CELL NOTES 21/9/09

ICE BREAKER

What are you like on Monday mornings? What is the best tine / worst time for you in the week?

THEME

Doing evangelism

Reading; Acts 17 : 16 – 23

SERMON OUTLINE

1) “Evangel” means “Good news”, “Evangelism” means “Communicating the good news.”

2) Before we can share good news, we need to be good news!

3) We are not all meant to be St. Paul, and endure the many hardships that he did – but there is much we can learn from his attitude and approach.

4) He met a wide range of people in Athens (v 17) , and sought to communicate the good news to them all.

5) Athens itself was a vastly mixed city, with a huge number of different ideas and approaches to life to be found.(e.g. v 23).

6) Many of those ideas are still held today. Epicureans believing that pleasure is all, God is remote, and life is governed by chance. Stoics believing that God was a vague spirit, present in all creation, and that self-sufficiency and attendance to duty were key attitudes.

7) Paul was not deterred, defensive or retaliatory in the face of varied reactions to him. He started where people were (vv 22,23), proclaimed his message positively (v 23) but was not afraid to draw out its implications (v 30).

8) He met varied responses ( see vv 4-5, 11-12, 18, 32-34). He persevered whatever the reaction.

10) Paul was mighty – but the impact of the unknown, “little people” was greater . See john 4 : 28-30 and Acts 11 : 19 – 21. The impact of ordinary Christians is huge – consider  who has influenced your own life.

11) What do we do about it? A good start is to invite somebody to Back to Church Sunday, or the Alpha course – be welcoming and pray for them.

QUESTIONS OF APPLICATION

How has God met with you this week, in the Bible or in some other way?

1)  Read the passage. What did God say to you on Sunday, and what strikes you most from it today?

2) Who has influenced you for Christ? Who is  a “good news” person for you today?

3) When were most comfortable sharing your faith?

4) Paul uses idols and Greek poetry as points of contact with the Athenians. What could you use as a point of contact today in your efforts to share the gospel?