Communicating Christ Effectively

Acts 17:16-34

Adapted from a Steve Shepherd sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/communicating-christ-effectively-steve-

shepherd-sermon-on-evangelism-how-to-43869.asp?Page=1

Acts 17:16 ESV Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked

within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue

with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who

happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also

conversed with him.

And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a

preacher of foreign divinities"—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19

And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20

For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things

mean."

21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in

nothing except telling or hearing something new. 22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive

that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of

your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What

therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and

earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as

though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and

everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face

of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27

that they should seek God in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find

him.

Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have

said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' 29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to

think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and

imagination of man.

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to

repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him

from the dead."

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, "We

will hear you again about this." 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also

were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

A stranger entered the church in the middle of the sermon and seated himself in the back

pew. After a while he began to fidget. Leaning over to a white-haired man at his side,

evidently an old member of the congregation, he whispered: "How long has he been

preaching?" "Thirty or forty years, I think," the old man answered. "I’ll stay then," decided the

stranger, "He must be nearly done."

A preacher died and went to heaven. He noticed that a New York cabdriver had been

given a higher place than he had."I don’t understand," he complained to St.

Peter. "I devoted my entire life to my congregation.“

"Our policy is to reward results," explained St. Peter. "Now what happened whenever you gave a sermon?" The minister admitted that

some in the congregation fell asleep. "Exactly, " said St. Peter. "And when people rode in this man’s taxi, they not only stayed awake, they

prayed."

One man said, "My young son asked what was the highest number I had ever counted to. I

didn’t know but asked about his highest number. It was ‘5372.’ ‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Why did

you stop there?’ ‘Church was over.’" There is no doubt that some preachers have it and some don’t, but all of us who speak for the

Lord need to do the best that we can to communicate Christ effectively.

An ad agent in New York city performed an interesting experiment one time. He dressed in ragged clothes, put on sunglasses, carried a tin cup, and wore a sign around his neck that

read, "Blind." He spent the entire day in Central Park and collected $44.10. The next

day he did the same thing under identical circumstances, only this time the sign around

his neck read, "IT’S SPRING, AND I AM BLIND." That day he collected $161.65!

There’s a big difference between communication and effective communication.

The famous preacher Dwight L. Moody held a revival meeting in Philadelphia starting on November 21, 1875, with nightly crowds of

12,000.His ushers were very well trained, capable of

seating 1,000 people per minute.The doors were opened one and a half hours early and in 10 minutes the 12,000 seats were

taken.

On January 19, 1876 President Grant and some of his cabinet attended.

Total attendance was 1,050,000 with 4,000 decisions for Christ.

Dwight L. Moody was, no doubt, an effective communicator!

In our day and time, we have trouble getting people to come to church, let alone convincing

them to decide for Christ.

The apostle Paul was also an effective communicator of the gospel of Christ.

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as

he saw that the city was full of idols.

Athens was an intellectual center of its day.Here the philosophers, intellectuals, and

students would gather to discuss the latest intellectual fads.

Athens was also a pagan city. As many as 30,000 statues had been erected as idols to

various gods in the city.It was here that Paul effectively communicated

Christ to the people.

He didn’t win everyone to Christ, but he certainly made an impact for Christ.

AND THIS IS WHAT WE MUST DO!

We must witness!We must make Christ’s presence known in this

world!We must make an impact for Christ!

From Acts 17 we want to consider four qualities that made Paul an effective

communicator of the gospel.Qualities that we can learn from and use in our

own lives to share Christ with others.1- A genuine conviction2- A broad knowledge

3- A profound simplicity4- A realistic expectation

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as

he saw that the city was full of idols.One Sunday Mrs. Calvin Coolidge was sick

and couldn’t attend church. When the president returned home from church, she

asked, "What did the minister preach about it?" The president replied, "Sin." She asked, "What did he say about it?" The president said, "HE

WAS AGAINST IT."

A Genuine Conviction

The apostle Paul had a genuine conviction. He was against sin!

He was greatly distressed that Athens was full of idols.

Paul was convinced that idol worship was wrong.

