Monday – Gospels and Acts
Reading – Acts 17
Highlight Verse:
“For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”
Acts of the Apostles 17:28 NLT
I once attended a service at a church that reached out to refugees from a certain country I will refrain from naming.
There was a potluck buffet dinner after the service.
It was mayhem.
The culture of that country had no concept of lines.
The pastor, an acquaintance of mine, warned me of this cultural difference ahead of time.
He worked within their cultural norms in order to reach them with the Gospel.
Paul was sensitive to the cultures of the places he wanted to reach with the Gospel.
He did his homework and used his knowledge of the culture to help him reach the people of that culture.
When he got to a point in his preaching that the majority could not grasp, they stopped him.
Nevertheless, he reached several people in Athens.
Those started the trend that, a couple centuries later, brought a majority of Greek people to Christianity.
In what areas do you reach beyond cultural lines?
What are you doing to better understand those cultures?