41 "Proclaiming the Word Wherever You Go" Acts 17:1-15 | Sunday, March 1, 2026

Take your Bibles and turn to the book of

Acts, chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Acts, chapter 17. We'll continue through

Acts 17 · chapter mention

our series in the book of Acts as Paul's

ministry continues in Macedonia, moving

this time from Philippi to the cities of

Thessalonica and Berea before he makes

his way to Athens by the end of this

chapter.

Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

The title of our message this morning is

Proclaiming the Word wherever you go.

Proclaiming the word wherever you go.

Acts 17. Our text will be verses 1-15.

Now when they had passed through

Amphipilus and Appalonia, they came to

Thessalonica where was the synagogue of

the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was,

went in unto them in three Sabbath days,

reasoned with them out of the

scriptures, opening and alleging that

Christ must needs have suffered and

risen again from the dead, and that this

Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ.

And some of them believed and consorted

or joined with Paul and Silas. And of

the devout Greeks a great multitude, and

of the chief women not a few. But the

Jews, which believed not, moved with

envy, took them certain lewd fellows of

the baser sort, and gathered a company,

and set all the city on an uproar, and

assaulted the house of Jason, and sought

to bring them out to the people. And

when they found them not, they drew

Jason and certain brethren under the

rulers of the city, crying, these that

have turned the world upside down are

come hither also, whom Jason hath

received, and these all do contrary to

the decrees of Caesar, saying that there

is another king, one Jesus. They

troubled the people and the rulers of

the city when they heard these things.

And when they had taken security of

Jason and of the other, they let them

go. And the brethren immediately sent

away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea,

who coming thither went into the

synagogue of the Jews. These were more

noble than those in Thessalonica, and

that they received the word with all

readiness of mind, and searched the

scriptures daily, whether those things

were so. Therefore many of them believed

also of honorable women which were

Greeks and of men, not a few. But when

the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge

that the word of God was preached of

Paul at Berea, they came thither also

and stirred up the people. And then

immediately the brethren sent away Paul

as it were to the sea. But Silas and

Timoththeus abodeed there still. And

they that conducted Paul brought him

unto Athens. And receiving a commandment

unto Silas and Timoththeus for to come

to him with all speed, they departed.

Let's pray. Father, I ask you to please

bless your word to give clarity of

thought, clarity of speech, and I pray

that for each of us, our ears would be

open to hear your word today, to believe

it, and to practice what you call us to

do. in Jesus name I pray. Amen. Thank

you for standing in honor of God's word.

You may be seated.

Remember the very ancient occupation

of paper boys? Remember them? Anyone in

here ever had a paper route when you

were a kid? Anybody? Yeah, we got a few

of you. I mean, that was a great way for

young people to be able to make some

money. I never had a paper out myself,

but I filled in for a friend a few

times. And I can remember getting just

these huge stacks upon stacks of

newspapers coming in and and have to

roll those up and stuff them in the bag

and then put them in that satchel and

get on my bike and start riding down the

neighborhood and and taking those things

out of the bag and one by one house to

house throwing them up there onto the

front porch. Right on the front porch

because that's where they belong. Not at

the end of the driveway. Not in the

front yard where they get sprayed with

the sprinklers, but on the front porch

where you can open your door laying down

pick it up. That's where they belong. So

that's what I tried to do. Uh when you

think about paper boys as they go down

that neighborhood, every single house is

getting the exact same news. Unchanged,

unaltered.

Paper boys carry the same news to every

every street, every neighborhood, every

single home. And just as those paper

boys bring the same news to every home,

as Christians, we are called to bring

the good news of the gospel of Jesus

Christ to every home in every city,

state, and country. We do not alter the

good news. We don't change it. We don't

make it more palatable to modern

hearers. We do not water down the

message. We do not avoid speaking about

sin, about death and hell. Nor do we

avoid the cross because it was too

bloody or the resurrection because it's

seemingly unreasonable.

No, when we take that news, we deliver

it as it was given to us.

See, the only way for the gospel to be

good news is if sin is really evil and

if God's wrath is really fierce. And if

the cross and the resurrection bring

real hope, without all three of those

things at work, the gospel is not really

good news. It's just news. It's just

news.

