Uh, if you've been with us past several months, uh, you know that we have been in the Book of Acts. Uh, Pastor Matt has stepped us into the Book of Acts. We've been walking exegetically kind of through this book and this morning. We, last week we ended with 16 this morning. We're gonna be in Acts 17. We took a little break over Christmas, uh, to kind of set in some, uh, Christmas messages as well, but we're back in the Book of Acts, spending some time in there. And I'm excited to get the opportunity to kind of come alongside this morning and get to bring the word out of Acts 17. Um, as I was thinking about Acts 17 and as I studied for this chapter, I kept thinking, you know, "Hey, what, what, what do you need to, where do we need to go this morning?
What direction do we need to take this? " Uh, in the, in the word as we read the word, as we study this word, kind of where is God gonna take us this morning? It's not only gonna be, uh, something that teaches us, but also something that just kind of challenges us and encourages us, uh, as a church and as an individual, uh, this morning to be able to continue on our journey with what God has for us. But at the same time, while I was studying, um, I, I don't know about you, but when you, when you study, maybe you don't do this, but when I study, I have moments because, uh, I, I just get distracted very easily. And I have to shut my door or things like that, but I, I'll just get in these little rabbit holes of like Googling stuff or searching stuff when I'm, when I'm kind of trying to study and I'm kind of digging.
And in the midst of that, I, I came across something that I wasn't quite aware of yet. Uh, not only is tomorrow a holiday, but tomorrow is also, uh, a day called Quitter's Day. You may be like, "What does that even mean?" Like I was curious when that came up that tomorrow, the 19th of January is called Quitters Day. And the reason it's called Quitter's Day is because, uh, most people at this time by this date have quit all their New Year's resolutions. <laugh> And so it is some reason it's a day, uh, that now has become a thing. For some of us, let's just be honest, we didn't make it past the third day. For some of us in here, we're like, "I'm not even making a resolution because I know it's not gonna stick, so I'm not really worried about it, " kind of thing.
But when I got into that, like I said, I went into the rabbit hole and I started thinking, you know, what are some good excuses for quitting? Like, I'm just kinda curious. Like what would be some good reasons to quit if I was gonna quit my resolution? Uh, because I need some of those in my life to just affirm my reasons for quitting things, uh, to help me feel good about the reasons. So I wrote down 10 of those, uh, that I wanna share with you this morning. And maybe these will resonate with you. Maybe they will land you, maybe you'll think they're funny, maybe you won't. Who knows? We'll figure it out together, okay? Uh, but this is one of them. The first one here is this. I read somewhere that stressing about resolutions un- is unhealthy. So quitting is basically self-care, okay? Uh, kind of one of those things I was like, okay, that's a good one.
Uh, January's already lasted three weeks, and if I survived that, I deserve a break. Um, another one was I accidentally skipped one day and spiritually felt led to start over next year because grace abounds, right? Uh, so there's one. Uh, my old habits, they missed me, right? And, and honestly, who am I to ghost to my old habits? Uh, gotta bring those back. Uh, the gym was too crowded with other people who also quit and it felt toxic. <laugh> Um, I didn't see results by January 3rd. <laugh>
I mean, why waste a whole year on something that's this slow, right? Um, my resolution interfered with my personality. Turns out I like snacks a lot. Um, that was one of those. Uh, I, I needed a cheat day, which became a cheat week, which became my lifestyle because commitment's hard. Uh, I didn't quit my resolution. I just pivoted. Uh, and then my last one was, uh, my resolution expired like leftovers in the fridge, right? Like we all have our reasons for, for quitting things, right? And we all have our excuses. And excuses are something that are very familiar to us. Excuses are something that, that literally we find funny, but at the same time, they're funny because they're familiar. They're funny because these excuses are not just like a New Year's kind of problem. They're not just something we come up with. But the reality about an excuse is this.
