WEBVTT 00:00:05.724 --> 00:00:07.200 Good morning, good morning, good morning. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.149 Welcome to church. 00:00:08.149 --> 00:00:09.220 So glad that you're here. 00:00:09.220 --> 00:00:12.946 Kids, why don't y'all go ahead and stand to your feet and head down the hall to kids men? 00:00:12.946 --> 00:00:13.766 Let's give it up. 00:00:13.766 --> 00:00:15.640 For our kids and their teachers this morning. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:21.240 It's a good place to be back there on the kids hall. 00:00:21.240 --> 00:00:25.700 So, if you have a Bible, go ahead and flip to Acts, chapter 17. 00:00:25.700 --> 00:00:27.820 And we're going to be there in just a moment. 00:00:28.081 --> 00:00:34.060 The official title of this message this morning is how to talk about your faith. 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:38.019 How to talk about your faith If you're a subtitle person. 00:00:38.019 --> 00:00:43.152 The subtitle this morning is From Athens in Rome to me and you. 00:00:43.152 --> 00:00:46.434 From Athens in Rome to me and you. 00:00:46.434 --> 00:00:58.439 And so, as we begin, I think we need to pray, and we need to pray that God would speak to us, but we're also going to pray for a moment this morning for our world, for our downtown campus and for one another. 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:04.423 So if you'll just bow your head where you are, I'm going to guide us through a little bit of a time of prayer this morning. 00:01:04.423 --> 00:01:13.806 Let's first take a moment and thank God for who he is, for his goodness, his graciousness, his righteousness, his praise, and for who he is. 00:01:13.806 --> 00:01:35.120 Spend a moment and pray for our world, for God to bring peace and justice and hope, to preserve innocent life across the world, but particularly in the Middle East. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:41.642 We continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the lives of innocent people on both sides of the conflict. 00:01:41.642 --> 00:01:48.343 That God would bring justice and righteousness and would preserve good and triumph over evil. 00:01:48.343 --> 00:02:12.081 Let's pray for our downtown campus, as they're entering into their teaching time this morning, that God would speak to their hearts through his word this morning. 00:02:12.081 --> 00:02:36.804 And then I want you to pray for you that God would open your heart, your ears to hear, your eyes to see as we go to his word. 00:02:36.804 --> 00:03:01.545 Father, your name is holy and God, we're gathered here today because of who you are and because of what you've accomplished for us on the cross and the person of Christ. 00:03:01.545 --> 00:03:07.182 So, god, we're grateful, we're humbled, we're in all of who you are. 00:03:07.182 --> 00:03:14.367 Father, light, a spark, a fire in our hearts for the good news about Jesus. 00:03:14.367 --> 00:03:21.560 Father, help us to see the beauty of Christ, the beauty of the cross, the power of the resurrection. 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:25.805 And, father, we ask that you would transform us from the inside out. 00:03:25.805 --> 00:03:29.409 In Jesus' name, everybody says together amen. 00:03:29.409 --> 00:03:32.246 Thanks for praying this morning we're gonna be in Acts 17. 00:03:32.742 --> 00:03:51.319 The context of our passage this morning Paul is on the second of three missionary journeys that he takes throughout his corner of the world, and he leaves from his home church in Antioch and he begins to travel to the north and where we're at in the scriptures. 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:53.879 He has been in a city called Thessalonica. 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:56.700 He stirred it up a little bit there and they ran him out of town. 00:03:56.700 --> 00:04:06.980 He stirred the pot again in Berea and the brothers and sisters in the church there escorted him out under the cover of night to get him out safely. 00:04:06.980 --> 00:04:12.739 And so he's come to this point in time by himself, to a city called Athens. 00:04:12.739 --> 00:04:15.719 It's the capital of modern day Greece. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:20.711 In Paul's day, athens was a city a little bit on the decline. 00:04:20.711 --> 00:04:27.108 In the past it had been a regional power, a political seat of power. 00:04:27.108 --> 00:04:30.819 It had been a thriving economic city. 00:04:30.819 --> 00:04:46.205 But by Paul's day the Roman Empire's in control of Athens, and so it's still an educational center and a center of like philosophy and thoughts and this mishmash of religious belief. 00:04:46.205 --> 00:04:51.658 But it's not the prominent city that it used to be or that it will be again. 00:04:51.658 --> 00:04:55.060 And so that's where Paul finds himself in Acts 17. 00:04:55.060 --> 00:04:57.739 In the city of Athens by himself. 00:04:57.739 --> 00:05:08.479 He's waiting on Silas and Timothy to join him there, and so in the meantime, we're gonna see what happens in Acts 17, starting in verse 16. 00:05:09.125 --> 00:05:28.199 Now, while Paul was waiting for them Paul or Silas and Timothy at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols, and so he reasoned in the synagogue, with the Jews and the devout persons, in the marketplace, every day, with those who happened to be there. 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:36.530 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him, and some said what does this babbler wish to say? 00:05:36.530 --> 00:05:42.519 Others said he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities, because he's preaching Jesus in the resurrection. 