CHRISTIANS IN A PAGAN WORLD - BOOK OF ACTS LESSon #54Sermon Notes |
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Date of Sermon: September 18, 2016
Main Idea: Non-Christians will find the gospel both intriguing and strange Key Verse: "So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout person, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there." Acts 17:17 Bible Reading: .16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was 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 happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean." 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. Outline: I. Pagan Culture Should Provoke Spirits (16-17) A. Provoking the spirit? (16) B. Evangelism should be the result (17) II. Pagan Culture Will be Intrigued by the Gospel (18-19) A. The gospel is intellectually logical (18) B. The gospel is worth further study (19) III. Pagan Culture Will Find the Gospel Strange (20-21) A. The gospel is strange to pagan ears (20) B. The gospel is a new teaching to pagan ears (21) |