Damascus. His next big stop happens in Acts 9:10-22 when he meets a man named Ananias.

A few things we learn about Ananias:

1. He knew the Lord. As we saw in the introduction of this study, connecting meaningfully with others starts with knowing Jesus.

2. He was a minister. The Greek word for minister, diakonos, is the same word used for servant throughout the New Testament of the Bible. Maybe you’re familiar with the term servant, but the word minister seems a little foreign to you. In the Old Testament, the priests who served in the temple were also seen as ministers.

1 Peter 2:9-10 tells us that we are God’s “royal priesthood,” making us today’s ministers. To minister means to serve one another, build up, and encourage. This is what Ananias was sent to do. This is what God wants us to do each day as well.

3. He felt afraid. Fear was a normal human response. Paul had been murdering Christians! Sometimes, we can be afraid or resistant to befriending or encouraging the people God’s placed around us. It was Ananias’ relationship with Jesus that moved Him past his fear.

4. Paul needed Ananias. We need people in our lives as well. Ananias helped Paul regain his sight. Sometimes, we can’t see what we need to see. God places people around us to help “open our eyes” and make sense of things we don’t fully understand.

CONNECT with GOD

Is there someone in your life you might be overlooking that God wants you to learn from or be encouraged by? Take a moment to ask Him about that now.

DIG DEEPER: In order to grow in community with others, Paul had to take off his old self and put on his new self. Read Colossians 3:12-17 (written by Paul). What does it look like for you to put off your old self and put on the new self?