Month: June 2026

Sermon Idea: The Christian faith has the explanatory power to make sense of our lives, the world, what’s wrong with it, and how to fix it. 

Introduction: In an effort to make sense of the world in which we live, there is a series of fundamental questions that every person and every civilization will seek to answer. The answer to these questions will determine how we see and understand the world: Who or what am I? What is wrong with the world? How can it be fixed? 

There are other related questions we could add, but these basic questions will help you identify your worldview—the lens through which you interpret all your experiences. 

Throughout most of our study of Acts, the gospel has been proclaimed to Jews raised in the Old Testament Scriptures or to Gentile God-fearers who had come to believe in Israel’s God. In those cases, Peter and Paul would often reason from the Scriptures, proving that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah whose death, burial, and resurrection have made salvation possible through faith in his name. There was a place to begin because common ground was already established by a shared worldview. 

When Paul sits waiting in Athens, he is among a people with an entirely different worldview. They see, think, and explain the world very differently. 

Athens was culturally and intellectually significant. F.F. Bruce wrote, “The sculpture, literature, and oratory of Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. have, indeed, never been surpassed. In philosophy, too, she occupied the leading place, being the native city of Socrates and Plato, and the adopted home of Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno.”

It was also a city, as you would expect, full of pagan idolatry. It was a place of temples, statues, and images of worship. There would not have been a place you could have turned without being inundated with a religious culture contrary to truth. 

I don’t know if Paul had intended to speak while in Athens, but the longer he sat waiting for Silas and Timothy, and the more he witnessed the pagan idolatry around him, the more his spirit was provoked. 

16 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. (Ac 17:16)

To say that Paul was provoked means that he became unsettled with uneasiness about all that he saw, so much so that he couldn’t help but speak. 

17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. (Ac 17:17)

Paul’s zeal for the glory of God will not allow him to be apathetic when the honor and worship due to God is given to vain idols. We should be so zealous for God’s glory that we are heartbroken by any measure of idolatry, not only in our hearts, but wherever it is found in culture and society. 

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. (Is 42:8)

Verse 17 does say he reasoned with Jews and God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue, but the focus of this chapter is Paul’s ministry in the marketplace. Paul isn’t afraid to engage these different belief systems with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he does so in a conversational, interactive way. Paul is engaging with opposing ideas in a way that fosters conversation and sharing, rather than shutting them down. 

18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean. (Ac 17:18–20)

Philosophical schools were common in Athens, and Paul engages with two of them: Epicureanism and Stoicism. 

Epicureanism pursued pleasure and happiness as its ultimate goal by avoiding physical pain and mental distress. They had a naturalistic view of the world; everything comes from atoms and matter. Human beings then had no reason to fear death, becasue the soul would cease to exist at the point of death. In fact, Epicurus thought the fear of death caused unnecessary anxiety, and not believing in the eternality of the soul would free people of that mental distress. They rejected the afterlife and any divine judgment. Although they believed in many gods, they held that the gods did not intervene in the world or in people’s lives. 

Stoicism sought to cultivate inner peace, resilience, and virtue no matter the circumstances of life. For the Stoics, god was in all things, thinking nature has a divine soul, the logos. 

These are attempts to explain real-world experience and how to address the difficulties that come with being human in a fallen world. There are many such attempts today to make sense of the world and the difficulties we experience. We need to know and expect that we will encounter alternative explanations for who we are, why we’re here, what’s wrong, and how to fix it. 

In our day, there will be secular naturalists who will explain that this world is all there is. The material is everything, and the cause of everything. The universe is closed, and there is nothing supernatural at work in the world. 

When I was in high school and in college, postmodernism and relativism were all the rage. Truth is not an objective reality but a subjective, social construct. 

In our time, critical theory has consumed our culture, training many to see the world through the lens of power dynamics and lived experience. It is one’s lived experience that gives one access to the truth, especially if one is an oppressed minority. 

What’s my point? There is no neutral ground on which we walk, and there are no neutral ideas that we encounter. Everything is rooted in presuppositions and beliefs that offer explanations for the world in which we live, what it means to be human, and how things are made right. 

What Paul is going to do when brought to the Areopagus, and what I want you to be able to think about is how the Christian faith has the most explanatory power to make sense of our lives, the world, what’s wrong with it, and how to fix it.

Although some accused Paul of being a charlatan and a babbler, others thought he was a preacher of two deities: Jesus and Anastasia. Others wanted to hear more from Paul, so they escorted him to the Areopagus to speak with those eager to hear new ideas. 

