Pursuing The Call Part 3 Turning The World Upside Down Series

ACTS

Pursuing The Call – Part 3

Dr. Tom Bartlett

JUNE 23, 2019

Acts 17:1-15

OUTLINE

TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN

A call to influence your world will include. . .

MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS

“Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures. . .”

PASSIONATE PERSUADING

“. . . explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

BIG CHALLENGES

And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

STEADY VIGILANCE

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.

GODLY WISDOM

But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

MANUSCRIPT

Good morning and welcome to Steele Creek Church, Eastfield Campus. My name is Tom Bartlett, I’m one of the pastors here.

Now I have a confession to make. I’m easily influenced by television ads. No matter what it is, if the commercial is good enough, I WANT IT. I’ve been known to see some gooey desert on a cheesy commercial and run out and get it after seeing the commercial.

Now, I gave this sneaking suspicion that I’m not alone here. If I were, none of you would be wearing designer clothes, and none of the teens would have sir Jordan’s and Yezzies, and gauche.

We are all susceptible to ads and the influence they bring concerning their products. The ad paints a story about how you can’t live without this product, how no one will even talk to you, love you, notice you, marry you, unless you have this new milk-shake at sonic!

We are easily influenced!

TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN

In our journey through the book of Acts, we come to a remarkable part f the story of Paul’s missionary journeys. He was an influencer for the kingdom of God and everywhere he went the place was never the same.

Actually, people accused him of upsetting the entire world.

Now imagine you’ve known one thing for your whole life about religion, and that one thing is that you’re supposed to worship an idol and pray to it and treat it and act like it’s alive somehow. Then, someone comes along and says, no that’s not the way, in fact there is a God and He’s not some dead cold carved image. He’s a loving He wants nothing more than a relationship with His creation – YOU.

You’re hearing these words, at the same time this inner voice is telling you, this is true. You’re motivated to learn more and you’re intrigued by it all. Soon, you’re no longer worshiping at the local pagan worship centers, their losing your business, and you’re experiencing a peace that you’re never known before.

At tis point, it’s easy to say that your world has been turned upside down. I’d say from my perspective that it’s now as it should be and right side up!

TO A WORLD THAT IS UPSIDE DOWN, ANYTHING RIGHT SIDE UP APPEARS TO BE UPSIDE DOWN.