Thursday June 25th, 2020
Memorize: Acts 17:23 New King James Version (NKJV)
” for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you’’
Read: Acts 17:22-28New American Standard Bible (NASB)
22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.
23 For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;
26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,
27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’
Message:
In Matthew 4:19NKJV, Jesus likened evangelism to fishing: “Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
When you want to go fishing, you need to have some bait that will attract the fish to you before you catch it in your net or hook. This is the same way we must approach evangelism. If you make it obvious while approaching people that you have come to preach the gospel, they are likely to put up a front, but if you approach them with a possible point of interest and they warm up to you, then you can present the gospel to them.
In Acts 17:22-26, Paul wanted to win a community for God. Having noticed that they were already ignorantly worshiping God at an altar dedicated to “THE UNKNOWN GOD”, he decided to start from there.
When you want to preach to someone, find out their interest or curiosity first, then start from there. If you approach a person to discuss his/her area of interest, you would definitely get their attention and then you can present the gospel afterwards.
One day, I was on a plane and seated beside me was a man who had gold necklaces, a gold wristwatch and even his walking stick was gold. I said to him, “Sir, do you know my father? He owns plenty of gold, He even has gold factories all over the world.” I had the man’s full attention. He asked “what is his name? I said His name is chief Emmanuel” and then I went on to describe God some more to him. By the time I was through, he was eager to meet my Father, so I introduced him to Jehovah, the King of all kings. I am sure nobody had ever presented God to him in that light before, so it was easier for him to accept.
If you are preaching to a farmer, speak the language of farming that he understands; if you are talking to politicians, tell them Someone somewhere has been a leader even before we were all born and no one has ever been able to overthrown Him. Get good knowledge about the person you want to preach to and approach them from their area of interest. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.
Key point: Every successful fisherman goes fishing with a bait. If you don’t have any bait when fishing for souls, you may not get any results.
Author: Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Text edited by Naomie
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