They're a human problem. We're really quick to giving excuses. We don't quit because we don't care. We ki- we quit because excuses are just easier to follow through with. They're easier to, to proclaim and to live out. An excuse really costs us nothing in the moment. If anything, they give us peace in that moment when we make that excuse. They validate why we're doing what we're doing. They push responsibilities to tomorrow and they let us feel justified with actually changing that decision. I can't tell you how many times I've said, "I'll start eating right tomorrow." Right? Like, I'll just start over tomorrow. Like, I've got this thing going on at work or I've got this thing going on, uh, with family and, you know, there's gonna be that cake there. There's gonna be those things there. Or, you know what, I'm just really tired this morning, so I'm not gonna get up and exit us.
I'll do that tomorrow. And those excuses just give us the freedom to do that. But here's the uncomfortable part about excuses that I want us to understand is that excuses don't show up in just our goals, but they have a tendency to show up in our faith as well. Excuses too. We don't stop believing like the journey song says we stop engaging. We just stop engaging in that. We don't deny the gospel. We delay living it. And that's exactly where Acts 17 needs us. It's in that moment where we understand that, that there's a, a calling and a placement that is put on us to live the gospel in a watching world. What I've realized in the many years that I've been in ministry and the many years just being alive, that I feel like today, Christians are being watched more now than ever before.
Maybe it's because we're just able to put it out there more, maybe it's social media. I don't know. But it seems like every day there's somebody watching or doing, and whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, they're maybe they're looking for, for, for truth to, not to land the way they thought it would. Maybe they're looking for it to disappoint. Maybe they're looking for a way to go against it, but there is a constant watching on the truth. There's a constant watching on the church from this world. And so as I was sitting in this passage this week, I kept coming across this understanding that we are to be a people that are living the gospel in a watching world.
That's exactly what Paul is doing here. What Paul does in chapter 17 is he walks into a city full of people who were not rejecting God. They were curious. They were distracted and they were always looking for something new. Does that not sound familiar? Does that not sound a lot like the world we live in today? It is a world that is curious, that is distracted and always looking for the next new trend, the next new whatever to follow, the next new thing to be a part of, the next quick moneymaker, the next new whatever. In Acts 17 in verse 21, it says here, Paul, it says, "Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new." They were consumed by this. They were consumed by this passion for new. And so what Paul sees is the Athens wasn't a hostile place.
Like I said, it was curious. It wasn't anti-religious. If anything, it was over religious. It wasn't closed. It was just uncommitted.
And what Paul realized was this, Athens didn't need more information, they needed transformation. See, the world we live in today doesn't need more information. It has plenty of information. It has plenty of information that entertains us, but here's the thing about information. Information can entertain us without ever changing us, but transformation always requires a response. And Paul has realized that he stepped into this, this area and in this city and this culture and he's looked at it and he says, "Hey, these people, they need transformation. They're curious. They're distracted. They're uncommitted. They need transformation. They don't need more information from me just to bring them." And so my challenge to you today as we dig into this passage is that you would have an open heart to understanding that you two are called to be a person that is a body of believers, a church, to live the gospel.
The church was never meant to be combined to a building.
This building was not where we were supposed to just stay. If in everything, the church is a gathering of people that are compelled, that are handpicked, that are intentionally sent and are living proven with a resurrection gospel in a world that is curious, uncommitted, and needing transformation. That's what the church is. And so for each and every one of us that stepped into this room today, we need to understand that this gathering together and worshiping and raising our hands and singing is not meant to stay here. But in order for us to do that, I've got four things that I think we need to do. And I've already mentioned them actually.
In order for us to live as Paul did and to live as we see in this scripture in Acts 17, we're gonna be kind of in this 16 all the way down through 34 verses of Acts chapter 17. So you got your Bible, open them up, look at it, follow us in the notes, see it on the screen. You have to understand that you and I, if we're ever gonna live this way, we've gotta be compelled. The principle we see here is this. The gospel started with a stirring heart in Acts chapter 17, verse 16 in the ESV version. It says, "Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him." As he saw that the city was full of idols. Now in the NIV, it says it this way. It says, "He was greatly distressed." In the NLT, it says this, "He was deeply troubled." And then in King James version, it says, "His spirit was stirred in him." See, I want you to catch something here.
