Can You Believe We Get to Do This? TRANSFORMATION IS OUR BYPRODUCT
We’re closing out our series, “Can You Believe We Get to Do This?”, walking through our seven manifesto statements:
Jesus is our message
Honor is our language
Hope is our belief
Generosity is our standard
Serving is our privilege
Celebration is our soundtrack
Transformation is our byproduct
Today we’re ending with that final statement: transformation.
Beholding Jesus Changes Us
There’s a verse that captures this better than anything else:
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another…”
—2 Corinthians 3:18
Transformation isn’t something we manufacture.
It’s the natural byproduct of time spent beholding Jesus.
Ten Years of Watching God Transform Lives
This February marked 10 years in ministry for me—10 years of watching God shape kids, teenagers, and college students. Transformation looks different in every season:
In kids and youth, transformation happens over a decade. You watch a child grow, wrestle, mature, and slowly become who God designed them to be.
In college, transformation can happen in a week—sometimes in a single night. A mission trip, a life group, a moment of surrender, and everything changes.
We all love transformation stories. But often the real question is:
What about mine?
How do I get past the stuck places?
How do I walk into freedom?
How do I become more like Jesus?
Scripture Shows Us the Way
One of the greatest gifts God has given us is the Word. The Bible gives us stories, teaching, failures, faith, victories, and examples of people who walked with God long before us.
Today we look at one of the most famous transformation stories in Scripture: Saul’s encounter with Jesus in Acts 9.
It begins this way:
“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord…”
—Acts 9:1
And in just a few verses, everything changes. A light from heaven. A voice calling his name. A man who thought he was defending God suddenly confronted by God Himself.
Before we get to what happened next, pause with me:
Every story of transformation begins with an encounter with God.
Your broken places.
Your stuck places.
Your fears, addictions, unforgiveness, confusion.
Your longing for freedom.
It all starts with Him.
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