FRIDAY - August 14

Read. Acts 17:22-34

22 Paul stood up in the middle of the council on Mars Hill and said, “People of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way. 23 As I was walking through town and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an unknown God.’ What you worship as unknown, I now proclaim to you. 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in temples made with human hands. 25 Nor is God served by human hands, as though he needed something, since he is the one who gives life, breath, and everything else.26 From one person God created every human nation to live on the whole earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God made the nations so they would seek him, perhaps even reach out to him and find him. In fact, God isn’t far away from any of us. 28 In God we live, move, and exist. As some of your own poets said, ‘We are his offspring.’

29 “Therefore, as God’s offspring, we have no need to imagine that the divine being is like a gold, silver, or stone image made by human skill and thought. 30 God overlooks ignorance of these things in times past, but now directs everyone everywhere to change their hearts and lives. 31 This is because God has set a day when he intends to judge the world justly by a man he has appointed. God has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

32 When they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some began to ridicule Paul. However, others said, “We’ll hear from you about this again.”33 At that, Paul left the council. 34 Some people joined him and came to believe, including Dionysius, a member of the council on Mars Hill, a woman named Damaris, and several others.

Reflect. Second to Paul’s conversion, this speech made in Athens is likely the most well known event in all of Paul’s ministry that we find in Acts. It shares how Paul listened to the Pagan culture and shaped a particular message to share about the truth of Jesus. 

• Reflect on the effectiveness of Paul’s message. How many came to believe in Jesus as a result of Paul’s message? In v.34 we find that only “some” came to believe. The more common response to Paul’s message was ridicule (v.32). A few others desired to hear more from Paul, but all in all, only a few came to faith. Does this mean that Paul wasn’t faithful in his actions? 
• It is easy for us to measure the effectiveness of something in the immediate results that it causes. We see this in business when a company chases quarterly profits to impress shareholders. We might say something has failed when it does not show the results we desire. However, this outlook does not translate well to faith. Paul was faithful—he shared about the saving love of Jesus, but few came to faith. 
• It can often be demoralizing if you share your faith with another and they don’t respond well. Or if you invite someone to worship with you and they always turn you down. However, Paul nor you are measured on the immediate success of your ministry with others. We all have a role to play in sharing faith with others. Take courage, and look for one way that you can share faith with someone today or over the weekend. 

Pray. Ask God to show you how to share your faith and give you the courage to do so. 

COMMUNITY PRAYER LIST

Doug. Bobby. Collier. Glenn. Adam.  Mary.  Clyde.  Linda. Betty Carolyn. Jeff. Albert. Richard. Lois. Ross. Tiny. Donald. Bill. Barbara. Andreas. Helen. Bonnie Brenner. Baker Family. Robert McKenzie Family. Kibler family. Carolyn Harlow. Jeremy. Jeff Green. Lyric. Earl Graves. Mickey Huff. Huff & Welch families. Helen Leigh. Paul Huffman. Schools, Teachers, Staff, Parents, Students. Church regathering plans. Layman family. Charlene Withrow. John. Brandon Casteel. Dirk Orr.