Mars Hill Fellowship

MESSAGE |

God, The Master Craftsman

SERIES |

Finding God

SCRIPTURE |

Acts 17:26-28

SPEAKER |

Pastor Joseph Ardayfio

KEY THEME |

I.         Over 2000 years after the Apostle Paul shared his message to the Areopagas at Mars Hill (Acts 17), we still live with some of the same dark spiritual realities of the 1^st Century church. Some of us feel that life is more about chance and self-effort rather than living in a reality that God has taken everything in consideration for this life.

II.         In reality, practical atheism exists in many of us who profess ourselves to be Bible-believing Christians. “We believe that God exists but we live as if He didn’t.”

III.         If we believe in God, we have to acknowledge that God has a plan for our lives that is bigger than any one of us. How can we know that God’s plan is the best plan for our lives?

1. Consider the alternative plans. While other plans for our lives may sound enticing, they don’t answer the question of meaning but avoid the question by making everything a product of random chance or our own ingenuity.
2. Consider the source. God’s plan for our lives is created by the sovereign, all-powerful, all-knowing God of the universe. He is extremely qualified to direct our lives.
3. Consider the master craftsmanship that God has exercised with his creation. God’s plan started with Adam; He desired to give Adam everything that he needed to sustain his life. Adam chose the one thing that he couldn’t have over the millions of things that God had already provided for him.
4. Paul affirms that if we SEEK HIM, we will FIND HIM. The reality is that God is not far from us in the midst of our struggles but sometimes we need to reach out to realize that he is right there with us. (Acts 17:27)
5. When we find God, He will answer us and tells us great and unsearchable things we do not know. (Jeremiah 33:2-3)
6. If you can live and move and have your being without God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as a part of it, you are living outside of God’s plan for your life and you have created your own alternative to the true and living God.

IV.         We have to deal with the stark reality that as we walk out God’s plan for our lives, there will be times where we don’t understand all of the details of His plan.

1. God doesn’t give us every piece of the plan because it’s a part of God’s bigger plan to maintain an intimate relationship with his creation..
2. Paul affirms that if we SEEK HIM, we will FIND HIM. The reality is that God is not far from us in the midst of our struggles but sometimes we need to reach out to realize that he is right there with us. (Acts 17:27)
3. When we find God, He will answer us and tells us great and unsearchable things we do not know. (Jeremiah 33:2-3)
4. If you can live and move and have your being without God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as a part of it, you are living outside of God’s plan for your life and you have created your own alternative to the true and living God.

Scripture Index:

Acts 17:21-28

Colossians 1:16-17

Jeremiah 33:2-3

thoughts for further study

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