Culturally Relevant Without Selling Out | Good News People Week 3 | 17 May 2026 | Abi Lycett

May 17, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Grace-Truth in Flesh

Jesus walked dusty roads, sat with tax collectors, and touched lepers. He told the woman at the well her story without flinching, yet offered living water. When religious leaders demanded law, He defended the adulteress. His voice carried both conviction and compassion, never separating holiness from mercy. [00:49]

This God-man didn’t dilute truth to make grace comfortable. He showed that real love names brokenness while holding out healing. Truth without grace crushes. Grace without truth deceives.

Where do you lean: avoiding hard truths to keep peace, or weaponizing truth without tenderness? Name one relationship where Jesus asks you to embody both grace AND truth this week.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
(John 1:14, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to reveal where your words or silence lack His balanced love.

Challenge: Text one person today with both honest care and kind affirmation.

Day 2: Wells and Cultural Crossings

Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for water, breaking ethnic and gender taboos. He didn’t avoid her culture’s messy history or her personal failures. Yet He stayed at her well until she ran back to town shouting “Come see a man who told me everything!” [17:16]

Christ models engagement, not escape. He entered her world’s thirst—for acceptance, for meaning—and redirected it to Himself. Our post-truth culture still craves living water beneath its secular jars.

When did you last initiate conversation with someone outside your cultural tribe? What ordinary “well” (coffee shop, gym, school gate) might Jesus want to make His meeting place?

“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’”
(John 4:39, NIV)

Prayer: Confess any fear of cultural differences. Ask for eyes to see sacred ground in everyday spaces.

Challenge: Buy a drink for someone outside your usual circle and ask one thoughtful question.

Day 3: Non-Anxious Presence

Disciples panicked as storm waves swamped their boat. Jesus slept. When awakened, He rebuked wind and fear with equal authority. His peace wasn’t passive—it displaced chaos. [29:07]

Anxiety multiplies when we fixate on sinking boats. But Christ-in-us remains the still center: “Why are you afraid?” He asks. Not as critique, but invitation.

What storm dominates your gaze? How might your steady presence calm someone else’s turbulence today?

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:6-7, NIV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for one specific area where His peace has anchored you.

Challenge: Write three “storm statements” in your phone notes, then replace each with a truth from Psalm 46.

Day 4: Foundations on Unshaken Rock

Builders choose: quick-sand convenience or rock-solid obedience. Storms test both. Jesus didn’t promise fewer rains—just unshakable lives for those who act on His words. [30:32]

Cultural winds shift daily. Algorithms feed fear. But Kingdom people dig deeper, finding bedrock in ancient commands: love God, love neighbors, make disciples.

What modern “sand” have you built on? Which of Jesus’ teachings feel hardest to practice in today’s climate?

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
(Matthew 7:24, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to expose one area where you’ve prioritized cultural trends over His commands.

Challenge: Memorize Matthew 7:24 and share it with someone feeling overwhelmed.

Day 5: Stillness in the Meltdown

Psalm 46 pictures mountains crumbling into seas. Yet God’s people don’t flee—they behold. A quiet river flows where chaos roars. “Be still,” He says, not to dismiss crisis, but to center in His rule. [38:15]

Stillness isn’t apathy. It’s defiant trust. While the world tweets outrage, we anchor in the Unchanging. Our calm becomes countercultural witness.

When stress rises, do you default to scrolling or stillness? What practical step could deepen your “be still” muscle this week?

“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’”
(Psalm 46:10, NIV)

Prayer: Confess one anxiety you’ve carried instead of releasing to Christ.

Challenge: Set a 5-minute timer today to sit silently before God. Note what stirs in the stillness.

Sermon Summary

We are called to be good news people in the thick of our present culture. We name culture broadly as the habits, stories, institutions, and family patterns that shape how people see the world. Culture both forms us and is formed by us, so we must move with care and courage. Jesus brought grace and truth together, and that same Jesus carries meaningful power for our moment because human longings and failures remain constant even as technology and customs shift. Rather than treating faith as private or as a rival ideology, we commit to an incarnational presence that notices where the Spirit already moves, rejoices in what is good, and resists what destroys human flourishing.

