The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Ephesians 3:20-21Quoted by Pamela Constant as the prayer for her church in France: 'now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work in us, to him be the glory in the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations forever and ever'
20 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21 to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
The primary passage preached through, covering Paul in Athens at the Areopagus
16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols.
17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him.
18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign deities,” because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.
19 They took hold of him, and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by you?
20 For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.”
21 Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things.
23 For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you.
24 The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands,
25 neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things.
26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might 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, ‘For we are also his offspring.’
29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.
30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,
31 because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.”
33 Thus Paul went out from among them.
34 But certain men joined with him, and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Referenced as teaching that creation pours forth speech and the message can be heard everywhere, making all people responsible before God
1 The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.
2 Day after day they pour out speech, and night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
6 His going out is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends; There is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple.
8 Yahweh’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart. Yahweh’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever. Yahweh’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I will be upright. I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.
Referenced as teaching that suppressing the truth makes people culpable before God through creation alone
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,
2 which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3 concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh,
4 who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
5 through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name’s sake;
6 among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ;
7 to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,
10 requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you.
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established;
12 that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, and was hindered so far, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14 I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15 So, as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.
17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them.
20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.
21 Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.
24 Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves;
25 who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.
28 Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,
30 backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;
32 who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
Alluded to when Paul says 'the God who made the world and everything in it, in the beginning God'
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
8 God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
10 God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.
11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth”; and it was so.
12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;
15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”
21 God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.
30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.
31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
Referenced regarding the foolishness of paying a craftsman to make an idol from wood or stone, covering it with gold, and then propping it up so it does not topple
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The pastor walked through Acts 17:16-34, the account of Paul in Athens, and pressed the question of what it looks like to bring the gospel into a culture that worships everything except the living God. He traced Paul's method from the marketplace to the Areopagus, showing how Paul engaged people where they were without either softening the message or treating his listeners with contempt.
What was said
When Paul arrived in Athens he was not sightseeing. The city was full of idols, and the text says his spirit was provoked within him. The pastor paused on that and asked whether we feel the same thing when we look around Jackson, because people here are worshiping constantly, even if they never call it that. Sports teams, political teams, philosophies, spending habits, all of it can carry the weight of religious devotion, and a Christian who is paying attention ought to feel the tension.
The two philosophies Paul ran into on Mars Hill were Epicureanism and Stoicism, and the pastor spent time on both because they are not ancient curiosities. Epicureans sought pleasure as the highest good, denied the supernatural, and believed death was simply the end. Stoics focused on what they could control internally, prized virtue and reason, and likewise had no room for resurrection or final judgment. Most people today, he said, live somewhere on that spectrum without knowing it has a name.
Paul's manner in the marketplace and then on the Areopagus was worth noticing on its own. He did not open by telling the Athenians they were idiots. He said, "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects." He had been sick walking past all those idols, but when he stood in front of the people who built them he was respectful and civil. The pastor held that up as the model, because it is the kindness of God that leads people to repentance, not the anger of man.
The altar to an unknown God gave Paul his bridge. Rather than attacking what was wrong with their worship, he stood at that altar and said, in effect, the one you are hedging your bets on is the one I am here to tell you about. He then moved through a case built on creation, on God's sovereignty over nations and boundaries and times, and on the fact that even their own poets, Cleanthes and Aretus, had written lines that pointed toward a Father God whom they were groping around for in the dark without knowing his name.
The sermon came to its point at resurrection. That was the word that had gotten Paul escorted up to the Areopagus in the first place, and it was the word that split the crowd when he finally said it plainly. Some scoffed. Some said they would hear him again. A smaller group, including Dionysius and a woman named Demeris and others, believed that day. The pastor pushed back gently on the commentators who call Athens Paul's worst result. Any soul that comes in is a good thing, he said, and being winsome enough that people want to hear you again is also a good thing.
He closed by naming what both Epicureanism and Stoicism get partially right, and what they both lack, which is Christ, the judgment of God, and the goodness of God. Neither of the two teams currently at war in this country has the whole answer, and Christians cannot simply plant a flag with one of them. The answer for both sides, he said, is what Paul determined to know in Corinth after Athens: nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Chris mentioned that you cannot be both grateful and anxious at the same time. Where have you found that to be true or hard to believe in your own life?
Pastor Chris said that when something fills up our heart, that is what comes out of our mouths, pointing to how Paul talked about Jesus everywhere he went. What does what comes out of your mouth most often tell you about what is filling your heart right now?
Speaker 1Amen. Thank you, Judy. Alright. Well, welcome. Glad that y'all are here.
Would you stand with me and we're gonna sing through one peppy number and then we'll get on into it. I'll fly away. How about that?
Speaker 2Some glad morning when this life is over, fly away
Speaker 1Amen. How about count your blessings? Now one of them is Father's Day today. So I wanna say thank you to my dad. That's a blessing that that I I have and I I usually don't go anywhere but what the next passage of scripture is and we're gonna do that today.
So I'm not gonna have an opportunity during, But happy Father's Day to all of y'all dads out there and to my dad in particular. I'm thankful. Count count your counting your blessings. It was great to have a good good father.
