1. Engaging Culture Barriers and Bridges

2. You're in a culture which values Plurality of belief Religious and Moral equivalence

3. Yet what you believe Is ridiculed and hated

4. You believe in God become man Who died as scum, with scum And you say he came back to life

5. You believe in God become man Who died as scum, with scum And you say he came back to life Madness…

6. You follow the teachings Of a Rabbi who refused to Equivocate on morality And your culture stands in Stark Opposition

7. What do you do?

8. Paul's Time and Culture

9. I have a family No worries for me But my son? My wife? This world?

10. When do we yell? How do we whisper?

11. Yelling at the culture Says I care about me and mine Loving and engaging people Says I care about Jesus And trust him for me and mine

12. Paul's World: Pedophiles, Misogyny Prostitution as worship Pagan sacrifices of meat

13. When do we yell? When writing to Christians… How do we whisper? We bridge the gap into Culture…

14. Yelling at the culture Says I care about me and mine Loving and engaging people Says I care about Jesus And trust him for me and mine

15. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews

16. Freed from the Law No longer bound by Sabbath And dietary rules

17. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures…

18. - Met people where they were - Gave up his rights - Gave it time instead of forcing - Had a conversation based on the scriptures

19. That's how he engaged A culture of religion and Self-righteousness

20. Paul wouldn't fit In American Christianity

21. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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 How to Engage Culture…

25. Truth remains Methods change Based on the needs Of the world around us So we carry a cross

26. Meanwhile… "There comes a time when you have to rid yourself of negative people and negative energy" - FB Status' by Christians

27. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings 1 Cor. 9

28. Responses to Culture - Fight- put up barriers - Flight- make a beeline - Facilitate- build a bridge

30. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures…

31. …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”

32. Creation Fall Redemption Restoration Knows his audience (the Christ)

33. 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

34. Lives impacted now and forever Families Changed …rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his Son…

35. When Attacking a Kingdom Expect Opposition

36. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob…set the city in an uproar

37. Ok, that's Jewish Culture What about Pagan Culture?

38. 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

39. So…

40. Yelling at the culture Says I care about me and mine Loving and engaging people Says I care about Jesus And trust him for me and mine

41. 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

42. No Fight- reasoned, not yelled No Flight- went where they were

43. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?”

44. So…

45. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should - Eph. 6:20

46. I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries - 1 Cor. 16:9

48. Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”- because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection

49. Not talking about what's wrong But how Jesus is good and right The issue isn't worship of idols But the need to know Jesus

50. The issue isn't: Gay or Straight Democrat or Republican Theist or Atheist or Religious The issue is…?

51. And all the other distractions and sins and causes Are simply bridges by which to Build the Gospel

52. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

53. For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean”

54. Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new

55. So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said…

56. So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious

57. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god’ For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god’

58. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you

59. Sincere compliment - Religious Bridge/Point of Agreement - Unknown god

60. "I just think everything happens for a reason" "It's great to be spiritual I see purpose in things, too God uses them for…"

61. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man Your gods are too small

62. …nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything Your gods are too needy

63. 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

64. …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 Having your gods isn't enough

65. If you'll describe the majesty and Goodness of the God you serve You really don't need to discount Whatever others worship

66. “‘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’ Epimenides and Aratus

67. 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

68. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent…

69. …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”

70. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” So Paul went out from their midst

71. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them - Acts 17

72. At Areopagus: - Started with a compliment - Found a point of agreement - Made God big, not himself - Used culture to reach culture

73. At Areopagus: - Pointed out their mistake - Called to repentance

74. Yelling at the culture Says I care about me and mine Loving and engaging people Says I care about Jesus And trust him for me and mine

75. What our culture is embracing Is dangerous and destructive Not just disagreeable To some people of Faith

76. Which Did Jesus Do? - Fight- put up barriers - Flight- make a beeline - Facilitate- build a bridge

77. Gay, Straight, Bi, Trans Conservative or Liberal Pro-gun or anti-gun Don't miss the point Just to make your points

78. …in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy

79. always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect - 1 Peter 3:15

80. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone - Colossians 4:6

81. "You can antagonize or influence. You can't do both" - John Knox

82. Yelling at the culture Says I care about me and mine Loving and engaging people Says I care about Jesus And trust him for me and mine

83. Who has God given you? What's Christ's response? Go and do likewise…

84. Let's Pray

85. Q and A

86. Nov. 1- Halloween Nov. 8- Bazaar Nov. 16- Great Clothes Exchange

87. Early Service Missionaries

89. Guest Cards