21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. (Ac 17:21)

When given this opportunity, Paul speaks with clarity and conviction, but in a wise and winsome way. He steps into the world of the pagan idolatry around him and uses their presuppositions and beliefs to tell the true story of the world. Look with me beginning in verse 22, and we’ll see that the Christian faith explains the truth about God. 

I.) The Christian faith explains the truth about God (Acts 17:24-25) 

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. (Ac 17:22–23)

As Paul engages them, he begins with their own presuppositions. He points out an altar to the unknown god. The Athenians did not want to accidentally neglect the worship of a god, so they set up an altar as an assurance. They believe this god exists, but they are ignorant of him. 

Paul takes that sincere worship of this unknown god and proclaims the one true and living God, “…this I proclaim to you.”

24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (Ac 17:24–25)

God is the creator-God, the Lord of heaven and earth. Nothing that has come to be apart from God’s work of creation.

The opening words of the Bible declare, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Ge 1:1)

The prophet Isaiah said, Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it (Is 42:5). 

The author of Hebrews teaches us, 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Heb 11:3)

God is not part of the universe or the material world. He transcends the universe as the Lord of heaven and earth. God is entirely free and independent of creation. 

Paul then gives us three negative statements. Since God is the creator and independent of his creation. He gives us the first two in verses 24-25. 

1. He does not live in a temple made by man 

2. He is not served by human hands

To say that God does not live in temples made with hands won’t feel as applicable to us, but it would to the men of Athens. Their gods were housed in temples and manifested in images and statues. 

As creator and Lord, God is also self-sufficient. He is not dependent on anyone or anything. He is self-existent and has life in himself. The Christian tradition has referred to this attribute as divine aseity—Latin for “from himself.” God is a perfect being whose existence is found in himself alone. God needs nothing and needs no one. Before creation, God was perfectly fulfilled as God, for the Holy Trinity is perfect fellowship. 

This is why Paul says, “…though he needed anything.” God created freely, not out of necessity. When we serve him with our lives, but we do so as a gift of fellowship that we need as creatures, not that God needs as God. 

Why is thinking about God important for us? How does the doctrine of creation inform our Christian life? I can’t say all that needs to be said, but I want to make mention of just three brief things. 

1. Life is a gift that should stir gratitude in our hearts. 
2. Dependence is what it means to be human, so it should be embraced. 
3. Purpose: The doctrine of creation directs us to why we exist, to know God and worship him. 

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. (Westminster Larger Catechism)

II.) The Christian faith explains the truth about humanity (Acts 17:26-29)

Knowledge of God as creator explains why we are here and tells us about who we are. We know from Genesis that we are created in God’s image and meant to reflect his glory. 

In Acts, we learn that, in God’s providence, He determined the periods and places in which we all live. The diversity of every ethnic, tribe, and tongue is under the sovereign will of God, and through the gospel, He is going to redeem a people from every tribe, nation, and tongue. 

26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 

We live in a day and age in which people are obsessed with identity. There is pressure to be our authentic selves, a self deep within us that we have to pull out and express. A theology of creation and what it means to be created by God should alleviate this pressure to a degree. Identity is not something we make or create. It is something we inherit and receive. 

None of us chose where we were born, who our parents are, or where we were raised. All of these things are part of what God has used to make you uniquely you, and He does not make mistakes. The only thing that is wrong with you is the sin that taints your understanding of God, yourself, and others. 

The purpose of this allotment is to have the opportunity to know God, even if that opporunity in sqaundered because of sin.  

27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for 

                  “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; 

as even some of your own poets have said, 

                  “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ 

29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. (Ac 17:26–29)

Verse 27 may seem odd to us because we are used to reading Paul, who tells us no one seeks after God. The seeking here, though, isn’t an inclination that desires God, but a reaching out for something blindly. Also, the grammar suggests that this feeling their way won’t happen on its own. We will all need help. 

We all need help because we have all sinned. 

For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Ro 3:22–23)

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Ro 5:12)

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Co 4:3–6)

The problem with the world is sin, transgression, and rebellion that break God’s law and separate us not only from Him but also from one another.   

Although it’s subtle, Paul is beginning to provide a more thorough explanation for the world they’ve experienced. The Christian faith tells us what’s actually wrong and how to make it right. 

III.) The Christian faith explains the truth about salvation & judgment (Acts 17:30-31)

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Ac 17:30–31)

There was a time when God overlooked the idolatry and unbelief of the nations, but now something has changed. 

It is very similar to what Paul writes in Romans.