Speaker 2When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed. When you are discouraged thinking all is lost. Count your many blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done. Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy? You are called to bear.
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly. And you will be singing as the days go by. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done. When you look at others with their lands and gold, your blessings, name one one. Count your blessings, see what God has done. Count your blessings, Name them one by one. Count your many blessings.
See what God has done. So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged. God is over all. Count your many blessings. Angels will attend.
Help and comfort give you to your journeys in. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God hath done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done.
Amen. Y'all can have a seat.
Speaker 1Count your blessings. See what God has done. You know, there are a lot of studies that are coming to prove this recently, but it has always been true. You cannot be both grateful and anxious at the same time. Is that good?
That's really good. So if you are struggling with anxiety, it really does help, not just to not think about it. The way to not think about it is to count your blessings one by one. It actually does help. We've got a few announcements.
One of them is I'm already announcing it. I showed up with slacks. It was a really pretty outfit. Showed up with slacks with shiny shoes and a pressed shirt. And when I got here, saw the t shirt and said, oh, I am the billboard this week for a road trip.
Road trip is our theme for the VBS twenty twenty five. It's June twenty third to twenty sixth, not this week, but next week. So Carl and Krista are heading out next week after church, twenty second. That's the exodus for them. They're heading to Huntsville, Madison, Alabama, and chicken and waffles between services will be provided.
I know that y'all normally come to this service, but if you would, come a little early and see them off. We're gonna have chicken and waffles provided by the church. But if you bring a side with you, we're gonna have an old fashioned dinner on the ground sort of situation, but it'll be breakfast on the ground. In between services at 10:00, cards and memories are welcome and just a a hug and a and a fairly well would be great. So that's for the Clemers next week, June 22.
Then, b b s will start. First b b q. First b b q Sundays are July 13, August 3, September 7 between services. Out on the green space out here in the parking lot. We'll set up tables and have games and food and fellowship between services again at 10:00.
Usually, it's breakfast stuff out there and as weather permitting. That's also on those Sundays, we'll do children's church. Other than that, we're not doing children's church in the 09:00 service for the summer. Sorry, y'all can't see what I see from up here. Sometimes, I'm sorry about it.
Sometimes, I'm not so sorry about it. Miss Crystal is a little upset about that, but she's got a Sunday a month coming up. So here we are. Community worship night is happening down at Gateway Church in Raptor Jay. So what was formerly Rivercross and Gateway Church in Raptor Jay, community worship night is Wednesday, June 18, 06:30 to eight.
It's for all of the churches in the valley to come on there, kinda have an all star band put together and it'll be a worship night for an hour and a half or so at Gateway, Wednesday. Carl will be playing with them. I am not on that all star band this time around. But anyway, community worship night, that should be good. If you want anything else, the church website is really good and thorough and there's lots of information up there about what's going on.
There's a lot happening in Jackson in the summertime. It's that way. But if we have a hole in our information there, you can call the church office and we'll fill you in on whatever else it is. And I have one more announcement that is not an announcement on the screen, but this is Pam Constant. Pamela Constant is here.
She is one of our missionaries to France. She's one of our missionaries. She is a missionary to France. And I'll let her take it from there. And that thing should be is it on?
Speaker 3I think it's on. It's on. No. It
Speaker 1is on. Oui.
Speaker 3You'll have to forgive me because I it it's really strange to talk in English before church these days. So you'll have to forgive me. But it's a joy to worship with you today. I watch you watch your services online, and it's always such a blessing and an encouragement to me. And I wanted to thank you for thank this church for your words of encouragement and your prayers and your support for spreading the good news in in France.
When I look at the news, perhaps it's easy to get discouraged about things, but God is doing great things, and he's doing great things in France. Three years ago when I was here last, I was changing the focus of my ministry from a Christian camp to revitalizing a church in the suburb of Grenoble, which is in the Alps, so much like here, and it's the small church of Sicine. This church, three years ago, was considering closing its doors for good. They were in the middle of a crisis. They've been struggling for five years, and and they were ready to throw in the towel.
But I from my standpoint, I couldn't sit back and watch that happen. So I started working full time with the church at that time three years ago. I thank God that all that negativity and all that talk about closing the doors is no longer heard in in the church. Now we're focused on moving forward, and we're working on vision, which is which is which is worship. It's based on acts two.
So it's worship, teaching, community fellowship, evangelism, and service to others. So we're getting back to our roots. And the church has a total of about a 120 members, but in in the worst of times, three years ago, we were lucky to get 20 or 30. And now we're slowly getting people back, and we're getting new people on the assembly, which is so great to see. This our church, the church of Sicily, is the only Protestant church in a community of about 35,000 people, and we're struggling.
I just saw a news report that said that 377% of the French are on a spiritual quest of some sort. So they're looking for answers. They're looking for a reason to exist. And so far, they haven't been able to find it. And so the time is right for us as a church to be reaching out to our community.
And I'm thankful now that more and more we we are focused on following what the spirit leads us and and looking beyond our walls and to reach our community. One of the things that we're doing is we've re we're talk we're English. We're working we're working to reach the homeless and people in situations of abuse. And today, they're they're they're distributing a 140 food sacks to the homeless. That's a picture actually right there.