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:54.929 And they took him and they brought him to the Areopagus, saying man, we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting, for you bring some strange things to our ears. 00:05:54.929 --> 00:05:57.448 We wish to know, therefore, what these things mean. 00:05:57.448 --> 00:06:06.207 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who live there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 00:06:07.283 --> 00:06:19.102 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious, for as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship. 00:06:19.102 --> 00:06:24.166 I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. 00:06:24.166 --> 00:06:27.120 What, therefore, you worship is unknown. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:07:01.870 This I proclaim to you the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything, and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined the lot of periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place that they should seek God and perhaps fill their way toward him and find him. 00:07:01.870 --> 00:07:17.134 Yet he, god, is actually not far from each of us, for in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, for we are indeed his offspring, being then God's offspring. 00:07:17.134 --> 00:07:24.319 We ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone and image formed by the art and imagination of man. 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:43.750 The times of ignorance, god overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he's fixed the day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. 00:07:43.750 --> 00:07:51.599 Now, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, but others said we will hear you again about this. 00:07:51.599 --> 00:08:03.991 And so Paul went out from their midst, but some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Demaris and others with them. 00:08:05.144 --> 00:08:06.718 I love this story in Acts 17. 00:08:06.718 --> 00:08:08.399 I love this scene. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:14.447 Now, before we begin to dive into it there, it makes sense of what's happening and what it means for me and for you. 00:08:14.447 --> 00:08:23.129 Today I got to talk about something that I haven't talked about like all fall, and the reason is because there's not been a lot to say. 00:08:23.129 --> 00:08:30.961 But I want to talk for a moment about football, and the reason I haven't talked about football a lot it's because the teams I pull for are combined like five and 17,. 00:08:30.961 --> 00:08:31.986 It's not been a good year. 00:08:31.986 --> 00:08:34.168 I'm really getting frustrated at this point in time. 00:08:34.168 --> 00:08:36.709 We're going to talk about it anyway, just for a moment. 00:08:36.709 --> 00:08:39.308 They're bringing flag football to the Olympics in 2028. 00:08:39.308 --> 00:08:40.264 That excites me. 00:08:40.264 --> 00:08:43.965 I'm looking forward to the future in faith, believing that better days are ahead. 00:08:43.965 --> 00:08:47.246 In Jesus' name, I don't know if Jesus pulls for football teams. 00:08:47.246 --> 00:08:47.660 If he does. 00:08:47.660 --> 00:08:50.264 He's not pulling for mine this year, I'll just say it like that. 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:57.874 But growing up, growing up, my first football jersey was a Furman Paladin football jersey. 00:08:57.874 --> 00:09:01.841 It was number 18, because I was a Peyton Manning fan growing up. 00:09:01.841 --> 00:09:04.129 Purple had the helmet. 00:09:04.129 --> 00:09:05.925 I was a Furman football player. 00:09:05.925 --> 00:09:09.924 Every year for either Halloween or trunk retreat, depending on which one makes you feel better. 00:09:09.924 --> 00:09:13.865 Today, for about three years in a row, I was a Furman football player. 00:09:13.865 --> 00:09:17.726 My sister was a Furman cheerleader and Sam was the referee. 00:09:17.726 --> 00:09:21.265 I think we've actually got a photo of this that we found in the archives. 00:09:21.265 --> 00:09:22.904 So yeah, you can get a glimpse. 00:09:22.904 --> 00:09:26.624 That's it, right, there Isn't that great, that's fantastic. 00:09:26.624 --> 00:09:29.905 That's yeah, I don't know, that's funny. 00:09:29.905 --> 00:09:30.668 That's funny. 00:09:30.668 --> 00:09:37.388 But that was my costume and that helmet was about three sizes bigger than it should have been for my head, but I needed it. 00:09:37.388 --> 00:09:39.947 So anyway, yeah, that's it. 00:09:41.021 --> 00:09:42.867 And then grew up, furman football. 00:09:42.867 --> 00:09:45.869 My dad played ball for a year there in the 80s. 00:09:45.869 --> 00:09:47.145 My mom went to Furman. 00:09:47.145 --> 00:09:49.327 My grandfather on my dad's side went to Furman. 00:09:49.327 --> 00:09:51.408 My grandmother on my dad's side went to Furman. 00:09:51.408 --> 00:09:52.605 My uncle went to Furman. 00:09:52.605 --> 00:09:56.506 We were like a Furman family and went to the games growing up. 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.227 And so, talking about Furman football. 00:09:59.227 --> 00:10:02.928 Growing up, furman football was a we right. 00:10:02.928 --> 00:10:03.650 You know what I mean by that. 00:10:03.650 --> 00:10:06.389 Like I was a Furman Paladin fan. 00:10:06.389 --> 00:10:08.447 Like I was, I went to their camps in the summer. 00:10:08.447 --> 00:10:10.626 It was a we thing. 