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September 10 - Acts 17 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is a Wednesday.
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  It is the 10th of September. We're in double digits already.
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  My goodness, it feels like it was just August.
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  And here we are on the 10th of September.
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  I hope you're going well. I hope that this week is
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  treating you well. Here we are in the middle of the
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  week and we have got a bit of a treat.
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  Today we are going to read one of my favourite chapters in the
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  Bible. This has got the story about
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  Paul going into the space where there are so many different
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  idols to all these different gods, and he has this incredible
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  way of sharing the gospel message.
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  He looks for some overlap. He looks for this space where he
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  can present the gospel in a way that lands as part of a story
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  that they already know. Oh, it's beautiful.
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  And we get to share it today. So without any further ado, let
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  us read together Acts chapter 17.
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  Paul and Silas then travelled through the towns of Amphipolis
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  and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica where there was a
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  Jewish synagogue. As was Paul's custom, he went to
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  the Jewish synagogue and for three Sabbath's in a row he used
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  the scriptures to teach with the people.
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  He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must
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  suffer and rise from the dead. He said this Jesus I'm telling
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  you about is the Messiah. Some of the Jews who listened
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  were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas along with many God
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  fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.
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  Some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some
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  troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and
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  start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason,
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  searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the
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  crowd. Not finding them there, they
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  dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and
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  took them before the City Council.
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  Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world.
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  They shouted and now they are disturbing our city too, and
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  Jason has welcomed them into his house.
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  They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess
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  allegiance to another king named Jesus.
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  The people of the city as well as the City Council were thrown
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  into turmoil by these reports, so the officials forced Jason
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  and the other believers to post bond and then they released
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  them. That very night the believer
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  sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they
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  went to the Jewish synagogue and the people of Berea were more
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  open minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened
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  eagerly to Paul's message. They searched the scriptures day
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  after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.
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  As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent
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  Greek women and men. But then some Jews in
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  Thessalonica learnt that Paul was preaching the word of God in
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  Berea. They went there and stirred up
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  trouble. The believers acted at once,
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  sending Paul onto the coast while Silas and Timothy remained
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  there. Those escorting Paul went with
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  him all the way to Athens. Then they returned to Berea with
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  instructions for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him.
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  While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply
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  troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city.
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  He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God
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  fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to
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  all who happened to be there. He also had a debate with some
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  of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.
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  When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said,
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  what's this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he
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  has picked up? Others said he seems to be
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  preaching about some foreign gods.
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  Then they took him to the high council of the city.
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  Come and tell us about this new teaching.
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  They said you were saying some rather strange things and we
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  want to know what it's all about.
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  It should be explained that all Athenians, as well as the
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  foreigners in Athens, seem to spend all their time discussing
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  the latest ideas. So Paul, standing before the
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  council, addressed them as follows.
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  Men of Athens, I noticed that you were very religious in every
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  way. For as I was walking along, I
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  saw your many shrines, and one of your altars had this
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  inscription on it to an unknown God.
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  This God whom you worship without knowing is the one I'm
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  telling you about. He is the God who made the world
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  and everything in it. Since He is the Lord of heaven
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  and earth, He doesn't live in man made temples, and human
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  hands can't serve his needs, for He has no needs.
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  He Himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies
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  every need. From one man He created all the
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  nations throughout the whole earth.
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  He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and He
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  determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations
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  to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and
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  find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.
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  For in Him we live and move and exist.
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  As some of your own poets have said, we are His offspring.
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  And since this is true, we shouldn't think of God as an
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  idol designed by Craftsman from gold or silver or stone.
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  God overlook people's ignorance about these things in earlier
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  times, but now He commands everyone everywhere to repent of
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  their sins and turn to Him. For he has set a day for judging
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  the world with justice by the man he has appointed.
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  And he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the
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  dead. When they heard Paul speak about
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  the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but
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  others said we want to hear more about this later.
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  That ended Paul's discussion with them, but some joined him
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  and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a
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  member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with
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  them. My Lord, your presence is
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  written on the hearts of every human.
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  Every man, woman and child in this world is just beautifully
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  and carefully made by you, and your fingerprints are all over
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  them. And here we hear that although
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  they didn't know you, these men and women of Athens made this
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  temple to the unknown God, and poetry to this God who they
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  didn't know. Our Lord, we do know you though.
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  You have come and you have taught us not just how to live
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  and not just how to be saved, but you have taught us about
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  your very nature, the nature of the Father and yourself and the
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  Spirit that now lives in us to know that you are God and a God
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  of love, of compassion, of mercy, and of goodness beyond
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  our ability to fathom. And so we come before you and we
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  praise you, knowing who you are and so grateful for what Jesus
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  has done in showing us your very nature.
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  So we worship you, we lift up our hearts, we give them to you,
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  for all we are is yours. We are your people, and we love
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  you. And we pray all of this in your
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  wonderful name, Jesus, Amen.