For a small church, that's quite an accomplishment, and I'm thankful that God allows us to continue doing that. How can you pray for me? Because the ministry moves forward by prayer, and it's only by God's strength that we can succeed. Please, I think that God has placed me in a very unique position right now because I've also been asked to serve on a council for the National Association of Evangelicals. So I have an ability now potential to really speak into the well-being of churches throughout France.
But but sometimes my my accent gets in the way. Sometimes I get in the way. Please pray that God gives me courage and boldness to proclaim God's greatness in every single situation. And I I told the church I'm gonna lose my accent this summer, so so you can pray for that. I pray to you that God gives me wisdom in each situation and that his love flows through me in a way that is just evident to other people.
And so through through living out the gospel, people come to know him. Pray true for the church and that he continues his revival church, not just at Sicily, but also throughout France. I think that we're on the verge of seeing God do incredible things in the church. It feels like it's just beginning, and I pray that it just explodes for the gospel. I pray that I pray for each member of the congregation that God is so manifest in their lives that they can't help but proclaim his goodness to their friends and neighbors.
And you could pray that that that happens. We are asking God to do great things. We're asking him to do immeasurably more than what we can imagine. Like Ephesians says, now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is work is at work in us, to him be the glory in the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations forever and ever. That is our prayer.
Thank you.
Speaker 1I'd like to pray for you before you step down. Lord, thank you for Pamela. Thank you for her stepping into this role. In Jesus name, ask that you would lose her tongue to speak such fluent French that it astounds the listener. Lord, but more than her accent, may her words be true.
May they be loving. May they be convincing. Would you bring many into the kingdom, not just by her witness, but but the witness of the ones to whom she presents, the one to whom she teaches and comes alongside. In Jesus name, I pray that you would embolden her to speak your word and do your will in exactly your way. We pray the same thing for her that we pray for ourselves that we would be doing your will and your way, oh Lord.
We ask you in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. Alright. We also, by the way, when we went on the trip to as a family, when Tanya and Pascal and I went to drive the donated vehicles from Scotland into Ukraine to be used as ambulances.
When we did that trip, after it was over, we came back through France and we stopped in. And I've I've never spent hardly any time in France, but it was great to have a sister there that we could laugh with and just have a ball with. So we met her up met up with her and had a had a great time. We're really thankful for your hospitality. Would you stand with us?
We're going to sing His Eyes on the Sparrow. This one.
Speaker 2Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home? When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is he. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me. I sing because I'm happy. I sing because I'm free, for his eyes on the sparrow, and I know he watches me. Let not your heart be troubled. His tender words I hear, and resting on his goodness.
I lose my doubt and fear. Little by the path he leadeth. But one step I may see his eyes on the sparrow, and I know he watches me. His eyes on the sparrow, and I know he watches watches me. And I
Speaker 1sing because I'm happy. I sing because I'm free for his eye is on the sparrow, and
Speaker 2I I know he watches me. Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise, when song gives place to sighing, when hope within me dies, I draw the closer to him from care he sets me free. His eyes on the sparrow, and I know he watches me. His eyes on the sparrow, and I know he watches me. I sing because I'm happy.
I sing because I'm free for his eye is on the pharaoh, and I know he watches me. Amen.
Speaker 1Jesus is Lord of all.
Speaker 2All my tomorrows, all my past, Jesus is lord of all. I've quit my struggles. Contentment at last. Jesus is lord of all. All of my conflicts, all my thoughts, Jesus is Lord of all.
King of kings, Lord of lords. Jesus is Lord of all the last. All of my longings, all my dreams, Jesus is lord of all
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I'm gonna invite our ushers forward. Would you all pray with me? God, thank you for this time, the worship through giving time.
The offertory, Lord. We're able to offer back a portion of what you've given to us. Lord, I pray that whatever goes into these plates, whether it be financial resources, literally or figuratively, our time and the meditations of our heart and the reasonings within our brains and the words that come out of a full heart. I pray Lord that you would use all of these things to advance your good gospel. It would begin in our own hearts that revival starts within our own hearts led by the spirit and then Lord the overflow of that would bring others into the knowledge of God.
You are good. I pray that people would see our lives, hear our words, they would line up with one another, and that they would then taste and see that the Lord is good. I pray Lord that we'd be doing your will your way. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.
Thank you, Judy. Wow. How many of y'all were singing that in your head? Yeah. We can sing it out loud next time if you want to.
That was beautiful. Thank you. Oh, wow. We are up to Acts seventeen sixteen. If I had asked you, what's in Acts 17?
I had a test by the way, when I was in seminary that was every chapter in the New Testament was a blank test that started with Matthew one and went all the way through to the end of Revelation and it just said, what happened in this chapter? Isn't that ridiculous? But Acts 17, if I just said, what happened in Acts 17, there are a few of you that said, that's Paul at Athens. That's a normal kind of oh, yeah. That's Paul at Athens.
