The Gospel to the Nations
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Tell us about the farthest place you have been. Why did you go there?
โข If you could visit one nation over and over again, what would it be? What sets it apart from other nations?
โข If you were entrusted by someone to carry out a last will or their last words, how would you think that you would honor this?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐บ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฐ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ณ:๐ญ๐ฒโ๐ญ๐ณ
As the early disciples began to preach and spread Godโs word across cities and nations, they encountered people from vastly different backgrounds. They saw that the gospel is powerful and effective across cultural differences, even when those differences remained. The gospel calls people from every nation to repentance and faith and brings together those who respond under the Lordship of Christ. As we preach the gospel, we are called to prepare carefully, while also remaining sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Today, we will look at how Paul preached the gospel to people of a different culture.
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
๐๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ, ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฅ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ: โ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ด ๐ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ . . .โย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ณ:๐ฎ๐ฎโ๐ฎ๐ฏ
The words saw (in verse 16) and ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ (in verse 22) in Greek means careful observation and thoughtful discernment. Paul understood that part of preaching the gospel effectively is knowing and observing how people lived and moved. The gospel is so rich that it can minister to different groups of people and individuals, even with all of our complex needs and experiences. The gospel speaks meaningfully into peopleโs deepest questions, confronts false worship, and calls them to true life in Christ. As we preach the gospel, this means intentionally paying attention to how people live, think, and search for meaning, so we can genuinely care for them. How did you experience someone taking time to understand you when they first shared the gospel with you?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
โ๐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ข๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ: โ๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ.โ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ข๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โ ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ณ:๐ฎ๐ฏ
The gospel is too rich to be boxed into a one-size-fits-all approach. Paul understood that a basic understanding of the gospel is important, while knowing how to preach it effectively is another aspect. As we know the people weโre reaching more deeply, we can communicate the unchanging truth of the gospel in ways that meaningfully address their culture and experiences. The gospel is far-reaching, effective, and true; no distance or difference can water down its effects. If we are called to reach our officemates, which attribute of God speaks into their situations? For their personal walk, what truth confronts and comforts someone who has yet to encounter Jesus? For our nation, what promises in the gospel can bring hope?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Do you know how to share your testimony? Practice telling others about what Christ has done for you, and pray that you would be able to share this with someone this week.ย
โข How may you intentionally get to know the people you believe God is calling you to reach? Think about three steps you can take this week to grow in your knowledge and compassion for them.ย
โข With whom is God calling you to preach the gospel this week? Commit to pray for this person and look for an opportunity to have a meaningful conversation with them. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your approach.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for the nations and His people. Thank Him for the privilege of participating in His mission ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ตย (Luke 19:10).
โข Pray for wisdom, boldness, and courage to guide others to know Christ. Ask God for the words to say and creative ideas to make Him known.
โข Pray that our church would be a light to the nations. Pray that you would know and fulfill your role in Godโs rescue mission, wherever He places you.