“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.” —Mark 12:29-31
THE POINT: YOU CAN’T
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. —Acts 17:16-21
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. —Acts 17:22-23
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, —Acts 17:24-26
1) YOU WERE MADE FOR
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them. —Psalm 139:14-16
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. —Psalm 139:17-18
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. —Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. —Ephesians 2:10
2) YOU WERE MADE FOR
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
—Ephesians 2:10
B- BEGIN WITH PRAYER
L- LISTEN
E- EAT
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Study Guide for further reflection
DISCUSS
What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself, and why is this command connected to loving God?
Context
The message emphasizes that you can’t separate loving God from loving people, based on Mark 12:29-31.
Application
Can you think of a time when you showed love to someone in need? How did that experience affect your relationship with God and that person?
DISCUSS
Pastor Dean mentioned that you were made for now and that God has a purpose for your life. What do you think that purpose is?
Context
In the message, it’s stated that God planned for you to be in your current situation with a specific purpose.
Application
How can you find out more about God’s purpose for your life? What steps can you take this week to explore that?
DISCUSS
How does understanding that you are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) change the way you view your life and your actions?
Context
The message describes believers as God’s masterpiece created for good works, shaped deliberately by God.
Application
What specific good works do you feel called to do in your community, and how can you start doing them this week?