Series Acts

No Lost Cause

Acts 9:19-43 · Kaká Monteiro · September 20, 2026

The persecutor who becomes a preacher, the encourager who opens the door, the paralyzed man and the disciple who get up

The central idea

“For God there is no lost case: not the persecutor, not the eight years, not death.”

Saul begins to preach the name that offended him most, and the transformation that began on the road now needs time, community and someone who believes in him. Then Peter sees Jesus raise a man bedridden for eight years and a woman who had already died. The text pulls us out of hopelessness: what looks final to us is not final to the Lord.

The message in 3 movements

01
Spiritual strength is a process, not an event.
The verb "grew more powerful" is in the imperfect: Saul didn't wake up strong overnight. Like someone training for a marathon, we grow by reading the Bible, praying and living in community: being with Jesus, becoming like him and doing what he did.
02
The church needs Barnabases, and grace is not naivety.
The disciples' fear wasn't sin, it was memory. Barnabas doesn't ask for blind faith: he tells what he saw and takes the risk of trusting. If we must err, let it be on the side of grace, not legalism: the Lord gives grace to the humble.
03
There is no lost case for the Lord.
Eight years in bed drain any family's hope; death seems like the final word. Peter doesn't say "I heal you", he says "Jesus Christ heals you", and he prays on his knees before speaking. A transformed life becomes a testimony no one can refute.

Reading the text · Acts 9:19-43

Acts 9:19-25 · The persecutor becomes the persecuted

Right after regaining his strength, Saul preaches in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. Everyone is astonished: wasn't he the one destroying those who called on this name? Saul "grew more and more powerful", until they plot to kill him, and the disciples lower him through the wall at night, in a basket.

Acts 9:26-31 · Barnabas opens the door

In Jerusalem, the disciples are afraid of him. Barnabas takes him to the apostles and tells what he saw: the encounter on the road and his courage in Damascus. Threatened again, Saul is sent to Tarsus, and the church enjoys a time of peace, strengthening, fear of the Lord and growth.

Acts 9:32-43 · Aeneas and Tabitha get up

In Lydda, Peter says to Aeneas, bedridden for eight years: "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up." In Joppa, Tabitha dies, a disciple known for her good works. Peter sends everyone out, kneels, prays and says: "Tabitha, get up." She opens her eyes, and many believe in the Lord.

Questions for the group

To open: tell about someone who believed in you before you believed in yourself: a teacher, a friend, a leader. What did that person do?

1
Saul "grew more and more powerful": a process, not an event. In which area of your spiritual life do you expect marathon results without accepting the daily training? What would be a realistic first step?
2
Saul's deliverance was a basket going down a wall at night, nothing spectacular. Have you ever lived a deliverance that didn't taste like victory, but was God taking care of you? Tell the group.
3
The disciples were afraid of Saul, and Barnabas told what he had seen and trusted him. When someone with a heavy past arrives at church, do you lean more toward fear or toward grace? How do we balance discernment and welcome?
4
Aeneas had been bedridden for eight years. Is there a situation in your life that has lasted so long you stopped praying about it? What would it mean to hand it back to the Lord this week?

Key passages

2 Corinthians 3:18: "We are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory." Saul's change, and ours, is a journey, not magic: it happens step by step, by the Spirit.
James 4:6: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." The basis for a community that would rather err on the side of grace, like Barnabas, without giving up discernment.
Mark 5:41: "Talitha koum, little girl, I say to you, get up!" With Tabitha, Peter repeats what he saw Jesus do: the power is not his, and death doesn't have the last word.

To close

A step for this week. Be someone's Barnabas: send a message of encouragement to a person going through a hard time or starting over. And if you already believe but haven't been baptized, talk to your leader about the November 15 baptism.

Prayer. Pray for one another about the "eight-year" situations: addictions, tired marriages, pain and postponed dreams. Ask for faith to believe that one word from the Lord is enough, and strength to keep going one day at a time.