Podcasts about Unknown God

SEEING CLEARLY: Then + Now   Scandal of Idolatry - Then - Acts 17:16 we read that Paul was in Athens and was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 1 Corinthians 10:20 Paul writes that the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And in Romans 1:22-23 "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal human beings and birds and animals and reptiles." In Athens life revolved around the idols. Sampling: Festival of Athena Festival of Apollo Festival of Demeter Festival of Poseidon Festival of Dionysus Festival of Zeus Now - Today we need to have our eyes opened to the idolatry of this age. The worship of things and self.   Reason vs Ridicule - Then - Acts 17:17-18 Paul reasoned in the synagogue and the market place to both Jews and God-fearing Greeks regarding idolatry. Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. They accused him of advocating foreign gods because he was preaching the good news of Jesus and the resurrection - something they had not heard before.  Now - Today there are many who ridicule the Christian faith so it is important to reason with them and to bring into their lives the truth of what the scriptures say. (See 1 Corinthians 1:21)    Tyranny of Fads - Then - Acts 17:19-21 - Paul is taken to a meeting of the Areopagus (legislative body) where they question Paul about what he was teaching. They were interested in new ideas, interested in going with the latest fad. However the good news of Jesus is not a fad and in Romans 12:2 we are encouraged to not conform to the patterns of the world.  Now - Today we are called to be grounded in the word of God, to be transformed by it and not follow the ways of the world.   The Unknown is made Known - Then - Acts 17:22-25 Paul stands up and addresses the group saying that he sees they are "very religious." He had observed their objects of worship and told them they were ignorant and then he reveals that God who made the world and everything in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples built by human hands. He told them that God gives life and breath and everything else.  Now - today just like then, many have heard of God but they do not know Him. (See 1 Timothy 6:15-16) Paul seeks to communicate who God truly is: all powerful, all knowing and good.   The Priority of Repentance - Then - Acts 17:26-30 -  Paul tells them of the one true God who made nations from one man. "For in Him we live and move and have our beings." He goes on to say that since we are God's offspring, we shouldn't think that God is like an idol of gold or silver. God commands all people to repent.  Now - today - we too are to repent. To turn around, change our direction and return to God.    Resurrection of Christ - Then - Acts 17:31-33 - Paul tells of the day that the Lord has set to judge the world with justice by the One who God Himself raised from the dead. (Jesus - Redeemer, Deliverer) When Paul talked of the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others wanted to learn more.  Now - today - the resurrection of Christ is the key biblical teaching and the heart of the New Testament teaching. By human standards, Christ's resurrection seems ridiculous - unless it's REAL!  And that is precisely what the scriptures declare AND what the evidence points to!  1 Corinthians 15:20 tells us that Christ has indeed been risen from the dead! And that news can change even the most devout skeptic.    Pastor shares the story of a cold case investigator, detective and atheist, J. Warner Wallace. Using cold case investigation tools and tactics Wallace uncovers compelling evidences for Christ's resurrection, yet he still chose to ignore what he uncovered and chose NOT to see clearly. However, that's not the end of the story. Pastor closes class with how it all ended for J. Warner Wallace and how it ends for all of us.    God has set a day when He will judge the world - Thus we need to repent - because God has raised His Son from the grave and He IS coming back!     This week's READING ASSIGNMENT: Acts chapter 17-18.      Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.   Check out this video series from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/god-acts-then-now   Or watch from our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@AwakeUsNow/videos   Join us Sundays live or on demand from our website  https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Basil's back from the Burning Man Research trip with the Camp of the Unknown God with an unexpected testimony. Let's see what God wants from today's Call In show!

Pastor Jordan Boyce is continuing our Acts of the Apostles series with The Unknown God, preaching from Acts 17:22–34. Paul walked into a city searching for God without truly knowing Him and declared that the God they were looking for was closer than they thought.Wherever you're watching from, join us as we look to Jesus, the One who makes the unknown God known.Paul stood in the heart of Athens surrounded by altars, idols, philosophy and religion, yet the people still did not know the God they were searching for. Pointing to their altar “To the unknown god,” Paul proclaimed that the God they were reaching for was not far from them. God uses the world around us to point us toward Jesus, and through Jesus, He reveals Himself. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. If you want to know what God is like, look to Christ. And the ultimate assurance of who Jesus is comes through the resurrection. Christianity ultimately confronts each of us with the same question Jesus asked Martha: “Do you believe this?”Key Highlights:• The Athenians knew gods, religion, philosophy and worship, but they did not know Jesus.• Creation points to the Creator, art points to the Artist and the shadow points to the One casting it.• God meets people in ways they can recognize. Our passions, relationships, creation, joys, struggles and questions can all point us toward Him.• Paul declares that God “is actually not far from each one of us.” Like feeling your way through an unfamiliar room toward the door, God is closer than we may realize.• The goal is not simply to know about God, but to know Him and be known by Him.• Jesus is the Man who makes the unknown God known. He is “the image of the invisible God.”• If you want to know the personality of God, look at the person of Jesus: the Father who runs toward the prodigal, the One who touches the leper, lifts the paralyzed and opens the eyes of the blind.• Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”• Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd and declared, “Behold the Man!” The question for us is: Have you beheld Him?• When you are stung by sin, bitten by betrayal or caught in the stranglehold of shame, look to Jesus.• Paul points Athens beyond philosophy and religion to the resurrection. God has given assurance of who Jesus is by raising Him from the dead. • Christianity ultimately comes down to more than believing Jesus was a good man, moral teacher or prophet. Do you believe He is God?• Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life,” and then asked her, “Do you believe this?” That same question remains for us today.• Jesus died, was buried and rose again. The resurrection changes every decision that follows.• If the tomb is not empty, we are fools. But if it is empty, we are free indeed.Scripture References:Acts 17:22–34, Colossians 1:15, John 14:9, John 19:5, Zechariah 12:10, Hebrews 12:2, John 11:21–27, Psalm 34:8

Paul walks into a city full of different ideas about truth, happiness, meaning, and God in Acts 17. It doesn't feel all that different from our own context in Seattle. Instead of condemning the people around him, Paul listens and meets them where they are, pointing listeners toward the God they've been searching for all along. His example invites us to look honestly at the ideas and truths shaping our own lives, while learning how to share Jesus with humility and courage.

This sermon examines Paul's address to the Athenians in Acts 17, focusing on the biblical anthropology that all humanity descends from one man and is created to seek God. The speaker highlights Paul's strategic use of Greek poetry as a bridge to communicate the truth of the one true God, contrasting the Athenians' right intuition with their wrong execution of worshiping idols. The central message calls for a change in thinking and a universal repentance, grounded in the assurance of Christ's resurrection and the coming judgment. The tone is instructional and pastoral, urging believers to emulate Paul's method of sharing the gospel with love and wisdom rather than anger or compromise. Ultimately, the sermon emphasizes that while the method of evangelism is important, the core message of salvation through Jesus Christ remains the priority.

