Class Lesson November 25, 2012

Hey Gang,

We conclude this series of lessons this week on how the church can transform a changing culture. We've been studying how the early church provides us with some foundational understanding to how the church even today can indeed make this happen. Our focus of lessons have included what happens when a church prays with dependency, what it means for a church to "love thy neighbor," the foundational mission of the church - to make disciples and this week we are called to "Hit The Streets."

How are you taking the good news to people?

We need to find appropriate ways to present the gospel to unreached people.


 

At this point in Paul’s second missionary journey, he had been mobbed, stripped, beaten, imprisoned, and secured in stocks. Then, after a miraculous release, he was rioted against, mobbed again, and threatened to the point that his friends escorted him out of town to a safer place. That’s how Paul got to Athens. Athens was the cradle of Western civilization and home to Greek mythology idols and philosophies. It had been the home of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno, whose words are still studied in universities today. While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy, he walked the city, but he didn’t see beauty or brilliance; rather he saw a city full of idols. His friends hoped that he would lay low until they returned for him, but even in that situation Paul found a way to share Christ. This time he used reason and conversation.



I. GO WHERE PEOPLE ARE – ACTS 17:16-21

Paul in Athens

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was troubled within him when he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Then also, some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him. Some said, “What is this pseudo-intellectual trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the Resurrection. 19 They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you’re speaking of? 20 For what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these ideas mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new. 




How did Paul react to what he saw in Athens? What did he do in response to those feelings? What present practices or issues should stir the same feelings and responses in us?

• Paul felt compassion – “spirit troubled within him.” He wanted them to know God.
• Athens was a cultural center of the Roman Empire. Athens influenced how people thought about politics, religion, education, art, and more.
• Religion served as the core of their art and architecture: statues of gods filled the city; pagan temples dotted the landscape. Over 30,000 statues were erected to gods, leading a Roman writer to say that “It is easier to find a god in Athens than a man.”
• Use times of waiting as opportunities for sharing the good news.
• Be disturbed by the many evidences of modern idolatry.
• Witness to those who believe the Bible and those who don’t.
• Don’t limit your witness to one time, one place, or one kind of people.
• Be aware of other worldviews in order to present the claims of Christ. 

 In what ways did Paul “go where people are” in these verses? Where should you and I be going?

• Paul was alone in the city while waiting on his co-workers to join him. While waiting he found opportunities to share Christ. He spent his time talking with Jews in the synagogue and Greeks in the local marketplace.

  

Where Empty Nesters Are: The Bureau of Labor Statistic reported in 2011 that Americans between the ages of 55 and 74 spend only about 11 hours at home a day. It also reported that people in that same age range spend anywhere from 5 to 7 hours a day on leisure and sports-related activities.



Consider this; in what contexts and places in your community should you be looking to engage people in discussions about Christ?







II. KNOW WHAT PEOPLE BELIEVE – ACTS 17:22-23

The Areopagus Address

22 Then Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect. 23 For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

Today’s culture tells us to:

1. Just let people be - Live and let live.

2. Back-off and not engage - What people believe is their own business.

3. Question our own beliefs - Who am I to say that someone else’s beliefs are wrong?



How well did Paul understand what his audience believed? How can you tell?

• Paul warmed up the crowd with a reference to the Athenians’ religious influences. The Greeks probably took Paul’s “extremely religious” as a compliment to their devotion and piety. Paul made a purposeful connection with the men of Athens when he noted their idols. By calling them religious, he found a starting point from which he could share the gospel. Paul pointed out that their own altar proclaimed they worshiped a God they did not know. He wanted to tell them about that God.
• Paul’s reference to the “unknown God” showed they were ignorant of the God who mattered. Paul used this gap as a way to share Jesus.
• Becoming accustomed to the who-cares-what-God-thinks lifestyles around us, and ceasing to be troubled by them, affects our determination to reach people for Jesus. We begin to accept that people have their own way of thinking. We forget that many of them are going to hell. In the meantime they live miserable, lonely lives. By our apathy we fail to take advantage of the ready opportunity God gives to reach people: the universal yearning for truth.

What are strengths of Paul’s methods? How can they be applied today? How can we learn about people, and their connection points, without being nosey? What if you feel shy, or arrogant, or otherwise withdraw from people? How will you obey Jesus in the area of making connections?

• It is a mistake to think confronting error requires we be disrespectful, unkind, or argumentative. That hinders communication. It cuts off opportunity and is just plain rude. More importantly, it harms the cause of Christ. When we follow God’s Spirit, we seek to understand what people believe. We find ways to point them to Truth. We treat people with compassion and love. Love shows what God is like. We become equipped to connect with them and cite error. 

When confronting error, do you typically come across to others as abrasive or patient and kind? What about people who are not religious in any respect? How can you connect with them?





Why did Paul call his hearers too superstitious? Why did he mention the altar TO THE UNKNOWN GOD? 

• Being called religious does not guarantee true religion.
• Many people do not know the one true God.
• Humans have a God-shaped emptiness in their hearts that even they realize.

Think about someone you know whose beliefs about God you don’t know. With compassion and genuine interest, find out what that person believes this week and make a connection with them to spark further discussion about the gospel.
 


III. POINT PEOPLE TO GOD – ACTS 17:24-31

24 The God who made the world and everything in it—He is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in shrines made by hands. 25 Neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives everyone life and breath and all things. 26 From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. 27 He did this so they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 28 For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring. 29 Being God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination. 30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because He has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.” 

The Greeks were right – God was unknown to them. Paul was ready and willing to clear it all up. They seemed to know of God as Creator, but not as personal and purposeful in His creating. God did not manipulate or contain; He did not need their help to be great.



Paul pointed each person’s ancestry back to Adam; noting that God desires to draw all people back to Himself. Paul carefully and honestly used images and quotes from Greek culture through which he laid out biblical truths in a way that the Athenians could readily understand. He strategically moved from these ideas, with which the people were familiar, to some truths of the gospel.


Why did Paul begin with the creation? What implications of creation did he mention? Why did Paul quote pagan writers? What did he say about judgment and resurrection?

• When you share the good news, seek to establish points of contact with your hearers.
• God raised Jesus from the dead, offering life and hope to those who repent.
• God commands all people everywhere to repent now.
• Those who reject the light of the gospel face sure judgment.

Left alone in Athens, Paul went to places where people were. He went to the synagogue, and he witnessed in the marketplace. He encountered some Epicurean and some Stoic philosophers and told them the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. They asked Paul to state his views in the council. Paul spoke of how religious they were with their many gods. He said he would tell them of the God that one altar called “unknown.” He told them of the divine Creator, a coming day of judgment, and the resurrection of Jesus. Then he called on them to repent.

How will you intentionally build the kind of bridges that point people to Christ?

Prayer of Commitment

Lord, help me be able to witness to people who need to know You. Amen.

 Well, this concludes a thought provoking series on how the church today can still transform lives in a changing culture. I think the most important point throughout the series is the church being the church and this won't happen unless each of us seek to become Christlike in our walk. When you pray, pray with dependency, love your neighbor - remember nothing else matters if you have not loved, become a "disciple" of Jesus Christ and hit the streets with the good news of the gospel.

See you in church on Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan