Three Settings – One Message – Acts 17
November 9, 2014Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Speaker: Jerry Cisar
In the name of growth, the church often turns to many things to win the world. Do we convert our auditoriums into coffee shops? Do we stop proclaiming the Gospel and start having discussions? Do we stop using the Bible to evangelize because our culture doesn’t accept its authority? Must we stop speaking of absolutes like sin and truth because the world we live in doesn’t believe in truth or absolutes?
Should our approach to a “pagan” audience be fundamentally different than our approach to an audience familiar with the Scriptures? This is an important question. If we want to see more of the lost come to Christ what do we need to do? If we want to see our cousin, our aunt, our wayward children, or our neighbor come to Christ, to what do we turn to win them?
In Acts 17 Paul finds himself in three very different contexts. Therefore, his Gospel ministry becomes a workshop in how to win the lost in a variety of cultures. In these three very different stages we see one common ingredient for winning the lost; we see that Paul consistently turns to one thing in order to win the lost to Christ. As we gather to worship we will examine these three scenes and discover this one vital ingredient which gave Paul confidence in the mission Christ.