Who are the three people who put you on the fence post? Tell one of them.

There is an old Southern expression: if you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he didn't get there by himself. The turtle looks quite proud of where he is. He had help. Whatever you have accomplished, whatever is on your resume, however many letters you have after your name — you had help along the way. A parent or a grandparent. A teacher, a coach, a Sunday school teacher, an older mentor in business. Somebody, or several somebodies, got you where you are. None of us is self-made. Today's verse asks it as three questions in a row, and the third one closes every exit: what do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not? Paul is not attacking achievement. He is dismantling the story we tell about it — the one where the effort was ou

Who is beyond saving, in your private opinion? Say the name.

Saul of Tarsus is a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, a Greek scholar and tough as nails, and he has made it his mission to hunt down followers of the Way — dragging them off to be arrested and in some cases put to death — because he is certain he is doing God's will. If you were a Christian in those days and heard Saul was on his way, you did not want to hear him knocking. This was not better call Saul. This was better hope they don't be calling Saul. He is on the road to Damascus to arrest more Christians when a light brighter than the sun knocks him off his feet, and a voice says: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He asks who it is. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Notice the direction of travel. Saul was not looking for Jesus. Jesus came looking for Saul. Some of us can poi

Is God nudging you toward someone you would rather not talk to?

God sends a man named Ananias, with an address: the street called Straight, the house of Judas, ask for a man of Tarsus. Holy GPS, Batman. Don't you wish he would do that for you? Kent doesn't trust the GPS in his car. He would trust that one. But put yourself in Ananias's sandals. Lord, that man is public enemy number one. He has hurt too many of my people. You want me to go there? You can imagine the prayer. Lord, here am I — send Barnabas. Here am I, Lord. I understand Silas has some time on his calendar. Notice that Ananias is not rebuked for the objection. He states it plainly, with evidence — I have heard from many about this man — and God answers him rather than shaming him. There is room in this conversation for you to say that you are afraid of the assignment. What there is no

Where have you decided in advance that Christ does not get a vote?

The Lord's answer to Ananias is that Saul is a chosen instrument to carry his name before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel — and then this: I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. That is an odd sales pitch, isn't it. Come to Jesus and you will suffer a great deal. Any takers? But there is a price to following Christ. It won't cost you anything — it is all done by his grace, and you cannot add a cent to it. It will just cost you everything, because at that point you hand him the keys. Both halves of that are true at once, and most of our confusion comes from holding only one. Hold the first alone and you get a faith that asks nothing and changes nothing. Hold the second alone and you get a religion of earning, which is the thing Saul was already an

What part of his body are you, and when did you last use it?

We are made for one another, not for isolation. It is why solitary confinement is such a severe punishment. Kent told the church something that makes him uncomfortable to tell, because he puts a higher premium on preaching clearly than on his own comfort. Twenty-six years ago he woke on a Wednesday healthy as a horse. That night, during a one-woman Easter play at the church they had planted downtown, he began to notice numbness and tingling in his feet, and his legs starting to feel heavy. He said nothing — his ten-year-old daughter was sitting right beside him. He helped strike the set, then drove to the emergency room instead of home. By the next day he was paralyzed from the waist down; twenty-four hours later, from the chest down. A virus had left an enormous lesion on his spinal cord

Read Acts 9:10-19. Kent pointed out that Saul was not looking for Jesus — he was on the road to arrest more Christians when Jesus came looking for him. What does the timing of that interruption tell you about how God goes after people?

God Calls Us to Himself: The Story of Saul and Ananias

Jesus had been raised years before this, and yet he asks Saul, "Why are you persecuting me?" Kent said that is how completely Jesus identifies with his people. What changes for you if what happens to a church happens to him?

God Calls Us to Himself: The Story of Saul and Ananias

God tells Ananias up front, "I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." Kent called that an odd sales pitch, and then said following Christ will not cost you anything — it will just cost you everything. How do you hold those two together?

God Calls Us to Himself: The Story of Saul and Ananias

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Who is God Calling You To? · Group Guide

Acts 9:10-19

Kent Keller Sunday, October 12, 2025

Icebreaker

Name one person outside your family who helped you get where you are. What did they actually do for you — and did you ever tell them?

Discussion Questions

1
Read Acts 9:10-19. Kent pointed out that Saul was not looking for Jesus — he was on the road to arrest more Christians when Jesus came looking for him. What does the timing of that interruption tell you about how God goes after people?
2
Jesus had been raised years before this, and yet he asks Saul, "Why are you persecuting me?" Kent said that is how completely Jesus identifies with his people. What changes for you if what happens to a church happens to him?
3
God tells Ananias up front, "I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." Kent called that an odd sales pitch, and then said following Christ will not cost you anything — it will just cost you everything. How do you hold those two together?
4
This is the only time this Ananias appears anywhere in the Bible. Kent asked what would have happened if he had said no — God's plan would not have failed, but we would never have heard the man's name. What does that say about the size of the things God asks of ordinary people?
5
Kent imagined Ananias praying, "Here am I, Lord — send Barnabas." Who is the person you would rather God sent somebody else to? What is it about them that makes you want out?
6
Kent talked about the right side of his body doing all the work the left side will not, for twenty-six years, and said the body of Christ has no spare parts — "we're crippled without you." What is the one thing you know you could carry for this church, and what is the first step you will take toward it this week?

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Who is God Calling You To? · Group Guide

Acts 9:10-19

Discussion Questions

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