In this scripture, what we see is that Paul didn't start with a sermon. He started with a burden. S- Paul had a burden in his heart. It says that he was provoked in this, that he was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. This word provoked. And when we look at that word provoked, what we see is this means a deep emotional agitation. He is not angry. He has a holy grief. He's like, "These people need Jesus." He's like, "Man, I, I am burdened by this. And what I need each and every one of us here to understand today is that as we step out into the world, we need to be burdened by the fact that there are people that are lost.
Because I want you to understand something. If the gospel has it stirred your heart, it won't move your mouth." For some of us in here today, we need God to stir our hearts so that our mouth now responds with sharing the truth of the gospel. Paul had a stirring in his heart. He goes, "Man, these people are, are, are, man, they are lost. They need Jesus." He doesn't go in there going, "These people are idiots." This culture is hopeless. Instead, he says, "These people are loved. This city is worth reaching." Now, I get it. Some of us step into our workplace. Some of us step into our school. Some of us step into all of our environments and we step into places where we're like, "Man, these guys are idiots." I mean, I don't do that in my workplace, but there are people that say that, right?
Like, man, these guys are idiots. There's no way they're gonna listen. There's no way they're gonna hear what I've gotta say. They're hopeless. How easy would it have been for Paul to have stepped into this area and go, "Man, these guys are filled with idols. These guys are filled with worshiping all the wrong things. They're so consumed by themselves, but instead, he steps in and he says," These people are loved and these people are a city that's worth reaching. "What if we stepped into our workplace? What if we stepped into our schools? What if we stepped into our own families and our community and said," These people are worth reaching. "And God loves them and my heart is stirring to share the gospel with them.
See, we don't speak because we're bold. We speak up because love won't let us shut up. See, we serve a God that in one John chapter three and verse 18 says," God is love. "Said this before, I'll say it again. Love is not a feeling. It's not an emotion. It's not an act because a response of true love is God. True love is found in our Savior. And we speak up because God will not allow us to be quiet when He's changed our lives. See, when God has radically transformed your life, it has wrecked you.
It has radically changed your thought process. It has changed everything about you. The way you speak, the way you talk, the way you think, the way you act, the way you live. In reality, what happens is this, is that for some of us, we need to have such a stirring in our heart for the gospel and, and for people to hear it, that we almost become what I say obsessed with the gospel. How cool would it be if we walked out of the church today just overly obsessed with this gospel that God has given us? The gospel that he had, that he came, that he walked on this earth, that he lived the perfect life, that he died for our sins, that he rose from the dead, brought victory, and provides redemption for you and I. You know, heaven's not fair.
Heaven's really the most unfair. Hell's fair. We deserve hell. Come on. We don't deserve heaven. But through Jesus, he makes it fair. It was his resurrection, his gospel that makes it fair. And so what if you and I got so obsessed with this gospel that it, that it, that it just consumed us? I get it. Now, some of us understand obsessions, right? Like, we, we understand what an obsession is. Obsessions are things like, for example, for some of us, maybe an obsession for us was a blanket, right? Like when we were a kid, Memaw or, or Nana or whoever we call him, grandma, whatever, made us a blanket, right? And we were born, we had that blanket. That blanket came with us everywhere we went. It was our, it was our, our comfort. It was our thing, right? And as we grew older, for some of us, even that blanket became something that it got nasty, it got disgusting, but you really couldn't, like, wash it and fear that it would fall apart.
So eventually it started to fall apart. So what did you do? You sowed it into another blanket, right? So you still had a little piece corner of, of Nana's blanket that she made you, right? Like, whatever, you're obsessed with this blanket. You go off to college with this blanket. You bring this marriage into your marriage, which is weird, but you bring it wherever. I don't know. You got an obsession with a blanket, right? If I'm talking about you, I'm really sorry I didn't mean anything bad by it. But for some of you, that's your obsession, right? Like, you got this blanket, it's your comfort, that's your thing. You've gotta have it everywhere. For some of you, it's a pillow. Let's just be real. Some of you need to throw a pillow away. It's pretty gross. <laugh> Right? Like, it's pretty nasty. You take that pillowcase off and you're like, "Ugh." It's kinda bad, right?
