His Spirit Was Provoked

In one paragraph

The pastor walked through Acts 17:16-34, Paul's time in Athens, picking up where last week's message left off on the road from Thessalonica and Berea. The focus was on how Paul engaged a city full of idol worship and then made his case for the God of scripture to an audience of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers on Mars Hill. The sermon stayed close to the text while drawing honest connections to...

Read together

1. Acts 17:16 starting point for the sermon, Paul's spirit provoked by idols in Athens
2. Acts 17:16-34 the passage covering Paul at Athens, the Areopagus speech and its results
3. 1 Chronicles 1-3 mentioned as his first Bible reading that week, genealogies tracing from Adam to the nations
4. Psalm 19 referenced indirectly, creation pouring forth speech with no language where the voice cannot be heard
5. Ecclesiastes 3:11 Solomon said God has placed eternity on our hearts, so people constantly seek who made this

Talk about it

1. The pastor talked about Paul's spirit being provoked as he walked through Athens and saw all the idols. When you walk through your own town or daily life, what are the things you notice people putting their hope in, and how does that affect you?
2. Paul described Epicurean and Stoic thinking, and said there are things in both that line up with a good Christian life. Where do you see those philosophies showing up in your own thinking or in the culture around you, and where do they fall short?
3. Paul told the Athenians that God made all people so that they would seek after him, and that he is not far from any one of us. What does it look like in practice to approach people around you with the assumption that they are already seeking after something, even if they are looking in the wrong place?
4. Paul quoted the Athenians' own poets back to them rather than leading with everything that was stirring his spirit about the city. What does that approach say about how he valued the people he was talking to, and what would it look like to do something similar in a conversation you might have?
5. Only a handful of people believed after Paul spoke at the Areopagus. The pastor pointed out that Paul later told the Corinthians he determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and him crucified. How do you personally guard against letting your arguments or explanations crowd out the thing that actually makes Jesus unique?