SEMINAR TALK TERM 3A
PETER IN ACTS: GOOD NEWS FOR THE WHOLE WORLD
Acts 17:16–34 TALK STRUCTURE Introduction • In our culture there are lots of views about God1. -- Some are confident there is no God. -- Others believe there are many gods. -- Others might believe God is more like a force or a presence. -- Many people are unsure. Content • Paul walked through Athens and observed the beliefs of the people living there. They were very religious. They were also unsure if they were on the right path. They had built an altar to ‘an unknown god’. • Paul’s promise: I will remove your ignorance about who God is. (17:23) • Paul’s corrective: Humans don’t make God. God makes humans. (17:24–25) • Paul’s point: God has made himself known. (17:26–28, 30–31) -- Don’t look to idols and temples to find God. Look to Jesus, God’s Son. -- Jesus will judge the world. (17:30–31) -- The proof is that Jesus rose from the dead. (17:30–31) • Paul’s challenge: Repent of looking for God in idols or temples or religion or the sky or internally. Application • Are you looking in the wrong place for God? • Be like those Athenians who wanted to know more: find the true God by meeting Jesus in the Bible. (17:32)
1. See ‘Faith and belief in Australia’, The McCrindle Blog, http://mccrindle.com.au/the-mccrindle-blog/faith-and-belief-in-australia
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