00:10:10.626 --> 00:10:14.263 A long time I wanted to go to Furman but I didn't. 00:10:14.263 --> 00:10:16.044 I went to Wofford. 00:10:16.620 --> 00:10:29.706 And this is where the story gets interesting, because when I went to Wofford something happened Because, see, like you gotta understand, furman and Wofford are like Carolina Clemson, okay, like they don't like each other. 00:10:29.706 --> 00:10:33.989 Like, if you're a Wofford guy, like that is just a terrible color. 00:10:33.989 --> 00:10:35.865 Purple is just not good. 00:10:35.865 --> 00:10:55.566 And so when I went to Wofford College and began to be part of that program and buy into the vision of the short hair dog, the terrier, and something happened on the inside and Furman football stopped being we, it became they and they were the enemy. 00:10:55.566 --> 00:10:58.707 Wofford football became a we. 00:10:58.707 --> 00:11:01.747 And here's the thing about that. 00:11:01.747 --> 00:11:07.263 Like my last game of my college career was against Furman and they beat us. 00:11:07.263 --> 00:11:09.644 Not, it wasn't even close. 00:11:09.644 --> 00:11:14.846 And my last pass of my football career, I threw an interception in the end zone. 00:11:15.579 --> 00:11:17.266 And to this day I get sick. 00:11:17.266 --> 00:11:22.625 I'm thinking about I don't wear purple, I don't own purple, I don't have purple in my house. 00:11:22.625 --> 00:11:23.468 I don't want to see it. 00:11:23.468 --> 00:11:29.286 I don't want to see it Because Furman is they and Wofford is we. 00:11:29.286 --> 00:11:32.749 I haven't played for Wofford in almost a decade. 00:11:32.749 --> 00:11:34.403 That's bad math. 00:11:34.403 --> 00:11:36.485 Wow, that's good math. 00:11:36.485 --> 00:11:37.207 I'm old. 00:11:37.207 --> 00:11:39.606 I haven't played for Wofford in almost 10 years. 00:11:39.606 --> 00:11:49.741 My shoulder hurts when I throw the Nerf ball in the backyard these days, but I'm still Wofford football for me is still we, still we. 00:11:51.060 --> 00:12:04.415 And the question that I have for us to collectively today, when you think about the local church, is the local church for you, is it they or we? 00:12:04.415 --> 00:12:09.866 In other words, is it a group of people for somebody else? 00:12:09.866 --> 00:12:15.004 Is it they, or do you see yourself as part of the team? 00:12:15.004 --> 00:12:16.187 Is it we? 00:12:16.187 --> 00:12:24.246 When you think about the mission, vision, the calling of the local church in the earth, is it they or we? 00:12:24.246 --> 00:12:36.901 What I love about where we're at in Acts 17 and where we're building on from last week is, as we're talking about this idea of the vision that God has given to the local church. 00:12:36.901 --> 00:12:42.500 Not just our local church we are a piece of this story but the local church. 00:12:42.560 --> 00:13:03.856 Taylor did a phenomenal job last weekend talking about what it means to build our lives on the foundation of Christ as the church, to fellowship with one another, to learn together to connect with God and with each other in community, to pray and to serve and to give Like. 00:13:03.856 --> 00:13:21.608 It was a phenomenal reminder that we're called to build our lives together as the local church, and today I want to talk about what it looks like for us to to now, because we're building our lives and our relationship with Jesus to bring other people to his love. 00:13:21.608 --> 00:13:36.685 Our mission statement as Somerville Baptist the thing that unites downtown and Pinewood together is that we exist to build vital relationships with Jesus and to bring others to his love. 00:13:36.685 --> 00:13:39.985 So we want to connect vertically with God. 00:13:39.985 --> 00:13:41.877 We want our faith to grow. 00:13:41.877 --> 00:13:45.856 We want to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:13:45.856 --> 00:13:55.703 We want to use our gifts to serve and to grow the church and to build the kingdom of God and to love and serve one another. 00:13:55.703 --> 00:14:05.894 We want to build relationships with Jesus and to bring other people to experience the same love that has transformed our lives. 00:14:05.894 --> 00:14:12.293 And what I love about this mission vision statement is it comes right out of the scriptures. 00:14:12.352 --> 00:14:13.697 It's Acts, chapter 1, verse 8. 00:14:13.697 --> 00:14:15.346 Taylor read it last week. 00:14:15.346 --> 00:14:18.405 We're going to read it again together this morning. 00:14:18.405 --> 00:14:20.759 Acts, chapter 1, verse 8. 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:26.997 Luke records the words of Christ right before Jesus goes back to be at the right hand of the Father. 00:14:26.997 --> 00:14:41.667 Jesus says this you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, judea, samaria and to the ends of the earth. 00:14:41.667 --> 00:14:45.649 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes. 00:14:45.728 --> 00:14:47.411 What does the Holy Spirit do? 00:14:47.411 --> 00:14:48.995 Well, the Holy Spirit reveals truth. 00:14:48.995 --> 00:14:53.769 The Holy Spirit helps us understand the scriptures. 00:14:53.769 --> 00:14:59.947 The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts for the building up of the body of Christ. 00:14:59.947 --> 00:15:06.242 The Holy Spirit produces fruit as our lives are transformed and the Holy Spirit points us to Jesus. 00:15:06.242 --> 00:15:13.763 The Holy Spirit is the power source by which we build our lives and our relationship with Christ. 00:15:14.885 --> 00:15:30.414 But there's a really important and in Acts, chapter 1, verse 8, jesus says and you will be my witnesses Jerusalem, judea, samaria, to the ends of the earth. 