Rejection can be deeply painful, triggering a range of negative emotions like sadness, hurt, and anger.  If you have ever been denied a job, snubbed by a friend, told your ideas are no good, or turned down by a date, you know what I’m talking about.  So how do you deal with rejection?  When it seems like nobody in the world wants you, how do you cope with it?  How have you learned to deal with rejection gracefully?  Saul is an example of someone who nobody wanted and still made a great contribution to the world! 

Not wanted by the Jews 23-25

Damascus was the first place Saul was accepted by Christians. 

Saul stayed for three years.  Galatians 1:16-18.

Eventually, The Jews plotted against him

Saul confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus

Because they were frustrated they plotted against him

Saul escaped with his life

Someone got wind of the plan to assassinate him.   

The church rallied around him and decided to rescue him.

The brothers are supposed to be a place of refuge.   

They let Saul down in a great big woven basket at night. 

Not Wanted by the Church 26-27

He went to Jerusalem and the church was afraid of him

The Greek says that he “repeatedly tried to join the disciples,”

They had good reasons to be afraid. 

When the church doesn’t want you, what should you do? 

Enter a beautiful man named Barnabas!  verse 27. 

Barnabas’ name means “son of encouragement!”  It was his nickname.

it is our mission to reach the outcasts of the world for Christ. 

Not Wanted by the Hellenists 29-30

Saul went back to the Synagogue of the freedman to preach. 

Being raised in Tarsus, he was considered a Hellenist himself. 

Hebraic Jews were conservatives, Hellenistic Jews were liberals. 

Our message is equally repugnant to all sides of the political & religious isle. 

According to Galatians 1:18, Saul only lasted 15 days in Jerusalem. 

Was World Better off Without Him? 31

Peace followed his absence – was it because he had gone?

Perhaps the church was better off because Saul had come! 

Their enemies were baffled because the persecutor become a preacher

The church was edified because of Saul’s conversion. 

They were comforted because their persecutor was now a friend! 

without Saul,  13 New Testament books would not have been written.

We would be without the Apostle to the Gentiles! 

14 churches would not have been planted.

If you silently slipped away, who knows what contributions would be missed!  If you have ever thought that the world would be better off without you, may I put that idea to rest.  It’s just not true.  In the end what matters is that no matter how mistreated you are, no matter who rejects you, no matter how many times you are spurned, the thing that matters is if you hang in there and keep on serving Jesus.