Common Ground That Leads to Jesus

Jun 12, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: A Hole in the Ceiling

Paul waited for his friends in Athens. He walked through the city and looked carefully at everything. He saw that the city was full of idols. This sight greatly distressed him. He was doubly distressed because he saw what others had learned to ignore.

We often grow accustomed to the brokenness around us. A strained family relationship or the culture's celebration of greed becomes normal. We stop seeing the spiritual holes in our world. We stop grieving over the misplaced worship we see every day. Paul’s distress was a reflection of Jesus’s own heart for the lost.

What have you stopped seeing? The constant conflict online or the pursuit of success at any cost can become like a hole in the ceiling you no longer notice. Ask God to give you fresh eyes. Pray for a heart that is troubled by the things that trouble Him. What brokenness in your world have you become comfortable with?

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.
(Acts 17:16, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to make you doubly distressed by the idols and brokenness you have learned to ignore.

Challenge: Identify one cultural value you accept that contradicts Jesus’s teaching and write it down.

Day 2: Reasoning in the Marketplace

Paul felt deep distress over the idols in Athens. But he did not respond with aggression or self-righteousness. He went to the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. Then he went to the marketplace day by day. He engaged in deliberate, thoughtful conversations with anyone who was there.

Paul met people where they were. He entered their spaces and spoke their language. He used urgency without anger. His method was engagement, not condemnation. This is how Jesus seeks the lost—through patient, personal connection.

You also are called to engage the people around you. This happens at work, in your neighborhood, and within your family. It requires moving toward others with intention and grace. It means listening before speaking. Where is God calling you to start a thoughtful conversation today?

So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
(Acts 17:17, NIV)

Prayer: Pray for the courage to engage people thoughtfully in your daily spaces.

Challenge: Set aside ten minutes today to have a spiritual conversation with one person.

Day 3: The Altar to an Unknown God

Paul was brought to a meeting of the Areopagus. The philosophers asked him to explain his new teaching. Paul stood up and began with affirmation. He said, “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.” He had noticed an altar inscribed “to an unknown god.” Paul used this as a bridge to tell them about Jesus.

Paul looked for points of connection. He found something in their culture he could affirm. He started with “yes” before moving to “there is more.” He understood their poets and philosophers. He used their own authorities to build a bridge to the gospel.

Your friends and family have good longings. They desire purpose, love, and community. But they often chase these things in misdirected ways. Look for the “altars to unknown gods” in their lives—the good impulses that are misfiring. How can you affirm their search before pointing them to the answer?

“People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.”
(Acts 17:22-23, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to show you one point of resonance you can affirm in a friend who does not know Jesus.

Challenge: Read a poem, watch a movie, or listen to a song popular with your friends to understand their longings.

Day 4: Resonance and Dissonance

Paul addressed the Athenian thinkers. He quoted their own poets, saying, “For in him we live and move and have our being.” He found resonance between their culture and the truth of God. But Paul also declared dissonance. He said the God who made the world does not live in temples made by human hands. He called them to repent because God will judge the world through Jesus.

Paul masterfully wove together yes and no. He affirmed their hunger for God but challenged their handmade idols. He used their language to explain a greater reality. He presented Jesus as the fulfillment of every good desire and the correction for every wrong turn.

We must learn to articulate both resonance and dissonance. We can say yes to a friend’s desire for significance, but no to finding it in career alone. We can affirm the longing for love but challenge the world’s thin definitions of it. Are you prepared to gently show how Jesus both fulfills and corrects the world’s deepest desires?

‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.
(Acts 17:28-29, NIV)

Prayer: Confess your tendency to offer only challenge or only agreement, and ask for wisdom to do both.

Challenge: Choose one cultural value and write one sentence of resonance and one sentence of dissonance from a biblical perspective.

Day 5: From the Areopagus to Your Street

Some people sneered when Paul spoke about the resurrection of the dead. But others wanted to hear more. A few became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris. Paul’s engagement led to specific people meeting Jesus.

The result of Paul’s work was not a mass revival but individual lives changed. He knew the gospel deeply. He knew the culture thoughtfully. He was distressed by idols. He reasoned with people and created a dialogue. This combination led people to faith.

Your mission is the same. You are called to know Jesus and to know your neighbor. You are to see the idols of our age and engage with those who worship them. You are to build bridges and speak truth. Who in your life might God be preparing to say, “And that’s what happened when I met Jesus”?

Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
(Acts 17:34, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God for the name of one person He is preparing to believe, and pray for them by name.

Challenge: Make a specific plan to invite one person to join you for church in the next two weeks.

Sermon Summary

When people meet Jesus, entire lives and families change, and that reality provides the motive for going out to seek the lost. Acts 17 shows Paul arriving in Athens and being “doubly distressed” at a city full of idols; his grief over misdirected worship propels him into reasoned conversation in synagogues, marketplaces, and finally before the Areopagus. Paul looks for points of resonance—religion, longing, philosophy—and affirms the good instincts he finds, then exposes their incompleteness by proclaiming the living, creator God who gives life, purpose, and judgment and who has proved his authority by raising Jesus from the dead. That approach pairs affirmation with challenge: yes to genuine longings, and yes to the correction and fulfillment Jesus brings.