00:15:30.414 --> 00:15:44.947 The word witness in the Greek is the Greek word martus and it literally means to lay down your life and carrying out the message, the calling of Jesus. 00:15:44.947 --> 00:16:00.401 So, empowered by the Holy Spirit, our calling as followers of Christ is to lay down our lives, to carry the gospel Jerusalem, judea, samaria, ends of the earth. 00:16:00.401 --> 00:16:15.808 And if you know the region that Jesus was speaking from, right outside of Jerusalem, jerusalem was the local context, judea was the regional area, samaria a little bit larger region and then to the ends of the earth. 00:16:15.808 --> 00:16:46.351 So for us, if we're going to put this in our language today, our calling as the church of Jesus Christ in the world in 2023 is to receive the power of the Holy Spirit through salvation, by grace, through faith, and then to be the carriers of the gospel in Somerville, in Dorchester County, in South Carolina and to the ends of the earth. 00:16:46.351 --> 00:17:06.895 And here's, here's why, here's the why Because God's plan A to reach the world is spirit filled followers of Jesus Christ whose lives are anchored in the local church and who carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. 00:17:07.998 --> 00:17:29.084 God's plan A to reach the world is me and you, empowered by the Holy Spirit, emboldened by the person and work of Jesus, with a message that, like Jeremiah said, it's like a fire burning on the inside that we just can't contain. 00:17:29.084 --> 00:17:35.782 And so today, that's the question like how do we do this, how do we talk about our faith? 00:17:35.782 --> 00:17:38.530 If this is plan A and there is no plan B? 00:17:38.530 --> 00:17:58.127 How do we carry the message of the gospel forth in a way that the goal is not just to fill this room or build our church, but to build the kingdom, to see people who are far from God meet Jesus, come to faith in Christ, have their lives transformed and then become carriers of the gospel as well. 00:17:58.127 --> 00:18:03.266 How do we see the gospel transform human lives? 00:18:03.266 --> 00:18:13.527 We can sit here today and we can talk about systems or processes or four steps to sharing your faith, and we're going to get practical at the end. 00:18:13.588 --> 00:18:25.557 But here's my personal conviction I think what we need is not a system or a process or do ABC and D to share your faith. 00:18:25.557 --> 00:18:31.269 What you and I need is to see the beauty of the resurrected Christ. 00:18:31.269 --> 00:18:45.745 What we need is to behold the power and the wonder and the majesty of Almighty God, to see the power of Christ and his crucifixion, his burial and his resurrection. 00:18:45.745 --> 00:18:50.099 We need to behold something that transforms our lives. 00:18:50.099 --> 00:19:02.739 We need to see the good news of Jesus as the greatest news, the greatest story that could ever be told. 00:19:02.739 --> 00:19:17.417 Because if we see the gospel as beautiful, if we see the story of Jesus as essential to our own lives, as the breath that we breathe, the oxygen that we intake the food that we eat. 00:19:17.417 --> 00:19:36.867 If we see the gospel as essential to who we are, we won't be able to stop telling the story, because the plan of God is spirit filled followers of Christ whose lives are anchored in the local church and who carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. 00:19:37.429 --> 00:19:51.663 This is the story of the apostle Paul, a spirit filled follower of Jesus whose life was anchored in the local church, who saw his calling and his mission as the calling to carry the gospel out. 00:19:51.663 --> 00:19:54.697 Paul's local church was Antioch. 00:19:54.697 --> 00:20:06.199 At the start of each of his missionary journeys, the leaders of the church at Antioch gather around Paul and they pray over him, they lay hands on him, they commission him, they bless him and they send him out. 00:20:06.199 --> 00:20:08.607 But I love that Paul had a home base. 00:20:08.607 --> 00:20:10.995 Right, paul had a home base. 00:20:10.995 --> 00:20:12.418 He was in community. 00:20:12.418 --> 00:20:22.763 He was gathering together with other believers to learn and to pray and to fellowship and to be encouraged and then to be sent forth into the earth. 00:20:22.843 --> 00:20:35.060 And in Acts 17, paul's sending has landed him in the city of Athens and it says that while Paul is alone in Athens, his spirit is provoked. 00:20:35.060 --> 00:20:37.788 This is a great phrase because it means two things. 00:20:37.788 --> 00:20:45.247 On one hand it means that Paul's heart is broken over the brokenness that he sees in the city. 00:20:45.247 --> 00:20:52.546 He mourns over the worship of idols that he sees happening all around him. 00:20:52.546 --> 00:20:59.689 But it also not only is he brokenhearted when it says that his spirit was provoked, it also means that he's a little bit agitated. 00:20:59.689 --> 00:21:02.830 Paul got a little bit ticked off in Acts, chapter 17. 00:21:02.830 --> 00:21:05.130 And I love that right. 00:21:05.130 --> 00:21:06.870 That's so encouraging to me. 00:21:06.870 --> 00:21:08.050 Do you ever get a little ticked off? 00:21:08.050 --> 00:21:09.240 So did Paul. 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:10.290 You're in good company. 