𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠-𝗨𝗣
• Do you easily warm up to strangers? Why or why not?
• What is the bravest thing you’ve ever done? Why did you do it?
• Who is the most confident person you know? Tell us about him or her.


𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗
And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.” ACTS 26:24–29

While it is true that we need to participate in the political process of the nation, we should not forget that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ has a primary call to preach the gospel of salvation to all people. This is our number one mandate (Matthew 28:19).

This means that our civic engagements should not rival our evangelistic ministry to the world. The works that we do in nation building—organizing community pantries, voting, running for public office, or doing relief operations—serve to demonstrate the love of Christ and adorn the gospel that we preach. These works, while good and necessary, are not substitutes for evangelism and discipleship. Jesus Himself showed us how this is done. In His earthly ministry, He did a lot—including teaching, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, casting out demons, opening the eyes of the blind, cleansing lepers, and raising the dead. But He stated the main goal of His ministry: to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He had one goal, and everything else—the good works—adorned this.

The centrality of preaching is also obvious in the ministry of Paul. In many places in Acts and the epistles, we see him collecting and bringing donations for the poor saints in Jerusalem (Acts 11:27–30; Acts 24:17; 1 Corinthians 16:1–4; Romans 15:25). His letters also started chipping away at the ancient institution of slavery (Colossians 3:11; Ephesians 6:5–9; Philemon 1:15–16) at a time when it was deemed normal. But in the midst of all the social good he did, what really stands out in the book of Acts and in his epistles is Paul’s preaching.

Here are three ways we can make this practical in our context:

𝟭. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁.
"𝘛𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴: 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴.” 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟮𝟲:𝟮𝟮–𝟮𝟯

One noticeable feature about the preaching ministry of Paul is his diligence to preach the gospel to whoever would listen. When he met ordinary Jews in synagogues, he preached the gospel to them. When he chanced upon an old altar in Athens, he used it as a jumping board to preach to the intellectuals of Areopagus. When he was brought before powerful officials like Festus and King Agrippa, he preached like there was no tomorrow (Acts 26). When he was aboard a vessel on his way to Rome and all 276 passengers on the ship were in danger because of the storm, Paul used the opportunity to bear witness to God by encouraging them with the divine promise that they would all live.

Paul’s example provides a gentle rebuke to our modern tendency to preach the gospel only to people who are socio-economically like us. While it is strategic for students to make disciples of other students and for young women to make disciples of other young women, we should also be ready to speak the gospel of Christ to CEOs, politicians, sari-sari store owners, and construction workers. As more people from all walks of life get saved, we can gradually see transformation in our society. Share about a time when you preached the gospel to someone the world would consider small. What happened?

𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆.
“𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘢, 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘴? 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦.” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭, “𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯?” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮—𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴.” 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟮𝟲:𝟮𝟳–𝟮𝟵

When Paul was given the chance to speak to Festus and King Agrippa, he wasted no time rehashing the injustices of his prolonged imprisonment (Acts 24:26–27). Instead, he only made a short reference to his background to provide context to his conversion story (Acts 26:4–5), and then he spent the rest of the time preaching about Jesus. Paul knew that he had before him the most important and powerful people in Judea—politicians, military tribunes, and prominent men of the city (Acts 25:23). The gospel message had to reach the ears of Judea’s political elite, and Paul delivered it with a passion and urgency that King Agrippa was taken aback by his compelling words.

Sometimes it is wise to slowly introduce religious talk to people we can still meet again in the future. That would make our gospel presentation more natural and unforced. But sometimes it is wiser to just cut to the chase and talk about Christ, especially if you may never have the same opportunity again. This is exactly what Paul did.

How would we preach the gospel without urgency? How would we preach the gospel with urgency?

𝟯. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘖 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘢, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.” 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦 𝟮𝟲:𝟭𝟵–𝟮𝟬

It is remarkable that Paul spoke truthfully and courageously in front of powerful people. In his defense before King Agrippa, he freely talked of repentance and turning to God. This pairing of repentance and turning to God in Acts is technically called conversion. Paul was aiming for the conversion of his hearers—from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18). This was a bold speech. By talking about repentance, Paul was implying the sinfulness of his hearers—including the king.

This was not the first time Paul preached this message to politicians. Two years prior to his appearance before King Agrippa, he also spoke before Governor Felix and his wife Drusilla. His preaching revolved around righteousness,
self-control, and the coming judgment. Felix was so alarmed by what he heard that he sent him away and left him in prison until Festus took over his post as governor.
Paul’s straightforward preaching is instructive for all of us today. The gospel is the main message and goal of our cultural engagement. When we spend all our time doing engaging conversations without arriving anywhere near the gospel, we have squandered our opportunity to talk about Jesus to people God has sent our way. In two minutes, give the most important points about the gospel. Who is Jesus, what has He done for us, and what can we do to be saved?


𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
• Why do you think urgency and clarity are needed in preaching the gospel? To whom can you preach the gospel this week?
• In your community, who do you think are considered small? How should we approach them and how can we lead them to Christ?
• Are there people that you know who work in government? How do you think you can preach the gospel to them?


𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥
• Thank God for those who preached the gospel to you. Pray that you will do the same for others.
• Pray that you would preach the kingdom of God with urgency and clarity. Ask God for wisdom and courage to tell others about Him.
• Pray for the church to be bold in preaching the gospel and making disciples.