Christ in Culture

Notes

If the Gospel is a 'Reasonable Gospel', then how might my life reflect that the Gospel is a Reasonable Gospel?

As we journey through Acts, we are reminded time and time again that God wants ordinary people like us to see an Extraordinary God do Extraordinary things through us so that more people might come to know this Extraordinary God!  In other words, God wants to use you to make a difference in the world around you.

Your character – who  you are will be revealed most clearly when your around people who don’t know who you are.

From our study of Acts 17, here are two ways in which our lives can begin to reflect that we believe that the gospel is a 'Reasonable Gospel':

1. Christ-like Character at ALL times in ALL places with ALL people!
2. We tell those that don’t know about God what God is really like!  Namely that...

• God is KNOWABLE!
• God is CREATOR!  
• God is GENEROUS!
• God is SOVEREIGN 
• God is JUST

Verses

{The believers acted at once, sending Paul on to the coast, while Silas and Timothy remained behind. Those escorting Paul went with him all the way to Athens; then they returned to Berea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.

He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”

Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)

So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” That ended Paul’s discussion with them, but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Acts 17:14-34 NLT}{For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 ESV}{Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15 NLT}

Quotes

Chuck Colson : Our calling is not only to order our own lives by divine principles but also to engage the world. To engage the world, however, requires that we understand the great ideas that compete for people’s minds and hearts. (How Now Shall We Live?); Petronius (1st Century Author) : It is easier to find a god in Athens than a man. (); Mark Driscoll : The better we understand people, the better prepared we will be to reach people so that God can transform how people think, what they value, and how they experience life. (The Radical Reformission); Richard Keyes : An idol is something within creation that is inflated to function as a substitute for God. An idol can be a physical object, a property, a person, an activity, a role, an institution, a hope, an image, an idea, a pleasure, a hero – anything can substitute for God. (No God But God); G.K. Chesterton : Cease to worship God, we do not worship nothing, we worship anything. (); Matt Chandler : The unique place God places us in transforms everything we do. The place we live, work, or the activities we’re involved with become less about us and more about God. He has uniquely designed us, uniquely wired us, and uniquely placed us so that men and women would seek him and find him. He is not far from any of us because he has put us in their life. ();