Try the BibleACTS app!: https://bibleacts.goodbarber.app/subscribe Shop "Cut to the Heart" apparel: https://cut2theheart.com In **Acts 17**, Paul continues preaching the gospel across the ancient world—reasoning from the Scriptures, facing opposition, and eventually standing in Athens to proclaim the true God to a culture filled with idols. This chapter gives us a powerful example of how Christians can **know the Scriptures, test what they hear, and communicate the gospel to people who see the world very differently.** In this episode, we discuss: * Paul reasoning from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ * The opposition Paul and Silas faced in Thessalonica * Why the Bereans were called more noble * Examining the Scriptures daily to test what we're taught * Paul's reaction to the idolatry throughout Athens * Sharing the gospel in a culture with completely different beliefs * Paul's famous message about the "unknown god" * God as Creator and His relationship to humanity * God's command for all people everywhere to repent * The resurrection of Jesus and coming judgment * The different responses people had to Paul's preaching Acts 17 challenges believers to be both **grounded in Scripture and prepared to communicate the truth to the culture around us**. Like the Bereans, we should examine what we're taught against God's Word—and like Paul, we should be ready to boldly proclaim Christ wherever God places us. Watch, listen, and grow in your faith — and subscribe for more verse-by-verse Bible teaching, podcast discussions, and biblical commentary. #Acts17 #BibleStudy #Bereans #Paul #UnknownGod #Athens #EarlyChurch #ChristianPodcast #BibleCommentary #VerseByVerse

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Brett Deal.I find it strange when people think Christians are narrow-minded, but even stranger when too many of us prove them right! Reading the grand story of the Bible, we find God's people as fish out of water, constantly finding new ways to communicate the truth of God's character through the languages and cultures around them. Joseph went from being a slave and condemned prisoner to the right hand of a global superpower. Moses was raised within the Judaism of his family, the Egyptian learning of Pharaoh's house, and the wilderness wisdom of his wife's Bedouin roots, which all prepared him to lead his people. Across Scripture we see God frequently taking the best and most beautiful aspects of all His image-bearers and using those things to draw all peoples to Himself.This was just as true of Paul as it was of his Jewish ancestors. Paul grew up within the Pharisaic tradition, but also as a Roman citizen. This widened his worldview long before Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and called him to be a missionary to the nations. Paul was always paying attention to his surroundings, leveraging the best ideas of his environment to communicate the good news of Jesus. We see this brilliantly on display from the heights of Athens to the depths of a Roman dungeon (Acts 17; Ephesians 6). Among the Greeks, he used the plurality of idols to share the "Unknown God," and as the frequent guest of the imperial guard, he adopted their military language to describe his service to Christ.Writing to the multicultural church in Philippi, Paul saw how they were getting lost in translation, creating confusion and conflict among themselves. Instead of narrowing their field of vision, Paul encouraged them to widen it—not to think less, but more! Frank Thielman notes, “Paul asserts the need for believers to cast their intellectual nets widely—to allow all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy, wherever it is found, to shape their thinking.”As Christians, we should be known for our love for one another and our curiosity and compassion toward all, because we've been saturated by His Word and empowered by His Spirit. May this be said of us.

Their Unknown God wanted to be known by them!

Reading Acts 17:22-23 where the Apostle Paul is in Athens, and he comes across an altar that says, "To an Unknown God," and Paul preaches to them about the true God. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

Most people say they are spiritual. Far fewer go to church. That gap describes our culture, and it described Athens too. Paul preached the same gospel in three cities and got three different responses. In Thessalonica, jealousy started a riot. In Berea, people examined the Scriptures every day and believed. In Athens, the intellectual capital of the ancient world was packed with idols and an altar “to the unknown god.” Paul did not start with condemnation. He started with their own altar. Then he named the God they were reaching for in the dark: the Creator who made the world, gives life and breath to all, and now commands everyone everywhere to repent. Why? Because He has fixed a day when He will judge the world through the Man He raised from the dead. The resurrection still splits the room. Some mock. Some say they will hear it again later. Some believe. The Unknown God is unknown no longer. He has a name. He has a face. He has an empty tomb. The only question left is whether He will stay unknown to you.

Day 177 of reading through the entire Bible in one year. Today Jehu carries out God's fierce judgment on the house of Ahab, killing Joram, Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal in a sweeping revolt across Israel — then Paul stands before the philosophers of Athens and boldly proclaims the God they had labelled unknown. We close with Psalm 144, David's prayer for divine strength in battle, and a Proverb on the wisdom of holding your tongue.

How do we reach a changing culture without changing the Gospel?In Acts 17, Paul steps into cities filled with different beliefs, philosophies, religions, opinions, and people searching for meaning. Instead of becoming angry at the culture around him, Paul is stirred by the people who are lost within it.Paul understood something the Church still needs today: the truth never changes, but the way we communicate that truth may.In Thessalonica, Paul reasoned from Scripture. In Athens, he began with something the people already understood, the altar to the “unknown god” and used it as a bridge to introduce them to Jesus.He changed his approach, but he never changed the Gospel.As followers of Jesus, we are called to stay close enough to culture to speak to it, but different enough from culture to have something to say.And ultimately, every bridge we build should lead somewhere. Paul began with the unknown god, but he ended with the resurrected Jesus.Because behind every idol, every search for meaning, and every attempt to fill the emptiness is a human heart searching for something only Jesus can satisfy.The goal isn't for people to simply know more about Jesus.We want them to KNOW HIM.

This sermon covers the second half of Paul's sermon to the Athenians on Mars Hill. Given that there is one true God who made and rules over all creation, and that mankind is desperately 'groping' for the divine, what is the proper response? We must abandon our man-made gods, repent of our self-loving sin, and prepare for the risen judge.

Paul's encounter with the philosophers of Athens and his subsequent sermon on Mars Hill is the centerpiece of the book of Acts. Here we see God going toe-to-toe with the wise debaters of the age as He speaks through Paul to reveal His person, His will for mankind, and the truth of how He will ultimately bring human history to a close. In this first part of a two-part sermon, Pastor Shawn examines the dangers of idolatry and God's solution in Christ.

This week we join Paul before the Areopagus in Athens and discover how the true story of the Gospel reveals the identity of the “Unknown God”, exposes our unknown idols, confronts the false worldviews that have shaped us, and sets us on the path of the abundant life in God's unfolding Kingdom.

Pastor David Harris Sunday August 9, 2026

When Paul reached Athens, he was deeply disturbed by idols and inscriptions to an “Unknown God.” He earned the invitation to speak with the Greek philosophers and used his sermon on “Mars Hill” to introduce the Creator they worship without knowing.

If this congregation can help you in any way, please contact us at www.normanchurch.com

Sunday Worship August 2nd, 2026   “The Unknown God” Acts 17:22-34 Rev. Tyler Dirks   Sermon Audio   Sermon Outline: Does Things Different Dirt Reflection Questions: Would you say that in every way, you are a VERY religious person? Why or why not? What are 3 significant ways Jesus does things differently than the way […] The post The Unknown God appeared first on East Charlotte Pres.

Paul walks into Athens, a city stuffed with idols and clever talkers, and instead of being impressed he is grieved. Rather than condemn the crowd, he starts with an altar they had built to an unknown god and tells them he has come to make that god known, even quoting their own poets on the way to the resurrection. Together with the Bereans, who checked everything Paul said against Scripture, these scenes model how to speak the gospel into a skeptical culture without watering it down. This is a chapter for Christians who feel surrounded by unbelief and are unsure how to begin.  The Rev. Dr. Matthew Tassey, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Shawnee, OK, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Acts 17:1-34.  To learn more about Redeemer Lutheran, visit redeemershawnee.org. The book of Acts picks up where the Gospels leave off. Jesus has risen. He has ascended. And now what? Acts answers that question. Luke tells the story of how the Holy Spirit built the Church from a handful of frightened disciples in Jerusalem into a movement that reached Rome itself. Along the way, you get Pentecost, the first sermons, the first martyrs, the conversion of Paul, the first church councils, shipwrecks, riots, and the persistent, stubborn work of God through Word and Sacrament even when His people didn't have a plan. If you've ever wondered how we got from Easter morning to the Church you sit in today, this is the book. Tune in for this new series on Thy Strong Word with Pastor Phil Booe and guest pastors as we open up the Book of Acts.  Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God's Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Canary Cry Radio is on the bleeding edge of reporting boots-on-the-ground from Burning Man for nearly a decade. Standing on the shoulders of researchers like Carl Teichrib and his work on the Re-Enchantment, and Transformative Events, no other Christian podcast has addressed why these events are important for the future of our culture, while evangelizing and preaching the Gospel message of Jesus Christ in the middle of the most esoteric annual event in Black Rock City. Carl is back with an much needed update on everything! Visit BurningManResearch.com to get the archive of episodes on this topic over the last 15 years! Find out how to support Basil's trip to Burning Man 2026, where the theme is AXIS MUNDI! LINKS https://orbis-sentry.org https://www.gameofgods.ca https://CanaryCry.Support   0:00 — Intro: Carl Teichrib returns 1:25 — Carl's research background 6:23 — Globalism, interfaith, transhumanism converge 9:25 — Discovering transformational festival culture 11:35 — Burning Man's countercultural roots 18:07 — Festivals prove secularism's dead 20:15 — What makes festivals "transformational" 31:27 — Origins of "re-enchantment" term 33:35 — Pagan environmentalism: Rio quote 35:53 — SXSW: consciousness, psychedelics admission 42:35 — Re-enchantment history since 1800s 46:16 — California: spiritual petri dish 54:49 — True re-enchantment: the resurrection 57:17 — "Christians made resurrection boring" 1:04:59 — Jesus: the true Axis Mundi 1:12:31 — Warning: parroting worldly language 1:20:17 — "Not a place for Christians" 1:22:28 — 2017: first burn story 1:24:03 — Camp of the Unknown God 1:28:22 — Naming the camp: Acts 17 1:30:50 — Paul at Athens breakdown 1:35:21 — Cultural diplomacy, not war 1:48:40 — This year's theme & concerns 1:51:25 — Burning Man: propaganda target? 1:57:18 — Handling the temple carefully 1:59:23 — Christians bear false witness 2:07:04 — Rosie's story: rights of nature 2:09:52 — Psalm 51 tears moment 2:14:25 — Orbis origin: Texas Eclipse 2:16:42 — George's three-day culture shock 2:19:44 — NATO Dayton, forming Orbis 2:33:16 — Prayer requests & farewell

