Sermon on Mars Hill

 S - Acts 17:22-31 (NASB)

Sermon on Mars Hill

22 So Paul stood in the midst of the [t]Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and [u]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought. 30 So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent, 31 because He has set a day on which He will judge [v]the world in righteousness [w]through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people [x]by raising Him from the dead.”

O-My observations is that Paul's sermon on Mars Hill, is a sermon to us today.  For many believe in God or a spiritual being that looks over us , but they do not know His name.  So here Paul explains this is the God who created heaven and earth, and does not live in temples built on earth or resemble statues of hammered gold, but rather dwells in the hearts of the believers, and lives in the heavens, overlooking us, His creation.

A -  The application for me is remember Paul's sermon on Mars Hill when I find myself in front of non Christians who appear spiritual but do not know the God to whom they pray.  I am to share the good news that the God that is unknown to them is knowable.  That He sent His only son to die for our sins, that we might know Him. 

P -  Dear heavenly Father, thank you for this lesson this morning.  It is a reminder to preach the Gospel daily, even to myself.   Lord I rejoice in you love for me, that you reconciled me to you through the sacrifice of your Son, Jesus.    I pray for forgiveness for having succumb to the temptations of this world, even though you have made a way out from it.  Lord I pray that you would cast out all the demons that torment me and tempt me to give in to pornography.  I pray that you would send them fleeing, and would declare none would fill their place.   I pray this in Jesus Christ' name, Amen.