But we are called to take that same good

news to every home and every street in

our city just like Paul does throughout

his missionary journeys. What we've come

to find in the book of Acts is that Paul

proclaimed the gospel wherever he went.

Whether he was in Syria or Cissia,

whether he was in uh in in in Lististra

or Derby, whether he was in Philippi or

as we see here Thessalonica

and Berea, everywhere Paul went, he

preached the same news in the same

places.

That's what he did.

Luke draws our attention in this text

to a comparative and yet contrastive

account.

You have Thessalonica

and Berea. And what we notice is they

follow the exact same patterns. And what

they are intended to emphasize to us is

the fact that Paul's message was deeply

rooted in scripture. It was deeply

rooted in scripture.

In fact, what we find is that the power

of Paul's message was not in his oratory

skills, though God used them. It was not

found in his apologetic prowess or

eloquence, though God used them.

Rather, what we find is that the real

power behind Paul's message was the

logical,

coherent, cohesive progression of

biblical truth. He simply preached the

word of God. And that's why wherever he

went, he proclaimed the word.

I think this text is calling us, like

Paul does here, to simply proclaim the

word wherever we go. No matter where it

is, no matter who it's to,

all you must simply do is take what the

word of God says about Jesus and let

that be the central focal point of your

message. Proclaim it wherever you go.

Our text is divided into these two

narrative accounts. One in Thessalonica

and one in Berea. And we're going to see

that each of them follow this same

pattern. There's a proclamation, then

there is a response, and then there is

an opposition.

And in each of these accounts, we learn

a different reason why we should just

proclaim the word wherever we go. Let's

start in Thessalonica. And what we find

in Thessalonica is this. The word was

able to persuade closedminded

skeptics. The word was able to persuade

closedminded

skeptics. And so in verse number one, it

says, "Now when they had passed through

Amphibilis and Abalonia, this is a a

road called the Via Ignatia, very

prominent trade route in that day. And

so Paul is following this trade route

and he comes to the city of Thessalonica

where it says there was a synagogue of

the Jews. Now first a word about

Thessalonica. It was the most important

port city in Macedonia. It had a large

population of 200,000 plus which was 10

times the average city in that day. I

mean it's a huge important city. It was

mostly free. It wasn't a colony like

Philippi, but they still had their own

free status and government. Their taxes

were cheaper there. They had the

Macedonian governor lived in

Thessalonica as well. We see that it has

a a small Jewish population that

warranted a a synagogue here, but it

also had a temple to the imperial

worship of Caesar. It was home to many

wealthy patrons and patronistes.

Women served prominent roles and carried

strong influence in this particular

city. But it also had many who were

poor, unemployed, and up to no good.

They were called the marketplace people,

the street people, as we might say. I

want you to imagine with me going to

downtown Denver. And you go there and

what you'll see are a bunch of white

collar professionals

walking the skyscrapers there walking

the streets alongside homeless

encampments and pimps and prostitutes

and drug dealers. That's really the

perspective of what Thessalonica was

like. You had the white collar, the blue

collar, and the street people all in the

same place. And it's here where Paul

first heads to the synagogue to proclaim

the word.

It says in verse number two, Paul, as

his manner was, went in unto them, and

three Sabbath days, reasoned with them

out of the scriptures, opening and

alleging.

Now, this is very interesting here.

Notice it says that he's reasoning with

them. He is discussing with them,

disputing with them, debating with them

in a way that says opening and alleging.

This word open, it carries the idea of

opening the mind or opening the

understanding of somebody. This is the

same word that Luke uses in Luke 24 when

Jesus opens the mind of the disciples on

the road to Emmas and then again when he

is gathered with them in the upper room

and it talks about how he opened their

understanding to the scriptures. And so

Luke is doing something here to show

that the message that Paul was

proclaiming was the same message that

Jesus gave to his disciples before Paul

was ever converted. And so he he's

opening their minds here. Now, now

question, if their minds need to be

opened, what is that saying about their

minds as they currently are? They're

closed. They're closed-minded.

For them to be able to understand who

Jesus is, their minds must first be

opened. How does Paul work to open their

minds to the truth? Well, that's where

you have this word alleging. But this

isn't used in the same connotation of

like throwing out allegations at random.

