Connect What’s a generous act of grace that you could show towards someone this week?

Warm-Up

1. Have you ever been on the receiving end of someone attempting to explain an idea to you, but you have no idea what they are talking about?
2. Why is it important to share about the good news in ways that people can understand?

Read Acts 16:1-5 & 17:16-23

1. What did Paul have Timothy do? Why would he do this even if it wasn’t necessary to salvation?
2. What things that aren’t essential to salvation might we be hanging onto that might be a barrier for people in modern Australia? How might we remove these barriers?
3. When Paul came into Athens, what did he see and how did he react? Why did he react in this way? How should we react when we see a world that misplaces its worship?
4. Who did Paul reason with? Who would have been in the marketplace? How did they respond to Paul?
5. Where did they take Paul? What was his approach to telling them about God? Why did he do this?
6. As we share about our faith, what might be a good approach for us? What could help us engage with or learn more about our culture?

Read Acts 17:24-34

1. What is Paul’s observation about the culture of the day? What is his critique? What is the importance of understanding the culture in which we live? How could we go about this?
2. Why is it important to know that God is all-powerful and doesn’t need to be served by humans? How might this be different to common beliefs about God in Australian culture?
3. Even though God is so powerful, how has he made himself known to the whole world? How has he made himself particularly known to us?
4. Why then do people exchange this knowledge of God in favour of worshipping other gods?
5. What is God going to do about this misplaced worship? What does V31 tell us about when all of this is going to happen and how we can be sure that this will happen?
6. On that day, what gives us hope and confidence? Why should the knowledge of this drive us into sharing this with others?

Apply How could you share about God in ways that the unchurched person could understand?

On Your Frontline This Week: Invite someone along to the Pancake Party this Tuesday, 6:30pm. If someone is nervous about church, this is a fun, low-key, social event.

Listen, Watch, and Read:

• LISTEN: “God’s Word and Human Wisdom” by William Taylor
• LISTEN: “Lessons from Athens” by Don Carson
• LISTEN: “City of Idols” by Alistair Begg
• READ: “Finding the Right Hills to Die on” by Gavin Ortlund
• LISTEN: “What was Paul about?” with John Dickson, Douglas Moo, and Lynn Cohick

SERIES Resources:

• Series Overview (PDF & Audiobook)
• WATCH: “Bible Project: Acts”
• LISTEN: “Lecture: The Book of Acts” by John Stott
• READ: “Acts for Everyone” by Tom Wright
• READ: “Acts: A Visual Guide” by Kevin DeYoung”
• READ: “Acts: A Commentary” by Bruce Milne
• READ: “Acts: A Devotional Commentary for Study and Preaching” by Loveday Alexander