He wanted people to learn to worship the Creator rather than creation.

If anyone is going to be a good communicator they must have some genuine conviction about

their faith or what they believe in.The purchasing department in a Kroger’s

warehouse has sign that reads: "Salesman, before you try to sell your product to us, be so convinced of its superiority that when you’re finished, we will be more anxious to buy than

you are to sell."

If you don’t believe in what you are selling, you won’t sell anything to anybody!

David Hume, 18th century British philosopher who rejected historic Christianity, once met a

friend hurrying along a London street and asked where he was going. The friend said he

was going to hear George Whitfield preach. "But surely you don’t believe what Whitfield

preaches do you?" "No, I don’t, but he does."

If a person doesn’t believe in what they are preaching or presenting, they won’t sell it to

anybody.

A guy came home from playing golf one day and his neighbor asked him about his game. He said, "I shot seventy." His neighbor said, "Hey! That’s pretty good!" The golfer replied,

"Yeah, and tomorrow I’ll play the second hole."

Are you sold on playing golf?If so, I’ll bet you’re not afraid to share it with

others.And the same thing holds true with almost

everything we do in life.If we’re sold on it, we’ll sell it to others!

WHAT ARE YOU SOLD ON?Are you sold on Christ and the church?

Paul was.

Romans 1:14 ESV I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone

who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Paul was man who had a genuine conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ was the truth

that everyone needed to hear!

He believed that Christ could save people from their sins!

An ex-narcotics agent who started out as an undercover agent in Miami got so involved in the business that he began buying and selling

drugs for his own profit.He was arrested for trafficking in drugs and

was sent to prison.While in prison, he came under the influence of

Charles Colson of Prison Fellowship and he became a Christian.

Since he’s been released from prison he is working full-time with Prison Fellowship.

He was asked what could be done about the drug traffic in America. Here is what he said, "It

won’t be stopped through legislation. It’s just too easy for two small boats to meet in the ocean a few miles offshore and exchange

cargo, or for a private plane loaded with drugs to land on a secluded airstrip. We can’t stop it. Our only hope is Jesus Christ. Our only hope is that we can win so many people to Christ that

drugs will not be needed any more."

There is a man with a genuine conviction about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the only lasting answer to all problems that we face in this life!

DO YOU BELIEVE IT?

We must have a genuine conviction in order to convince others.

18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, "What does this babbler wish to

say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

Paul had a broad knowledge which enabled him to speak to all kinds of people,

intellectuals, philosophers, etc.

A Broad Knowledge

An alumnus of Yale was asked to return and give a speech. He said, "I’m going to speak on four simple letter: Y-A-L-E." He spoke for about thirty minutes on youth. Then, thirty minutes on ambition. Another thirty minutes on loyalty and

finally, thirty minutes on energy.One student asked another student how he

liked the lecture. He said, "It was okay, but I’m sure glad he wasn’t speaking at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology." Wow! That would be a long speech, wouldn’t it?

It’s all right to know something, but it shouldn’t take all day to let it be known. Paul’s message

was not long, but pertinent.

We need a broad knowledge of life and what is going on in the world if we are ever going to

effectively communicate with people and reach them for Christ.

Some years ago Newsweek magazine had an article entitled, "No Allusions in the

Classroom.“It told about one schoolteacher who quizzed

his students about general knowledge. Here is what his students said:

Charles Darwin invented gravity.No God invented it, but Sir Isaac Newton

discovered it.

J. Edgar Hoover was a 19th century president. No, he was the director of the FBI from 1924 to

1972, 48 years.Sid Caesar was an early Roman emperor. No, Julius Caesar was. Sid Caesar is an actor and

comedian.Dwight D. Eisenhower was an American

president in the 17th century. No, he was our 34th president from 1953 to 1961.

Socrates was an American Indian chief. No, he was a Greek philosopher.

Ignorance is not bliss! And spiritual ignorance is certainly not bliss.

Most people know quite a lot about the things of this world, but Biblical ignorance abounds!1 Corinthians 15:34 ESV Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on

sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

Emmett is a Physics Professor at SMSU in Springfield, MO.