It's actually a word that literally

translates to set before or to place

beside. Picture you're setting a table,

right? You've got the plates and then

you arrange the the the knife and the

fork and the spoon in a particular way

and you may fold the napkins a

particular way and have a set of glasses

there. You're arranging this table in a

way that communicates this is no

ordinary meal. This is a special meal.

Here's what Paul is doing. He is laying

out on the table for them in a carefully

arranged, logical, coherent progression

to persuade them of something. That's

what he's doing. He is we could call it

apologetic tools that he is he is

arranging it in a way that makes sense.

Well, what exactly does Paul want to

persuade them of? Look at verse three.

It says, "Opening and alleging that

Christ must needs have suffered and

risen again from the dead." Now, we hear

the word Christ, we're immediately

thinking of Jesus. That's who we

immediately think of. But as Paul is

doing this with them, their immediate

thought is the Old Testament Messiah,

the servant. The word Christ literally

means anointed one, which is the same

meaning of the Old Testament word

Messiah. And so they're thinking of the

anointed one, the Davidic king who will

come and overthrow their enemies and

restore the kingdom to Israel and rule

and reign on the throne of David forever

and ever. That's what their mind goes

to.

But what Paul is doing is he is

arranging from the scripture

to prove to them and to persuade them

that that same conquering king must

first suffer and rise from the dead.

How does he do that? Well, it tells us

at the end of verse two that he reasoned

with them out of the scriptures.

Now, it doesn't tell us exactly what he

did, but throughout the book of of Acts,

it's been showing us kind of how their

messages went. And so, I imagine it went

like this, that perhaps he took them

back to Exodus 11 and 12. And he talked

to them about the Passover. The word

translated suffer here is the same word

translated Passover in the New

Testament. And so he's showing them that

Christ must suffer. And so perhaps he

takes them to Exodus and he shows the

pattern that God set forth early on in

Israel's history that any kind of

deliverance,

salvation, or freedom from bondage must

come through the death of a suffering

lamb. A suffering lamb. And so perhaps

he took him there and then maybe he

moved to Leviticus chapter 16-1 17 to

Leviticus 16 · chapter mention

the day of atonement and he talked about

how without the shedding of blood there

is no forgiveness of sins that only the

blood of a sacrificial animal can atone

for the sins of mankind.

Perhaps at this point he takes them to

Isaiah 53 and he shows how the messianic

servant would be wounded for our

transgressions. That he would be bruised

for our iniquities. That the stripes for

our peace would be laid upon his back

and that God would lay our iniquity on

him and his wrath would be satisfied.

That he must suffer for us. And then

perhaps he took him to the Psalms where

David wrote, "The Lord said unto my

Lord, sit on thy throne until I make

thine enemies thy foottool." How he

said, "Thou will not leave my soul in

hell, neither wil thou suffer thine holy

one to see corruption. The holy one is

the anointed one of God."

He takes him and says, "See, he must

rise again."

However Paul is arranging his argument,

he is carefully taking them through the

scriptures to prove to them that Christ

must suffer and rise again. And the

climax of his message comes in the last

phrase of verse three when it says, "And

that this Jesus whom I preach to you is

Christ." this Jesus that you have heard

of who was a great teacher who suffered

and was crucified and allegedly rose

again from the dead which yes that

actually happened. He tells them that

Jesus is this anointed one, this Christ,

this Messiah who must suffer and rise

again. It's Jesus. He proclaims to them

a logical, coherent gospel directly from

the scriptures.

Let me for a moment proclaim to you the

gospel of Jesus Christ. That the Bible

says we have all sinned. that there is

none righteous. No, not one. The Bible

says that the penalty for sin is death

and eternal judgment in hell. And the

bad news is and the worst news of it all

is that because of our sin, death and

hell is all of our eternal destination.

That's where we will go if not for the

good news. And the good news this

morning is that God offers to you the

forgiveness of your sins and the hope of

eternal life through the finished work

of Jesus Christ through his death for

your sin and his resurrection for your

life. And the best news of it all is

that God will forgive your sin today and

he will give you eternal life today if

you will trust in the finished work of

his son Jesus. That is the gospel my

friends. That is the message that Paul

that Jesus gave to his disciples first

and it is the message that Paul

proclaimed everywhere he went and it is

the still still the same message that we

proclaim today everywhere we go. That is

the gospel. Paul is proclaiming this

word to closedminded skeptics in a way

that will open their mind to the truth.

