Paul's Odyssey II #10 - Athens (Part 2)
Part 2 of a 3-part study of the life and ministry of Paul. This summer segment will focus on Paul's Second Missionary Journey.
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Grace Church holds a Meet & Greet for those who are newer to Grace Church on the 4th Sunday of each month. Our next Meet & Greet will be held on Sunday, September 22nd, following the service in CJ's coffee shop. It is a great opportunity to meet the staff and leadership of Grace Church and learn a little more about the church. It also gives us an opportunity to learn a little about you! Contact Leslie Booher if you have any questions ([email protected]).
Barry County Cares could use donations of the following items which will be distributed to folks in need in Barry County. If you can help, drop items off in the church office.
Toilet Paper
Paper Towel
Laundry Soap
Dish Soap
Shampoo
Conditioner
Toilet Paper
Paper Towel
Laundry Soap
Dish Soap
Shampoo
Conditioner
Saturday, September 7th - Robert Schilz, Jackson Sensiba
Monday, September 9th - Jillyn Boldrey
Wednesday, September 11th - Victoria Jerzyk, Roman Schilz
Thursday, September 12th - Nikki Yargeau, Megan Noteboom, Julia Mater, Blake Burkett
Friday, September 13th - Hailey Dykhouse, Tim & Stacy Schilz
Monday, September 9th - Jillyn Boldrey
Wednesday, September 11th - Victoria Jerzyk, Roman Schilz
Thursday, September 12th - Nikki Yargeau, Megan Noteboom, Julia Mater, Blake Burkett
Friday, September 13th - Hailey Dykhouse, Tim & Stacy Schilz
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July through September our series is entitled: Paul's Odyssey II
Odyssey means "a long and adventurous journey or experience". It is the second of a three-part series about the life and ministry of Paul. The text for these three months will cover Acts 15 - 18, Paul's second missionary trip.
Odyssey means "a long and adventurous journey or experience". It is the second of a three-part series about the life and ministry of Paul. The text for these three months will cover Acts 15 - 18, Paul's second missionary trip.
We have been tracking the Apostle Paul and his team as they left Antioch in Syria and headed westward under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
They have traveled more than 1,000 miles teaching people about Jesus and the Christian faith with many great opportunities but also some incredible obstacles. They've been the object of brutal physical treatment along with a smear campaign. 2 Timothy 3:12
Last week we left Paul in Athens. Below are a couple of weblinks that provide a visual overview of this city which helps us understand what is described in Acts 17.
They have traveled more than 1,000 miles teaching people about Jesus and the Christian faith with many great opportunities but also some incredible obstacles. They've been the object of brutal physical treatment along with a smear campaign. 2 Timothy 3:12
Last week we left Paul in Athens. Below are a couple of weblinks that provide a visual overview of this city which helps us understand what is described in Acts 17.
2 Timothy 3:12
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12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
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What would it be like to represent a client, or even yourself, in a court of law?
What is your favorite legal author, movie, and TV show?
If you had to appear in a courtroom and give a defense of your Christian faith, would you feel comfortable?
What is your favorite legal author, movie, and TV show?
If you had to appear in a courtroom and give a defense of your Christian faith, would you feel comfortable?
Our text today is in Acts 17:22-34.
We pick up where we left off last week. Paul has been teaching throughout the city of Athens visiting the synagogue and marketplace. He encountered two groups of philosophers who challenged his teaching and was taken to the Areopagus to be examined by the "thought police."
Acts 17:22-23
We pick up where we left off last week. Paul has been teaching throughout the city of Athens visiting the synagogue and marketplace. He encountered two groups of philosophers who challenged his teaching and was taken to the Areopagus to be examined by the "thought police."
Acts 17:22-23
Acts 17:22-23
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22 Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious.
23 For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.
23 For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.
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A key here is the altar to an unknown god...
- 600 years B.C. the city of Athens was suffering a terrible plague, and many hundreds of people died.
- Having done all they could, the city Elders consulted with a priestess to try and find a remedy and why their gazillion gods, couldn’t bring deliverance. She pointed out that the city was under a curse because a treacherous king in their past had done evil.
- The priestess said there was another god [name unknown] who held the city accountable for their king’s crime, and she told them they would need to send a delegation to the island of Crete to bring back a prophet who would be able to tell them how to appease the unknown deity.
- This prophet came with some very clear directions, and when the city followed his instructions, the plague began to lift and within a week the sick had recovered.
