When You Love Someone… | Acts: To the Ends of the Earth

Devotional

Day 1: Provoked by Unknown Altars

Paul walked through Athens, eyes tracing marble statues and gold-leafed idols. His spirit stirred at the endless altars—gods of harvest, war, and fertility crowding every street. Yet one inscription caught him: “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.” He stood in the marketplace daily, debating Stoics who prized reason and Epicureans chasing pleasure. To both, he declared: “What you worship as unknown, I proclaim as known.” [11:47]

Paul saw their hunger beneath the philosophy. He didn’t mock their “ignorance” but named their longing. The God who made the world doesn’t hide in temples or human logic—He reveals Himself through the risen Christ. Jesus crossed heaven’s borders to meet us in our confusion.

You walk past modern “altars” daily—screens, schedules, or strivings people trust to give meaning. What if you asked about the story behind someone’s pursuit before dismissing it? When did you last pause to listen before speaking truth?

“So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: ‘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 then, what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.’”
(Acts 17:22-23, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to open your eyes to the “altars” in your neighbors’ lives—the hidden hopes they’ve never named aloud.

Challenge: Write down three interests a non-Christian friend cares about. Pray for one opportunity to ask about their story.

Day 2: Borrowed Words, Eternal Truth

Paul stood on Mars Hill, quoting Athenian poets to philosophers sneering at resurrection. “In Him we live and move and have our being,” he declared—lines they knew praised Zeus. Yet Paul anchored their words to a greater story: the God who made all nations “gropes for Him” until Christ’s resurrection lights the path. [13:03]

Jesus didn’t demand the Athenians clean up first. He met them in their half-truths. Paul used their culture’s language to bridge to gospel truth, trusting the Spirit to awaken hearts.

You don’t need a theology degree to notice what people already value. A coworker’s love for justice? A neighbor’s garden? These are doorways, not obstacles. What broken fragment of God’s truth might He want you to redeem in conversation today?

“‘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: Thank God for the “common grace” truths in music, art, or culture. Ask Him to show you one to discuss this week.

Challenge: Research one cultural reference (song, film, book) a friend loves. Find a redemptive theme to discuss.

Day 3: Scattered Seeds in Stony Soil

Mockery erupted when Paul mentioned resurrection. Stoics scoffed—bodies were prisons, not temples. Yet Dionysius the councilman and Damaris the woman believed. No mass revival, just scattered seeds: a thinker and a marginalized woman finding life. [15:39]

Jesus didn’t measure success by crowd size. He honored the Bereans who tested His words, the jailer who asked for mercy. Paul kept sowing, leaving the growth to God.

You might share Christ for years without visible fruit. But what if your faithfulness today plants a seed that blooms in someone’s crisis tomorrow? When have you judged your witness by results instead of obedience?

“When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, ‘We want to hear you again on this subject.’… A few men 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 17:32, 34, NIV)

Prayer: Confess any pride in wanting credit for others’ faith. Ask for courage to keep sowing in hard soil.

Challenge: Text one person you’ve witnessed to in the past, simply saying, “I’m praying for you today.”

Day 4: From Idols to Identity

The Athenians built altars to appease distant gods. Paul dismantled their fear: the true God isn’t served by human hands—He gives breath to all. Resurrection proves He’s not aloof; He enters our pain, making us His offspring. [13:49]

Jesus replaced transactional religion with relational surrender. The gospel isn’t a ritual to perfect but a Person to receive.

Many today still strive to earn peace—through productivity, philanthropy, or self-help. What if you stopped explaining Christianity as a moral code and instead introduced Jesus as the Friend who “lives and moves” near them? Where have you reduced faith to rules instead of relationship?

“The God who made the world and everything in it… is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else… he is not far from any one of us.”
(Acts 17:24-27, NIV)

Prayer: Pray for someone trapped in performance-based spirituality. Ask God to reveal His nearness to them.

Challenge: Share a story of Jesus’ personal faithfulness to you with one person this week.