We refuse the easy extremes of shouting from a distance or disappearing into cultural conformity. Both strategies lose the central witness we bear: the living presence of God among people. The gospel does not require clever formulas to translate into culture. It requires people who have encountered the peace and love of God, who live with those convictions, and who therefore become safe places where others encounter hope without fear of condemnation. Our task is to live with steadiness, to build our lives on the rock of Christ by hearing and doing his words, and to let that stability speak louder than arguments or moralizing.

Anxiety and rapid change make many people receptive to a different kind of witness: the non anxious presence. When we embody rootedness in God, we offer a tangible alternative to cultural panic. Practically this means steady habits of prayer, communal life, attentive watching, and simple obedience. As we practice being people of his presence, small daily faithfulness becomes the means by which God might shape wider culture.

Key Takeaways

1. We are people of his presence We cannot give what we do not possess. When we steady ourselves in the reality of God’s nearness and let that shape how we speak and act, our ordinary lives become hospitable places for others to meet God. Presence changes moralizing into tender invitation and argument into testimony. This posture trusts the Spirit to work through our small, consistent faithfulness. [26:27]
2. Balancing grace and cultural engagement Neither isolationist condemnation nor total assimilation carries the gospel intact. We must enter culture with open eyes, celebrate what reflects God, and lovingly confront what harms, all while refusing triumphalism. That requires wisdom to recognize where to join, where to speak, and when to endure discomfort for the sake of relationship. This balance honors both truth and mercy. [19:09]
3. Remember the simplicity of the gospel The gospel is less a technique than a Person embodied among us. Simplicity asks us to return from programmatic answers to everyday practices of prayer, listening, and mercy. In those ordinary rhythms the kingdom’s upside down logic reshapes hearts more reliably than clever strategies. Simplicity trusts that God’s presence, not our performance, carries transformation. [24:15]
4. Be a non anxious presence Cultural collapse of old certainties produces epidemic anxiety, and anxious Christians amplify the noise. Practicing steady presence models a different way: we anchor in God, act slowly where necessary, and offer refuge to the unsettled. Such calm does not ignore injustice or pain but refuses panic as the default response. The church’s credibility rises when peace under pressure becomes visible. [27:57]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:17] - Grace and truth in culture
[01:30] - What culture means
[03:52] - Blessings and challenges of culture
[09:09] - Jesus unchanged across ages
[19:09] - Two ways churches respond
[26:27] - Be people of his presence
[35:38] - Psalm 46 and worship invitation

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV)
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Psalm 46:1-3, 10 (ESV)
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at their swelling… Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Observation Questions

In Matthew 7:24-27, what practical difference does Jesus highlight between the wise and foolish builders?
Psalm 46 describes God as a “refuge” and calls us to “be still.” What contrasts does this create with the imagery of chaos in verses 1-3?
The sermon emphasized that Jesus brought “grace and truth” without compromising either. What examples of this balance were mentioned in the discussion about cultural engagement? [19:09]

Interpretation Questions

How does building our lives on the “rock” of Christ (Matthew 7:24) directly address the anxiety and rapid cultural changes described in the sermon? [27:57]
Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” How might this command challenge common responses to cultural instability or personal fears?
The sermon warned against the extremes of “shouting from a distance” or “disappearing into cultural conformity.” Why do both approaches fail to reflect Jesus’ model of engagement? [19:09]

Application Questions

What daily habits or rhythms (e.g., prayer, Scripture, community) could help you build a “non-anxious presence” in moments of personal or cultural stress? [27:57]
Where have you seen God already at work in your culture (e.g., creativity, justice, kindness)? How could you celebrate and join that work this week? [33:04]
Think of a relationship where you feel tension between grace and truth. What would it look like to embody both in your next interaction?
When has fear of “saying the wrong thing” kept you silent about your faith? How might focusing on being a “safe place” for others shift your approach? [26:27]
Psalm 46 invites us to “be still” even when everything feels unstable. What practical step could you take this week to create space for stillness and trust in God’s faithfulness?

