Faith, Confusion, and Creativity

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Scriptures: Acts 17:22-28

• Sermon Summary

  Summary: In the second sermon of our series, How to be (More) Creative, Jeremy explores how Paul’s visit to Athens in Acts 17 models a creative and generous approach to faith. Paul starts by affirming the Athenians' spiritual curiosity instead of condemning their confusion. Jeremy reminds us that God is more gracious with our uncertainty than we often are with each other. He shows us that Paul uses creativity—quoting poets and referencing culture—to build bridges with the people to whom he’s writing. Finally, Jeremy calls us to find common ground as the foundation for spiritual connection, reminding us that we’re all just working through faith best when we do it together.

  Introductions: Jeremy shares his discomfort of introducing himself as a pastor in unfamiliar spaces, paralleling Paul's experience in Athens. His point is that spiritual conversations often need to begin with relational sensitivity and awareness of how we’re perceived.

  Insults: Paul is dismissed by Athenian philosophers as a "babbler," a term rooted in condescension. Jeremy uses this to highlight how often we overlook wisdom based on where it comes from, urging us to remain humble and open to truth in unexpected places.

  Confusion: Through stories like Naaman and the Athenians' altar to an "unknown god," Jeremy shows that spiritual confusion is not a barrier to God's grace. God is willing to meet us in our searching and confusion.

  Creativity: Paul models a generous and creative spirituality by engaging Athenian culture and quoting from their poets. Jeremy encouraging us to start from shared ground, suggesting that real spiritual growth happens when we build relationships strong enough to hold tension.

• Discussion Guide

  Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.

  Connect: Jeremy shared a bit about the challenges with revealing his job title to strangers in new settings. If you feel like sharing, think of some of the introductions you’ve heard throughout your life.

  Q: Have you ever been surprised, intrigued, or puzzled by someone’s introduction? What was unexpected about their introduction?

  Share: Share about the tendency to judge or pre-judge people based on how we perceive them. Jeremy points out the following about Paul’s encounter in Athens,

  "These philosophers don’t just see Paul as an intellectual adversary. They see him as beneath them. Boorish. Uneducated. And they want to bring him out in public to expose him.

  And, here’s a side bar.
  How many times have you almost ignored an idea because it came from somewhere you didn't expect.
  Someone new to town.
  Someone new to the company.
  Someone with less education than you.
  I'll be honest, I love my degrees, I worked really hard for them.
  But I'll tell you what—they are, at times—a liability.
  Sometimes I have to actively fight the instinct to dismiss ideas and interpretations—perspectives—that don't line up with mine."

  Q: What helps you stay open to insight from people you might initially write off because of age, experience, education, or background?

  Reflect: Reflect on moments of confusion in your spiritual life. Jeremy contrasts theological precision with muddling through faith and doing our best while leaning on God’s grace.

  Q: In what ways have you experienced spiritual confusion as part of your own faith journey? Did it feel like something to be ashamed of, or something sacred?

  Engage: Engage with the idea of “bridge building.” Paul does something interesting when he engages with the philosophers in Athens.

  “What’s interesting is that these philosophers want to debate this bird brained fool who's wandered into town. Paul.
  Though, he’s not interested in any of that.
  So immediately he flips the script.
  ‘I'm not here to find our differences. I'm here to search for common ground.’
  Debate is what draws us apart; conversation—creativity—that’s when we start with what we share; when we build bridges toward where we can move together.
  …
  [Paul] knows instinctively that if they can start with what they share, and build from there, then eventually when they reach where they disagree—well maybe by then—there’ll be enough tether; an adequate relationship; enough trust; to hold them together, even in tension.”

  Take away: What is your takeaway from the message or today’s conversation?

  Prayer from the sermon:
  God of love,
  the One in whom we live and move and have our being.
  As we begin this year together,
  we confess how easily our imaginations get crowded
  by noise, by urgency, and the illusion of control.

  And so we pause now,
  to breathe,
  to settle,
  to remember that before we do anything for you,
  we are already held by you.
  Root us and establish us in love.
  Not a love we have to earn,
  or explain,
  or defend,
  but a love that is wider than our certainty and deeper than our doubts.

  As we turn our attention to our spirituality,
  loosen our grip on precision where it has become a substitute for trust.
  Free us from the anxiety of getting it all right.
  Teach us instead to seek you,
  to reach out,
  to grope our way toward you,
  In the strong name of the risen Christ,
  Amen.

• Service Songs & Prayers

  CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 118

  MUSIC Curated by Rebecca Santos
  Brooke Ligertwood - Desert Song
  Bethel Music - Always Good
  Bethel Music - God I Look To You
  Mission House - Whole Heart
  
  COMMUNITY PRAYER
  Written by Jarrod Kokot

  Loving God,
  Your mercies are new everyday and great is your faithfulness.
  We enter this new year with expectancy and curiosity, but it’s hard not to carry some of the things from last year.
  The same illnesses, the same daily burdens, our voices—once again—not being heard or being understood, or simply another year of the same-old, same-old. We carry it all.
  Whether these realities are familiar to us or to those next to us, we bring it all to you—asking for a fresh start, a renewed mind, and a sense of your great compassion.

  We’re thankful for the ways you provide for us.
  We continue to look for the new things you are doing in the world, and we are grateful for such a faithful God who never fails and who remains ever-close.

  With our brothers and sisters we pray all these things in the name of Jesus,
  Amen.
  
  SERIES BUMPER
  How To Be More Creative