Making the Unknown, Known

 

Read Acts 17

 

S.O.A.P.

Scripture – Observation – Application - Prayer

 

S:  TO THE GOD NOBODY KNOWS. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with. “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near.  The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change.  Acts 17:22-30 The Message

O:  The Athenians were worshipping a lot of gods.  They had made a lot of shrines and one shrine was to the “unknown God”.  Paul sees all of the idols and gets pretty upset, but when he saw the shrine to the “unknown God” he decided to make known to them who this God was.  He shares with them that He is the Creator of all things, He is to be sought after, that He is not far away, but that He is near and He wants to change our lives.

A:  A lot of the commentaries I read and studied this morning had one thing in common – they all seemed to point to the fact that a lot of people have religion, but not relationship.  We, even today, tend to set up our “shrines” for religious purposes.  One question that came up in my study time was, “do we know who we are worshipping”?   

Do you ever question what it is you believe?  There are times I do.  Sometimes I say something that prompts me to ask myself if I really am acting on the things I say I believe in.

 

Verse 34 says there was a woman who because of Paul's teachings questioned what she was believing in, "But some men were on his side and joined him and believed (became Christians); among them were Dionysius, a judge of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and some others with them."

 

Who was this woman Damaris?

She was connected to the Areopagus which was a judicial court or council so she was probably highly educated and well versed in a lot of philosophies and ideas about God, but when Paul spoke she was able to recognize the real truth and was able to believe by faith in what Paul was teaching.

What does Damaris teach us for our own lives today?

1.  Continue to seek after truth your whole life.
2.  What ever your station is in life, truth is more important.
3.  Don't let other people's criticism of the truth keep you from the truth. 

Discussion questions: What truth from Paul's teachings are you clinging to today? Is there anything that God has been teaching you lately that is going to require some courage on your part? Do you ever find yourself around people who do not uphold the truth, but criticize it and if so how do you deal with that criticism?

 

P:  I thank you God that You make Yourself known to us.  You do not have to remain the unknown God to us.  When life's circumstances make me feel like you are far away, I pray I will remember the truth that You truly are near to us.  Thank you for the examples in Your WORD that we can take encouragement from.  In Christ's name we pray.  Amen & Amen.