Women of Warren Vlog – Mars Hill

good morning and welcome to this week's devotional my name is Jacqueline Heider for those of you who don't know me and it is my joy to be with you this morning I want to share with you something fun that I recently did back during spring break I had the opportunity to go to Greece and to Rome to do the Journeys of Paul tour with our pastor and with about 34 other church members and friends and it was amazing and so I wanted to share with you one of my very favorite moments while we were in Greece. There were so many moments, so many, but this is supposed to be a short blog so I'm just going to share with you one but my favorite moment in Greece is the day that we went to the Acropolis in Athens, where the Parthenon is, and then as you look down from there, sitting northwest of the Acropolis is something that we know as Mars Hill. In the Greek, it is known as the Areopagus. That's how you say it, Areopagus. And so we got to go and stand there or sit there and listen to our pastor um do a brief devotional but here is the really what i felt like was the really cool thing i got to read from god's word uh the the the speech if you will that paul did in act 17 standing there on mars hill now i want to give you a little bit of background because um it says in romans excuse me act 17 22 it says paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus. Now what in the world? How do we get Mars Hill out of that? Well, it's very simple. So that word Areopagus is from two Greek words, Arias, you know, the God of Ares, and Pagus, which is hill. So Areopagus, Arias, and I'm trying to get all this right, in Latin is Mars, is the Latin word for Mars. And so Mars Hill is how we get that name. I think I just confused you. I may have confused myself, but trust me, it is from the Greek and then translated into the Latin. And that is how we get Mars Hill. So all of that to say, that is among what's called the Agora which was where the big cultural center of the time and back in the day when Paul was there and that's the marketplace and the the cultural and political center there so he was walking among the Agora and then he came to Mars Hill and he gave his famous speech that is in Acts 17 and I'm going to read that to you and then we're going to just chat a little bit about that so this is the part that I got to read, okay? All right. It says, So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, that is when he was walking along the Agora, I found also an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God. Now, so we're going to pause there and talk about how, you know, you've got Greek mythology with all of the different gods. You've got the Acropolis with the Parthenon, which was their sacred place for their gods. And so he's surrounded by all of this idolatry. and he sees this inscription on one of these statues that says to the unknown god so this is paul and i love how forthcoming he is i love but i also love how he sort of meets them where they are and he says you know i see that you're very religious like he finds this commonality with them i see you're very religious as i walk through um but then i saw this inscription and it says to the unknown god well let me tell you about a god that can be known and he goes on and he says what therefore you worship is unknown this i proclaim to you the god who made the world and everything in it being lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man like that temple that's up there nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him yet he is actually not far from each one of us for in him we live and we move and we have our being. We'll stop there for a moment. Is that not an incredible speech, an incredible declaration of the God that can be known, our God, the one true God? So as I said, he saw all these idols, and then he saw that inscription, and he thought, okay, this is my inroad. This is how we can get to business. He found that commonality, found that common ground. And then he spoke the truth about the one true God, how he's creator of all. He's sustainer. Then he begins, if we were to read in 29 through 32, which I encourage you to go read after this, he starts talking about the resurrection of Christ. And so he shares the gospel. And we know by the end of 32 that there were two that we know of for certain that were mentioned. it says that some mocked him, but some believed. Some said, we want to hear more of this. Like, we're curious. We want to know more. He whet their appetite, if you will. But we know that there are two because it tells us at the end of the passage, Dionysus and Damaris, a man and a woman who we know came to know Christ. They became believers in the one true God that can be known. So what can we draw from this? What can we draw from this passage of scripture? So many things. One, that Paul, as he was meeting with these people who he knew were not believers, he didn't go in guns a blazing and begin to tell them how horrible they were. He found that common ground. He found something that he could work with, if you will, and began talking to them about that perceiving that you're very religious because I see all of these these gods but then he uses the word of God he uses God himself the one true God to begin to turn and to declare the gospel to them you know I'm reminded as I read that passage and I just want to read this little bit to you one more time because it it's applicable as all of scripture is to us today the god who made the world and everything in it being lord of heaven and earth that's his preeminence his authority does not live in temples made by man he doesn't need one of those nor is he served with human hands you know as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything basically he's saying this one true god needs nothing. But we need everything in him. Because it says in him we live and we move and we have our being. So what does that mean for us today? Like on this day, I don't know what you are dealing with today. I don't know what I'm going to be dealing with today necessarily. But here is what I do know. This is what I proclaim. And I can proclaim and preach to myself the God who made the world and everything in it, who needs nothing else. I know that God. That's the God I serve. That's the God who, when I call out to him, he can help me. He is not served by human hands. He doesn't need human hands. We need him. And so if I'm having a problem, if I'm struggling with something, if I know a friend who's struggling with something, I can call on the God who made the world and everything in it the all-powerful always sustaining one true preeminent God who has all authority I can call on him I've got a direct line in fact to him because I have his spirit in me and when I pray I can go straight to the father through the son and present my request and know that he hears me and that though I may not get always get the answer that I want I'm always going to get the answer that I need and I can bank on the fact that even if I have to wait even if I have to be patient even if I have to endure hard circumstances just like Paul did I mean he was a prisoner in chains we went to Rome and I saw where they think his prison cell was. Several of them, actually. I saw where they think he was beheaded. So he endured all of that. But this I can know, that the God who made the world and everything in it, and his son Jesus, I have him living inside of me. And he's continually transforming me into the likeness of Christ through my hardships, through my joys, through my stars, as I am bringing him glory, which is my one, honestly, if you had to boil it down to what we were made to do, we're made to bring God glory. And as my life is transformed through those hardships, through the joys, through the struggles, through whatever, the relationships, the school, the education, whatever it is, I'm bringing glory to him because he's the God who made the world and everything in he's my god is he yours i pray so and i pray that you have a wonderful week i'm going to pray for you i'm going to pray for us our week and that god gives us opportunities to serve him to know him better to show him to others and to do so in love and in kindness and in compassion just like jesus would let's pray together father thank you so much that you are the god who made the world and everything in it that you need no human hands that it is you and you alone because you are preeminent you are have all authority just as Colossians 115 says Jesus you are the image of the invisible God the firstborn among creation everything is under your feet father Jesus we love you I pray for every woman listening to this devotional today whatever is going to touch her wherever her feet are going to touch, whatever her hands are going to touch, whatever her emotion, whatever her mental capacity, whatever is going on in her life, Lord, I pray that you would meet her right where she is and that you would minister to her and you would show her the way. I love you, Father. Thank you so much in Jesus' name. Amen. I pray that you have a blessed week and we will see you next time.

Originally published at warren.church.