That's the proclamation. Now, what about

their response?

Notice it says in verse four, "And some

of them believed." Some of them refers

to the Jews from the synagogue because

it's going to distinguish between the

Greeks and the chief women right after

this. And so, some of them is the Jews.

But what I want to point out to you

today is that this particular word

translated believed is not the word you

would normally see translated believed.

That is a word that means faith and

trust. This word means to be persuaded.

It conveys that Paul's logical,

coherent, cohesive proclamation of the

truth was able to open their minds and

persuade them to believe. That was the

power of the word that Paul preached, to

open their mind and persuade them to

believe. But notice it wasn't just some

of the Jews. It says in verse four that

of the devout or religious Greeks a

great multitude. That sounds like a lot

of people. But then notice it also says,

"And of the chief women, not a few."

See, the word was so powerful that it

was able to persuade a multitude of

skeptics and pagans and wealthy and

educated men and women to believe the

gospel. See, I want you to understand

today that the idea that the Christian

faith is only for the weak and it's only

for the poor and it's only for the

unintelligent and the uneducated, that

is a fallacy produced by our

universities to try to make people feel

like if they embrace Christianity, they

are dumb. But what I want to tell you is

the history of the Christian faith is

that just as we see here and as we will

see in Athens and throughout the world,

wealthy, powerful politicians and

religious leaders in Israel and the

educated and men and women all alike,

they all were persuaded

that this is logical.

The the gospel is coherent. The gospel

is cohesive and the gospel is

believable.

So much to the point that even if they

came to the word with closed-minded

skepticism, the power of the word opened

their minds and brought them to faith.

That is the true history of

Christianity.

And so I want you to understand today

that the reason that we proclaim the

word wherever we go is because it still

has the power to persuade closedminded

people from all walks of life.

See the power of the word is able to

persuade Hindus and Buddhists and

Muslims to turn from idolatry to the

true and living God through Jesus

Christ. It has the power to win over

wealthy educated white collar

professionals, rocket scientists at Ball

Aerospace, PhD students and professors

at CU, judges and lawyers at the county

courthouse. Yes, it is powerful enough

to open their minds and bring them to

faith.

It has the power to persuade

impressionable young people who are

being taught every day that God is not

real, that Jesus is a fairy tale and the

Bible isn't trustworthy. Yes, friends,

it holds that kind of power, but it also

can persuade the bluecollar,

babysitters,

construction workers, and welders,

Amazon delivery drivers. See, the word

is so powerful that it doesn't matter

what walk of life you come from. It is

able to open your mind to see the truth

of the gospel.

But here's the reality.

Some must be persuaded

to believe. Some must be persuaded to

believe. They need to be shown how

everything fits together. And there are

some who without an airtight, logical,

coherent argument will never be

persuaded to believe. They must have

that. It's how their mind works. It's

because they come with a closed mind.

Well, listen believers, that takes time.

That takes patience. It takes effort. It

takes us being willing to labor in

prayer and study in our own personal

lives to be able to engage those who are

close-minded skeptics.

But I want you to understand today and I

think what Luke wants us to understand

is that when you present someone with a

wellstudied, logical, coherent argument

that behind that Bibledriven

approach is the authority of the

scripture and the power of the gospel

and the help of the Holy Spirit to bring

conviction to the heart and the soul and

the mind that they can believe this

truth. They can believe this word. You

don't need to fear. You can take the

gospel straight from the word and

proclaim it trusting it has the power.

See the power to open the mind of the

skeptic is not in the prowess of the

preacher but in the power of the word.

It's in the power of the word. So,

wherever we go, we just need to proclaim

the word. We can be assured that it will

prevail.

But I also want you to notice that it

will be opposed. It will be opposed.