Bryan Thomas preached from Acts 17:16–34, where Paul proclaims the “unknown God” in Athens. He emphasized believers are called to proclaim God clearly in a world that is spiritually confused, intellectually proud, and full of false worship. Paul was provoked by the city's idols, but instead of retreating, he engaged Jews, marketplace hearers, philosophers, and the Areopagus with the truth of Jesus and the resurrection. The church is exhorted to proclaim this unknown God by taking comfort in God, having confidence in the faith, and living with clarity of mission. Our comfort in God should make us lovingly uncomfortable with the lostness around us. Our confidence grows as we remember what God has done and trust what He has promised. Our mission is to speak faithfully, leave results to the Holy Spirit, and be prepared to share Christ with those who need Him.

Acts 17:22–34 “The Unknown God” Paul speaks the language of the people around him while still faithfully proclaiming Jesus. This message explores evangelism, public witness, and how the church can communicate the gospel meaningfully in a spiritually fragmented world.

In this continuation of the study in the Book of Acts chapter 17, Paul addresses the people of Athens at the altar to the unknown God. He declares the one true God who made the world and all things, who is Lord of heaven and earth and does not dwell in temples made with hands. God gives life and breath and all things to all people, has made all nations of one blood, and has determined their times and borders. He calls everyone to seek the Lord who is not far from each one of us, quotes their own poets, urges repentance, and proclaims judgment through the risen Jesus Christ. Some mocked while others including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris believed.

On Knowing the Unknown God_Allen Hilton_5.31.26 by Covenant Presbyterian

To the Ends of the Earth | Week 8 | The Unknown God | Pastor Wes Davis | Life Center Tacoma Acts 17:22-23 (NLT) God is the CREATOR of everything God made us for a RELATIONSHIP with Him Our sin is what SEPARATES us from God Level 1: Stranger Level 2: Acquaintance Level 3: Friend Level 4: Close Friend Level 5: Lifelong

“When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:22–23 NLT) Our world today is full of religious people, but many of them shy away from using that word to describe themselves. “Religious” has too many negative connotations, as far as they’re concerned. So instead, they use a different word: spiritual. They’ll describe themselves as “very spiritual” and then will add, “But I’m not into organized religion.” Statements like this can become a segue for sharing the gospel. As believers we can say, “Really? I’m a spiritual person, too. In fact, I’m really into spiritual things, and I want to talk to you about an important spiritual truth I’ve discovered.” Some people may suggest that this sounds like compromise, agreeing with a worldly point of view. But that’s not the case. It’s not a compromise to acknowledge someone’s belief, even if we don’t agree with that belief. Rather, it’s simply a matter of using understandable language to build a bridge so that you can talk about your relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s a matter of finding common ground, a place where the other person feels conversationally comfortable—and more likely to be receptive to the gospel message. When the apostle Paul addressed the men of Athens, he said, “I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about” (Acts 17:22–23 NLT). Notice that Paul didn’t say, “Hey, what you’re doing is legit.” But neither did he belittle their unusual inscription or try to correct their theology. He simply used language that the people of Athens could understand to connect with them about his most important message. Paul understood what all believers need to understand: Evangelism is a dialogue, not a monologue. You ask a question, and the other person gives you an answer. Then you respond to what the person said. They say something, and you say something. This is what Paul was talking about when he said, “When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:22–23 NLT). Finding common ground with everyone is a tall order. It’s a good thing the Holy Spirit is with us every step of the way. It’s also a good thing that the first step in finding that common ground requires us to do nothing more than listen. Reflection question: How do you try to find common ground with others when you share your faith? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! The Harvest Crusade is coming to Angel Stadium on July 11! Stay updated on all important event details. — The audio production of the podcast "Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known." All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are religious by design because we are eternal by design. In this second installment of our Forever series, we travel with the Apostle Paul to the Areopagus in Athens—a place where the brightest minds gathered to debate higher ideals, yet still built an altar to an "Unknown God".We explore what true worship looks like when we move past Netflix, TikTok, and modern-day distractions. From the ancient definition of worship as "shrinking back in awe," to the heavy Hebrew concept of Kavod (glory), we ask a penetrating question: Does God carry weight in your everyday habits, speech, and finances? Finally, we look at the staggering global statistics of where we are born, challenging us to stop wasting our lives and start leveraging our resources, our time, and even our children—stewarded like arrows—for the global fame of Jesus.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 12th of May, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Gospel of John 14:6. Remember, Thomas said to Jesus, “We do not know the way,” and “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Then we go to the Book of Acts 17:22: “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;…” That was because they were seeking to find the truth. They had many different gods but there was one inscription and it is found in verse 23, and this inscription says,”TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.”Now Paul was speaking to these learned wise men, and he was telling them about Jesus. Of course, when he saw this inscription, he said to them, “This is the Unknown God that you are seeking. His name is Jesus Christ and He is the One that you are worshipping, even if you do not know it.” I want to say to you today, there is no other god, there never was and there never will be. We need to tell people. There are many confused people, good people, and wonderful people, and they believe that all roads lead to Heaven. They do not all lead to Heaven. There is only one God and He has only one Son. His Son is Jesus Christ.Folks, it will make you unpopular. I know that because I have become very unpopular often when I say in love, “there is no other god”. You see, if you say to a person, “I love God”, they will not mind it because God is who you perceive him to be. Some people worship the trees, some people worship the stars, but when you say, “There is only One God and His name is Jesus Christ”, then all Heaven breaks loose! People say, “How can you say that?” “How can you be so self-righteous?” You say, “No, it's what the word of God says. It is what the Bible says, and we believe He is the Word, as it says in John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word and His name is Jesus. I am so proud to tell people that, and I tell them that He died for all men, not just some men, of different ages, different colours, different creeds.So today, do not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ! Have a wonderful day.Goodbye.

That person with whom you want to share the Gospel, your spouse, the friend with whom you enjoy coffee on Wednesday mornings, your next-door neighbor or coworker, may think that they already know everything there is to know about Him.  They're not expecting you to tell them anything that they haven't already heard.  So, don't be surprised if they seem bored, or even dismissive.  Is that discouraging?  Sure it is.  But it also presents us with a tremendous opportunity that's took good to pass up!