There is no doubt about it, Emmett knows his stuff when it comes to physics, etc.

BUT THAT’S ALL HE KNOWS ABOUT!

Wrong!

We all have discovered that you can talk to him on just about any subject you want and he can

converse quite well about it. He has a vast knowledge of many subjects and there is a

very good reason for it.HE IS A READER & A DOER!

He reads newspapers, magazines, books, (I’m sure many of them wouldn’t make any sense to

most of us.) and the Bible!When something needs done he does it.

DOES THIS TELL YOU ANYTHING?If you don’t read, you won’t know. TV won’t cut it. It’s an educational tool, but not the best. And besides, most people don’t watch TV to get an education, but rather to be entertained. We can

educate ourselves by getting off the sofa & doing things.

If we are going to reach some people for Christ we must have a broad knowledge about life

and what is happening in the world.We need to be able to converse with people.

1 Corinthians 9:19 ESV For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all,

that I might win more of them.Paul wanted to know about many things in order to be able to converse with as many

people as possible.Because if you don’t converse, you don’t

convert. If you don’t communicate you can’t activate. That is, you can’t activate or stimulate

people to know Christ!

Acts 17:22 ESV So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very

religious.Paul knew his stuff.

He was well-educated and also knew his audience.

He knew people.If we are going to effectively communicate Christ today we must know about people.

There are two basic facts that we should know about people.

1. People do not respond well to the authoritarian approach.

A man came in to a barber shop and began to visit with the men who were waiting their turn.He was trying to witness to them about Christ

and the church of Christ.The only problem was, he came on real strong

and began to tell them why other churches were wrong.

DID HE EVER BLOW IT!After he left that barber shop the men talked

about him and they were not impressed.THEY WERE TURNED OFF!

We can’t approach witnessing that way.The attitude that I’m the teacher and you’re the

student and you’d better listen to me.

The attitude that I’m right and you’re wrong.

Or the attitude that I know it all and you know very little.

That attitude will turn people off quicker than almost anything else we can do.

2. A second basic fact about people is that they have a short attention span.

Dr. Warren Walker recalls a sermon that he preached in central Florida one time.

He got carried away and was running longer than usual.

While he paused to catch his breath, he overheard two men in the front pew.

One asked, "Is he through?“The other said, "Yeah, he’s through, but he

ain’t quit!"

A long time ago preachers could preach for two hours and people accepted it gladly, but not

anymore!

Fifteen or twenty minutes is more like it today!

Even in person-to-person witnessing we’d better not plan on preaching a sermon to

someone.

Often, we may only be able to drop a word or two that might point them to Christ.

Anyway you cut it, Paul knew what he was talking about.

He was educated about people and more importantly, he was educated about Christ.

And we need both to be effective communicators of the gospel.

Acts 17:22 ESV So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very

religious.Paul’s sermon or speech was very logical and

easy to follow.One of the mistakes that some preachers

make is when they preach a message that is hard to understand or hard to follow.

A Profound Simplicity

A farmer’s wife was very critical of his grammar.

One evening he told her he had a friend named Bill and he wanted her to meet him. "Don’t call him Bill, " she insisted. "Call him

William."When the friend arrived, the farmer said, "Let

me tell you a tale.“His wife interrupted and said, "Don’t say tale,

say, ‘anecdote.’"

That night, when going to bed, the farmer told her to put out the light. His wife exclaimed,

"Don’t say ‘put out the light,’ say, ‘extinguish’ the light."

Later in the night she woke her husband and sent him downstairs to investigate a noise.

When he returned, she asked him what it was.

"It was," he explained carefully, "a William goat which I took by its anecdote and extinguished

it."

In other words (in simple language) he said, "it was a Billy goat that I took by its tail and put

outside."

Some preaching is hard to understand.

One time a deacon and the preacher went to an area men’s fellowship.

After the preaching and meeting was over, they walked out and the deacon said, "That had to be good stuff because I didn’t understand it

all!"

HOW COULD IT BE GOOD STUFF IF YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND IT?