I want you to look at verse five. But

those words often are words that scream

at you in scripture that the tide is

about to turn here. But the Jews, which

believed not, moved with envy, took unto

them certain lewd fellows of the baser

sort. What does that mean? It it refers

to the marketplace people, the street

people, because the Jews were not a

majority. And now they see that that

some of them are now joining with Paul

and Silas. They don't have enough to

really move the needle in the city. And

so it it was easy. If you study

Thessalonica, it was easy to go to the

street people and to get them angry at

everybody else. And so they go down to

the streets and they in they they

probably lie about them and stir up this

riot. And when it says they gathered a

company, it means they formed a mob. So

now you've got mob riot going on in

Thessalonica, it says they set the city

on uproar and assaulted the house of

Jason and sought to bring them out to

the people. They're after Paul and

Silas. They're after the primary

preachers of the gospel, the ring

leaders of this movement, and they know

that that Jason, this man, has received

them into their home. So Jason is a

recent convert in Thessalonica. And yet

now they are assaulting his house. It

says in verse number six that when they

found Paul and Silas, when they found

them not, they drew. And let me just

paint the picture for you. Drew doesn't

mean they said, "Here, hold me by the

hand and I'll take you to the city." It

means they dragged them by the collar.

So they dragged Jason and these other

new believers into the city center and

they cry out to the rulers in verse 6,

"These that have turned the world upside

down are come hither." Also, word had

spread that there had been riots in the

streets and uproars in the cities

throughout the Roman Empire over this

Christian movement. But can I ask you a

question? Has it been the Christians

stirring up those riots?

Or has it been the opponents of the

gospel? It's been the opponents of the

gospel. And that's exactly what's

happening here. It says in verse 7, whom

Jason hath received, and these all do

contrary to the decrees of Caesar,

saying that there is another king, one

Jesus.

If you're the rulers and the people of

this city and these statements are true

that this Christian movement is leading

a revolt against Caesar, well, that's

going to be very troubling to you

because it threatens the free status of

your city if you're found out to be

disloyal to Caesar. It threatens to

bring higher taxes upon you. It

threatens the removal of the Macedonian

governor and the implementation of a

Roman senator who will rule with a rod

of iron to reestablish loyalty to

Caesar. There's a lot at risk here for

this city. And so it says in verse

number uh 8, and they troubled the

people and the rulers of the city when

they heard these things. So everybody is

troubled now. But what I want to point

out to you is that they have

fundamentally misunderstood

the Christian message.

Because Jesus is not here yet to conquer

kingdoms and establish a literal throne

and establish a literal kingdom and

overthrow literal nations. That's not

yet what he has come. That day will

come, but that is not now. What Jesus is

doing at this period of time and in our

time today is he is building a spiritual

kingdom of heavenly citizens over whose

lives and local church community Christ

reigns as king. That's what it's really

about. But they misunderstood it. And

because they misunderstood it, they

opposed it. They opposed it.

And so it says in verse number nine,

"And when they had taken security of

Jason and of the other, they let them

go." This is bail money. They had to

bail themselves out of holding. And it

says in verse 10, "And the brethren

immediately sent away Paul and Silas by

night unto Berea."

I just want to make this simple point.

While we proclaim the word,

some will believe, but many will oppose.

And it may come to a point where it

costs you something.

But what we find here is in spite of the

opposition

in Thessalonica, the word prevailed to

persuade closedminded

skeptics of the truth of the gospel. And

a church is established to whom Paul

writes two New Testament letters, first

and 2 Thessalonians. The word prevailed.

The word went forward in spite of the

opposition. Now the account shifts to

Berea.

And in Berea, here's what we find that

the word is also able to persuade

openminded seekers. That's what we see

there in Thessalonica. They were

close-minded skeptics. We're going to

see in Berea, they were open-minded

seekers. And either way, the word was

able to persuade them, but in different

ways.

So let's first look at the proclamation

in Berea. In verse number 10, Paul and

Silas are sent away. It says, "Who

coming thither went into the synagogue

of the Jews." So they go right where

they were in Thessalonica to the

synagogue of the Jews in Berea. Paul's

message and his custom was always to the

Jew first. And because it doesn't give

us Paul's proclamation, Luke wants us to

understand that when he went to Berea,

he preached the same message that he

preached at Thessalonica. And so, he's

still giving them the exact same news in

a new place. And so, he proclaims the

gospel to them, arguing from the

scripture that Christ must suffer and

rise again, and that Jesus is the

Christ. But notice and this is where the

emphasis is in this account is on the

response of the people. It says in verse

number 11, these speaking of the Jews in

Berea were more noble than those in

Thessalonica. How so? In that they

received the word with all readiness of

mind. They received the word. The idea

is here they welcomed it with open arms

and open minds. They were willing to

hear it. They were eager to hear it. But

then and and so what this tells us is

that their minds are already open to it.