Sermon Clips

43s

#OpenToHolySpirit

“``Am I standing like a Pharisee watching Jesus on the Sabbath heal somebody going, you can't heal on the Sabbath? Am I missing the whole point because I'm caught up in my eyes fixed on the wrong things? Or is my heart open to see and perceive what the Holy Spirit is doing in maybe the most unexpected places and the most unexpected people. Maybe it's not gonna look like what I thought it would look like, but am I willing to step into that place and to be led by the holy spirit, to be a person of his presence, and to join in with what he is already doing?”

45s

#WalkInHisPeace

“And when we become departed from that because our eyes are fixed to other places and we're becoming distracted, Actually, then what power is left in that? Then actually, don't we just start to look like the world again? Trying to make the world a better place in our own strength. That's a lot of pressure to carry. But actually, if we choose to partner with Jesus, one step at a time, one day at a time, committing to be people of his presence, committing to be people that know his peace, that know his love, that then walk in his peace, walk in his love, and share that with those around us. I think that's where the good news to our culture lies.”

37s

#SpiritLedChurch

“Said a bit earlier on, I believe that God is in the business of transforming cultures, that he has the ability to transform culture. I do not think we have the ability to transform culture. I don't think we as individuals, as humanity, don't even think of us we as the church. If we as the church set our set our eyes on this is what we're gonna do, but we left God to the side, what power is in that? It has to be us led by the Holy Spirit. It has to be us as the church led by the Holy Spirit.”

40s

#BuildOnTheRock

“but he is our safe place. He is our refuge. He is the rock on which we can stand. He is the one that will never change. And as I was thinking about that, I thought about the the story of the the wise man who built his house upon the rock. And then, you know, the wise man built his house upon a rock. Did anyone sing that as kids? That's part of my cultural upbringing. This is in from Matthew seven. I'm gonna read it because, you know, Jesus says it better than I could. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

45s

#MeetPeopleWithGrace

“He met people where they were. He saw what the father was doing in them. He partnered with the holy spirit, and he met them with the good news that he brought. And that good news was good news of love, of joy, of peace, of kindness, of goodness, of grace, of mercy, not of condemnation, not of judgment. As I was thinking about what does it mean for us to be people that carry Jesus in that way? What does it mean for us to be the vessels of Jesus meeting people where they are in our culture?”

41s

#GoodNewsForToday

“And it just seems like a door is opening in people's worldview because culture is not quite so fixed on the, well, we can do it without God, and God was for before when we didn't know what was going on. And I think that is a beautiful a beautiful space to be in, to allow Jesus to come and step into being good news, not just for Jerusalem two thousand years ago, not just for the Jewish people two thousand years ago, but for everybody today in the world that we're living in, in the culture that we're living in.”

41s

#EngageCultureWithHope

“So what does it mean to to be people who live in the world, that are of culture, that enjoy culture, that see what God is doing in culture, that can see the the goodness that is entwined in the culture that we live in, in other people's cultures, who can see that, can enjoy that, can celebrate that, but also see that actually there is a hope that we hold that maybe the world is crying out for. And how do we share that? And how do we share that in a way that means it's heard and received?”

32s

#CreatedInGodsImage

“God created us all in his image, and he created us all uniquely. Right? So as individuals, we are unique, beautifully created. So there is something in me that reflects God's character and nature that is in nobody else, and that's beautiful. But I also think that that is so true and exists on a cultural level of there is something in Ghanaian culture that reflects the truth and beauty and joy of Jesus because that culture is made of a collective of people that are made in the image of God, that cannot be reflected by any other culture.”

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