What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Carver podcast. I'm Bryce and today, by the title of the episode, you can tell this is my biggest warning to the American church. This is my biggest warning to you guys and what I believe that in this passage of scripture that we're going to talk about is so important. And so if you have your Bible, so I want you to turn to Acts chapter 17. I pray that you are all doing well

and feeling excited and feeling good. Now, I want to address Acts 17 because I believe that this

passage is very applicable to the 21st century. And this is the beauty of scriptures. We have this

transcendent piece of literature that has impacted generations before us, is impacting a generation now

and we'll continue to impact generations after us.

So this thing doesn't have to change or adapt to society.

Rather, we should change and understand how God has originally designed us to be.

Now, in this passage, we see what's going on in the chapter 17.

Paul's going to Thessalonica, then he's going to Berea,

then he's gone to Athens, okay? So Paul is preaching in Athens to the Epicureans and the Stoic

philosophers, and these guys are like, yo, you got to talk to the Aeropagus. Now, I think this is

so important. So what's going on is Paul has now been to a

city, which is Athens, who he saw a city full of idols. So he goes to Athens and there's a bunch of

false gods there. And he's talking to the Epicureans and the Stoic philosophers. Now, the Epicureans and

the Stoics were slightly different. You see, the Epicureans, the stoics were slightly different you see the epicureans they wanted to

solely pursue pleasure and we'll get back to that the epicureans were so focused on pleasure

now the stoics on the other hand they were deeply moral sincere people they had moral dignity

they wanted everyone to be a quote unquote good moral person, but they believed that God was everything and God was in everything. And so it's so fascinating. And now we get to here where they tell him, they're like, oh, you got to go to the aeropagus. And so Paul goes to the aeropagus. And it begins to preach this message in verse 22. So Paul standing in the the midst of the Aeropagus, said, men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God.

What therefore you worship as unknown, this proclaimed to you let's stop right there so

paul is acknowledging that these guys are quote unquote religious people let's stop right there i think

we've got a lot of religious people in america but we don't have lovers of jesus we got a lot of people

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