SENT: Share Your Story, Share God's Heart (Derik Fuller)

As we near the close of the book of Acts Paul is in Jerusalem defending himself once again, this time to King Agrippa. In giving his defense he boldly stands before Agrippa and shares his testimony. He shares his life before Christ, his credentials as a Pharisee and his own disbelief of Jesus and his participation in the church’s persecution. Then he shares his conversion, his encounter with the risen Jesus and how that encounter changed everything. Even as he stares down the possibility of imprisonment or even death, Paul is less concerned with his physical life and more concerned with the spiritual life of those around him. When Agrippa asks Paul “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” Paul shares the heart that motivates the entirety of his life: “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but that all who hear me this day might become such as I am – except for these chains.” What motivates Paul to share his testimony, no matter the opposition or the cost, is that he shares the heart of God “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)