00:21:10.673 --> 00:21:14.548 But what we're gonna see in Acts 17 is how Paul handles this. 00:21:14.548 --> 00:21:25.798 He's provoked by the state of the world around him, and so he's like, hey, I'm in Athens, I've got an open door of opportunity, let me make the most of it. 00:21:25.798 --> 00:21:35.434 And so he goes into the synagogue and he begins to communicate the gospel of Jesus, the power of the resurrection, to the Jewish people in the synagogue. 00:21:35.434 --> 00:21:37.737 And he's also he's in the marketplace. 00:21:37.737 --> 00:21:51.444 He goes to where the non-Jewish people are, those who follow other systems of belief, other faiths, who have a different worldview, and he goes to where they are to preach the gospel there. 00:21:51.444 --> 00:22:05.596 And it causes a little bit of a stir, because then some Epicureans and some Stoic philosophers they come to Paul and they're like hey, we want you to come to the Areopagus, this is the place where they would gather and discuss new ideas. 00:22:05.596 --> 00:22:09.194 And so the Epicureans and the Stoics they come, they get Paul. 00:22:09.194 --> 00:22:14.979 They're like, hey, what you're saying is weird and strange and we've never heard anything like it before. 00:22:14.979 --> 00:22:15.733 Tell us more. 00:22:15.733 --> 00:22:26.918 And so they bring Paul to the Areopagus and they stand, paul, in the center of the Areopagus, on the top of Mars Hill, and Paul begins to speak. 00:22:26.918 --> 00:22:40.930 Now, remember, paul is agitated and brokenhearted and in this moment, some of us maybe me might be tempted to tell him like, it is right, I'm just gonna lay the truth out there. 00:22:40.930 --> 00:22:43.498 I'm gonna tell him about how agitated I am right. 00:22:43.498 --> 00:22:45.379 Is that what Paul does? 00:22:45.379 --> 00:22:46.307 I love this. 00:22:46.307 --> 00:22:54.739 Paul is brokenhearted and agitated, but yet in this moment he has the foresight, the wherewithal to know. 00:22:54.739 --> 00:22:59.578 I can't let my brokenheartedness and my agitation come through. 00:22:59.951 --> 00:23:12.480 Paul speaks with compassion, not condemnation, and he actually begins his sermon, his message to this group of non-believers, with a compliment. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:17.438 He says to them men of Athens, I perceive that in every way, you're very religious. 00:23:17.438 --> 00:23:29.133 He commends them for their religious belief and then he begins to build a bridge for the gospel and y'all. 00:23:29.133 --> 00:23:39.361 That's the place that every gospel conversation begins, not a place of condemnation, but a place of compassion. 00:23:39.361 --> 00:23:45.970 The cliche is people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. 00:23:45.970 --> 00:23:48.939 And it is absolutely true. 00:23:48.939 --> 00:23:55.776 The greatest bridge for gospel conversation is genuine relationship. 00:23:55.776 --> 00:24:13.490 And so Paul takes a moment at the start of this to say hey, I see something in your life that I'm going to highlight as good, even if the object of your faith Paul would disagree with, even if the object of your faith doesn't come across as legitimate. 00:24:13.490 --> 00:24:17.080 Paul says I'm going to commend you for your faith. 00:24:17.080 --> 00:24:21.802 And then, from there, paul says hey, I also, I noticed something in your culture. 00:24:21.802 --> 00:24:22.890 It's another bridge. 00:24:23.070 --> 00:24:26.500 You have an altar with an inscription to an unknown God. 00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:32.057 Paul says the God that you worship is unknown, I want to make known to you. 00:24:32.057 --> 00:24:40.920 And he begins to explain to the Athenians hey, you worship gods in temples built by human hands. 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:50.500 You worship gods made of gold and silver and stone, art and beauty that you have built yourself. 00:24:50.500 --> 00:24:54.600 But the unknown God, the one you don't know, he made it all. 00:24:54.600 --> 00:24:58.780 He's the reason you have breath in your lungs. 00:24:58.780 --> 00:25:07.281 You think that you're, you know you're worshiping all these gods just to try to cover your bases, but the one who made it all is the one you really need to know. 00:25:07.281 --> 00:25:13.550 And oh, don't think he's far from you, because Paul says I'm going to build another bridge and I'm going to quote your own poets. 00:25:13.550 --> 00:25:19.690 And he quotes a guy named Epaminides and a guy named Eradus and says in him we live and move and have our being. 00:25:19.690 --> 00:25:28.957 God is close to you, and not only that, you're his offspring, he made you, he knows you, he's calling you to himself. 00:25:30.111 --> 00:25:33.170 Paul speaks with compassion and with clarity, with conviction. 00:25:33.170 --> 00:25:46.015 But in all of this conversation, paul's goal is to build a bridge, to communicate the gospel in a way that calls people to a place where they have to make a decision. 00:25:46.015 --> 00:25:49.056 And that's exactly what happens. 00:25:49.056 --> 00:25:58.117 Paul says hey, in the past, the times of ignorance, god overlooked our worship of false gods. 00:25:58.117 --> 00:26:09.076 But then Paul says but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he's fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. 00:26:09.076 --> 00:26:12.819 And out of this he's given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:18.561 And so he lands this presentation at the resurrection of Jesus. 00:26:19.711 --> 00:26:27.217 Because what Paul knows and what we need to know is that the resurrection of Jesus demands a response from me and from you. 00:26:27.217 --> 00:26:35.690 See, here's the thing we are all wired to worship something. 