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Acts 17:16-28 (NIV)

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¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus ¹⁹ Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰ You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." ²¹ (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) ²² Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. ²³ 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. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. ²⁴ "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. ²⁶ From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. ²⁷ God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸ `For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, `We are his offspring.'


This passage relates to the following topic(s):
(v. 21) Laziness - Athenians - did nothing but talk
(v. 22) Eagerness / Diligence / Seeking / Readiness - Religious but God is still unknown
(v. 23) Eagerness / Diligence / Seeking / Readiness - Religious but God is still unknown
(v. 24) Eagerness / Diligence / Seeking / Readiness - Religious but God is still unknown
(v. 25) Eagerness / Diligence / Seeking / Readiness - Religious but God is still unknown
(v. 26) Eagerness / Diligence / Seeking / Readiness - Religious but God is still unknown
(v. 27) Eagerness / Diligence / Seeking / Readiness - Religious but God is still unknown

This passage is referenced in the following quiet time(s):
(v. 16) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 16) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 17) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 17) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 17) Power of Gratitude - Uncommon Peace (2008-02-26)
(v. 18) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 18) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 19) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 19) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 20) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 20) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 21) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 21) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 22) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 22) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 23) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 23) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 24) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 24) Becoming a Chain Breaker (part I) (2013-07-01)
(v. 24) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 24) God Is (part V) (2011-03-24)
(v. 25) Fearing God - His rule (2011-08-24)
(v. 25) God Is (part V) (2011-03-24)
(v. 25) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 25) Becoming a Chain Breaker (part I) (2013-07-01)
(v. 25) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 26) Prayer of the Righeous - God is Running (2012-10-01)
(v. 26) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 26) Becoming a Chain Breaker (part I) (2013-07-01)
(v. 26) Genesis 2 - Creation & Recreation Recap (2011-10-02)
(v. 26) Purpose Driven Life - Becoming a World-Class Christian (part 2) (2008-07-16)
(v. 26) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 26) Mission - Cannot Help Proclaiming (part II) (2010-12-08)
(v. 27) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)
(v. 27) Purpose Driven Life - Becoming a World-Class Christian (part 2) (2008-07-16)
(v. 27) Prayer of the Righeous - More Powerful Than We Can Imagine (part I) (2013-03-03)
(v. 27) Prayer of the Righeous - God is Running (2012-10-01)
(v. 27) Mission - Cannot Help Proclaiming (part II) (2010-12-08)
(v. 27) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 27) Becoming a Chain Breaker (part I) (2013-07-01)
(v. 28) Day 16 - Saved to Save (2011-12-19)
(v. 28) Seeking God (part I) (2010-12-11)

This passage is referenced in the following study note(s):
(v. 24) Sermon: 7 Qualities of God (2000-01-01)
(v. 24) Sermon: With God (2013-07-28)
(v. 25) Sermon: With God (2013-07-28)
(v. 26) Sermon: With God (2013-07-28)
(v. 27) Sermon: With God (2013-07-28)
(v. 28) Sermon: With God (2013-07-28)

Definition(s):
Areopagus (Ar-e-op-a-guss): the hill of Mars