This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Ro 3:25–26)

What has changed is that God has sent himself in the person of his Son to proclaim the Kingdom of God, live in perfect obedience to the law, die for sins, and be raised from the dead. 

God commands everyone everywhere to repent because a future judgment is coming, at which everything that is wrong will be made right. The way in which God will judge the world in righteousness is by the appointed Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus confirms that Jesus is the one by whom we’ll be judged. That either happens on the cross or on judgment day!

 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Ti 2:4–6)

To this command there is no exception. God is worthy of worship, and there is glory due His name. What everyone needs most is to be restored to the God whose law they broke and from whom they have been separated.  

The only way that is possible is through faith in Christ. As we place our faith in Jesus, we repent, change our minds about who is in control of our lives, what is right and wrong, and to whom we’ll give our allegiance and affections. 

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. (Ac 17:32–34) 

The Christian faith has the explanatory power to make sense of our lives, the world, what’s wrong with it, and how to fix it. 

Application 

1. Pray for a greater zeal for the glory of God. The Lord’s Prayer is a good prayer to pray in that regard. 

2. You were created to know God and worship him. Does your life and its priorities reflect your created purpose? 

3. Repent and prepare for that coming day! It is only through faith in Jesus that we will be saved from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:9)

4. Proclaim the gospel and God’s command to repent, motivated by both God’s glory and the gravity of eternal judgment. 

Sermon Idea: The proclamation of Jesus as King confronts and challenges the ways of the world and changes it one redeemed saint at a time. 

Introduction: Carl F. H. Henry is a name unknown to many evangelical, conservative Christians today, but his influence is still felt, even if taken for granted. If Billy Graham was the face of evangelicalism in the 20th Century—the face and voice that everyone knew—Carl F. H. Henry was the mind. He was the one doing all the intellectual heavy lifting and writing, which gave evangelical Christians a substantive voice. 

In 1947, Henry published a small but serious book called The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism. It was a loving, but prophetic rebuke against the conservative fundamentalists of his day, who seemed to have receded to the sidelines of the culture, not addressing the most pressing issues of the day. 

In that book, Henry would say things like this, “A Christianity without a passion to turn the world upside down is not reflective of the apostolic gospel.”

Later in the book, he wrote this, “If historic Christianity is again to compete as a vital world ideology, evangelicalism must provide a solution for the most pressing world problems…The redemptive message has implications for all of life; a truncated life results from a truncated message.” 

If the gospel has implications only for individuals, without impact on the broader culture and society, Paul would never have been accused of “turning the world upside down.”

The proclamation of Jesus as King confronts and challenges the ways of the world, changing it one redeemed saint at a time.

In Acts 17, Paul and Silas make their way to Thessalonica after experiencing great suffering in Philippi. The ministry they did in this chapter resulted in the planting of the church in Thessalonica, to which Paul wrote 1 & 2 Thessalonians. We’ll turn to 1 Thessalonians a couple of times. 

When they get there, they encounter great opposition, accused of being troublemakers and upsetting the status quo. 

These men who have turned the world upside down… (Ac 17:6)

Now, this accusation was not true in one sense, but very true in another. What these opponents meant was that they were causing trouble for Rome. The peace that Thessalonica had with Rome was being disrupted by these zealots who were trying to overthrow the Roman Empire. They were accused of leading a revolt. 

For example, in verse 7, they also accuse them of opposing Caesar. 

and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” (Ac 17:7)

The statement is not true in this sense. The apostles taught the early churches to honor the Emperor (1 Peter 2:13-17), to pray for kings and rulers (1 Tim 2:1-2), and to live as godly, honorable citizens (Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:11-12). 

The apostles did turn the world upside down in another sense, in a much more subversive way. As they preached Jesus as King and people began to give their allegiance to him by faith, they began to change, and over time, this change was reflected not only in individuals but in the societies in which they lived. 

In these two missionary efforts, first in Thessalonica, and then in Berea, I want to observe the proclamation that turns the world upside down and the people who turn the world upside down.

I.) The proclamation that turns the world upside down (Acts 17:1-15)

After leaving Philippi, Paul and Silas pass through Amphipolis and Apollonia to get to Thessalonica. The reason seems to be strategic. Thessalonica was one of the largest and most important cities in the area, as it was located right at the intersection of major trade routes.

Once in Thessalonica, Paul visited the Jewish synagogue first, as was his regular practice. 

2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” (Ac 17:2–3)

What turns the world upside down is the proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Here, Paul explains and proves that Jesus is the Messiah from the Scriptures. He takes the time to explain, listen to questions, and show from the Bible that the Messiah’s death and resurrection were necessary. 

