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In the Heartland of Greece

Explore Paul's approaches to evangelize in Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens in Acts 17. Witness the growth of the church despite opposition and cultural challenges.

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In the Heartland of Greece

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  1. In the Heartland of Greece Acts 17

  2. In the Heartland of Greece Acts 17 Contains an outstanding demonstration of cultural adaptation of the Gospel Represents the Bible’s most dramatic demonstration of how to explain Christian truth to intelligent unbelievers

  3. In the Heartland of Greece Luke records that Paul stopped at three places in Acts 17 Thessalonica Berea Athens We should notice the different approaches Paul uses to evangelize to each of these groups of people

  4. In the Heartland of Greece Thessalonica Despite their experiences in pagan territory where no synagogues existed, synagogues existed in Thessalonica Paul’s missionary policy had not changed – to the Jews first, but also to the Gentiles Paul stayed about 3 weeks, going to a synagogue each Sabbath

  5. In the Heartland of Greece Thessalonica On familiar ground in a synagogue, the former rabbi could now develop a carefully-developed theology of Christ based on a host of Old Testament texts A familiar strategy utilized a familiar message and drew a familiar response A large number of Jews and devout Greeks believed

  6. In the Heartland of Greece Thessalonica Apparently some of the Jews though, felt quite comfortable rejecting Christ, but they could not stand the large number of devout Greeks who embraced the Gospel What does one do when one is unhappy with another’s choice of religion? The Jews followed a standard operating procedure: find some riffraff, form a mob, start a riot

  7. In the Heartland of Greece Thessalonica Luke repeats an important lesson A strategy emerges here, not just a mindless mob The Jews wanted to demonstrate that these outsiders were disturbing the Peace of Rome, the one thing Rome could not stand If the Jews could demonstrate that Paul and Silas ultimately caused the riot, they could make their claim stick

  8. In the Heartland of Greece Thessalonica Their complaint – these men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here They defy Caesar’s decrees and claim that Jesus is their king Smart Plan – (1) Start a riot, (2) accuse your enemies of disturbing the peace and (3) claim they spoke out against Caesar

  9. In the Heartland of Greece Thessalonica Paul saw in this, the act of Satan shutting down the ministry in Thessalonica However, the act of Satan resulted in furthering God’s plan for evangelism The church in Thessalonica grew and prospered as we learn later from Paul’s letters to that congregation And, Paul moved on to other locations

  10. In the Heartland of Greece Berea The missionaries were on the road again In the cover of darkness, they continued fifty miles west to Berea Much to their delight, they found a synagogue However, Paul may not have been prepared for the reception God set up for him in the town

  11. In the Heartland of Greece Berea Luke leaves his objective narrative to offer an opinion about the Bereans which has etched them in Christian recognition for over two thousand years “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

  12. In the Heartland of Greece Berea Luke seems to be telling us that if recipients of the gospel can put religious, political, and social prejudice out of the way for a bit, they will understand how logical and biblical the message about Jesus really is Not surprisingly, the Thessalonian troubles follow Paul to Berea, and for safety, he moves on to Athens

  13. In the Heartland of Greece Athens The city of Athens in Bible days attracted a lot of sight-seers The Greeks were famous for their art, sculptures, architecture, etc. But Paul was not there as a sightseer, he was there to win souls When Paul arrived, his spirit was provoked as he saw the city was full of idols

  14. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Historians tell us that in those days the Greeks worshipped as many as 30,000 gods and goddesses in their mythology The gods were make believe, but the Greeks took them very seriously, and would erect statutes and monuments and altars to them The Greeks were afraid that they had perhaps even missed some gods, so they erected an altar to “the unknown god”

  15. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Luke sums up Paul’s perspective by saying that the city was “full of idols” (Acts 17:16) Paul knew that these gods were false gods – this was demonic – wood and stone could not save a person’s soul Paul was up against a lot

  16. In the Heartland of Greece Athens There were generally two groups of people in Athens Epicureans Stoics The Epicureans were all about indulgence – their chief goal in life was pleasure – “eat, drink and be merry” The Stoics were all about indifference – their chief goal was to not care, not believe anything