Like, I understand pillows. I, I've got a little bit of an obsession with pillows. My wife will tell you that. I love pillows, man. I got, like, a body pillow here. I got a body pillow here. I got a pillow like in my arm, pillow on my head. Like, we got tons of pillows. We got a king sized bed just from my pillows, right? Like, I love pillows. I don't know. I'm sure it's from some trauma from when I was a kid probably is where that comes from because I was the youngest of three boys. And every time I got in my bed, there was somebody, like, hiding in my bed and coming over, rah, you know, whatever. So maybe it's just like my comfort zone, like I just kind of tucked myself in to my pillows is my thing. But, like, some of us have an obsession with a pillow.
For some of us, it's an obsession with maybe, like, a stuffed animal, right? Like, we gotta have this stuffed animal. You get it. If you're a parent, maybe you've, you've seen that with your kids. Maybe you still got a stuffed animal. I don't know. Uh, I'm not judging you, but hey, you've got an obsession with that stuffed animal. For me, there was another obsession that I'm just gonna confess to you right now that I had, okay? I had a little bit of an obsession with a game, right? In my household, there's these games. We love playing games. We're a house that loves to play cards, loves to play games. We'd love to do that. So about two years ago, we got a game called Shut the Box. I don't know if you've ever played that game or not, but it is a game that I absolutely got obsessed with.
Okay, let me tell you a little bit about the game, because some of you are about to go, like, you know, if I had, like, one of those affiliate, like, little things, I'd make a ton of money today, right? But that's not what it's about. Um, but it's like, hey, you know, you got this game. This game's got, like, 12 little numbers on it. You roll the dice, throw the dice down. If the number lands on that, you flip that number down, right? Like, sounds like a simple game. We got it two Christmases ago. That day, we started playing that game. Ours is kind of, like, fancy. It's got four sides because we love games. So we're like, we gotta do this big, right? But you only do it one at a time. It's like I'm a pretty competitive person. Like I said, I grew up in a household.
I, I, I can't stand to lose. Like, I'm always competing, right? Like, I don't care. If you're six years old and you're playing Monopoly, you're going down, right? I don't care. It doesn't matter to me. I wanna win. It's just part of my nature. It's part of who I am, okay? I don't like to lose. Only losers like to lose. Okay? I don't like it. Don't quote that. Don't, don't put that anywhere, okay? Um, but I, but I don't like it. I just love to win. I love to do that. So I, I kind of get obsessed with this game, shut the box, right? And it seems simple. A month goes by. I haven't shut the box. So I, I start coming home, like, every day from work and I'm like, Laria, let, let's ... I'm gonna play shut the box. And like an hour goes by and I'm, I can't shut the box.
I'm so frustrated. I get down to like one number and it doesn't shut. I'm like, "What is going on? " And then like two months go by and I'm like, I, I still haven't shut the box. You know how long it took me to shut the box? I finally shut the box. After Thanksgiving this year, I finally shut the box. My wife had already shut the box at one point in time. I was a little upset with her, uh, but it was what it was. It was just like, "Hey, I get it. You played more than I did. I don't have as much free time. I don't know. Don't tell her that. She's right there, but she has a lot. She d- I, I just need a hush." Um, but anyways, uh, she shut the box. I was like, "Oh, whatever." I finally got to it right after Thanksgiving, was so excited, but I literally obsessed over this game.
Like every day, I would go home and play this game hoping I would beat this game. And for literally like 11 months, I played this game. My sister-in-law comes over. <laugh>
I introduced this game to her and I'm like, "Hey, you ever seen this game?" She's like, "Nah, it's cool." She shuts it the first time. <laugh> I literally looked at her and in my head I said, "I hate you. " <laugh> And she's like, "This game's not that hard." I was like, "Stop talking. <laugh> This is not fun. I just spent 11 months playing this game." <laugh> You know? But that's an obsession, right? Little bit of obsession, but obsessions, what they do is this. They consume you, they take part of your life, they make you think about it every single day to the point that you're constantly investing in it, that you're spending time trying to accomplish that task. What if we got so obsessed with the gospel that every day we woke up thinking about it, every day going through our day thinking, I've got to accomplish this task of getting this gospel out to somebody, how much different this world would look with that kind of obsession.