Day 5: Burial Clubs and Bold Love

Early Christians didn’t just preach—they buried the abandoned, fed the hungry, and adopted orphans. Their love wasn’t theoretical; it cost time, money, and reputation. Like Paul, they entered others’ pain because Jesus entered theirs. [20:54]

The gospel thrives when words and deeds intertwine. People doubt our message if our lives don’t mirror Christ’s sacrificial love.

Service exposes our hypocrisy. Are you volunteering to check a box, or to kneel beside someone Jesus calls “family”? What practical act could disrupt your routine to show Christ’s care this week?

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
(1 John 3:18, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to break your heart for one practical need in your community.

Challenge: Buy groceries for a struggling family or invite a lonely neighbor for coffee. Do it anonymously if possible.

Sermon Summary

Acts sets the tone with no distinction in salvation. The text insists that Jew and Gentile, slave and free, young and old are brought in by faith in Jesus alone. Paul then shows what that grace does to a person’s loves. Having been loved by Christ, Paul loves people who are very different from him, because love learns to care about what others care about. Acts 16 sketches the pattern. Philippi gives highest highs as Lydia and then the jailer, with their households, are baptized, and then a bruising low as Paul and Silas are jailed before God frees them. Thessalonica and Berea repeat the rhythm. The gospel goes out, some believe, and many do not. Preach, believe, riot. Paul lives ready to suffer because love puts people’s eternal good ahead of personal safety.

Athens then puts Paul’s love on display. A city full of idols provokes his spirit, yet his posture is not disgust but engagement. He reasons in synagogue and marketplace until the Epicureans and Stoics bring him to the Areopagus. The resurrection is his center, and that is exactly where Greek dualism balks. Platonic habits want to rise out of the body; Paul proclaims God raising bodies from the grave. So he starts where they can hear him. Men of Athens, very religious. An altar to the unknown god. In him we live and move and have our being. We are indeed his offspring. He knows their poets and repurposes their lines to name the Creator who does not live in temples made by hands and who has made himself known in the Man he appointed, proven by resurrection. The bridge is real, not flattery. It is curiosity that refuses condemnation and hunts for one honest hook to tell the truth about Jesus.

The results are ordinary and beautiful. Some mock, some want another hearing, and a few believe. Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris show that the gospel outruns class and gender lines. The kingdom often grows one household, one friend, one city councilor at a time, carried by embodied witness. That same love still walks into the anxieties of the age and names a Savior. Only Jesus can. The pressure is off. The Christian sows the word and the Spirit gives growth. Even Rome’s burial clubs get outloved, because resurrection creates a weekly, costly, open table and even a free burial. The final note rings simple and strong. God loves you, God loves the world. Because Jesus loves, he cares about what people care about. Loved people then go and care about what their neighbors care about too.

Key Takeaways

1. Love learns what others love Love that comes from Jesus takes an interest in another’s world, not to flatter but to understand where the gospel can land. Paul’s Athens posture models studied attention to a culture’s words, worries, and worship so that the news of Jesus is heard as good news. The Christian does not stand above but steps toward, asking real questions and finding a real hook. That is how love talks about the Lord. [02:30]
2. Boldness flows from cruciform love Paul accepts the preach, believe, riot pattern because people matter more than comfort. Suffering does not become a stunt; it becomes the cost of telling the truth about the crucified and risen Christ. Love steadies the heart to risk misunderstanding, loss, even blows, so that others might meet mercy. Courage grows where the cross has already settled the question of worth. [04:56]
3. Curiosity, not condemnation, opens doors Paul calls Athens very religious, points to the unknown god, and quotes their poets. That posture lowers defenses without lowering the claims of the gospel. Curiosity respects an image-bearer’s story long enough to plant a better one, trusting the Spirit to do the convicting. The pressure is off when the aim is faithfulness rather than scoring points. [16:37]
4. Resurrection dignifies bodies and futures Greek dualism wants escape; the gospel promises renewal. Christ’s bodily rising declares that creation and bodies matter to God and will be raised in him. That future hope pulls present life toward embodied mercy, patient grief, and stubborn joy. Christians honor bodies because God will not discard them. [09:18]
5. The kingdom grows slow across classes Athens yields not a mass movement but names and faces, Dionysius and Damaris, and a widening circle. The gospel refuses caste and climbs every social rung with the same grace. Slow growth is not weak growth when it is rooted in everyday hospitality and steadfast presence. God loves to build on the scale of households and neighborhoods. [16:18]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:15] - Saved by faith alone
[00:40] - Love cares about what others care
[03:17] - Philippi to Berea rhythm
[04:56] - Preach, believe, riot
[05:30] - Enter Athens the college town
[06:51] - A city full of idols
[09:18] - Resurrection vs Greek dualism
[10:26] - Areopagus on Mars Hill
[11:03] - Very religious and unknown god
[12:33] - Quoting poets to build a bridge
[14:04] - Finding the hook today
[15:39] - Dionysius and Damaris believe
[16:37] - Curiosity not condemnation
[20:00] - Burial clubs and a better community