I would imagine the passage he opened was very similar to the ones we’ve seen used earlier in Acts. 

Passages like Isaiah 53:5-6.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; 

we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

And Psalm 16, which foretells the resurrection of Jesus, For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor let your holy one see corruption (Ps 16:10)

These passages prove that the Messiah needed to suffer and die on behalf of his people, but they also prove something else. Since Jesus of Nazareth is risen, he is the Messiah, and therefore Lord. He is the king.

This is what Peter declared at Pentecost.

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Ac 2:36)

The proclamation that Jesus is King is what turns the world upside down, for he is the King of kings. Those who follow Jesus give their ultimate allegiance to him rather than to Caesar, and in the first few centuries, this becomes a disturbance not only to the Jews but also to many throughout the Roman world. Why? 

Why did the preaching of Jesus as Lord turn the world upside down? The Lordship of Jesus changed his followers and the societies in which they lived. There is a lot that we could say, but I want to highlight a few important ones. 

1. The Lordship of Jesus challenged and delivered people from pagan idolatry. 

For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Th 1:9–10)

To understand how significant this was, keep in mind that the pagan idolatry of the ancient world was intertwined with every other aspect of life.  All of life: the government, the marketplace, and the home had a connection to the many pagan gods of the ancient world.  

Larry Hurtado, in his really wonderful book Destroyer of the gods: Early Christian Distinctives in a Roman World, helps explain how the pagan world would have thought about converts to Christianity. 

“In their eyes…it would have drawn a lot of objection and even harassment…it would have seemed to the general public a kind of religious and social apostasy, an antisocial stance.”

The proclamation of Jesus as Lord exposed the pagan idols to be empty and vain. They were mute, deaf, and lifeless. Jesus Christ is risen, and he lives. 

In our context, we don’t have to worry much about lifeless pagan idols, but we do have to confront worldly idolatry. The idolatry most present in American culture and Massac County is no exception; it is the idolatry of the self.

It is the idolatry of understanding ourselves apart from God and the Lordship of Jesus. This manifests itself in a host of ways, but the most prominent ones involve progressive views of sexuality and gender. It is to create a new reality not based on truth, but on passions, desires, and self-declared identity. 

To proclaim Jesus as Lord in our current culture is to also speak the truth about human beings, that we can’t rightly know ourselves apart from God and his Word. 

Illustration: Louise Perry, British Journalist and author of The Case Against the Sexual Revolution. 

“…what Louise Perry observed about the reality of biological sex led her to explore the more fundamental truth claims of Christianity. And when she discovered that Christianity makes the most sense of the reality she observed, she embraced the supernatural Christian faith due to the light it shines on the natural world.”

2. The Lordship of Jesus destroys the distinctions of class. 

4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. (Ac 17:4)

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Ga 3:28–29)

3. The Lordship of Jesus raises the ethical standard consistent with God’s righteousness. 

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; (1 Th 4:3–5)

Throughout the New Testament, we are given commands about what a faithful life following Jesus looks like. The best way to oppose disordered sexual immorality and the denigration of marriage is to cultivate a rightly ordered sexuality and exemplify covenant faithfulness in marriage before a watching world. 

Another prominent example is the distinctly pro-life views and actions that set them apart from the surrounding world (Infant exposure/abortion, etc.) 2:2thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born. (Didache 2:2) 

These are just examples, but the point is that our confession that Jesus is Lord has implications not only for our individual lives but also for the communities in which we live. We are to be a light in a dark world and the salt that preserves the world. 

I think one of the better statements on Christian social engagement is found in the Baptist Faith and Message.

All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth. – Baptist Faith & Message 2000, XV. The Christian and Social Order 

II.) The people that turns the world upside down (Acts 17:1-15) 

We have seen the proclamation that turns the world upside down, but let’s consider the people. 

4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. (Acts 17:4)

11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. (Ac 17:11–12)

God’s way of truly and permanently changing society is not through politics, initiatives, or military means. God changes society one redeemed sinner at a time. When sinners are made new creations in Christ, they live and minister in a way that reflects how God makes all things new. 

 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything (1 Th 1:6–8)

If Waldo is going to be a church through which God turns the world upside down, we need to center the proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord in all our ministries and be committed to disciple-making. 

What we need most is not a new initiative, program, or plan. What we need most is a deep adoration for Jesus Christ and a renewed zeal in every member to be a gospel-sharing, disciple-maker. 

The proclamation of Jesus as King confronts and challenges the ways of the world and changes it one redeemed saint at a time.