When it comes to connecting with people who are different than us, it can be awkward and outright difficult, but is it worth it?

1. We must be Passionate about AND Broken for the Cultures around us. (vv.16-21)

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) Acts 17:16–21.

• Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols Acts 17:16.
• Those of us who have laid down our lives and surrendered them fully to Jesus know the freedom, hope, and peace that comes with salvation. 
• It is a completely different life that we get to live because of Christ on the cross and the Holy Spirit in our hearts. 
• As Paul arrives in Athens, he is immediately moved to a place of distress due to the idolatry that is happening in the city. 

• Athens:
• Named in honor of the goddess Athena
• ts naval fleet formed the basis of the Greek maritime empire
• Cultural and educational center of the Greek world, a status which continued under the Romans after they conquered the city in 146 B.C.
• At this time, it was a city of nearly ten thousand but its historic reputation remained
• The Epicurean school of philosophy, named after its founder Epicurus (342–270 b.c.), held that pleasure, particularly a life free from pain, passion, superstition and anxiety, was the chief end and the highest good. Epicureans were essentially deists, denying life after death and taking a rather detached view of deity, certainly to the point of denying any divine providence.
• Stoicism was founded by Zeno (340–265 b.c.) and took its name from the “painted stoa,” a colonnade in the Athenian Agora where Zeno commonly taught. Stoicism stressed living harmoniously with nature, using the rational abilities one possesses, and depending only on oneself for needs. God, to the Stoics, was some kind of world soul. 
• Both philosophies, different as they were, demonstrated the secular alternatives for dealing with life’s problems and issues. Perhaps the Stoics placed even more emphasis on reason than did the Epicureans, and Paul’s Areopagus address would certainly have picked up on that.

Life Application:

• We must get to a point in our faith where sin and the effects of sin distress the deepest parts of our hearts because that is where action flows out. 
• We must also become students of the cultures that surround us. 

We must Know what we Believe (vv. 22-27)

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. 

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. Acts 17:22–27.

• I think we could all agree looking at verses 22-23, Paul isn’t one to beat around the bush. He knew what he believed and he said it with his chest. I encourage you to take the framework and apply it to your life. Maybe don’t quote him word for word when trying to share with someone. 
• Look at verse 24. He begins speaking the truth about the Word of God because he is absolutely sure what he believes about it. 
• 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17.
• As Paul speaks, he is speaking in a way that is directed towards the intellectuals he is speaking to. These are men who have dedicated their lives to pondering life in all its forms. Paul gets to what scripture says quickly so he can captivate their attention and get to the main thing, which is Jesus. 

Life Application:

• If we are going to be a part of representing Jesus, we must become familiar with the playbook.
• Knowing God's Word is just as much for us as it is for anyone else. 

We have to Contextualize the Message (vv. 28-34)

28 As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’  29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” 

32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.  Acts 17:28–34.

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings., 1 Corinthians 9:19–23

Life Application:

• Placing yourself in unfamiliar situations is uncomfortable and inconvenient, but the Gospel is so worth it. 
• Don't be fake, just be you full of the Holy Spirit.