Charles Virgin says this. He says, "A gospel that does not change the heart will never change the world." Never. See, we need inside of us the understanding that we are compelled by the gospel to go and share. Paul was stirred in his heart to share the gospel no matter what cost it was gonna cost him, no matter what was going on in his life, he understood that he needed to go and share the gospel. Why? Because he was handpicked to do it. You and I have to understand that we have been handpicked by God to go and share the gospel as a follower of Christ. Principle number two, God's positions ordinary people and strategic places for the gospel advancement. See, Paul was put in a strategic place for the right time to bring the gospel. You are put in a strategic place, whether you agree with it or not, you're put in that job, you're put in that classroom, you're put in that neighborhood, you're put in that grocery line, you're put wherever you're supposed to be for a strategic purpose in that place for the advancement of the gospel.
In Acts 17:22, it says, Paul then stood up in the meeting of Air Pockets and said, "People of Athens." He says, "I see that in every way you are very religious." He goes, "Hey, I'm here. I've been observing you. I've been placed in this meeting for a reason and he doesn't sit quietly. He doesn't just sit there how easy it would have been just to sit there and said nothing. But he looks up and he said, Hey guys, I need to talk. I've been sitting in this meeting long enough. I've been observing long enough. I've been hanging out with you long enough that I see something happen here. Now, I want you to see what he doesn't do. He doesn't stand up in the meaning and all of a sudden start condemning them. He begins with an observation. He says, "I've been paying attention. I've perceived this.
I've seen this. I've been paying attention. You're very religious," which literally means you're searching, you're looking for something and he doesn't start to attack them. He acknowledges the fact that they're looking for something. What if we stepped out in the world today and acknowledged that people are lost in looking?
And instead of just condemning them, instead of stepping in and just saying you're wrong, we actually stepped into where they're at. And maybe we affirm the search because Paul affirmed the search before correcting the direction. He affirmed the fact that you guys are looking. I see that. I see you're looking. I see that you need somebody. I wanna help you get there. See, I've been in church world long enough and I've worked with students long enough as a student pastor that I get to see a lot of different students. I love working with students. I love working in the church. It's been one of the biggest blessings of my entire life. But the reality is this, what I hear more than anything from Christians is when a kid walks in or an adult walks in and they don't act like they should in the church, we go, "Why don't they act like they should in the church?" 'Cause I, and I look at them and I go, because they're lost.
Amen. They don't know Jesus. They don't know how to act in the church. Well, why don't they dress right in the church? 'Cause they're lost. They don't know how to dress in the church. What they're in the church, they don't, they don't know that. It's a building to them. They're lost. And what I've learned is this, that in order for me to see change in that person's heart, I've gotta reach their heart first before they're gonna change their actions. Which is why I think it's so important that Paul doesn't shame them. Paul didn't need to shame them with the truth. Instead, they needed to be shepherded toward it. See, people don't need to be shamed with the truth. They need to be shepherded towards the truth. We need to walk alongside people in such a way that we're pointing people to Jesus, just understanding that God has handpicked us for that placement at that time to shepherd people to Jesus, to help them understand that we're not gonna change them just by telling them, "Hey, you're doing something wrong." But we need to see their heart change first.
And we've been handpicked to that in John 15 and verse 16, it says this, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and pointed you so that you might go and bear fruit. Fruit that will last and so that whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you. " Please understand when scripture goes to that, it helps you understand that you were chosen for this purpose as a follower of Christ. And to be chosen doesn't mean you're elite. It means that you've been entrusted. You've been entrusted with one of the most amazing things in the world as a follower of Christ. You've been entrusted with the gospel. What you do with it is important. You are the tool that God has chosen to use for the advancement of his gospel. But for so many of us, we're the tool that stays in the toolbox and never comes out and gets used.
And the tool that stays in the toolbox and never gets used is not being used for what it was created to be.
