To The Unknown God | Acts 17:16-17 | Nelson Silva | Hendersonville TN SDA Church

Paul’s distress in Athens begins with a city full of idols. Yet his response is not simply to turn away. He walks around, looks carefully, and finds a point of connection: these people are religious. Even an altar to an unknown god becomes a bridge to Jesus Christ. Faithfulness requires both a clear sense of what is wrong and a willingness to understand the people caught up in it.

Culture is what people make out of what God has given them. Its visible objects and habits reveal deeper beliefs and values. Four questions help believers look beneath the surface: What is going on? Why is it going on? What ought to be going on? How might Christians respond? Scripture supplies the lenses for that judgment. Being in the world without being of the world means participating in ordinary life without letting the surrounding culture decide what matters.

Instant gratification makes that difference concrete. The demand to have everything now leaves little room for patience or self-control. Against that demand stands the saying of Jesus that Paul gives the Ephesian church: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

A pair of shoes makes the blessing tangible. Shoes too small for one sixth grader become a gift to a classmate whose need is greater. Embarrassment nearly spoils the moment, but another child defends the gift, and gratitude opens the door to still more generosity. The giver’s own worn-out shoes remain, yet something inside changes. Giving brings a deep joy that receiving cannot supply.

Christian generosity therefore reaches beyond Christmas presents or spare possessions. Time, listening, forgiveness, and presence can all become gifts. In a society marked by loneliness, especially among children and the elderly, the church is called to notice what is missing and give from what God has already placed in its hands.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Careful Attention Can Open Gospel Doors. Paul is distressed by Athens, but he still looks carefully at its objects of worship. His recognition of the people’s religious interest gives him a bridge to Jesus rather than a reason to keep his distance. Christian discernment can name what is wrong while still looking for a point of connection with people. [06:12]
• 2. Scripture Looks Beneath The Cultural Surface. Purchases, habits, and appearances are only the visible tip of culture. Beneath them sit beliefs and values that help explain why people spend their time and money as they do. Scripture provides the lenses for judging those patterns, so understanding culture leads to a considered response rather than automatic agreement. [09:04]
• 3. Giving Changes More Than Circumstances. The gift of shoes does not replace the giver’s own painful, worn-out pair. Yet the classmate’s gratitude brings a deep sense of joy and prompts further generosity. The blessing of giving is not presented as a promise of better possessions, but as an inward change that makes another person’s good a source of gladness. [29:24]
• 4. Presence Is A Much Needed Gift. Loneliness exposes a need that another purchase cannot necessarily meet. Children and elderly people need more than things; they need someone willing to be present. The church’s generosity can therefore take the practical shape of time, attention, and ears ready to listen. [32:42]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [02:51] - Paul Encounters The Idols Of Athens
• [05:12] - Culture And A Bridge To Jesus
• [07:42] - Four Questions For Understanding Culture
• [10:25] - In The World, Not Of It
• [11:32] - The Marshmallow Test And Self-Control
• [15:46] - More Blessed To Give Than Receive
• [17:26] - Worn-Out Shoes And A Longed-For Gift
• [22:28] - Shoes Too Small Become A Gift
• [27:28] - A Gift Defended And Generosity Awakened
• [29:24] - The Deep Joy Of Giving
• [31:15] - A Different Kind Of Christmas
• [32:42] - Giving Presence In A Lonely World
• [33:58] - Closing Prayer

Bible Reading

Acts 20:35
“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” [15:46]

Acts 17:16-23
“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. 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. 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. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 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, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” [02:51]

John 17:14-16
“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” [10:25]

Observation questions

1. In Acts 17:16–23, what troubled Paul about Athens, and what did he do that allowed him to find a point of connection with its people? [06:12]
2. What four questions help Christians move from noticing the culture around them to responding in a way shaped by Scripture? [07:50]
3. In the story of the shoes, what changed in the giver’s attitude after Henry received the gift, and what stayed the same about the giver’s circumstances? How does this illustrate Acts 20:35? [29:36]
4. What gifts besides possessions were identified as ways to practice the generosity encouraged in Acts 20:35? [30:23]

Interpretation questions

1. How does Paul’s approach in Acts 17:16–23 show that understanding people’s beliefs does not have to mean agreeing with them? Why might that distinction matter when a Christian talks with someone of another faith? [06:26]
2. In light of John 17:14–16, what is the difference between participating in ordinary life and allowing the surrounding culture to determine a believer’s values? What might that difference look like in decisions about purchases or success? [10:25]
3. How does the story of the shoes help explain the blessing described in Acts 20:35? Why is it important that the giver’s own worn-out shoes were not replaced? [30:05]
4. Why might giving time and attention be a fitting response to loneliness, rather than simply giving another possession? How does this broaden a Christian’s understanding of generosity? [32:50]

Application questions

1. Think of a person whose beliefs or habits you find troubling. What could help you understand that person better, and what shared concern or interest might open a respectful conversation about faith? [06:41]
2. Choose one habit involving your spending, entertainment, or social media. What is going on, why is it going on, what ought to be going on in light of Scripture, and how might you respond? [09:47]
3. Where do you most feel the pressure to have something immediately? What small practice could help you grow in patience and self-control this week? [15:24]
4. Have you experienced joy in giving even though your own needs remained? How might that experience shape the way you approach a need you see today? [29:52]
5. Giving can meet a real need while still leaving someone feeling embarrassed. How could you offer help in a way that protects the other person’s dignity and gives them room to say what would be useful? [26:11]
6. Who in your life—perhaps a child, an older person, or someone easily overlooked—might welcome your presence? What could a realistic, unhurried opportunity to listen or spend time together look like this week? [32:55]