00:26:35.690 --> 00:26:47.371 We're all wired to hold up something in our lives that we see as the paragon of beauty and importance and object worthy of our affections. 00:26:47.371 --> 00:26:54.862 Maybe we don't have idols made of gold and silver and stone, but we are all worshipers of something. 00:26:54.862 --> 00:27:00.551 Even the person who claims there is no God is worshiping something. 00:27:00.551 --> 00:27:12.392 Maybe it's a career or money or resources or a specific level of achievement, but we are all pursuing worshiping, placing value and weight somewhere. 00:27:12.700 --> 00:27:23.730 And Paul says to the group gathered on Mars Hill in Acts 17, there is a man who was sent by God, who died on a cross, who resurrected from the dead. 00:27:23.730 --> 00:27:35.226 He's the Son of God, he's the Savior of the world, his blood was shed to forgive my sin and your sin, and he resurrected from the dead to prove he was God in flesh. 00:27:35.226 --> 00:27:36.903 Now we've got to decide. 00:27:36.903 --> 00:27:39.067 What do we do with Jesus? 00:27:39.067 --> 00:27:43.668 What do I say to Jesus? 00:27:43.668 --> 00:27:49.371 What do you say to the resurrected Son of God? 00:27:49.371 --> 00:28:07.370 Now, I would love if the next few verses of Acts, chapter 17, luke had written down that all the people in the areopagus, fell on their face, repented of their sin, placed their faith in Jesus and started the church, tore the temple down, started the church. 00:28:07.370 --> 00:28:09.987 But that is not what happens, right? 00:28:09.987 --> 00:28:12.003 What does Luke say? 00:28:12.003 --> 00:28:22.586 Well, luke says very clearly now, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, they said Psalm mocked. 00:28:23.900 --> 00:28:28.511 This story begins with people mocking Paul and it ends with people mocking Paul. 00:28:28.511 --> 00:28:40.903 In fact, in Acts, chapter 17, when the Epicureans and the Stoics are mocking Paul, calling him a babbler, what they're saying is that Paul is like a bird picking up seed from a lot of different places. 00:28:40.903 --> 00:28:45.871 He's scavenging for ideas because he doesn't even know what he really believes. 00:28:45.871 --> 00:28:48.729 He's just pulling a bunch of weird thoughts from everywhere, putting them together. 00:28:48.729 --> 00:28:55.268 And that's this message Paul's presenting to you he's a babbler, he's crazy, out of his mind. 00:28:55.268 --> 00:28:57.524 And Paul preaches the gospel. 00:28:57.524 --> 00:28:58.686 And I don't know for me. 00:28:58.686 --> 00:29:03.547 I read Acts, chapter 17, and I'm like, oh, my goodness, this is powerful. 00:29:05.180 --> 00:29:09.170 But in that moment, in Acts chapter 17, some people heard Paul and like, yep, he's a babbler. 00:29:09.170 --> 00:29:10.983 We thought so before. 00:29:10.983 --> 00:29:12.105 We're more convinced now. 00:29:12.105 --> 00:29:25.352 But some said, hey, we'll hear you again on this, not ready to go all in and commit my life to Jesus right now, but I got some questions. 00:29:25.352 --> 00:29:26.926 Can we talk later? 00:29:26.926 --> 00:29:29.267 Can we get coffee later this week? 00:29:29.267 --> 00:29:32.287 Let's sit down and share a meal together. 00:29:32.287 --> 00:29:33.883 Let's text a little bit. 00:29:33.883 --> 00:29:34.485 Hey, like let's. 00:29:34.485 --> 00:29:37.685 You know, I got some questions about this book or this verse. 00:29:37.685 --> 00:29:39.185 Let's keep the conversation going. 00:29:40.740 --> 00:29:57.623 But some believed, among them Dionysius, demerius and others, and here's the thing y'all we've got to be okay with a mixed response to the gospel proclamation. 00:29:57.623 --> 00:30:03.311 Some people you proclaim the gospel, you talk about what Jesus has done in your life. 00:30:03.311 --> 00:30:05.707 You might get made fun of to your face. 00:30:05.707 --> 00:30:10.101 You might get talked about behind your back, it's okay. 00:30:10.101 --> 00:30:16.144 Some people they're not going to be ready to make a decision the first time they hear the good news about Jesus. 00:30:16.144 --> 00:30:21.090 But maybe they'll invite you to their house to continue the conversation. 00:30:21.090 --> 00:30:25.530 Maybe they'll stop by your office to talk a little bit further. 00:30:25.530 --> 00:30:34.127 Maybe the next time they see you they'll be like hey, I've been thinking a little bit and maybe what we all pray and hope happens. 00:30:34.127 --> 00:30:36.671 Maybe sometime, somewhere, someplace. 00:30:36.892 --> 00:30:46.612 Somebody and the gospels proclaim they're like, that makes sense, I'm ready to turn from my sin and place my faith in Jesus. 00:30:46.612 --> 00:30:48.865 And what a beautiful moment that is. 00:30:48.865 --> 00:30:52.206 But here's the bottom line for me and for you. 00:30:52.206 --> 00:30:59.852 We can't let the opinions of others stop us from obedience to Christ. 00:30:59.852 --> 00:31:07.982 Jesus said in Acts 1, 8, you will be my witnesses, like. 00:31:07.982 --> 00:31:13.913 That's a primary component of who we are as followers of Jesus. 00:31:13.913 --> 00:31:19.531 It's witnesses to the gospel story of Jesus. 00:31:19.531 --> 00:31:26.811 We're proclaimers, we're storytellers, we're people who communicate who Jesus is and what he has done. 00:31:26.811 --> 00:31:30.410 Our job is to proclaim the gospel with our lips. 00:31:30.410 --> 00:31:33.725 You're like but I'm not a preacher, no, you are. 00:31:33.725 --> 00:31:38.086 It's what Acts 1, 8 says you will be my witnesses. 00:31:38.086 --> 00:31:39.082 And here's the thing. 