And so they are open-minded

seekers because then in verse 11 it says

they searched the scriptures daily

whether those things were. Though, do

you notice the contrast here? That for

three weeks, weekly, every Sabbath day,

Paul had to labor to persuade the

Thessalonians to believe. But here it

says that they daily searched the

scriptures on their own to see if these

things were true or not. And so you have

the contrast between the nobility of the

Bereans versus the lack of nobility from

the Thessalonians. You have the contrast

of the Thessalonians needing to be

persuaded to believe and you have the

the the Bereans willing to search the

scriptures. You have the contrast of

weekly Sabbaths to daily searchings. And

it's set up intentionally

to help us understand that while some

must be persuaded by somebody else's

ministry, others can be persuaded by

looking at the word themselves. What

does that tell us? The word has the

power to persuade.

And so look at verse 12.

Therefore, because they searched the

scriptures daily to see if they were so.

You know what they found out? They were

so.

It says they believed.

This word believe is the word you would

expect. They trusted the scripture. And

so, while in Thessalonica,

they had to be persuaded by Paul to

believe what the scripture said. It says

those in Berea were persuaded by the

word itself to believe what it said.

They simply believed. But notice also

that it was many of them who believed.

In Thessalonica, it was some Jews. In

Berea, it was many Jews. But then also

it says that of the honorable women,

which were Greeks, and of men, not a

few. That's a way to say a large amount

of people. And so you've got droves of

conversions taking place in two

different cities. And the centrality of

the text emphasizes

the power of the word. Whether it was

Paul laying out a logical, coherent

argument through the scripture or if it

was these people reading and studying

the scriptures themselves.

Either way, the word was enough to

persuade them and they believed.

That's why we simply proclaim the word.

See, there are some in your life who

will need you to explain, to prove, to

show them convincing evidence.

Others are content to only see it for

themselves.

That you simply proclaim the word to

them and then you give them a Bible and

you encourage them. I I'd like to

encourage you to read through the Bible

yourself and to discover for yourself if

these things are true and they're eager

to and they receive it. Yeah, I would be

glad to believe if it's believable. And

that's really the only question in their

mind. And so you can give them a Bible

and what the word of God teaches us is

that through the power of the scripture

and the conviction of the Holy Spirit,

the word alone is enough. That they just

need to they just need to read the word.

They just need to study the word. And so

what this tells us is that the word must

be our primary tool of evangelism.

See, some churches can get caught up in

trying to implement other tools, whether

it's culturally appealing music or if

it's drama or if it's movies or other

forms of entertainment or what have you.

But what we see in the scripture is that

the power to bring pagans, the power to

bring atheists and skeptics and seekers

to bow the knee to Christ as Lord and

Savior. That power is contained in the

word of God. The word of God.

Everywhere the word was proclaimed, we

find that it had prevailing power to

bring sinners to salvation. Whether it

was in Philippi or Thessalonica

or Berea, wherever the word is

proclaimed, it was believed and it

prevailed.

And I want to assure you today that if

we simply go into the streets and cities

and homes of our own city here in

Boulder and our surrounding areas, the

word is what will prevail to bring

open-minded and closed-minded people

from all walks of lives to believe the

truth of the gospel. The power is in the

word. But in spite of that prevailing

power, we see yet again that it will

still be opposed.

It says in verse number uh 12 or 13, but

when the Jews of Thessalonica

had knowledge that the word of God was

preached of Paul at Berea, they came

thither also and stirred up the people.

And then immediately the brethren sent

away Paul as it were to go to the sea,

but Silas and Timoththeus abodeed there

still. And they that conducted Paul

brought him unto Athens, and receiving a

commandment unto Silas and Timothiius

were to come to him with all speed, they

departed.

What you see is this. Everywhere Paul

goes, he proclaims the word. And

everywhere Paul proclaims the word,

people believe. And everywhere people

believe, Paul is driven out.

That's the pattern of his ministry.

But what I notice Paul doing

is never giving up.

He never stops.

He just keeps proclaiming the word in

spite of the opposition and people keep

believing and churches keep getting

planted. I think the message that Luke

is presenting to us today

is this simple truth. Proclaim the word

wherever you go because it always

prevails though it's always opposed.