That's Mars Hill or the Areopagus. That's what happened in 17. Yes, but it's the latter half of the chapter 17. We went through last week. We went through the Acts seventeen one through 15, which is him getting from Philippi to Thessalonica, and Thessalonica to Berea, and then Berea to Athens.
So now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, remember what happened at at Thessalonica, he presents in the synagogue and at first it's accepted and there are some people that come to know Jesus and then there's a backlash in Thessalonica and then they get on out of town. They get him over to Berea and it says, they were of a more noble mind. They accepted the word more readily from Paul. Amen. That's good.
That's why you see more Berean churches than Thessalonian churches these days, I think. But the Bereans were accepting the word probably in greater numbers and greater depth. They were studying the scriptures every day with Paul and then the folks from Thessalonica showed up and they were making pretty bad trouble for Paul. They had incited a mob and that was something that they said, listen, you gotta get out of here. You gotta get on down the road.
And so, from Berea, Paul went ahead of Sallis and ahead of Timothy, he went ahead down to Athens. Now, while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, here we see a map. If you're looking at this map over here, we see, you know, he heard the Macedonian call as it were in Troas, and they crossed out of Turkey, Asia Minor, over past Samothrace up to Neapolis and then Philippi, and then worked their way across. Last week, we saw him in Thessalonica and Berea. They put Paul, took him down to the sea probably on a boat, they take him to Athens, Greece, and Athens at this point is past the point of their most significant influence.
It's more the Roman Empire now and not as much classical Hellenism or classical Greek that's been the place. One commentator said, at this point in history, Athens was in the late afternoon of their importance. So their their morning and noon had passed. But here is Paul and he is waiting for the other guys in Athens and he's wandering about town and it says, his spirit was being provoked within him. As he observed that city was full of idols.
Now, I I I'm constantly trying to I wanna say exactly what it says and then occasionally, I wanna say, let's how does this how does this affect us today? Why is this why is this more than a history lesson? Well, history has a tendency to repeat itself or have echoes. Right? And so, if I were to stop right here, and any city that you are in, Athens being a real extreme example, and honestly, Jackson being an extreme example.
If you wander around town, is your spirit provoked? It kind of is. There's a lot of worship going on all the time. They might not call it worship, we might not call it worship, but are you is your spirit provoked within you as you observe what people are spending their time, effort, money on? Idols.
What what takes the place of God in a person's life? And I think that if we're I think if we're observant, we'll see that people put the kind of religious zeal and obescence into philosophies and even teams. Let's just call them teams. Some people around here are Broncos fans, some people are Eagles fans, some folks are whatever. That's one like, oh, yes, a sports team.
Yeah, that's a good analogy. Yeah, there there are other people who are red team fans and there are other people who are blue team fans. That's that's where you draw a lot of your identity and that is not God. And it should not be equated with God, not ever. And it's provoking to the spirit to get him out of order.
His spirit was being provoked with him as he observed that the city was full of idols. Now, their case, it's literal idols. We'll see that in just a minute. So it says, was reasoning. He was reasoning in the synagogue.
I picked up the same colors I used from last week. He was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and with the God fearing Gentiles who are staying just on the periphery. They're not full proselyte, yet, but they're God fearers that are showing up for the assembly synagogue. So he's reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God fearing Gentiles. He it says in Thessalonica, he reasoned with them from the scriptures explaining that is reasoning and giving evidence from the scriptures.
He's there with them and he's using his Bible. Now, it makes sense that he'd be doing that in the synagogue because they are gathered already believing what he is presenting from the old testament from their Bible. Now, he's presenting a take as it says right here, I'm proclaiming to you Christ that Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. He's challenging their view of Messiah. They had been expecting a military conqueror, they had been expecting a political leader, and Paul is saying, but Christ came in humility and he had to suffer these things and the Old Testament says it over and over and over again.
And he's going back to all those texts and giving evidence and reasoning with them from the scriptures from people who already should believe the text. I believe it even if I don't understand it and I believe the Bible though I don't understand it completely. I believe it. I believe it is true and let God be true and every other man a liar. I am doing my best to figure on what I see and what I know from what it actually says.
That's why I try to stick close to what it says. So it says, was reasoning in the synagogue, that makes perfect sense with the Jews and with the God fearing Gentiles and he was also in the marketplace every day with whoever happened to be present. When something fills up our life and our heart, that's what's going to come out of our mouths. And if you hear something come out of your mouth thinking, oh, that was vile and that was ugly, consider your way and think that came from my heart. And in our current day, what people usually do when they say something stupid or outlandish, excuse me for saying that stupid in church.
But when they say something crazy, it comes out of their mouth, you have a moment there where you said, I don't actually believe that. That's not true. That was coming from a place of hurt or disgust or condescension or whatever else. But usually what we do nowadays is just double down, insist on it being true. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the Godfrey and Gentiles and in the marketplace every day with whoever happened to be around him.
If you were chained to Paul in prison, you were gonna hear the gospel. If you're standing next to him at the checkout stand, you're gonna hear the gospel. Right? Because that's what's filling his heart. That's what's filling his life.
Though he knew he was the chief of sinners, he knew he had been saved and he knew how. So he's sharing that. And present were some of the epicurean and stoic philosophers as well. They were there and they were conversing with him and they're conversing from their two particular philosophies. Now, I could sum it up, guess.
