Acts 17:19-21 (NIV)
19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
Paul went to Athens to share the gospel to a group of people who were continually looking at new ideas. They were Greek "geeks" of the day. Paul seized the opportunity to address these who wanted to hear what he said because it was new.
Paul used the setting to address them. The Athenians had filled their streets and buildings with idols but they also had an inscription to "an unknown god." Paul knew that they had searched everywhere but did not know God. He knew they had not found Him in all their idols and explained to them who God really is. Some scoffed at the resurrection, others wanted to hear more and a few became believers.
Paul employed the culture of the area to share the good news of Jesus Christ. He sought to win some with each message he preached. He knew that there would be nothing that would win all so he searched for ways to reach people with the gospel.
My church has just created a mobile app so that people can communicate the gospel in today's environment. The app tells about the church, allows the user to post prayer requests (which are pushed out to all other users), provides a venue for watching sermons, gives the calendar of church events and encourages people to invite others to church with one click to "Tell a Friend." It is using the environment of this day to reach the next generation. I think this is something that Paul would have done.
Please check out our app and see if it is something you would like to suggest to your own church. Let's reach the world one person at a time. Let's use every available means.
In the Apple Store search by entering "Thalia". (no quotes) In the Android app store search by entering "TLBC" We are Thalia Lynn Baptist Church. The company we used to create this app can be contacted by clicking on "More" at the bottom right of the app and scrolling down to "Built By."
1 comment:
Way to go, Ps Prentis, yes, be creative, use all available means, so long as it does NOT irk the Lord. Like I said before, then, there were no electric guitar and electricity, so, no electric guitar should be allowed, or lets worship in the dark or using only natural light! Of course NOT. Handphone evil? No handphone in Jesus' time, so what! No, handphone is NOT evil, and a knife is NOT evil too; it is how you use it. Many things are NOT evil or unacceptable, it is how we use it; it is what is the motive of the heart; it is whether we have reverence for God.
Again, way to go, but do NOT forget, at some point human touch is still necessary. I am all flesh and blood still, even as I claim spirituality!
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