Bible StudyDon't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon: Sermon OutlineBig IdeaHumanity was made for God, and every restless longing ultimately points to Christ. The Restless Human HeartIllustrationsAugustine of Hippo — “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”Blaise Pascal — “All men crave happiness.”Tom Brady — “There's got to be more than this.”TruthEarthly success and pleasure cannot satisfy the soul. Paul's Burden for AthensActs 17:16Paul was “provoked” by the city's idols.Deeply distressedMoved with compassionBurdened for lost soulsApplicationChristians should respond to a lost culture with truth, compassion, and gospel engagement.III. Paul at the AreopagusActs 17:22–23“To the unknown god”Paul uses their spiritual longing as a bridge to the gospel.Key InsightHumanity senses God exists but cannot truly know Him apart from revelation. The Message of the Areopagus Sermon God Is CreatorActs 17:24Creator of all thingsLord over heaven and earthNot confined to temples God Is Self-SufficientActs 17:25Needs nothing from mankindGives life and breath to all God Is SovereignActs 17:26Rules over nations and historyHumanity shares one origin Humanity Was Made for GodActs 17:27Humanity longs for HimGod is not far away Idolatry Distorts TruthActs 17:29God cannot be reduced to idolsFalse worship blinds the heart The Gospel Demands RepentanceActs 17:30–31God commands repentanceJudgment is comingChrist's resurrection proves His authority Paul's Method: Contextualizing the GospelActs 17:28Paul quotes Greek poets to connect with his audience.DefinitionContextualizing the gospel means explaining unchanging truth in understandable ways without changing the message itself. ApplicationsFor Believers2 Corinthians 5:20“We are ambassadors for Christ.”Engage culture faithfullySpeak truth with compassionShare the gospel boldlyFor UnbelieversRepentance is:Turning from sinTurning toward God in faith and surrenderPromise of the GospelRest for the soulForgivenessJoy in ChristEternal lifeClosing TruthHumanity was made for GodIdols cannot satisfyChrist alone brings rest to the restless soulStudy QuestionsWhy do you think Augustine's quote about the restless heart still resonates today?What are some modern idols people pursue in place of God?What does it mean that Paul was “provoked” by the idols in Athens?How did Paul balance truth and compassion in engaging a pagan culture?Why is the altar “to the unknown god” so significant?What does Paul teach about the nature of God in verses 24–27?What is the difference between contextualizing the gospel and compromising the gospel?Why is repentance essential to the Christian message?How does the resurrection validate Jesus' authority?What practical ways can Christians serve as ambassadors for Christ in today's culture?Questions?Do you have a question about today's sermon? Email Tim Winkler ().

We are exhausted. Not tired. Exhausted. And we cannot stop. We have been building altars about it for a very long time. And none of them are working.   But there is another way.   Acts 17:22-31 | John 14:15-21 | 1 Peter 3:13-22

Pastor Steve and Pastor Dave discuss how we are called to meet people where they are and use our unique gifts and experiences to share the Gospel.

Paul was a master communicator and thinker; read how he finds an opening for Jesus and takes it home!

Join us for Day1 Episode 4233 as Rev. Dr. Scott Rennie, Minister of St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, brings a message titled The Unknown God, based on Acts 17:22-31. Preaching for the 6th Sunday of Easter, he reflects on faith, mystery, humility, and the risen Christ who makes God known without removing wonder. This thoughtful sermon speaks to spiritual searching in a world hungry for certainty and control. Tune in for a rich and timely word for the Easter season.

