If someone asked you, “What are you looking for?” – how would you answer?
Jim and Jean were especially drawn to the 2nd stanza of the hymn “Higher Ground.” “Lord, lift me up, and let me stand By faith, on heaven’s tableland; A higher plane than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
What does it mean to you personally to “seek higher ground”?
The Engel scale was developed by James F. Engel to represent evangelism and salvation as generally not a momentary event, but rather as more of a process that occurs over time. It is helpful to consider where someone is on this scale as you share the gospel. (See partial scale below):
-1 Repentance and faith in Christ -2 Decision to act -3 Personal problem recognition -4 Positive attitude towards gospel -5 Grasp implications of gospel -6 Awareness of fundamentals of gospel -7 Initial awareness of gospel -8 Awareness of supreme being, no knowledge of gospel -9 Experience of emptiness -10 No God frame of reference
Talk about how to effectively share the gospel at the various stages in this process.
What was Athens like in the first century? What were some of the beliefs there? How and why did Paul’s words there differ from how he preached in other places of the book of Acts?
Although Paul was deeply troubled and offended by their many idols, he did not use condemnation of this sin as his starting point. What did he say instead, and why? How did Paul adapt his sharing of the Gospel to fit where the Athenians were spiritually?
Go through the rest of Paul’s message to the Athenians in verses 22-31, and discuss his evangelism strategy.
What are some things God does to help people seek him, based on Acts 17?
Talk about the role of logos (logic, reasoning), pathos (personal connection), and ethos (credibility) when sharing the gospel.
What did you sense God saying to you through this passage and this message?