00:31:39.082 --> 00:31:41.466 This is maybe the best news of the day. 00:31:41.466 --> 00:31:44.707 We are all great at proclaiming good news. 00:31:46.460 --> 00:31:49.890 When's the last time you went to a restaurant and had a meal that changed your life? 00:31:49.890 --> 00:31:53.200 What'd you do Next time? 00:31:53.200 --> 00:31:55.508 You saw somebody that liked the food that you went and ate? 00:31:55.508 --> 00:31:59.169 You're like, hey, listen, I had this meal at this restaurant. 00:31:59.169 --> 00:32:03.143 The lasagna was the best lasagna this side of Italy. 00:32:03.143 --> 00:32:04.589 You got to go try it. 00:32:04.589 --> 00:32:06.024 It'll change your life. 00:32:07.920 --> 00:32:12.230 I saw a movie in the theaters surround sound. 00:32:12.230 --> 00:32:14.646 It's not going to be the same on Netflix. 00:32:14.646 --> 00:32:19.371 I don't care how good your sound bar is, how great the system is in your house. 00:32:19.371 --> 00:32:23.428 You got to see this movie before it gets out of the theaters. 00:32:23.428 --> 00:32:26.963 Did you see the game? 00:32:26.963 --> 00:32:30.968 Oh, it was amazing. 00:32:30.968 --> 00:32:37.671 The last drive they thought it was over and then they got the ball back and the rest made this call. 00:32:37.671 --> 00:32:41.980 I couldn't believe it either, and the whole stadium was in awe and nobody knew what to do. 00:32:41.980 --> 00:32:45.391 But then they scored at the last second and the place erupted. 00:32:45.391 --> 00:32:46.445 The crowd went wild. 00:32:46.445 --> 00:32:51.667 It was the most incredible atmosphere I've ever… Can you imagine what that was? 00:32:52.320 --> 00:32:55.589 We're great at proclaiming good news. 00:32:55.589 --> 00:33:07.081 When something changes our lives, when something deeply impacts us, we naturally proclaim good news. 00:33:07.081 --> 00:33:14.947 I heard a pastor on a podcast recently say that… and it was incredibly convicting to me. 00:33:14.947 --> 00:33:26.761 The reason that we don't proclaim the gospel is because we're more concerned about the opinions of others than we are about obedience to God and y'all. 00:33:26.761 --> 00:33:28.567 I was like yep, that's me. 00:33:28.567 --> 00:33:35.065 I can proclaim the gospel on a Sunday morning in church, because that's where I'm supposed to be proclaiming the gospel. 00:33:36.140 --> 00:33:45.417 But how quick am I to talk about Jesus on a Tuesday afternoon at the grocery store and I'm not saying don't be weird, don't be weird, don't be weird. 00:33:45.417 --> 00:33:48.181 You know that, don't be weird. 00:33:48.181 --> 00:34:04.691 But just look for opportunities and conversations to build a bridge and hey, maybe you don't get to explain the whole story of the Bible or the whole story of Jesus in 30 seconds at the grocery store, but you can have spiritual conversations. 00:34:04.691 --> 00:34:16.849 You can be the farmer sowing the seed, trusting the God of the harvest to bring the sun, to bring the rain, to grow his crop. 00:34:16.849 --> 00:34:21.387 Maybe you get the chance to be the one that gets to harvest. 00:34:21.387 --> 00:34:28.342 You get to be the one in the room when somebody decides hey, I'm ready to place my faith in Jesus. 00:34:28.342 --> 00:34:33.853 Look for opportunities, build the bridge, have spiritual conversations. 00:34:33.853 --> 00:34:41.411 Proclaim the gospel with your lips, but also validate the gospel with your life. 00:34:43.260 --> 00:34:49.510 Words separated from a transformed life carry little weight. 00:34:49.510 --> 00:34:55.108 What changed the people in Athens? 00:34:55.108 --> 00:35:13.626 Yeah, it was the power of the Holy Spirit working through Paul, but it was also the confidence of Paul's life, his willingness to stand alone and boldly and confidently proclaim the name of Jesus. 00:35:13.626 --> 00:35:22.211 The way you live speaks every bit as loudly as the words that you say. 00:35:22.211 --> 00:35:31.003 There's the old cliche saying preach the gospel at all times and use words if necessary, and it's attributed to St Francis of Assisi. 00:35:31.003 --> 00:35:32.902 It's not actually known if he actually said it or not. 00:35:32.902 --> 00:35:34.358 I'm here to tell you today. 00:35:34.358 --> 00:35:41.747 It is necessary to use words, but your life will validate or invalidate the words that you proclaim. 00:35:41.747 --> 00:35:50.206 So may the way we live validate the words that we say. 00:35:51.137 --> 00:35:56.514 Paul left Athens a little while after this scene and he finished his second missionary journey. 00:35:56.514 --> 00:35:58.255 He took his third missionary journey. 00:35:58.255 --> 00:36:03.106 He later ended up in Rome, a place he always wanted to go. 00:36:03.106 --> 00:36:06.755 You want to talk about the center of power. 00:36:06.755 --> 00:36:09.244 Rome was the center of power. 00:36:09.244 --> 00:36:12.715 You want to talk about a city that was far from God. 00:36:12.715 --> 00:36:15.344 Rome was far from God. 00:36:15.344 --> 00:36:22.784 And Paul goes to Rome determined to confidently preach the gospel to the bitter end. 00:36:24.135 --> 00:36:27.704 And Paul ultimately dies in a Roman prison. 00:36:27.704 --> 00:36:35.284 Historians, usubians in particular, tell us he was probably beheaded at the behest of the emperor Nero. 00:36:35.284 --> 00:36:49.124 So Paul goes to Rome knowing he's not making it out of Rome, he's not getting back to his home church at Antioch, he's not going to get to travel back and see what happened in Athens or see the church at Ephesus or get back to Corinth. 00:36:49.124 --> 00:36:53.046 He goes to Rome knowing he's going to give his life. 00:36:53.046 --> 00:36:58.221 And you know, I'm sure there's some in our world today that would say well, what a waste. 