  17. In the Heartland of Greece Athens These two philosophies are at opposite ends of the spectrum, one said to “enjoy life” and the other said to “endure life” The one thing they had in common is that they hated Paul They called him a babbler (seed picker) – the idea being of a bird in the park picking up seeds at random

  18. In the Heartland of Greece Athens They were saying that Paul was just grabbing thoughts from here and there and everywhere and repeating them as his own, with no real thought or understanding of his own – just babbling They looked down their noses at him as if he knew nothing But…..Paul preaches to them

  19. In the Heartland of Greece Athens We need to pay close attention to what Paul did He started where they were – he went to them Paul established a CONNECTION with them Notice his clever opening line: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god’”. (Acts 17:23)

  20. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Paul was saying that he noticed that they were aware of a god they did not know – he wanted to talk to them about Him! Paul then spoke to them and told them four things about God

  21. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is the God of creation He spoke to them about the doctrine of creation God made the world and everything in it Virtually every line of Paul’s statements contradict the religious views of his audience

  22. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is the God of creation There is only one God, not many He does not live in temples like those standing all around us He is not served by human effort He knows no special people (like the Jews or Greeks), since all were made by God

  23. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is the God of creation This flew in the face of these two groups of philosophers The Epicureans believed that matter was eternal and had no creator The Stoics believed God was in everything, i.e. rocks, trees, the river, etc.

  24. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is the God of creation Creationism is still unpopular today, because people do not want to be accountable to God Evolution is taught today as fact, even though it is not even good theory – is not based on observable facts in controlled conditions

  25. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is of personal involvement This idea flew in the face of Greek mythology They thought of their gods as being far away, having little to do with mankind, not wanting to be troubled by man Paul told them that God was in one’s heart

  26. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is of personal involvement The Creator did not just make everything and then turn His back on us, He is personally involved down to the hairs on our head He knows my name “To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.” (John 10:3)

  27. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is of personal involvement He knows my needs “…(what shall we eat or drink) and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Matthew 6:32)

  28. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is of personal involvement He knows how I feel “For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

  29. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is a God of personal involvement Think of this He who was the Bread of Life began His ministry hungry He who was the Water of Life ended His ministry thirsty He who was weary is our rest He who paid taxes is the king of the universe

  30. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is of personal involvement Think of this He who was called a devil cast out demons He who prayed hears our prayers He who wept dries our tears He who was sold for 30 pieces of silver redeemed the world

  31. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is of personal involvement Think of this He who was led as a lamb to the slaughter is our Good Shepherd

  32. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is of personal involvement Think of this He who was led as a lamb to the slaughter is our Good Shepherd HE IS A PERSONAL GOD

  33. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is the God of repentance Paul now steps on their toes He quotes two Greek poets to show that we have our being in God, and that we are His offspring Since we are His offspring, we are not like an image formed by the art and imagination of man

  34. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is the God of repentance Paul then states that the time for ignorance which had previously been overlooked by God, is now over and He commands all people everywhere to repent

  35. In the Heartland of Greece Athens Our God is the God of Judgment God has fixed a day on which He will judge the world by a man He has appointed, and He has given assurance of this by raising Him from the dead Think of this – You do not have to believe in the judge, to be judged by him Many people stand in court today with hatred toward the judge, but his decision still stands

  36. In the Heartland of Greece In Acts 17, Paul shows us three examples of cultural adaptation of the Gospel to intelligent unbelievers (Thessalonians) – To people who have a background of the Old Testament, base the presentation on the Old Testament promises of God (Bereans) – To people who do not have a background of the Old Testament, but who are willing to study to seek to understand how logical and biblical the message about Jesus is

  37. In the Heartland of Greece In Acts 17, Paul shows us three examples of cultural adaptation of the Gospel to intelligent unbelievers (Athenians) – Establish a cultural connection with your audience and then tell them about God

  38. In the Heartland of Greece As we seek to follow Jesus’s command to “go and make disciples”, we need to

  39. In the Heartland of Greece As we seek to follow Jesus’s command to “go and make disciples”, we need to Pray that God will send His Spirit to guide us in our approach

  40. In the Heartland of Greece As you share Jesus, will you seek God’s Spirit on how to approach each unbeliever?

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