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Acts 17:16-34 (ESV)
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 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, 27 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, 28 for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ 29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

Observation questions

How did Paul respond when he saw Athens “full of idols” (v. 16), and what two groups did he engage with first? [06:51]
What phrase did Paul use to acknowledge the Athenians’ spiritual curiosity (v. 22-23), and how did he connect it to the gospel?
According to the sermon, how did Greek philosophers view the body, and how did Paul’s message about resurrection challenge that? [09:18]

Interpretation questions

Why do you think Paul chose to quote the Athenians’ own poets (v. 28) instead of starting with Jewish Scripture? What does this reveal about his approach to sharing the gospel?
The sermon says Paul’s boldness came from “cruciform love” that prioritized others’ eternal good over personal safety. How does this explain his willingness to face mockery or riots? [04:56]
Why might the resurrection have been such a stumbling block for Greek thinkers (v. 32), and how does it uniquely address modern anxieties about purpose or mortality?

Application questions

Love “learns what others love” by asking questions and listening. Who in your life (neighbor, coworker, family) could you intentionally learn about this week? What’s one specific way to show curiosity about their story? [02:30]
The sermon emphasizes “curiosity, not condemnation” as a way to share Jesus. When have you been tempted to judge or argue with someone’s beliefs instead of seeking to understand? What’s one step to shift toward curiosity next time? [16:37]
Resurrection means bodies and creation matter to God. How could this truth change the way you care for your physical health, serve others in practical ways, or steward the environment?
The gospel often grows slowly, “one household at a time.” What’s one way to invest in a relationship or community (e.g., meals, hospitality, prayer) to reflect God’s patient, embodied love? [16:18]
Paul used cultural bridges (like the “unknown god”) to point to Jesus. What movies, music, or shared concerns in your community could be a starting point for spiritual conversations?

Sermon Clips

In the early churches, as it started to boom out, it wasn't like often rapid mask conversion. It was a man or a woman like Lydia or like the Europa guy here, Dionysius, who come to faith, Demarus, who come to faith. And it starts to trickle out slowly as they live with love for their neighbor. Cool point here is the message of Jesus transcended socioeconomic boundaries. [00:15:44] (29 seconds)

The Christian worldview was remarkably different. It's not about dying and going to heaven, fleeing the body. It's about heaven coming to earth in the person of Jesus and his love to raise up the dead. Just as Christ has been raised from the dead, so too will you, by faith, be bodily raised from the dead. To the gnostic, to the philosopher, this sounded like a foreign. He's preaching what's he say here? You're preaching foreign divinities. Preaching that Jesus about Jesus and the resurrection. [00:09:19] (31 seconds)

Have you guys heard of burial clubs in the Roman empire? Did I share the have I shared about burial clubs? So this is this is wild. In the first, second, and third century in the Roman empire, there was something called burial clubs. And to join the burial club, you had to pay monthly dues, give six bottles of very good wine. Hopefully, you had access to really good really good wine. [00:20:03] (23 seconds)

I believe he's fully present. He's fully honest with them. He's looking for one hook or one thing that's wrong or right in their world to give a catalyst for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. So you don't how does offending someone work at gaining a hearing for the gospel? It doesn't work at all. Unfortunately, Christians today, we're known for our offensive speech in person and online, for what we're against rather than what we're for. [00:11:10] (33 seconds)

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When You Love Someone… | Acts: To the Ends of the Earth | May 17, 2026