So we need to understand that we've been chosen. We've been entrusted with the gospel. Amen. See, God chooses the heart first. Transformation comes second. It comes after the heart has been changed. We need to go and help people change their heart. Amen. See, Paul notices this. He notices their habits. He notices the altars. He notices their hunger for meaning. And without changing his posture, without changing his audience, Paul does something absolutely brilliant in this scripture. He takes what they already believe and he points it to what they don't yet know. He says, "You believe that there's a God, but you don't know the God. Which is exactly what you and I need to do in the world today. Today.
It's not only stan- understand that we've been handpicked, but we've been intentionally sent. Sent. See, God sends us to proclaim the gospel so it may enter the world clearly." Acts 17 of verse 23. It says, "For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship," he says, "Hey, I've been, I've been observant. I've been looking. As I walked around and looked carefully at your object of worship, I even found an altar with the inscription to an unknown God." Says, "So, so you're ignorant of the very thing you worship. And this is what I'm going to proclaim to you. " So in other words, what he says is say, "I've been walking around. I've been looking. I've been seeing some things. I see that you are searching. You're not wrong in searching. You're just incomplete. You're looking. Your desires are to worship something, but you don't have a direction." And so Paul inter- doesn't introduce a new desire.
He reveals a true direction to an existing desire. He says, "I'm gonna direct you. You wanna worship a God, but you're God, you don't know him. So I'm gonna direct you to a God that you can have a relationship and know. " See, in the world today, we need to quit trying to introduce and start directing, start pointing people to Jesus. Uh, let's just be honest, most of the world knows that there is a God. They may not believe it. They know there, there is a human man named Jesus who lived on this earth. They just don't believe in him as the Messiah. So why don't we take what they know and direct them to what we know, that he is a Savior, that he is God. They need clarity.
Athens didn't need less spirituality. They needed clarity, which is exactly what our world needs. They were religious. They were unsatisfied. They were spiritual but unanchored. They were curious, but uncommitted. And what Paul did was he showed them something crucial about living the gospel and what it meant to have a gospel understanding. He didn't tear them down. He reached out to them. He says, "I, I, I know what you're looking for. And let me give you that hope." See, that's where you and I need to be. Paul uses the altar. He quotes the poets. He speaks their language. But what Paul doesn't do is Paul doesn't water down the truth. He bridges it. He bridges the truth. He takes it where they're at. See, for so many of us, we need to understand that God has called us to bridge the truth. On my, my standup here, I have two Bibles.
One Bible is in a foreign language. It's in Chinese. It's characters. For some of you, I need you to understand this is the truth. This is God's word. It is holy, it is an errant. But at the same time, what I need you to understand as well is even though this is the word of God, it is true, it is powerful as an errant. Let's just be honest for a second. Most of us in here can't read it.
We can't read it. Now, maybe there's one of you in here that's a scholar or one of you that's like, "Oh yeah, I studied that for some reason. I don't know why." <laugh> Great job. Proud of you. I can't read it. And I would go as far to say that most of us in this room can't read it. Most of us can't understand what it says. It doesn't change the value of it. But what it does is this. Just because it's true doesn't mean it's understandable. Just because it's true doesn't mean it's understandable. And for some of us, we're like, "Hey, this is, this, I can't understand anything about this. What I need you to understand is this, that truth that can't be understand, stood, can't be received." And so what we need to do is help people understand the word. Now, and also I have up here is my normal, my English Bible.
Now, for some of us, we go, "Okay, I can read that, right? I can read that one. What I need you to understand is the same truth, same power, same Bible.
Nothing's changed about it. If anything, this Bible doesn't become less holy just because it's translated. It becomes more accessible. Same words. One, I can't read, one I can. See, here's the truth I need you to understand. Paul didn't change the gospel in Athens. He translated it for them. He helped them understand what they were looking for. They were trying to read it from here because they couldn't understand it. And God, and, and Paul goes, let me, let me explain that for you. See, for some of us, we need to take people and go, Hey, let me, let me help you understand the gospel. Let me help you make this accessible. Let me help you understand. I'm not, I'm not changing anything about the truth. If anything, I'm not editing the gospel. I'm just explaining it to you because that's what Paul did. He says in Acts 17:23, he says, "What therefore you worship as unknown?
