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Volunteers for Prayer Team
The Bridge Church Reno
Join The Bridge Prayer team. We are looking for volunteers to pray with us.  We have the email prayer group who prays for requests that come through email.  We also have a team that meets on Sunday mornings at 8:30 to pray for the church before worship service.  If you are interested in joining with us please use the prayer request on the connection card or email prayer@thebridgereno.com
 
Mother’s Day
Sunday May 14th @ 10a  - The Bridge Church Reno
We will be having our normal worship service at the Reno campus at the regular time of 10am on Mother’s day May 14th.  In years past we have had to make concessions with Mom’s on the Run because of their annual race.  They have moved locations so that will not be an issue this year.  Invite your mom to church and we will you at 10am on Mother's Day.
 
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Sunday, May 21st 12-2p - The Bridge Church Reno
Calling all neighbors! The Bridge Church has been in this neighborhood for over 60 years and continues to bring diverse community leaders together. This year, we’re introducing a difference-making event for everyone in our neighborhood called, Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Neighbors Helping Neighbors is bringing together Awaken, Boys & Girls Club, Cookies for Kindness, FARMily & Katie’s Garden, Foster the City, PILSOS, Project 150, Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission, Solace Tree, The Bridge Food Pantry & CARS Ministry & more. These organizations are a vital part of our community. This is a wonderful opportunity for you and your family to connect with some of the finest non-profit organizations from the Truckee Meadows, helping people right here in our neighborhood.
 
Worship on the Grounds and Cookout
Sunday, May 28th 10a–1p - The Bridge Church Reno
To honor memorial day we will be having our worship service outdoors on the patio.  Following the service we will have a delicious barbeque lunch and potluck.  Next week we will provide a list of what to bring for food.  This is a great opportunity to invite friends and family and celebrate together.  Don’t come alone.

Message Notes

Engaging the Unbelievers

Pastor Phil Burdoin
May 7, 2023

Paul is in Athens waiting for his friends Silas and Timothy.  While he is there he is studying the city’s culture.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
Acts 17:16-17

Paul was grieved with at how the people we're running after all kinds of things in hopes of finding meaning and purpose.

Jesus did this as well.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36

Our tendency a lot of times is to look out at the world and shake our heads and condemn them, but Jesus has compassion for them.  

Paul was grieved over sin, but he had compassion.
Paul witnessed to the group of people that was right around him, the group of people that he saw each day in the synagogue and the marketplace. He was building relationships with these people.  He did not agree with their idolatry and refused to participate in it.  But he did engage with the people around him. He did not withdraw from them.

Because Paul was willing to befriend and become involved with the people he was able to gain an audience with them.

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? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”
Acts 17: 19-20

Paul uses every opportunity to share the gospel.
When Paul has a chance to share the gospel, he starts by complimenting them for their religiosity.  He points out how religious they are but also points out they are unsure of what they worship. You don't even know what you're worshipping he says. That's interesting, Jesus said something very similar to the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4. Jesus said you worship that which you do not know. He was having a conversation with a woman that I believe REALLY DID want to know the one true God, she just didn't know who he was yet.

Paul begins to share the gospel with this group of philosophers but he doesn't use scripture. This is not a group of Jews, they don't know the scriptures. But Paul actually uses some of their own writings as he is sharing with them.

God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ (Acts 17:27-28)  This is actually take from poets of that era. And the people he is speaking to would know these words. Paul knew his audience.

Know your audience.
Then Paul goes on to tell them that God has chosen someone to judge the world and the person is the resurrected Jesus Christ.  Because Paul had take the time to build trust with them and because they heard his testimony, even thought the thought of the dead coming back to life seemed crazy, some of them believed.

God is building his church, and it is unstoppable!
Previous Messages Can Be Found Here

Small Groups Talk About It

Watch the latest Message Summary:

Discussion Questions:
  1. Have you ever traveled to a different country or experienced a totally different culture? Share the story.
  2. On a scale of 1-10 how difficult do you think it would be to communicate the message of the gospel in a foreign country? Why?
  3. Read Acts 17:16-21. What two places did Paul choose to go when he was trying to share the gospel in Athens? Why do you suppose he chose those places?
  4. What groups of people did he start “debating” with?  What was the breakdown of communication?  Why do you think those people had such a hard time understanding what he was trying to tell them?
  5. Read Acts 17:22-34. Why did Paul start his sermon by mentioning how religious the people were and how they worship so many idols? What was the background of his audience?
  6. How does Paul introduce “God” to the pagan Greeks? What does he tell them very specifically about God in verse 24?
  7. How does verse 25 relate to most religions?  What are most other religions based on? What is their philosophy on the way of salvation? How does that differ from the message of Jesus?
  8. What does Paul use in order to get their attention in verse 28. (Pay close attention to the footnotes in your Bible.)
  9. Share some ideas among the group as to how we can know our audience better.  How are you going to be more intentional about using these ideas to reach your oikos (the people God has placed in your live)?


Preparation for next week’s discussion, please do the following:

  1. Read Acts 18:1-16 several times.
    • Where is Paul at this time?  
    • Why did he stay there so long?
    • Why is this place significant when it comes to New Testament history?

  2.   Read 1 Corinthians.

  3.   Read 2 Corinthians.
Previous Messages Can Be Found Here