45 minutes
- Opening
- 3
- Passage
- 4
- Questions
- 28
- Application
- 5
- Prayer
- 5
Total · 45 minutes
Sermon Study · Leader Edition
An Encounter With Jesus
August 2, 2026 · Conrad Wozniak
Leader preparation · 2–3 minutes
Your aim for this conversation
Read Acts 9:1–19. Notice Saul's way in verses 1–2, the road to Damascus in verses 3–9, Ananias in verses 10–17, and the change in verses 18–19.
The conversation is for each person to see where Jesus is changing them now and to choose one step. Conrad's one point: an encounter with Jesus should change everything.
Essential questions: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q5. Use Q4 when time permits.
Timing plan
The Big Idea
An encounter with Jesus should change everything.
Remember Sunday’s message
Sermon reminders
01
Saul's Way vs. the Way
Before Acts 9, Saul moved from approving of Stephen's death to ravaging the church, and he was set in his ways. Conrad said we all have our ways too, and when they meet God's way, ours must give.
02
The Encounter on the Road to Damascus
Jesus stopped Saul with a light from heaven and the words, I am Jesus. Conrad's one point for the morning: an encounter with Jesus should change everything.
03
Ananias's Encounter
Ananias objected because he knew what Saul had done, but he obeyed and greeted him as a brother. Meeting Jesus changed his relationship to Saul too.
04
The Chosen Instrument
Jesus did not turn Saul into a different instrument; he redirected him to his proper use. Each of us is a tool in God's hands that can tear down or build up.
05
Immediate vs. Gradual Change
The scales fell from Saul's eyes at once, but his growth in knowing Jesus took time. Conrad urged the church to keep persisting when change is slow.
Wednesday’s conversation
Reflect & discuss
Read Acts 9:1–19 together in the ESV.
1
Acts 9:1–2 · Essential · 5 minutes
Set in our ways
Saul was set in his ways when he went after the believers in verses 1–2, and Conrad said our own ways come from our backgrounds, our upbringing, our closest relationships, our conversations and the news we watch. Which of those has shaped your ways the most, and where do you see it in an ordinary week?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Conrad said we justify our ways, or we would not hold them. Which of your ways would be hardest to give up if God asked you to?
- Optional, more personal: Conrad was convinced Saul thought himself to be the good guy. When have you been sure you were in the right and later seen that you were not?
If it stalls
Start light, as Conrad did: he and his wife brush their teeth differently, and neither is wrong. Then ask where a way of ours could run into God's way.
2
Acts 9:3–9 · Essential · 6 minutes
Slowed down
For three days Saul could not see and neither ate nor drank, and Conrad said it left him alone with his thoughts and "open to be led." When has a season of being slowed down left you more open to God's leading, and what did you notice then that you might have missed?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Conrad asked the church to think about when their first encounter with Jesus was. What do you remember about yours?
- Conrad pointed out that the next time we see Saul, he is praying. What helps you pray when you cannot see the way ahead?
Background you may need
- Do not suggest that God sent anyone's illness or hard season in order to slow them down. Let each person describe their own season without explaining why it happened.
If it stalls
Invite everyone to close their eyes for 15 seconds, as Conrad did, then ask what it was like not to see.
3
Acts 9:10–17 · Essential · 6 minutes
Brother Saul
Ananias had heard how much evil Saul had done, yet he went to him and said, "brother Saul." When has following Jesus moved you toward someone you would rather have kept at a distance, and what helped you take that step?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Ananias told the Lord his objection before he obeyed. What objections do you bring to God when he points you toward someone?
- What would it look like for our group to welcome a newcomer the way Ananias welcomed Saul?
Background you may need
- If someone describes a person who has hurt them, do not press for reconciliation in the meeting. Ask for the kind of situation rather than a name.
If it stalls
Read verses 13–14 and then verse 17, and ask what changed in the way Ananias spoke about Saul.
4
Acts 9:15–16 · Optional · 5 minutes
A chosen instrument
Conrad said Saul was a chosen instrument who had been playing his instrument incorrectly, and that meeting Jesus did not change the instrument but redirected it "to the proper use." What ability or habit in you could be used to tear down or to build up, and what would putting it to its proper use look like this week?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Optional, more personal: Where have you used that same ability to hurt someone rather than help?
- Conrad said Jesus does not always change the facts of our story, but he changes our position to them. What part of your past do you now see differently because of Jesus?
If it stalls
Use Conrad's picture: drumsticks on a keyboard sound bad and may break it, but on a drum kit they make music. Ask each person what their drum kit might be.
5
Acts 9:18–19 · Essential · 6 minutes
At once or over time
Conrad said an encounter with Jesus changes us sometimes at once, like the scales falling from Saul's eyes, and sometimes gradually, like Saul being strengthened as he took food. Where is Jesus changing you gradually right now, and what is one small step you will take in that area before next Wednesday?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Conrad said gradual change can frustrate us and slow us down, but to keep persisting. What helps you keep going when change is slow?
- Conrad asked himself when the last big change in his life was because of an encounter with Jesus. How would you answer that?
If it stalls
Read Conrad's closing list aloud: relationships, speech, temper, parenting, finances, prayer life, hobbies, free time, thought processes, cravings, and how we see people who are different from us. Let each person choose one before anyone speaks.
Carry it into the week
Next Steps
From the sermon
- Pray Psalm 139:23–24 at least once this week, asking God to search you and show you any grievous way in you, and watch for what he brings to mind later in the week.
- Look at the Jesus of the Bible: fill your eyes with his portrait in God's word.
Application
Before next Wednesday, choose one area from Conrad's closing list, such as your speech, your free time or your finances, and make one small change in it. Tell one person in the group what you chose so they can pray for you.
My notes
Close in prayer
Ask God to search each of us, to show us any way in us that needs to change, and to lead us in the way everlasting.
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV Bible, © 2001 by Crossway. Text Edition: 2025. Used by permission. Permissions. Prepared for this small group from the August 2, 2026 sermon; questions and applications are editorial study material.
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