This I proclaim you. " He says, "I, I need you to understand. I'ma help you understand what you don't understand. I'm gonna take this gospel and I'm gonna put it in front of you because you're watching, you're looking, and I'm gonna help you understand it. " Why? Because I've been intentionally sent to do that.
If people's lives are gonna be transformed, we gotta go tell them by Jesus. We gotta take the word. We gotta help him understand it. But why? Because it's a proven gospel. It's a proven gospel. See, the gospel demands a response. In Acts 17, verse 30 through 31, we see that response and we see what happens here. It says, "In the past, God overlooked such ignorance. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world within, with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead." See, what Paul does here is this. He takes these people of Athens and he says, "I'm gonna take philosophy and I'm gonna point it to repentance. I'm gonna take curiosity and I'ma point it to a decision.
I'm gonna take your ideas and I'm gonna point it to the resurrection." Why? Because the resurrection is the proof in which you and I live by. Without the resurrection, there is no truth.
But here's the thing. As a follower of Christ, we understand that there was victory and death and that resurrection is what brings victory to you and I. It brings the redemption to you and I. Christian, Christianity doesn't end with morality. It ends with a risen Jesus. That's where Christianity is. That's where you and I live and we understand is that the resurrection isn't an accessory to the gospel. It is the gospel. Amen. That is the gospel in itself. And so therefore, we need to walk out of this world understanding we've got a proven gospel. We've got the truth in our hands and we've got to step into our community and our workplaces and everyone go, "Hey, let me tell you about Jesus because it's been proven true in our lives." But now read, let's hear the response in verses 32 through 34.
It says, when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, it says some of them sneered, but others said, "Man, we wanna hear you again on this subject." At that, Paul left the council. Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was not nice, a member, their apogus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. Does he need you to understand something every time Jesus is preached, a decision is demanded. But here's the thing I need you to see, that even though we're called, even though we are in this understanding that we are supposed to go share the gospel, scripture said some mocked, some delayed, but some believed, and that's the beauty.
So I need you to understand that just because we go share the gospel doesn't mean we're not gonna get mommed. Just because we share the gospel doesn't mean it's not gonna, that it might get delayed, but just because we share the gospel, some will believe. And that's the beauty because it demands a response. And no matter what the response, it's not on you. You're just being obedient to what God has called you to be. So I wanna challenge you today that you today would go and share the gospel, that you would go tell someone about the resurrection of Jesus, because it has compelled you by love, because Christ's love will never let you stay silent.
You were handpicked on purpose for this, and God has placed us where we are for a reason. You're intentionally sent into this world because faith was never meant to stay inside this building. And the gospel that you and I live was proven through Jesus, the resurrection. That Jesus is alive and that the truth that has been proven must be proclaimed. So today I challenge you to go proclaim the gospel. Don't wait. Don't make any excuse. I'll do that tomorrow. No, today. When you go to that restaurant, today, guess what? You were put there for a reason that waitress will come to your table for a reason. Strategically, you've been placed there. What if today was the day that she needed to hear about Jesus or he needed to hear about Jesus? Or maybe you're going to the grocery store and you're waiting in line and you're like, "Man, I can tell that I need to speak to that, that young individual right there that's working this register.
I need to tell him about Jesus." Or maybe there's that guy at the gas station with me and I'm on one side and you don't try to make eye contact with him because you really don't want to talk to him. Maybe today you make eye contact with him and you can just, just, just ask if you can pray for him.
Have a gospel conversation. Well, that's just weird. Yeah, you're right. It might get mocked. It might be delayed, but guess what? They also may come to know Jesus today. That's what Paul did. He observed. He stepped into it today. Don't delay it. See, the church doesn't gather to escape the world. We gather to be sent back into it with the gospel. So as we gather today, man, we leave here today being sent to carry the gospel to a lost and dying world that needs Jesus.