Have a couple of I don't like paper notes, but I've got some today. And so, I'll share kind of what the what this these two these two isms, Epicureanism and Stoicism. If I were to do it in the shortest form I know how, it'd be this. Epicurean is that guy. That's Jimmy Buffett.
Okay. And stoic is that guy, Matt Dillon. Right? Marshall Matt Dillon. He doesn't get rattled over hardly anything, focus on the solution, not you know, there's a problem.
Yes. But we don't have to get all up in arms about it. We really have to just take take care. There are a lot of different examples. Those are the two that I think of, but if I were to tell you Epicureanism sought pleasure as the highest good.
It wasn't that it was absolutely railed off the rails completely obliterated because they did believe in moderation and prudence within seeking pleasure, but pleasure was the highest good. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die and there's nothing after that. That was their ism. They believed in a naturalistic worldview. They were materialist and naturalist view of the world.
They believed that everything is composed of atoms or void, and that natural phenomena always have natural explanations. They did not have any space for the supernatural whatsoever. They believed that a fear of God or gods or fear of death was something that was just a source of anxiety. That's what they thought is don't think about that. Don't think about it at all.
Epicureans sought to eliminate the fear of the gods or of death because it was a major source of anxiety. So they believed that the gods were unconcerned with human affairs, that they were distant and that death is simply the end of the body, dissolution of it and it's not an entrance into an afterlife. There's no type of punishment, no type of judgment after death, you just ended being. That's the Epicurean way of thinking. They advocated for pleasure, they emphasized the importance of moderation and prudence to overindulgence, they did see as a bad thing, but they still were going to on that side and not the other.
It's crucial to make wise choices and there are some parts in this where there are some things about Epicureanism about enjoying the life that God has given that is okay and good and does line up with an abundant Christian life. But especially nowadays, if you mentioned that someone's Epicurean, usually they're a foodie or they're a drinker, heavy, usually, drinker, partier. That's Epicureanism. Moving over to stoicism. Stoicism has some major tenants are that you focus on what you can control yourself.
If there are circumstances that happen around us and to us that we have no control over, but Stoics believe that true freedom lies in controlling your own internal state rather than the external circumstances. Everybody else's hair is on fire and you're fine because you can control yours. Acceptance of what you can't control. The principle emphasizes acceptance of event events that are beyond your influence such as the actions of others. I can't control what they do, but I can't control how I receive it.
Does that sound a little bit like Christianity? It does. Thank you, Connor. It does. So they also believed in the importance of the virtues.
Wisdom is highly sought after. They wanted to understand nature and things and act accordingly based on reason and knowledge. There was a high view of justice. They wanted to treat others fairly with respect, recognizing that everybody deserves to be treated well according to the law. There were some obvious examples.
Slaves and women, not so much in stoicism at the time. But stoic thought believed in wisdom and justice and courage, facing adversity with bravery and resilience, not fearing hardship, but instead using it as an opportunity for growth. And then, temperance, practicing moderation and self control, avoiding all excess and focusing on just the essential needs. And one of those essential needs, actually the founder, a quote from Zeno, who is the founder of the Stoics. Zeno says, the goal of life is living in agreement with nature.
Now, after having just described these two philosophies, can you think of anybody that you know that would adhere to these? Pretty much everybody that you know. They're either on one side or the other. Understanding the natural order was important. Embracing the present moment was important.
But again, with stoicism, they did not believe in an afterlife, they did not believe in a judgment, they did not believe in resurrection, this will be obvious from the text. They focused on their own personal growth, but both of these had a high importance on relationships. Stoics valued strong meaningful relationships, the ability to connect with others on a meaningful level and Epicureans to eat, drink, be merry and be merry was something that happened in community. So both of them had an aspect of communal life. So, these philosophies are just mentioned as being present on Mars Hill.
I I tend to see in our society that we have these things still present. We don't call them Epicurean. We don't call them stoic. We just see them as philosophies and I see when two sides are arguing, often one will take the epicurean side and the other will take the stoic side. That's a pretty common thing.
So some of them were saying, both from both sides. Some of them were saying, what could this scavenger of tidbits want to say? Does that sound like a compliment? No. That's an insult at the outset.
What could this scavenger of tidbits dude want to say? The word there is spermologos. Spermologos is a seed picker. It's used of crows often as birds. It's one who just picks up scraps of knowledge.
It's not someone who understands things deeply because they worked to get the education. So they're picking on him as being a spermatogist, picking up seeds. It's used to birds often of crows or dolls that pick up grain in the fields that's left behind after somebody else does the work. It's used of men in Homer in his Odyssey. It says, they just lounged about the marketplace and they just picked up whatever subsistence by whatever may chance to fall from the loads of merchandise.
It's people who are opportunists that pick and choose like a smorgasbord the things that they agree with. Do you know anybody that does that? Yeah. Hence, it's not a good thing. It's beggarly, abject, vile, it's a parasite.
