July 29, 2001
As time goes by, the tension between teaching Scripture’s truths and staying culturally relevant only seems to grow. In order for us to be effective, Alistair Begg encourages us to know our Bibles, to know our culture, and to be able to fuse the two without sacrificing truth. In Acts, Paul demonstrated this approach in his sadness over brokenness, his awareness of spiritual need, and his willingness to take the time to engage with others. Will we follow his example?
24rThe God who made the world and everything in it, being sLord of heaven and earth, tdoes not live in temples made by man,3 25nor is he served by human hands, uas though he needed anything, since he himself vgives to all mankind wlife and breath and everything. 26And xhe made from one man every nation of mankind to live yon all the face of the earth, zhaving determined allotted periods and athe boundaries of their dwelling place, 27bthat they should seek God, cand perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. dYet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28for
e“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;4
as even some of fyour own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’5
29gBeing then God's offspring, hwe 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. 30iThe times of ignorance jGod overlooked, but know he lcommands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed ma day on which nhe will judge the world oin righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and pof this he has given assurance to all qby raising him from the dead.”
32Now when they heard of rthe resurrection of the dead, ssome mocked. But others said, t“We will hear you again about this.” 33So Paul went out from their midst. 34But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius uthe Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.