Paul’s method models urgent engagement without aggression. He learns the language and authorities people already trust, quoting local poets and philosophers rather than demanding submission to an unfamiliar book. He reasons publicly, builds bridges from shared hungers to the gospel, and refuses to sanitize the gospel’s call to repentance and judgment. The result includes scoffers and seekers—some sneer at resurrection, others ask to hear more, and a few believe.

Contemporary idols are subtler than Athens’ statues: cultural habits, success-driven identities, online posturing, and popular stories that surface deep hungers but offer thin satisfactions. Movies, books, and social media rehearse longings for meaning, identity, love, and forgiveness; these cultural artifacts can serve as entry points for Gospel conversation when approached with discernment. A planned summer series will use film clips to surface those hungers, expose how popular answers fall short, and show how Jesus uniquely fulfills them, inviting friends to explore these questions in an accessible setting.

The practice emerging from Acts 17 calls for cultivated grief over cultural idolatry, cultural fluency to connect faithfully, and a gospel posture that both affirms human yearnings and summons people to the fuller life Jesus provides. When engagement follows this pattern—seeing, grieving, reasoning, bridging, and proclaiming—encounters with Jesus multiply and testimonies of transformed lives follow: “And that’s what happened when I met Jesus.”

Key Takeaways

1. Be doubly distressed by idols Grief over misdirected worship should be intentional and spiritually formed, not merely sentimental. That holy disturbance refuses complacency and becomes the motor for compassionate engagement rather than moralizing outrage. Cultivated sorrow clarifies what matters and fuels patient, courageous witness that seeks restoration.
2. Affirm longings, then offer fulfillment Recognize the good desires people express—meaning, belonging, justice—and validate them without relativizing truth. Point those desires to the God who created them and who alone satisfies them fully, showing how partial answers leave people wanting. This posture honors human longing while refusing to settle for thinner substitutes.
3. Know culture before proclaiming truth Learning the languages, stories, and authorities of neighbors creates credibility and opens doors for Gospel truth. Quoting trusted sources or using shared images moves conversation from confrontation to engagement, allowing the gospel to land on familiar ground. Cultural fluency protects against demanding submission before trust exists.
4. Use stories and images as bridges Narratives, films, and art surface core hungers and reveal how current answers fall short; they function as neutral ground for spiritual conversation. Employ those cultural touchpoints to expose misdirections and to point toward Jesus’s satisfying alternative. Thoughtful storytelling meets people where they are and invites them to imagine a fuller resolution.

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading: Acts 17:16-34

**Observation questions**

What was Paul's emotional reaction to seeing the city full of idols, and what did that reaction lead him to do?
Where did Paul go to have conversations with people, and what was his approach in these conversations?
What two different groups of philosophers did Paul engage with, and what was one thing they both agreed on?
What were the three different reactions people had to Paul's message about the resurrection?

**Interpretation questions**

Paul quoted local poets and philosophers instead of Scripture when speaking to the Athenians. Why might he have chosen to use authorities they already trusted rather than demanding they submit to an unfamiliar book?
How does the concept of an "unknown god" serve as a bridge for Paul to explain the true God? What does this reveal about finding points of connection within a culture's existing beliefs?
In a city that valued religious diversity and new ideas, why would Paul's message about repentance and a future day of judgment be considered a challenging or dissonant idea?
The sermon mentioned that contemporary idols are often subtler than statues, such as cultural habits or success-driven identities. How can these modern idols surface the same deep hungers for meaning, identity, and love that the Athenian idols did?

**Application questions**

What is one specific area of our culture—whether in media, social trends, or common philosophies—that you have become so accustomed to that it no longer bothers you? What would it look like to pray for a "holy distress" about the misdirected worship in that area?
Think of a friend or family member who is not a Christian. What is one good longing or positive desire you see in their life (e.g., for community, purpose, justice, or authenticity)? How could you affirm that good desire in a conversation this week?
To build bridges, Paul learned about the culture and authorities the Athenians trusted. What are the "languages," stories, or authorities (music, books, shows, hobbies) that the people in your life already trust and enjoy? How could you learn more about one of those to create a point of connection?
The approach involves both affirmation and challenge. Is there a relationship where you tend to offer only one—either affirming without challenging, or challenging without affirming? What would it look like to move toward a more balanced engagement?
The upcoming series uses movie clips to surface deep hungers and show how Jesus fulfills them. Who is one person you could invite to explore these questions in an accessible setting like that? What is a simple step you could take to extend that invitation?

Sermon Quotes

When people meet Jesus, lives are changed, families and households are changed, generations are sometimes changed, eternities are changed.

Jesus says that the center of his mission is to seek after people he describes as lost and to bring all of us home to our good Father.

Have you ever gotten so used to something that’s not quite right that you stop seeing it?

Paul was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

Jesus called us to share in his heart and his work of seeking after the lost.

Paul has an urgency about him, but he doesn’t get aggressive or self-righteous; he reasons with them, engaging deliberately and thoughtfully.

How do Christians seek the lost in a world full of idols? We start with yes.

Yes to this starting point, but Jesus fulfills and corrects all your best impulses, longings, and desires in a way your current practices cannot.

This is one of the mistakes my Jesus people make all the time: we take our authority and expect others to respect it when they have no reason to do so.