They get their living by flattery and buffoonery and I cannot help but think of social media reels at this point. Flattery and buffoonery wanting all the likes for doing the most ridiculous stuff and presenting the most inane philosophies as if everybody with a phone knows what they're doing and what they are espousing. So, Spermologos, it says, what could this scavenger a tidbit wanna say? And others were saying, he seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities. Now, a couple of different interpretations of this.
He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities being plural. We know that Paul presented Christ and him crucified or he presented Jesus. He presented him in the synagogue to Jews that knew Father God. He said, Jesus is a part of that. Jesus is God.
His Father, Son, Holy Spirit. He he presents that case elsewhere And so, strange deities, you could say trinity, but some commentators pick up because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection and they see this as two different gods. Resurrection is one God and Jesus is another God. I don't go for that. I don't believe that that's really the case.
I think he was presenting Jesus as the one who had been resurrected and maybe when they weren't quite understanding him yet. It says they took him to the Areopagus. They took him and they brought him to the Areopagus. Areopagus is just the Arian Pagan in Greek, Ares Hill or Mars Hill. You might have heard it called Mars Hill.
That's the Roman name, Latin name for it. So Ares and Mars are the same God, Greek and Roman. So Ares Hill or Mars Hill is the name of that and there it is. That is a little group of people sitting up on top of the Areopagus right there and they're overlooking Athens, Greece. The Acropolis is up behind them in the distance.
That's the big rock. That's where the philosophers met. How many of you all been there? Just wonder. In the first service, we had quite a few that had been there.
So they took him up to the Areopagus and we're saying, may we know what this new teaching is that you're proclaiming? We've heard about this Epicurean side and we've heard about the stoic side and we hear of the passions of the Epicureans and we hear of the absolute moderation of the Stoics. What is this that you're talking about? For you're bringing some strange things to our ears. It's something we want to know about.
We're giving you a chance. We're going take you to the place that is the central place where we discuss philosophy. And it looks like to me that that Luke takes this opportunity, sort of a parenthetic expression. It says now, all the Athenians and the strangers that were visiting there used to spend their time and nothing other than telling here and something new. That sounds like Luke is calling them seed pickers, don't know?
They just wanna hear the latest thing. I had an art professor, I might have mentioned him before that said, in doing art, if you're seeking after truth, goodness, and beauty, he says avoid the novel. Novelty is not to be solved. Don't look for just something new. Look for something true, good, and beautiful.
And so, the something new part, it sounds like Luke is making a little dig there to me. So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and he said, men of Athens, very respectfully, I see that you are very religious in all respects. Now, what do we know about Paul? What he thought when he's walking around town and he's seeing all these idols? It made him sick.
It made him sick. It stirred and provoked his spirit within him and he just felt awful about it. But when he stood in front of them, he was very respectful. He was very civil. Men of Athens, I see that you're very religious in all respects and they were.
And I I wanna step back from the text for just a second and say, do you see that when you walk around town? Do you see that in other people that are very very very adamant about what they're adamant about, whatever it is? Do you see that as worship? Because it is. We're born worshipers.
We're born worshipers and we have a tendency to form clicks and worship whatever affinity we have. And actually, Internet's made it even easier. You can find your people pretty easy. You can find people. If you like old cars, boy, you'll get nothing but old cars on your on your feed.
Men of Athens, I see that you're very religious in all respects. You have a zeal about you for philosophy in particular, and you have a zeal about you for the gods and you're putting up idols everywhere. He doesn't say it like that. He just says, I see that you're very religious. That's almost a pat on the back.
For while I was passing through and I was examining your objects of worship, it made me sick. I almost threw up. No. He doesn't say that. That's not what he says.
He doesn't say, I can't believe that you believe this nonsense. This is so stupid. He says, as I was passing through and looking through, he doesn't say, it's it provoked my spirit in me. It's all wrong. While I was passing through and examining your objects of worship, I also found an altar with this inscription.
The inscription said, this altar is for an unknown God. That's covering your bases right there. They had a pantheon. They literally had the pantheon was up above them. That's all the gods and if we missed one, here's an altar to the one we might have missed.
So we know what Zeus does if you don't give him what he needs and we know what these others do, but we might have missed one. So that's that's a little bit of humility in there to an unknown God. There's an alter to the unknown God. We hear of other people who have actually written about this from the time period. Archaeology will turn it up before long, I'm sure.
But therefore, since you have an alter to the unknown God, therefore, what you're worshiping in ignorance because he's unknown. Ignorance is actually not knowing, unknowing. What you worship in ignorance, this is the one I came to proclaim to you. That's a hermeneutical bridge right there. He is walking across it too.
He's taken what they know, he's taken where they are, and he's walking across it towards them with the gospel. And then, this slide has smaller print because he gets through quite a sermon, and we could break this down. I have read every commentator that I know, and they have lots of good ways of seeing this. But I'm saying, he starts off with what is literally a Jewish blessing prayer, like a blessing before a meal. The God who made the world and everything that is in it, we give you thanks for what you've given us.
That's the blessing. He starts off with the foundation that God made the world and everything that's in it. Genesis one, God, in the beginning God. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he is the one that gets to say what happens in heaven and in earth. He's above it all.
