What a Journey, Pt. 2

I have preached Acts 17:16-34 many times, but what a joy it was to read and share a brief message on this passage in the very place Paul preached.

What a Journey, Pt. 2

"And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, 'May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?'"

(Acts 17:19)

After we toured the ancient city of Corinth, we drove 50 miles to Athens. I had been looking forward to going back to Athens. I wish everyone had the opportunity to visit this city with so much ancient and modern history. In Paul's day, when he visited around AD 50, Athens was the intellectual epicenter of the world. Its history included such notable philosophers as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and others like Zeno (founder of Stoicism) and Epicurus (founder of Epicureanism).

Our group walked up to the Parthenon and beheld the massive pillars that are visible from all over the city. The Parthenon, the ancient temple that dates to 432 BC, housed the goddess of Athens, Athena. It was located at the acropolis, the highest point in the city of Athens. The Athenians were very religious with 30,000 gods and goddesses and a population of only 10,000 people. It was here that Paul noticed an altar to the unknown god (Acts 17:23) that the Athenians had established in case they had missed a particular god that they should know and worship. Here is a picture of Ashley and I standing at the Parthenon:

I have preached Acts 17:16-34 many times, but what a joy it was to read and share a brief message on this passage in the very place Paul preached. When Paul was invited to speak to the Areopagus, he appeared before this elite group of philosophers and spoke to them on the Hill of Ares, or Mars Hill. (This place is also referred to as the Areopagus.) Paul preached a powerful message to the Athenians. Here is a picture of Ashley and I in front of the engraving with the biblical text in Greek that Paul preached, as recorded in Acts 17:

Paul gives pastors in every generation a wonderful example to follow when preaching. No matter the audience, the responsibility of the Gospel preacher is to make much of Jesus Christ. Paul demonstrated that he understood his audience, and he shared a message with them that they had never heard. His sermon was packed with theological truths. His most important point was this one: "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31)

Tomorrow I will share with you two encounters I had with others on Mars' Hill. It was so neat. God is so good, and he has His people everywhere. You just never know who you are going to meet!

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Podcast of the Week

Interview with Dr. Jennifer Wakefield, Pt. 1

Pastor Danny welcomes to the show Dr. Jennifer Wakefield, biblical counselor and head of the women's ministry at Great Hills Baptist Church, to discuss the issues of same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria and how Christians can effectively minister to people struggling with these issues, especially how parents can help their children if they are in the midst of these struggles.

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