IntroductionThis guide covers the four Revised Common Lectionary readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A (May 10, 2026). Ascension Thursday falls four days later (May 14), and these texts are shaped by the awareness that Jesus is preparing to leave — and that what he leaves behind is not a void but a presence. Acts shows the gospel reaching into Athens. The psalm testifies to coming through hard places intact. First Peter calls the church to be ready to explain its hope. And John 14 promises the Spirit to people who are afraid of being left alone.From Art in the Christian Tradition, Vanderbilt Lectionary PageThe ReadingsActs 17:22–31The First Lesson — Paul at the AreopagusSummaryStanding before the Areopagus in Athens, Paul addresses a sophisticated audience of philosophers and civic leaders. He opens by observing that the Athenians are clearly a religious people — he even found an altar inscribed ‘To an Unknown God.' That unknown God, he says, is the one he has come to tell them about. This God made the world and everything in it, does not live in human-built temples, and does not need anything from us — God is the one who gives life and breath to all people. God made every nation from one source and set their boundaries, so that people might search for God, who is never actually far from any of us. Paul quotes their own poets: ‘In him we live and move and have our being,' and ‘We are his offspring.' If that is true, then God cannot be represented by gold or silver or stone carved by human hands. God has overlooked times of ignorance, but now calls all people everywhere to turn around, because a day of judgment is coming — appointed through a man God raised from the dead. At that, some laugh, some want to hear more, and a few believe.Key Ideas for Preaching1. The Sixth Sunday of Easter falls just before Ascension, and this reading from Acts, while jumping ahead in the timeline a bit, bridges the two: it shows the gospel already moving outward into the wider world, beyond the familiar territory of Jerusalem and Judea. Paul is standing in the intellectual capital of the ancient world and holding his own. We may want to use this as a moment to reflect on what it means for faith to travel into unfamiliar places.2. Paul finds common ground before he makes his central claim. He does not begin by telling the Athenians what they are missing — he starts with what they have already built and what they are already reaching toward. That approach is worth examining as a posture for the church's engagement with people outside it.3. The description of God in this passage is notable for what it does not say as much as what it does. God needs nothing, is not confined to a building, and is closer to every human being than they realize. This is a picture of God that many in a congregation may not have fully absorbed. A sermon could simply dwell in it.4. The mixed response at the end — mockery, curiosity, belief — is a realistic picture of how proclamation lands in the world. Not every sermon ends with a packed altar call. As preachers, we may need to remind ourselves — and help congregations hold this reality — with some peace rather than treating every unresolved response as a failure.Significant Cautions⚠ This passage overlaps significantly with last week's NL reading (Acts 17:16–31 is the same text). Preachers who used the Narrative Lectionary last Sunday should be aware their congregation has just heard this passage. Consider either going deeper into a specific element they did not explore, or framing the repetition as an opportunity to return to something worth sitting with longer.⚠ Paul's opening compliment about Athenian religiosity has limits — he goes on to call them to turn from what they have built toward the God he is proclaiming. Preachers should hold both moves together rather than presenting Paul as simply affirming whatever spiritual seeking people are doing.⚠ The phrase ‘times of ignorance God overlooked' needs care. It is not a blanket dismissal of all religious life outside Christianity, but it does signal that Paul sees this moment as a turning point rather than a continuation of business as usual. There is truth, even truth about God, that can be learned outside of our religious traditions.Psalm 66:8–20The Psalm — Tested, Tried, and Brought ThroughSummaryThis portion of Psalm 66 shifts from a call to general praise into something more personal and hard-won. The speaker describes a period of severe testing — God allowed the community to be burdened, passed through fire and water, and brought to what felt like a breaking point. But they came through to a spacious place. The psalmist then moves to personal testimony: I cried out to God, and God listened. If I had held on to anything wrong in my heart, God would not have heard — but God did hear, and did not take away steadfast love. The psalm closes with praise for a God who kept listening.Key Ideas for Preaching1. The testing described in this psalm is not metaphorical softness — it involves being ridden over, fire, and flood. This is real hardship, and the psalm does not apologize for naming it. We may use this as an opening for honest conversation about seasons of life that feel like they are breaking something in us.2. The movement from ‘you brought us through' to ‘I cried out and was heard' — from communal memory to personal testimony — mirrors what often happens in a healthy congregation. Corporate faith provides the framework; personal experience fills it in. Both matter, and neither replaces the other.3. The conditional in verse 18 — ‘if I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened' — is worth addressing carefully. It is not a claim that only morally perfect people get heard. It is an observation that a life turned deliberately away from God is also a life turned away from the relationship that makes prayer possible.4. The phrase ‘brought us out to a spacious place' is one of the most evocative images in the Psalter for what deliverance feels like. It is not just relief — it is room. We can use this image to describe what life on the other side of a hard season can look like.Significant Cautions⚠ Verse 18 — about God not hearing those who cherish wrongdoing — has been used harmfully to tell people whose prayers seem unanswered that they must have some hidden sin. That is a pastoral minefield. The psalm is a personal expression of gratitude, not a theological formula for how prayer works.⚠ The testing in this psalm is framed as something God allowed or even directed. That raises honest questions about theodicy that, as preachers, we should not sidestep or resolve too quickly. It is fine to acknowledge that the psalm holds this tension without resolving it neatly.⚠ The call to ‘bless our God' at the opening of this section can feel jarring if a congregation is in the middle of the fire rather than on the other side of it. Preachers should be aware that not everyone in the room is at the thanksgiving end of this psalm's arc.1 Peter 3:13–22The Epistle — Ready to Give a Reason for Your HopeSummaryThe letter addresses people who are vulnerable — outsiders in their communities, prone to mistreatment for no good reason. The writer asks: who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if they do, you are blessed for it. Do not be frightened. Instead, set Christ apart as holy in your heart, and be ready at any moment to give anyone who asks a clear, gentle account of the hope that lives in you. Keep your conscience clear so that those who slander you will be put to shame. It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong. Christ himself suffered once for sins — the just person for the unjust — to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit. The passage ends with a reference to Noah and the flood, connecting that rescue through water to baptism, which the writer describes not as the removal of dirt but as an appeal to God from a clear conscience, made possible through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.Key Ideas for Preaching1. The phrase ‘always be ready to give an account of the hope that is in you' is one of the most practical calls in the New Testament. Many people in a congregation have never been asked to articulate what they actually hope in, or why. We can use this as an opportunity to help the congregation practice that clarity — not as a debate technique, but as an honest personal testimony.2. The instruction to give that account ‘with gentleness and respect' is often overlooked. The call to be ready is not a call to be aggressive or combative. The manner of the answer is part of the witness. We can explore what it looks like to speak about faith in a way that invites rather than shuts down.3. The passage puts suffering for doing right in the context of Christ's own suffering. This is not abstract — the writer is speaking to people who know what it is to be mistreated for no good reason. The solidarity offered here is not a philosophical argument but a shared experience.4. The Noah and baptism connection at the end of the passage is compressed and a little hard to follow, but the key idea is worth lifting out: what saves is not the water itself but the resurrection of Jesus, to which the water points. Baptism is described as an appeal — a turning toward God. We can use this to open up what baptism means in practice for people who were baptized long ago and may not think of it often.Significant Cautions⚠ The question ‘who will harm you if you are eager to do good?' can sound naive to people who have experienced serious harm despite living with integrity — victims of injustice, discrimination, or abuse. We need to acknowledge this rather than letting the verse imply that right living guarantees protection (the Job Principle).⚠ Like last week's epistle text, this passage has a complicated history of being used to demand passive endurance from people in genuinely harmful situations. The same cautions apply: this is not a command to remain in danger. Naming that history explicitly can be a pastoral gift.⚠ The Noah passage has been used in Christian history to make exclusivist claims about who gets saved — only eight people, and so on. I think we should resist this reading. The writer's point is not about the narrowness of rescue but about its reality and about what it points toward.⚠ The reference to Christ preaching to spirits in prison is one of the most debated passages in the New Testament. Preachers do not need to resolve what it means, but they should not pretend it says something it does not. It is fine to acknowledge the difficulty honestly and keep the focus on the surrounding text.John 14:15–21The Gospel — The Promise of the SpiritSummaryThis passage continues Jesus' farewell conversation with his disciples on the night before his death. He tells them that if they love him, they will keep his commandments — and he will ask the Father to give them another Advocate who will be with them forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees nor knows the Spirit. But the disciples know the Spirit, because the Spirit lives with them and will be in them. Jesus then says something that sounds paradoxical: he is going away, but he is also coming back. He is not going to leave them as orphans. On that coming day, they will know that Jesus is in the Father, they are in Jesus, and Jesus is in them. The passage closes with a restatement of the love-obedience connection: whoever has and keeps Jesus' commandments is the one who loves him, and that person will be loved by the Father and by Jesus himself, who will make himself known to them.Key Ideas for Preaching1. The word translated ‘Advocate' or ‘Comforter' or ‘Helper' (depending on the translation) is the Greek word paraclete — literally, one called alongside. The image is of someone who comes to stand next to you in a difficult situation. We can explore what it means in practice to live as though that presence is real and active.2. Jesus says he will not leave them as orphans. That word — orphans — is striking in this context. It captures the specific terror of being left without the primary person who oriented your life. This is the emotional reality Jesus is addressing, and it is one many people in the congregation may know in various forms.3. The connection between love and obedience in this passage runs both ways: love leads to keeping Jesus' commands, and keeping his commands is itself the expression of love. This is not about earning anything — it is about the natural relationship between genuine love and the way it shapes behavior. Preachers can help the congregation feel the difference between obedience as duty and obedience as the overflow of a real relationship.4. The mutual indwelling described at the end — Jesus in the Father, believers in Jesus, Jesus in them — is one of John's central images for what resurrection life looks like. It is not a distant, transactional relationship. It is something more like being woven into one another. This image can do real pastoral work for people who experience faith as mostly external obligation.Significant Cautions⚠ The love-obedience connection has been used to make people feel that any struggle or failure in keeping Jesus' commands is evidence that they do not really love him. That reading turns the passage into a source of shame rather than invitation. The context is encouragement, not accusation — Jesus is promising the Spirit precisely because he knows his followers will need help.