He's outside of space and time and he created, spoke into existence, everything that is came into being by Christ. Since he's Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't dwell in temples that were made by hands. I see that pretty building right up there, it's beautiful. The way, the concert venue up at the top of this hill is fantastic. I see that building up there, but God doesn't dwell in temples that are made by human hands nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything.
He doesn't need anything. Since he is the one, he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things and if you wake up in the morning, your first breath out and then is praise to him. Should be because he gave you that breath that is in your lungs. And he made out of one man. He's telling the story from the beginning.
Every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, he determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation and you know, Athens had been quite the center of intellectual everything and had staved off Persian occupation multiple times. They failed a couple of times and were able to drive them back out and they really were proud of that fact. And Paul is saying that God has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that God is very active. Now, do the stoics believe that? No.
Do the Epicureans believe that? No. Paul says he created it all, he gave life to all, and he made all of you and determined where you would be placed. He knows everything about you. And he did all of this so that you would seek after him, so that they would seek God.
If perhaps they might feel around for him and find him, the groping in the darkness, feeling around and finding, it says. Homer uses this exact same word with exact same tense when he's talking about the cyclops. After the cyclops has had the spear to the eye where he can't see anything and he does not want Odysseus and all of them to escape, when he is trying in the cave, it says the cyclops is groping around in blindness. He says, everybody on earth can see creation and we know from Psalm 19 and I'm sure Paul presented that in the synagogue that creation is pouring forth speeches, no language where the message can't be heard. We know from later Romans where he says that if you suppress the truth, you you see it and you are responsible before just creation alone should point you towards God.
We're culpable just by creation alone that they would seek God, that they recognize I'm finite. Well, the stoics recognize they're finite. The Epicureans recognized that they were finite, but they didn't recognize the infinite beyond that. Now scripture says that God has placed eternity on our hearts. There's something more and we have a sense that there's something more and everybody is groping around the it is no surprise that people would pick teams.
It's no surprise that people would place their faith in something. And in this case, it's actual idols. In our case, it might be in in philosophies or in economics or in whatever speculation. It says, appointed the times boundaries of their habitation so that they would seek God if perhaps they might feel around for him and find him though he's not far from each one of us. He is right here close at hand.
The kingdom of God is now for those who are willing to be his humble and obedient service. And then Paul turns in verse 28 to for in him we live and we move and we exist and even some of your own poets have said, for we also are his descendants. Now, they had an idea of God's and they had an idea of who was the highest God. He's not God though. But when Paul says, this line right here, we also are his offspring or we also are his descendants.
He's probably quoting from both Eretus and Cleanthes. And Cleanthes around 300 has a short poem, it's a hymn to Zeus, not God, but Zeus, their highest God. Most glorious of immortals, many named, almighty and forever thee, O Zeus, sovereign over nature, guiding with thy hand all things that are. We greet with praises. Thee, tis meet that the mortars call all out with one accord for we, thine offspring are.
That's Cleanthes, him. And we alone of all that live and move upon the search, we receive the gift of imitative speech. He's talking about the peculiarity of people being created really in the image of God and they are groping in the darkness and they found this. And Paul used it. He used their terms, he used their philosophy, and Eretus, probably of Tarsus.
Eretus is a philosopher from Tarsus. Paul from Tarsus was a well educated man. He's not a seed picker. He had put in a lot of study in Tarsus. Tarsus, he had put in a lot of study at Gamaliel's feet and he had put in a lot of study in Arabia and then he had a direct encounter with Christ.
This is the first five lines of a much longer piece by Eretus and it is the beginning, at the beginning of a service or at the beginning of this longer piece, Phenom. It says, from Zeus, us begin, never let us leave his name unloved. We've got to do that because he'll kill us with a lightning bolt, and if we don't, with him with Zeus are filled all the paths that we tread, and all the marks of men filled to the sea, and every creek and bay. And all in all things, we need help of Zeus for we too are his offspring. It's looking to him almost like Father God.
It really is. Now, it's pagan but they're groping in the darkness trying to find it. They're worshipers, they're looking for it. For in him we live and move and exist, Paul says, that probably is a line he borrowed. And even some of your own poets have said, we also are his descendants, therefore, because of what?
Because of all of that. Because of God from creation all the way through, him wanting to have relationship and wiring us for communication and really, when it comes down to it, I say this, every Sunday God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble. The humility of reaching out to God and asking for him and then being present when someone is presenting Jesus. Therefore, since we are descendants of God, we all not think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone. I've walked past all your idols.
I've seen them all. They're impressive. There are a lot of them. They're pretty impressive. But we all not think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image that's formed by human skill or by thought.
It reminds me of the Isaiah passage that says, oh, why is it that you take a piece of stone or a piece of wood and you pay a craftsman to craft it perfectly, and they do all of this work, and then they cover it with gold, and you know that it's a human being did this. You paid the guy to do it. And then you have to put a wedge up on it so it doesn't topple over because it has no power whatsoever. Does that strike you as brilliant or not? That's just crazy.
