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Graphics Options
The Narrative Alive graphics are designed with careful thought about how they relate to the text. We've provided possible sermon themes for each graphic to help you choose the direction that best fits your sermon.
Option A
Making the Gospel Relevant
Sermon themes:
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How do we proclaim the Good News? We are living in the days of Athens. We are living in an age of “spiritual but not religious.” Many adopt a consumer, cafeteria approach.
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Paul doesn’t condemn or judge the people of Athens. He realizes that is not his place. Instead, he offers invitation and welcome to those who desire to join and open themselves up for further dialogue.
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Paul begins his sermon by affirming the religiosity of the Athenians. In doing so, he establishes common ground between them. How are we building bridges and finding common ground with the unengaged?
Graphic description:
The cross in this photo is battered and tilted. It's raw. It's real. Which is exactly where we begin if we are to make the Gospel relevant.
Option B
Babble or Inspiration?
Sermon themes:
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The crowds dismiss Paul as a “babbler,” which raises the question: When people hear the gospel, do they recognize divine inspiration or dismiss it as meaningless noise?
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Paul speaks because he is deeply disturbed by the city’s idolatry. He reasons with the people, demonstrating that faith is not afraid of honest conversation or intellectual challenge.
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Paul is undeterred by the critics and audience. He uses cultural understanding as a bridge to proclaim the one, true God. His sermon meets people where they are and takes them on a journey to encounter the Living, Breathing God.
Graphic description:
In this graphic the font for the word "BABBLE" is only an outline, suggesting something hollow. "Inspiration" is solid and spans the gap between questions and faith.
Option C
Equal Availability
Sermon themes:
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A powerful point in Paul’s sermon is that God is nearer than the people think. Paul declares God is not distant, that God gives life and breath to all who seek God.
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In a meritocracy, God is contained to human-made substances like gold or silver. Paul presents a God who cannot be restricted or controlled by human imagination, a God who cannot be contained.
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The Good News we, as preachers, get to proclaim is that God is equally available to and can be found by all whom God has created. No one earns it or loses it. We all are given equal access to our beloved God.
Graphic description:
This graphic was made by taking the top half of a design and flipping it to create the same design on the bottom half. They are 100% the same, each reflecting the other. (A side note is that the font for the word "equal" underscores the letter "Q," which is a symbolic declaration of this equality.)