It can’t.

It is said King James I became annoyed with the irrelevant ramblings of his court preacher

and shouted up to the pulpit: "Either make sense or come down out of that pulpit!" Good

advice.

If we preach and teach & don’t use the language that people can understand then how

do we expect to win anybody to Christ?!

The fame and popularity of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen rested largely on his

children’s fairy tales, written over a period of some 37 years and translated into scores of languages. Andersen was well aware of this fact -- so much so that late in life, he told the

musician who was to compose a march for his funeral, "Most of the people who will walk after

me will be children, so make the beat keep time with little steps."

We who serve Christ must keep beat with the people who are listening to us and watching

us!Paul knew his audience and knew how to

speak to them. He used a positive approach. He said, "Men of Athens! I see that you are

very religious." He didn’t say, "What a bunch of ignorant heathens you are." That would have

turned them off immediately.

Paul presented six simple points:1- God is the creator of the universe

2- He is the ruler of the nations3- He is the sustainer of life4- He is the Father of us all

5- He wants to be our Savior6- He will someday judge the world

You can’t get much plainer than that.

If people can’t follow what we’re saying in the pulpit and out of the pulpit, how can we expect

them to choose Christ and to follow Christ?In our witnessing or presenting of the gospel,

let us think before we speak.And let us speak clearly, plainly and simply.That’s the way to effectively communicate

Christ to others.

Acts 17:32 ESV Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear you again about

this."Paul also had a realistic expectation of how the people would respond. He probably knew his audience well enough to know that he was not

going to get a fantastic response to his message.

A Realistic Expectation

Someone wrote about how to get rid of a preacher.

1. Look the preacher straight in the eye while he’s preaching and say "Amen" once in a while

and he’ll preach himself to death. 2. Pat him on the back and brag on is good

points and he’ll probably work himself to death.

3. Rededicate your life to Christ and ask the preacher for some job to do, preferably some lost person you could win to Christ, and he’ll

die of heart failure. 4. Get the church to unite in prayer for the

preacher and he’ll soon become so effective that some larger church will take him off your

hands.

The people of Athens probably wanted to get rid of Paul too, but that’s not how they did it.

They sneered at him.If people sneered at me, I don’t think I’d hang

around very long.An old elder said the first three years of a

preacher’s ministry went like this:First year, admiration.

Second year, toleration.Third year, abomination.

Most of the people of Athens were in their third year after Paul’s first sermon!

They wanted him gone.They sneered at him.

There will be times in this unbelieving world some people will sneer at you when you testify

for Christ.

One time Billy Graham was invited to one of those talk shows. The host asked him in front

of his worldly audience, "Were you a virgin when you got married?" Billy Graham

responded, "Yes, I was." As soon as he said that the audience snickered at him. Some

whistled and hooted. But Billy Graham kept his composure.

We must realize not everyone is going to respond in a positive way to our witness for

Christ. Most will, but some won’t.Most will respond in a positive way, because

the gospel is good news!It is the best news mankind has ever heard.Others will respond in a negative or nasty

manner and we have to be able to take it. We must take our stand and take it.

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,

knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Much of what we do in life is in vain, but not our service for Christ!

1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let

all that you do be done in love.Not everyone is going to respond nicely when

we present Christ, but we must continue to respond to them in faith and love.

Broadway producer Jed Harris once became convinced he was losing his hearing. He visited a specialist, who pulled out a gold

watch and asked "Can you hear this ticking?" "Of course," Harris replied. The specialist

walked to the door and asked the question again. Harris concentrated and said, "Yes, I

can hear it clearly."

Conclusion

Then the doctor walked into the next room and repeated the question a third time. A third time

Harris said he could hear the ticking. "Mr. Harris," the doctor concluded, "there is nothing wrong with your hearing. You just don’t listen."

The people of the world don’t have a hearing problem, they have a listening problem.

They are not listening to the good news about Christ.

Somehow we must turn the tide.We must communicate Christ more effectively so they will hear and respond and be saved. Let’s band together. Let’s do our best. Let’s

reach people for Christ.