⚠ The statement that the world cannot receive the Spirit because it does not see or know the Spirit should not be used to draw a sharp line between insiders and outsiders in a way that produces contempt for those outside the church. The passage is about the disciples' particular relationship with the Spirit, not a verdict on everyone else.⚠ The ‘coming back' Jesus describes in this passage is not straightforwardly about the second coming. In John's Gospel it more likely refers to the post-resurrection appearances and/or the coming of the Spirit. Watch out for confident claims about eschatological timelines.Thematic ConnectionsAll four texts this week are, in different ways, about what sustains people when familiar support is removed or threatened. Paul speaks to people whose religious frameworks offer them something real but incomplete. The psalmist has come through fire and flood and has a story to tell about it. First Peter speaks to scattered, vulnerable people and tells them to hold their hope clearly and gently, ready to name it when asked. And John 14 speaks directly to the fear of being left — promising that what comes next is not abandonment but a new and closer kind of presence.John 14:15–21 is the natural preaching center this week, especially with Ascension approaching. The promise of the Spirit — the one who comes alongside, who will not leave the disciples as orphans — is exactly the word that the season calls for. But First Peter's practical charge to be ready to give a gentle account of one's hope is an equally powerful angle, especially for congregations who want to think carefully about how they talk about faith with people outside the church. Either text rewards a sermon that takes its time.Narrative LectionaryIntroductionThis guide covers the Narrative Lectionary reading for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year 4 (May 10, 2026). The primary text is from Paul's letter to the Philippians — one of the warmest and most personal letters in the New Testament. Paul is in prison when he writes it, and he opens by telling the Philippians how grateful he is for their partnership with him in the work of the gospel. Even his imprisonment has turned out to be good news of a kind, and he finds himself genuinely glad no matter what. The supplemental text from Luke 9 gives a sharp image from Jesus about what greatness looks like in the kingdom of God — it looks like a child.The ReadingPhilippians 1:1–18aThe Primary Text — Partnership in the GospelSummaryPaul writes from prison — we do not know exactly which one — to the congregation at Philippi, a community he clearly loves. He opens with warmth and unusual candor: every time he thinks of them, he gives thanks. He is confident that the good work God began in them will keep going until the day of Christ. He holds them in his heart, and he longs for them with something that sounds almost like homesickness. He prays that their love will keep growing in knowledge and discernment, so they can tell what really matters and arrive at the day of Christ full and unblemished.Then Paul gets honest about his situation. His imprisonment, far from shutting down the gospel, has actually spread it — the whole imperial guard has heard about Christ, and other believers have been emboldened to speak more freely. There are people preaching Christ out of goodwill toward Paul, and there are others doing it out of rivalry, trying to stir up trouble for him while he is stuck in prison. But Paul does not seem to care much about their motives. Christ is being proclaimed, he says, and in that he rejoices.Key Ideas for Preaching1. The tone of this letter from the very first lines is worth naming. Paul is in prison. His situation is objectively bad. And he opens by saying he gives thanks every time he thinks of the Philippians, that he holds them in his heart, that he longs for them. This is not forced positivity — it is a picture of what genuine community does for a person in a hard place. Preachers can open up the question of what it means to be the kind of congregation that someone in trouble thinks of with that kind of warmth.2. Paul's confidence that God will complete what God began is stated simply and without qualification. He is not worried about the Philippians' spiritual state. He trusts that the God who started something in them will see it through. Preachers can explore what it looks like to hold people in that kind of faith — not anxiously checking whether they are keeping up, but trusting that God is at work in them even when you cannot see it.3. The imprisonment has spread the gospel rather than stopped it. The whole imperial guard knows about Christ because of Paul's chains. This is a striking reversal — the attempt to silence him has given him a captive audience. Preachers can use this to explore the theme, repeated across Acts and the epistles, that what looks like a setback for the church often turns out to be a door.4. Paul's response to people preaching Christ out of bad motives is remarkable: as long as Christ is proclaimed, he is glad. He does not pursue the rivals or try to correct them from prison. He chooses to focus on what is actually happening — the name of Jesus is getting out — rather than on the impurity of some people's intentions. This is a mature and somewhat counterintuitive posture, worth examining honestly with a congregation.5. The prayer in verses 9–11 is one of the most beautiful in Paul's letters. He prays not that the Philippians will be protected or comfortable, but that their love will grow in knowledge and discernment — that they will be able to tell what really matters. That is a prayer worth sitting with. What would it look like for a congregation to grow in that specific kind of wisdom?Significant Cautions⚠ The joy and gratitude in this letter can be preached in a way that makes suffering sound easy if you just have the right attitude. Paul's joy is real, but it is the product of deep relationship with God and with this community — it is not a technique anyone can simply adopt. Preachers should present it as a witness to what is possible rather than a standard people are failing to meet.⚠ The people preaching from rivalry and selfish ambition are a real presence in this passage. Paul dismisses their motives but celebrates their message getting out. Preachers should not use this as a blanket endorsement of any and all Christian proclamation regardless of how it is done. Paul is making a specific observation about his specific situation — he is not saying that motives never matter.⚠ The confidence that God will complete what God began can become a way of avoiding accountability — if God is going to finish it anyway, why does anything we do matter? That is not Paul's intent. (cf. “God forbid” in Romans 6.) His prayer for growing love and discernment assumes that the Philippians have real work to do. God's faithfulness and human responsibility sit alongside each other in this letter without one canceling the other.Luke 9:46–48The Supplemental Text — Greatness and the ChildSummaryThe disciples have been arguing about which of them is the greatest. Jesus, knowing what they are thinking, takes a small child and stands the child beside him. Whoever welcomes this child in my name, he says, welcomes me — and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Then comes the line that turns the argument upside down: the one who is least among all of you is the one who is great.Key Ideas for Preaching1. Placed alongside Paul's letter to the Philippians, this passage reframes what Paul's partnership and humility actually look like in practice. Paul is grateful, generous with his affection, and completely uninterested in asserting his own status in this letter. The disciples are arguing about rank. The supplemental text makes the contrast sharp: the way of the kingdom runs in the opposite direction from the way of competition.2. The child in this passage is not a symbol of innocence or charm — in the ancient world, a child had no social status whatsoever. Welcoming a child meant extending care to someone who could give you nothing in return. That is the act Jesus holds up as the measure of greatness. Preachers can use this to ask who the equivalent of that child might be in the congregation's own context.Significant Cautions⚠ The image of the child can easily slide into sentimentality — a cute child as a feel-good illustration. The passage is actually quite pointed. It is addressed to people who are in a dispute about their own importance. Preachers should let the sharpness of the original moment come through rather than softening it into a general lesson about being kind to children.⚠ The phrase ‘the least among all of you is the greatest' has been used to romanticize powerlessness — as if suffering itself confers spiritual status, or as if people with no power should be content with their situation because they are actually the greatest. That is a distortion. Jesus is speaking to people with power about how to use it. He is not telling people who are already marginalized that they should be grateful for their position.Thematic ConnectionsBoth texts this week describe what a life shaped by genuine partnership and genuine humility actually looks and feels like. Paul in prison is more concerned with the Philippians' flourishing than with his own circumstances. He rejoices when Christ is proclaimed even by people who mean him harm. He prays not for his own release but that his friends' love will keep growing in depth and discernment. The disciples argue about who is the greatest, and Jesus answers by standing a powerless child in the middle of them. These texts hold together a vision of community where status is not the organizing principle — love and welcome are.The Philippians passage is substantial enough to anchor the sermon entirely. Paul's joy from prison is one of the most compelling images in the New Testament, and there is more than enough in verses 1–18a for a full message. The Luke text works best as a brief bookend — either opening with the disciples' argument to frame what kind of community Paul is describing, or closing with Jesus' answer to let it land as a final image. Either way, the two texts together press the same question: what does it look like to care more about others' flourishing than about your own standing? This is a public episode. 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05.03.26 Sermon - What We Talk About, When We Talk About God PT1 - An Unknown God by First Community Church