He he says, since we're descendants of God, we ought not think of him like a just a chunk of gold or silver or stone. That's really about economics and we'll see that later on in acts when it upsets the economy, when Diana is not worshiped and they're not buying the trinkets anymore. So having overlooked the times of ignorance oh, wait a second. Paul is presenting these men of Athens on the Areopagus. We shouldn't think of God the way that you have been thinking of God.
But listen, God is merciful and he's good. So having overlooked the times of ignorance, I've been there before. Paul says, was spouting stuff. I had no idea what I was spouting about, and then I met Jesus. So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere need to repent.
All people everywhere, that's all inclusive. Is all people of all the families of the earth. God is now proclaiming. The now in there is he's saying, right now, in your presence, right now. God is saying, you missed it up until now, but now you've got your opportunity.
He's saying you need to repent. You need to step off of your high horse about your team and come back down to where you've got humility before God to just follow Jesus. Because he set a day. He set a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness. There's only one righteous judge.
I know you don't believe that Epicureans and I know you don't believe it stoics, but this is the way that it is. He set a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, that's Jesus, having furnished proof to all of the people by raising him from the dead. I'm here to proclaim to you Christ and him resurrected. Now, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, it says earlier that's what took him out of the regular marketplace and took him up to the Areopagus when they heard about resurrection. We need to hear more about this and we're with you.
Okay. Okay. Yes. What strange things? Maybe he's not a seed picker.
He's making some sense. But when they heard resurrection of the dead, they're like, oh, come on. That's ridiculous nonsense. We've seen people die and they don't come back. Resurrection is crazy.
It's silly. That can't be in your framework. It can't be in your philosophy. So some of them started to scoff. But then others said, we're gonna hear from you again concerning this.
You know what this says to me? We're gonna hear from you again from this. This says to me that they were not jerks or or that Paul was not a jerk. That Paul didn't treat them with disrespect and he didn't push them off as complete imbeciles because they weren't on the same team. He was winsome.
He was gracious. He was merciful. It's the kindness of God that leads people to repentance. It's not the anger of man that leads to the righteousness of God. It's just not.
So they said, you know what? We'll hear from you again concerning this and so that's good. So Paul, he went out from among them. That was kind of end of the day. We'll hear you again.
We'll give somebody else a chance to speak now but Paul goes out from among them. It says, but some men joined him. They joined him and sure they wanted to hear more than that and it says and they believed. They believed. You know, sometimes when you present, when you present, some people are gonna scoff.
Hey, can I get a witness? Yes, people scoff. I I I get church people that scoff. There might be some of you scoffing right now. I don't know.
But every time you present the gospel, some will scoff. Yeah. Or some will join and believe. And among those who believe, there was Dionysius the Areopagite. That's somebody who spends a lot of time on Mars Hill.
That's how he's known. Dionysius of the Mars Hill. And there's a woman named Demeris, and then others with him. Now, others is at least two. So in an intellectual place where they're constantly hearing new philosophies all the time, and you present and you get at least four, there's one man, one woman, and others, that's at least two, four at least.
I think that's a pretty good day. A lot of commentators think that's not a good day. That's the worst that Paul ever did. He struck out. He struck out because he tried to meet philosophers with philosophy and that's what led him when he gets to Corinth to say, you know, while I was among you, all I wanted to present was Christ and him crucified.
That's all I wanna do. I don't agree with that thought, but it's a it's a thought. I think that any one soul that comes in is a great thing. I think that being winsome enough to have people hear you again is a good thing. There are two major philosophies in our country right now that are at war with each other and we cannot be with either one of them.
It's heartbreaking. Team Jesus is not just one of those teams. There are things Epicureans believed that are good and line up with Christianity although they lack Christ and the judgment of God and there are things about stoics that line up with Christianity, although it lacks Christ and it lacks the judgment of God. It lacks the goodness of God and we have the goodness of God. It is the answer for both sides.
Paul in Corinth, he says, what he determined is that he would know nothing except for Jesus Christ and him crucified. I say when when when we're discouraged and when we're upset and when we've got things going on that would pull our hearts away from Jesus, this is what we need to focus on. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, the things of earth will go strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Would you stand with me? And we're gonna sing a traditional invitation hymns.
Time for invitation and response. You can you can respond right there where you sit. If you come forward, I'll turn the microphone off. Promise. I'll be right here to receive you.
But we're gonna sing I surrender all and I pray that Lord God Almighty, would you have us drawn into a relationship with you that is compelling and is winsome and has actual the fruit of the spirit is what shows up in our life and that's something that draws other people into relationship with you. In Jesus name, amen. Can I just pray for Connor right here? Connor lost his dad on Valentine's Day two years ago and it's Father's Day and when he came in, he came and gave me a big hug and he came comes up, he's in his race outfit, one of his racing outfits, his dad drove race cars and ran Carquest. God, pray for blessing on Connor right now on this Father's Day as he remembers Chris, and I pray for all of us as we remember our dads who have passed, and Lord for those who still have a living father.
I pray Lord that you would restore good relationship that you would allow love to be the main interchange between in Jesus name. I'm thankful for my brother right here, for his mama, and for the dad. Amen. Yeah, buddy. Amen.
Now, may the Lord bless and keep you and give you a peace not as the world gives but a peace that is grounded in Jesus. Amen.