That's what he's getting across.

Proclaim the word wherever you go

because it always prevails though it's

always opposed.

The word will continue to be opposed

believers.

Some will resist you. Friends, family,

co-workers, classmates.

Not everybody will be convinced and some

will oppose you and it may cost you

even. But the word carries a unique

power to persuade the lost to believe on

Christ. Whether they are closed-minded

skeptics or open-minded seekers, it's

able to persuade. And so I want to

encourage you. What church, what what my

heart is today, and I believe it follows

the pastoral heart of Luke here is to

encourage you. The word is sufficient.

The word is able to bring the lost to

salvation. No matter who they are, no

matter what walk of life they come from,

no matter how rich or poor they are, how

open-minded or closed-minded, religious

or non-educated or not, no matter who

they are, I want to instill confidence

in you that just as the word worked in

the book of Acts, the word works today

in Boulder, it works in your life. So

proclaim it. It can never fall on wrong

ears.

Christ is willing to save everyone and

the word is able to persuade anyone.

So just proclaim it.

Even if you feel incompetent,

even if you feel like your own grasp on

the scripture right now is not very

great great,

just proclaim what you do know. If

you're saved today and you know how you

got saved, just tell people how you got

saved.

what Jesus did for you, who Jesus is,

how you trusted him as your savior, how

you called upon him for salvation, how

he forgave your sin, how he's promised

you eternal life. Just proclaim the

simple word of God.

But there may be some who say,

"Pastor, I don't I don't feel like I've

got a a good enough biblical

understanding to proclaim the word." Can

I ask you what keeps you from gaining a

greater biblical understanding?

Has not God persuaded or excuse me, has

not God preserved this all powerful word

for us today in our language?

Has he not?

Do Do you have one of these Bibles at

home?

If you don't, please take the one on the

chair in front of you. And what and let

me ask you, what keeps you every day

from spending a little bit of time

in this powerful word?

I would encourage you believers,

evaluate your life. What am I giving

time to right now?

That means nothing for eternity. That

could be given to simply reading the

scripture and gaining a greater

understanding of the word so that I can

then go out and proclaim the word.

Folks, if we believe that this word is

powerful enough to open closed minds, to

persuade skeptics,

and to cause uh seekers to believe, if

we really believe that,

nothing should keep us from gaining a

greater grasp on the word.

Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the

gospel of Christ, for it is the power of

God unto salvation,

to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

Isn't that the pattern we see here

today? He goes to the synagogues. He

proclaims the divine word of God and

Jews and Gentiles get saved from all

walks of life. That same thing can

happen today in this very non-religious

and yet pagan city.

The word's powerful enough.

Only the question is, do we really

believe it?

I pray that this text instills you with

confidence.

That the message you carry is logical.

It is coherent. It is cohesive and it is

believable.

So take it, get a greater grasp of it

and then go proclaim it to others.

Can I ask you one question?

How do you respond to the scripture?

Would you classify yourself with the

Thessalonians

as closed-minded,

skeptical,

or would you classify yourself with the

Bereans as open-minded, seeking?

If you've not trusted Christ your

savior, you're not a Christian and

you're coming today, I would assume you

would probably classify yourself over

here. You're seeking. If you're tuning

in on live stream today, not yet ready

to go to church, but you're willing to

listen. You're seeking, you're

open-minded, I want to encourage you.

Be willing to listen.

But don't just be willing to listen. Be

willing to search for yourself. Get a

Bible. Take it home. Read it every day.

Well, which Bible should I use?

Whichever one you can understand. Start

there. Whichever one you can understand

and trust that the power of the word is

able to convince you. And I would

encourage you in this way when the Holy

Spirit begins to impress on your heart,

this is true. Believe it.

Trust in Christ, church. It's

believable. So, let's get it out there.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your

word.

Thank you for your truth.

Thank you for the gospel

for unfolding your revelation

over the course of time so that when it

arrives to us today, we have something

that makes all the sense in the world.

something that is cohesive from Genesis

to Revelation about your plan to redeem

the nations to yourself from their sin

through the death and resurrection of

your son.

Help us as believers

to grasp hold of gospel truth and then

get it out to others. It's in Jesus name

I pray. Amen.