We unpack the powerful story of Paul at Mars Hill in Athens, where he addressed a city full of idols and introduced them to the "Unknown God". We explore how Jesus Christ, the exact representation of God's glory, provides hope for past failures and future longings. Learn how Paul engaged in meaningful spiritual conversations with philosophers without compromising the truth of the gospel. We dive into the magnitude of a Creator who is the Lord of heaven and earth, transcending human-made temples and inviting every person to authentically seek Him. . Speaker: Greg Holder

This guide covers the four Revised Common Lectionary readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A (May 3, 2026). The week's texts circle around two related questions: * what does it look like to trust God when everything is falling apart, and * what is the community of faith being built into? Stephen dies praying for his killers. The psalmist says their times are in God's hands. First Peter calls the church a living temple still under construction. And Jesus, the night before his own death, tells his frightened friends not to let their hearts be troubled.The ReadingsActs 7:55–60The First Lesson — The Stoning of StephenSummaryStephen has just finished a long speech before the Jewish council in Jerusalem — a retelling of Israel's history that ends with a sharp accusation: the council has done what their ancestors did and resisted the Holy Spirit. The crowd is furious. But Stephen, filled with the Spirit, looks up and says he can see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. That is the final straw. They rush at him, drag him out of the city, and stone him. As they do, Stephen prays two prayers: one asking Jesus to receive his spirit, and one asking God not to hold this sin against his attackers. He says the second one kneeling down, and then he dies. The text notes in passing that a young man named Saul is standing there, approving of the execution.Key Ideas for Preaching1. Stephen's final prayers are direct echoes of Jesus on the cross — committing his spirit to God and asking forgiveness for those killing him. This is not coincidence in the telling of the story. We can explore what it means to die the way Jesus died, and how that kind of dying becomes a form of witness.2. The vision of the Son of Man standing — not seated — at the right hand of God is worth pausing on. In most other texts the image is of Jesus seated. Here he is standing, as if rising to receive Stephen. That small detail carries significant pastoral warmth. God is not indifferent to what is happening.3. Saul is introduced with chilling brevity: he was there and he approved. This one sentence sets up one of the most important turning points in the whole book of Acts. We may want to use this moment to reflect on how proximity to events — even terrible ones — plants seeds whose growth we cannot predict.4. Stephen's prayer for his killers puts forgiveness in the most extreme possible context. This is not forgiving a minor slight. It's an honest struggle to ask how hard this is, without making it sound like a simple requirement. What enables someone to pray this way? The text points to what Stephen was seeing.Significant Cautions⚠ Stephen's speech leading up to this passage includes pointed criticism of the Jerusalem leadership, and it has historically been used to fuel anti-Jewish sentiment. Preachers should be careful to locate the conflict within an internal first-century Jewish debate, not as a universal verdict on Jewish people or Judaism as a whole.⚠ Martyrdom accounts can be preached in ways that romanticize or even encourage suffering and death. Be careful not to hold Stephen up as someone to imitate in a way that suggests his death was straightforwardly good or desirable. The text mourns his death even as it honors his faithfulness.⚠ The mention of Saul's approval is easy to treat as mere scene-setting. But it deserves to be named honestly: the same person who would later write much of the New Testament participated in this killing. That is uncomfortable, and it should be. There's something here (or coming) about what it means to be truly converted.Psalm 31:1–5, 15–16The Psalm — Refuge in CrisisSummaryThis psalm is a cry for help from someone in serious trouble — pursued by enemies, trapped, and frightened. The speaker turns to God as a place to hide, a strong fortress, and the one who can pull them out of the net that has been set for them. Verses 15 and 16 reach the heart of the psalm's trust: ‘My times are in your hand.' Whatever is happening, and however little control the speaker has over it, God holds the clock. The psalm ends with a plea for God's face to shine and for deliverance to come.Key Ideas for Preaching1. The phrase ‘my times are in your hand' is one of the most quietly powerful statements of trust in the Psalter. It does not claim that everything will turn out fine. It claims that the one who holds time is trustworthy. We can open up the difference between those two things for a congregation.2. Paired with the death of Stephen, this psalm gives language for what it might feel like to face mortal danger with faith intact. Stephen's vision and his prayers suggest someone who had already internalized something like this psalm — not that death is easy, but that God holds what we cannot hold ourselves.3. The image of God as a rock, a fortress, and a hiding place is physical and concrete. God is not an abstraction here but a place to go. We may well ask: what does it look like in practice to run to God rather than away from difficulty?Significant Cautions⚠ The psalm's language about enemies is vivid and personal. In the context of worship, be thoughtful about how ‘enemies' is interpreted. The text is not an invitation to name specific people as targets of divine punishment — it is the prayer of someone overwhelmed, using the language available to them.⚠ Verse 5 — ‘Into your hand I commit my spirit' — is the verse Jesus quotes from the cross in Luke's Gospel. It is also traditionally used at the time of death. If preached alongside the Stephen text, be aware that this verse may carry deep weight for people in the congregation who are grieving or facing serious illness.1 Peter 2:2–10The Epistle — Living StonesSummaryThe letter calls its readers to crave the word the way newborn babies crave milk — purely, instinctively, urgently. They have already tasted that the Lord is good, and that taste should create appetite, not satisfaction. The passage then builds a picture of the church as a living temple, not made of cut stone, but of people — each a living stone being built into something together. Christ is the cornerstone, the one the builders rejected but whom God placed at the foundation. Those who trust in him will not be put to shame. And those who belong to this community are named in layered, rich terms: a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people — called out of darkness into remarkable light.Key Ideas for Preaching1. The image of spiritual milk and growing appetite is unusual and worth dwelling on. Many people in a congregation have lost the hunger they once had for Scripture, prayer, or worship. The text does not scold them for this — it invites them to taste again and see what happens. We could use this image to reopen a conversation about spiritual hunger without making people feel guilty for being dry.2. The ‘living stones' image is a genuinely striking way to describe the church. Each person is a stone — not decorative, but structural. The building does not hold together without each one. This gives a theological grounding to the practical reality that every person in the congregation matters.3. The string of titles in verses 9–10 — chosen, royal, holy, God's own — were originally applied to Israel in the Hebrew scriptures and are here applied to the church, a community that includes Gentiles. We may need to help the congregation hear these not as credentials they earned but as a description of who God has made them. The emphasis falls on what they were called to do: proclaim the mighty acts of the one who called them.4. The cornerstone that the builders rejected is a direct reference to Psalm 118, which Jesus applied to himself. The image connects back to Stephen's death and forward to what the church is being built into. Rejection is not the end of the story.Significant Cautions⚠ The titles in verses 9–10 — ‘chosen race,' ‘holy nation,' and so on — have been used to justify religious exclusivism or even nationalism. We want to be clear that these are descriptions of a community defined by calling and trust, not by ethnicity, culture, or any human marker of identity.⚠ The use of Israel's titles for the church has a complicated history in relation to Jewish-Christian relations. This text has sometimes been read as suggesting the church has replaced Israel. We want to avoid that reading and instead note that the letter is drawing on a shared inheritance, not canceling it.⚠ The ‘newborn infants' image for spiritual hunger can be misread as a call for people to remain permanently childlike in their faith — dependent, unquestioning, always needing to be fed. The context makes clear this is about appetite and receptivity, not permanent immaturity.John 14:1–14The Gospel — The Way, the Truth, and the LifeSummaryJesus is at the table with his disciples on the night before he dies, and he is trying to prepare them for what is coming. He tells them not to let their hearts be troubled — he is going to prepare a place for them, and he will come back and take them to be with him. Thomas pushes back honestly: they do not know where he is going, so how can they know the way? Jesus answers with one of the most famous lines in John's Gospel: he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him. Philip then asks to be shown the Father, and Jesus responds with some surprise: after all this time, Philip still does not recognize that seeing Jesus is seeing the Father. The passage ends with a promise: whoever trusts in Jesus will do the works he has done, and even greater ones, because he is going to the Father.Key Ideas for Preaching1. This passage opens with a pastoral word: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.' Jesus says this to people who are about to go through the worst night of their lives. It is not a command to suppress grief or pretend things are fine — it is an invitation to locate their trust somewhere steady. We can help people sit with that distinction carefully.2. Thomas's question is one of the most honest moments in the Gospels. (Why we called him “Honest Thomas” a few weeks ago!) He does not pretend to understand. He says plainly: we do not know where you are going. Jesus does not scold him. He answers. We can use Thomas here to give the congregation permission to ask the questions they are actually carrying.3. The claim ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life' is one of the most contested verses in John's Gospel. We want to address it directly rather than skipping past its difficulty. It is worth exploring what Jesus means by ‘way' — not a set of rules, but a person to follow — before moving to what is claimed about the Father. I still like what Eugene Peterson had to say (at length) on this matter:We can't suppress the Jesus way in order to sell the Jesus truth. The Jesus way and the Jesus truth must be congruent. Only when the Jesus way is organically joined with the Jesus truth do we get the Jesus life.”― Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way4. Philip's request — ‘show us the Father and that will be enough for us' — is deeply human. Most people in the congregation have, at some point, wanted exactly that: a clear, unambiguous sight of God. Jesus' answer is that they have already been given it. 5. The promise that believers will do ‘greater works' than Jesus is genuinely puzzling and often glossed over. It is worth addressing honestly. The clue is in the reason Jesus gives: he is going to the Father. The resurrection and the Spirit's coming make possible a wider reach than Jesus' own earthly ministry had. This is not about individual superpowers — it is about a community continuing a movement.Significant Cautions⚠ The verse ‘no one comes to the Father except through me' has been used as a blunt instrument in conversations about salvation and who is included or excluded. We should engage it honestly rather than either avoiding it or using it to draw sharp lines around other religious traditions. The context is pastoral — Jesus is comforting grieving disciples, not issuing a theological boundary statement.⚠ The ‘many dwelling places' in the Father's house has been heavily freighted with speculation about heaven and the afterlife. The text does not describe what those dwelling places look like. Be careful to resist the temptation to fill in what the text leaves open, and instead focus on the promise itself: there is room, and Jesus is preparing it.⚠ The claim that seeing Jesus is seeing the Father is one of John's deepest theological commitments. It is also easily misread as making Jesus and the Father identical in every way. The Gospel itself maintains distinction alongside unity. We do not need to resolve this fully, but we should not flatten it either.Thematic ConnectionsThe thread running through all four readings this week is trust in the face of things we cannot control. Stephen cannot stop what is happening to him, but he can choose what he does with his final moments — and he chooses prayer. The psalmist cannot see how their situation will resolve, but they name their trust in the one who holds their times. First Peter tells a scattered, vulnerable community that they are being built into something that will last. And John 14 begins with Jesus telling his closest friends not to let fear run the show.John 14 is the natural center for preaching this week — it is rich and wide enough for a full sermon on its own. But Acts 7 offers a powerful alternative angle: what does trust look like not in a quiet moment of reflection but in the worst moment of a life? A preacher willing to sit in that question without resolving it too quickly will find a great deal to work with. The psalm and First Peter can serve as supporting voices in either direction.Narrative LectionaryThis guide covers the Narrative Lectionary reading for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year 4 (May 3, 2026). The primary text is Paul's sermon in Athens — one of the most unusual moments in Acts, where Paul finds himself in the middle of a philosophically sophisticated city full of altars to gods he does not recognize. Rather than leading with condemnation, he starts with what he finds and builds from there. The supplemental verses from John 1 name what Paul is ultimately pointing toward: the God whom no one has seen has been made known in Jesus Christ, from whose fullness we have all received grace upon grace.The ReadingActs 17:16–31The Primary Text — Paul's Sermon at AthensSummaryPaul arrives in Athens while waiting for his companions and finds himself deeply unsettled by how many idols fill the city. He begins debating in the synagogue with Jews and God-fearers, and then in the public square with anyone who will listen. Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encounter him and bring him to the Areopagus — Athens' formal court of intellectual and civic life — to explain this new teaching they keep hearing about. They note, somewhat dismissively, that he seems to be talking about foreign gods. Paul stands up and starts not with an attack but with an observation: he can see that the Athenians are very religious people. He even found an altar inscribed ‘To an Unknown God.' That, he says, is exactly what he has come to tell them about.Paul then speaks in terms his audience can follow. The God who made the world does not live in temples made by human hands and does not need anything from us — God is the one who gives life and breath to everything. God made every nation from one source and set the boundaries of where they live, so that people everywhere might search for God and perhaps find him, though God is not actually far from any of us. Paul even quotes their own poets: ‘In him we live and move and have our being,' and ‘We are his offspring.' If we are God's offspring, then God cannot be made of gold or silver or stone shaped by human imagination. God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now calls everyone everywhere to turn around, because a day of judgment is coming. The judge has been appointed — and God raised him from the dead as proof. At the mention of resurrection, some laugh, some want to hear more, and a few believe.Key Ideas for Preaching1. Paul does not open by telling the Athenians they are wrong. He opens by telling them he has been looking at what they have built and finds them genuinely religious. The altar to an unknown god is his starting point, not an object of ridicule. This is a remarkable model of how to enter a conversation with people outside the faith — starting with what is already there rather than what is missing.2. The God Paul describes is not contained in any building, does not need anything, and is already close to every human being. This is a picture of God that cuts against every form of religious gatekeeping. Preachers can ask: how does a congregation hold this truth — that God is not far from anyone — alongside a commitment to proclaiming Jesus specifically?3. Paul quotes the Athenians' own poets back to them. He finds truth about God already present in their tradition and uses it as a bridge. This is a rare moment in Acts, and it raises a genuinely important question for preachers: where do we see true things about God showing up outside the walls of the church? How do we engage those places?4. The audience splits at the mention of resurrection. Some laugh, some want to hear more, some believe. Paul does not chase the laughers or try to convince the skeptical. He states what he came to say and lets people respond as they will. (He has spoken his piece and counted to three, so to speak.) 5. The sermon ends with a call to turn around — the same basic movement as every other proclamation in Acts, just dressed in different clothes. The framework is cultural and philosophical rather than scriptural, but the destination is the same. Preachers can explore what it looks like to say the same essential thing to very different audiences without simply giving the same sermon.Significant Cautions⚠ It is tempting to use this passage as a simple endorsement of cultural engagement or interfaith dialogue. The passage is more complicated than that — Paul is genuinely troubled by the idols around him, and his sermon ends with a clear call to leave them behind. A sermon that only celebrates Paul's openness without noting where he still draws a line will miss the tension the text holds.⚠ The phrase ‘times of ignorance God overlooked' has sometimes been read as dismissive of all non-Christian religious practice before the gospel arrived. That reading oversimplifies. The text is pointing toward a shift in how God is acting in the world, not making a sweeping judgment about the sincerity or value of other people's religious lives.⚠ Be careful about using this passage to suggest that all religions are ultimately saying the same thing and pointing to the same God. Paul does not say that. He finds a point of contact, and then he redirects. The altar to the unknown god is a starting point, not an ending point. Those two moves need to be kept together.⚠ The mixed response at the end — laughter, curiosity, belief — can be used to prepare congregations for the reality that not everyone will respond to the gospel. That is legitimate and worth naming. But be careful not to use the laughers as a way of dismissing skeptical people in the congregation or culture as simply closed-minded. Intellectual doubt is not the same thing as hardness of heart.John 1:16–18The Supplemental Text — Grace upon GraceSummaryThese three verses come from the prologue of John's Gospel — the opening hymn that sets up everything the Gospel will say about who Jesus is. From his fullness, the writer says, we have all received grace upon grace. The law came through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, has made God known. It is a compressed statement about what the incarnation actually accomplished: a full, overflowing gift, and a revelation of God that no one could have accessed any other way.Key Ideas for Preaching1. Placed alongside Paul's sermon at Athens, these verses clarify what Paul is ultimately pointing toward. He finds the unknown God in the Athenians' own altar and works outward from there. John 1 names what has now been made known: the God whom no one has seen has been revealed in the person of Jesus. The supplemental text gives Paul's proclamation its destination.2. The phrase ‘grace upon grace' — sometimes translated ‘grace in place of grace' — suggests not just a one-time gift but a continuing, layered generosity. There is always more. Preachers can use this image to speak to people who feel they have used up their portion of God's patience or kindness, or who are afraid that what they have received is all there will be.3. The contrast between Moses and Jesus in verse 17 is not a dismissal of the law — it is a statement about what has now been added. Grace and truth have arrived in a person, not just a set of instructions. Preachers can explore what it means that the fullest revelation of God is not a document or a system but a life.Significant Cautions⚠ The contrast between Moses and Jesus has a long and painful history of being used to set Christianity against Judaism — as if the law was a failed experiment that grace replaced. That reading distorts both testaments. The law was itself a gift of grace; what John describes is addition and fulfillment, not replacement and rejection.⚠ The claim that Jesus has made God known in a way no one else has can sound like a dismissal of all other religious experience or understanding of God. Preachers should present it as a statement about the particularity and depth of what God has done in Christ, not as a verdict that nothing true about God has ever been known anywhere else.Thematic ConnectionsBoth texts this week move in the same direction: from searching toward finding, from not knowing toward being shown. Paul stands in a city full of altars to gods that no one can quite name, and he points toward the one who has now been made known. John 1 names what that making-known actually looks like: the fullness of God, given in a person, producing grace upon grace. Paul's sermon at Athens is the proclamation; John's prologue is its theological ground. Together they describe a gospel that meets people in their reaching and brings them to something specific.The Acts passage is rich enough for a full sermon. A preacher could focus on Paul's method — starting with what is already there — or on what he says about the nature of God, or on the mixed response at the end. The John verses work best as a brief anchor, either opening the sermon with a statement of what Paul is ultimately pointing toward, or closing with it as a final word about what ‘making God known' actually means. Either placement gives the sermon a theological center that the Athens scene alone does not quite provide. 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As Paul walked through Athens, he saw a city filled with idols—gods for everything imaginable. Yet among them stood an altar to "the unknown god," a placeholder so nothing would be overlooked. What they labeled as unknown, Paul boldly revealed as the one true God. The God they did not know was the very One who created them, sustained them, and desired a relationship with them. The unknown God is not distant—He wants to be known.

Starting a series on Biblical stewardship with Pastor Ted Doering.based off of Psalm 50:10-12, Acts 17:22-29, & Matthew 22:15-22.More information is available at www.narrative.church

Sunday Evening