This week’s sermon reflects on Paul’s visit to Athens in Acts 17, where he encounters a city full of idols, philosophers, questions, and searching people. Instead of beginning with condemnation, Paul begins with connection. He listens. He observes. He looks for common ground.
The sermon explores what that might mean for us today in a culture where conversations are often shaped by suspicion, argument, and tribalism. People simply listen differently when they feel seen instead of targeted.
There’s also an important reminder here that God is already at work in the lives of searching people, often long before they fully understand him. Paul trusted that God was bigger than Athens, bigger than misunderstanding, and bigger than the idols surrounding him.
Sometimes faithful witness is not about winning an argument. Sometimes it’s about leaving someone willing to hear more.
We’d love to see you in person at Lincoln Park-Lynnwood United Methodist Church, 3120 Pershing Street, Knoxville, TN. Come as you are. We’re not in the judging business. We’re in the welcoming business.