00:36:58.221 --> 00:37:01.561 Why didn't Paul stay away from Rome? 00:37:01.561 --> 00:37:05.860 Why didn't Paul stay where it was safer, played a little bit safer. 00:37:05.860 --> 00:37:07.702 Maybe he could have planted more churches. 00:37:07.702 --> 00:37:09.240 He maybe he died too soon. 00:37:09.240 --> 00:37:11.141 Maybe there was more that he could have accomplished. 00:37:11.141 --> 00:37:14.222 Cause Paul didn't see Rome transformed. 00:37:14.222 --> 00:37:20.021 In fact, rome, they only increased their persecution of Christians once the church in Rome began to grow. 00:37:20.021 --> 00:37:21.925 What a waste. 00:37:21.925 --> 00:37:26.864 But Paul proclaimed the gospel with his lips. 00:37:26.864 --> 00:37:32.123 He validated the gospel with his life and the church in Rome began to grow. 00:37:32.123 --> 00:37:36.764 Ben Steward, a pastor at Passion City, dc. 00:37:36.764 --> 00:37:47.423 He said this about the church in Rome In Rome, christians didn't take up the sword, but they took up radical love for their enemies. 00:37:48.394 --> 00:37:56.666 People mocked them, people maligned them, people misunderstood them, and then they followed them. 00:37:56.666 --> 00:38:04.490 300 years later, rome became a Christian empire. 00:38:04.490 --> 00:38:20.622 There's a lot of stuff that happened after that, but the point is that Rome was transformed by the gospel, as the lives of ordinary Jesus followers validated the message that came from their lips. 00:38:20.622 --> 00:38:22.365 Why? 00:38:22.365 --> 00:38:34.760 Because their lives were beautiful and compelling examples of love and generosity and service and the willingness to lay down their own lives for the good of someone else. 00:38:34.760 --> 00:39:02.488 And people in Rome saw that and they were like yep, that's what I want, and I'm believing that our lives in Somerville can be the same thing, and as we build our relationships with God Almighty and His Spirit works in us and we grow in boldness and confidence because of the power of Christ in our lives, that God can use our lives to bring people into His kingdom. 00:39:04.855 --> 00:39:08.626 So who in your circle today is far from God? 00:39:08.626 --> 00:39:10.539 They're close to you. 00:39:10.539 --> 00:39:18.746 We can pray, we can proclaim and we can validate. 00:39:18.746 --> 00:39:31.979 And who knows what God wants to do, as a room full of ordinary people say you know what this Acts 1-8, mission of the church, this build and bring. 00:39:31.979 --> 00:39:34.326 I want to be part of it. 00:39:34.326 --> 00:39:40.804 It's not gonna just be a they thing or a them thing, it's gonna be a we thing. 00:39:40.804 --> 00:39:55.285 I'm in, I want my life to count, not for my sake but for the glory of God and for the good of the person in my life that doesn't yet know God. 00:39:57.635 --> 00:40:13.006 You know, my grandparents on my mom's side of the family made a choice that they were gonna raise their family to know and love and serve Jesus, kind of chart a different trajectory for the future generations to come. 00:40:13.006 --> 00:40:20.655 My grandkids won't know their great, great grandparents' names. 00:40:20.655 --> 00:40:37.280 Highly unlikely that they'll know their names, but they'll know the name of Jesus because of a choice that they made 100 years from now, 150 years from now, ain't nobody gonna remember me and you. 00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:51.003 But it's possible that, because of the legacy of faith that you leave behind, generations to follow can know Jesus' name. 00:40:51.003 --> 00:40:59.135 And if they don't know my name, but they know Jesus' name, it's well worth whatever it cost. 00:40:59.135 --> 00:41:02.914 They don't know your name, but they know Jesus' name. 00:41:02.914 --> 00:41:06.875 It's well worth whatever it cost. 00:41:06.875 --> 00:41:21.914 So, father, help us to see the beauty and the wonder of the cross, the Savior's blood shed for us, his death, his burial, his resurrection, power. 00:41:21.914 --> 00:41:37.951 And, father, as we behold the beauty of the cross, as we see the compelling love of the cross, father, may that awaken in us this desire to say something about the goodness and the grace of Almighty God. 00:41:37.951 --> 00:41:47.427 Father, to leave a legacy of faith where it doesn't matter if people know our names, it matters if they know the name of Jesus. 00:41:47.427 --> 00:41:50.865 Father may know the name of Jesus. 00:41:50.865 --> 00:41:57.622 Father, help us to proclaim the good news with our lips and to validate it with our lives. 00:41:57.622 --> 00:42:00.477 We love you. 00:42:00.477 --> 00:42:02.523 We thank you in Jesus' name, amen. 00:42:03.358 --> 00:42:06.581 As we stand and respond this morning, this is a moment for you to respond. 00:42:06.581 --> 00:42:09.894 If you need to pray, there's somebody in your life that needs to meet Jesus. 00:42:09.894 --> 00:42:11.188 I want to challenge you. 00:42:11.188 --> 00:42:13.300 Take a moment right now and pray for them. 00:42:13.300 --> 00:42:18.825 If you say today, for the first time, I want to give my life to Jesus, I'll be over here to the side. 00:42:18.825 --> 00:42:20.722 You can grab anybody in a green shirt. 00:42:20.722 --> 00:42:23.322 We'd love to have that conversation with you. 00:42:23.322 --> 00:42:31.802 If you say, today, I want this local church to go from Bay to we, I want to join this family here, we'd love to have that conversation with you. 00:42:31.802 --> 00:42:34.875 But this is a moment for you to respond as the Spirit leads. 00:42:34.875 --> 00:42:36.661 Let's stand and respond together.