- The writing on the altar bore the inscription "Agnosto Theo"...unknown god.
- 600 years B.C. the city of Athens was suffering a terrible plague, and many hundreds of people died.
- Having done all they could, the city Elders consulted with a priestess to try and find a remedy and why their gazillion gods, couldn’t bring deliverance. She pointed out that the city was under a curse because a treacherous king in their past had done evil.
- The priestess said there was another god [name unknown] who held the city accountable for their king’s crime, and she told them they would need to send a delegation to the island of Crete to bring back a prophet who would be able to tell them how to appease the unknown deity.
- This prophet came with some very clear directions, and when the city followed his instructions, the plague began to lift and within a week the sick had recovered.
- The writing on the altar bore the inscription "Agnosto Theo"...unknown god.
There are some key takeaways from our text and this story:
1) There are a great many people who worship religion and false idols because they don’t know who the true God is.
2) It’s important to start where a person is. v. 22b-23a
3) God reveals himself to humanity through nature, history, His people, and the Bible. We must learn what someone knows and believes.
4) If we are to help people come to know the God of the Bible, then we must stand up and speak up.
1) There are a great many people who worship religion and false idols because they don’t know who the true God is.
2) It’s important to start where a person is. v. 22b-23a
3) God reveals himself to humanity through nature, history, His people, and the Bible. We must learn what someone knows and believes.
4) If we are to help people come to know the God of the Bible, then we must stand up and speak up.
As Paul came before the tribunal, he had to briefly explain the message that he was teaching and bringing to Athens.
He dealt with the main issue at hand...they had no real knowledge of God. v. 23b
The world we live in today is not much different. People are worshippers of something as we talked about last Sunday.
Before all of the wise men of Athens on the Areopagus, the Apostle Paul makes the truth of who God is, the core of his teaching.
Paul provides a Christian worldview with 5 core beliefs. These form the root system for healthy Christians and Churches.
He dealt with the main issue at hand...they had no real knowledge of God. v. 23b
The world we live in today is not much different. People are worshippers of something as we talked about last Sunday.
Before all of the wise men of Athens on the Areopagus, the Apostle Paul makes the truth of who God is, the core of his teaching.
Paul provides a Christian worldview with 5 core beliefs. These form the root system for healthy Christians and Churches.
First, God is the Creator of the universe.
Acts 17:24
Romans 1:18-32
Acts 17:24
Romans 1:18-32
Acts 17:24
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24 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.
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Romans 1:18-32
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18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
19 For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
27 Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.
31 They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.
32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
19 For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
27 Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.
31 They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.
32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
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Second, God is the Sustainer of life.
Acts 17:25
Isaiah 42:5
Colossians 1:17
Hebrews 1:3
Acts 17:25
Isaiah 42:5
Colossians 1:17
Hebrews 1:3
Acts 17:25
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25 Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
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Isaiah 42:5
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5 This is what God the LORD says— He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:
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Colossians 1:17
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17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
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Hebrews 1:3
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3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
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Third, God is the Ruler of His creation.
Acts 17:26
Ephesians 1:9-11
Psalm 103:8
Acts 17:26
Ephesians 1:9-11
Psalm 103:8
Acts 17:26
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26 From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
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Ephesians 1:9-11
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9 And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.
11 In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.
11 In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
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Psalms 103:8
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8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
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Fourth, God is the Caregiver of humanity.
Acts 17:27-29
Matthew 5:45
Acts 17:27-29
Matthew 5:45
Acts 17:27-29
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27 God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.
28 ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’
29 Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
28 ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’
29 Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
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Matthew 5:45
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45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
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Fifth, God is the Adjudicator or Judge of all mankind.
Acts 17:30-31
Acts 17:30-31
Acts 17:30-31
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30 Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.
31 For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
31 For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
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Those in attendance that heard Paul's teaching and what was left was their choice of how they would respond.
Acts 17:32-34
In this passage we see three ways that people respond to our Christian message: 1. Sneering, 2. Procrastinating, 3. Accepting
Acts 17:32-34
In this passage we see three ways that people respond to our Christian message: 1. Sneering, 2. Procrastinating, 3. Accepting
Acts 17:32-34
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32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.”
33 At that, Paul left the Areopagus.
34 But some joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others who were with them.
33 At that, Paul left the Areopagus.
34 But some joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others who were with them.
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