Series: Advancing
Message: Culture Makers: The Elite
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Reflection: Paddy McCoy
Live Wonder: Jessyka Albert
Live Adventure: Jessyka Albert
Live Purpose: Kyle Smith
Editor: Becky De Oliveira

Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.

Read: Acts 17:16–33 in the English Standard Version (ESV). Note 1–3 insights or questions. 

Reflect: I think my wife and I were more excited than our 10-year-old son! We had created a scavenger hunt for his birthday that would lead to his ultimate gift, leaving clues and trinkets through the small town of College Place, WA. He and a small group of friends left our house and ran first to the elementary school, then to the local gas station, then to my office, then to a sculpture of Jesus that sat on the campus of Walla Walla University (WWU), then to the ceiling of the WWU church where a fishing pole with a magnet on the end of the line waited so they could fish for the next clue on a pew 25 feet below in the main sanctuary. This clue led to the last one which was buried by the school library underneath a brick donated by a former missionary. The brick had come from the Great Wall of China. My son and his friends dug and eventually found his gift. We all had a great time either watching this unfold or actively participating in the search.

But the whole time we wanted our son to find the gift, of course. All the clues led to the ultimate prize—a gift he had been wanting for quite some time.

In Paul’s discourse to the Athenians, he discusses seasons and periods of life and boundaries, showing that God works through these things so that we, His children, will decide to “seek God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet, He is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In Him we live and move and have our being.’”

God has left us all kinds of clues, all over the place, so that we may realize He is here with us, all around us, and that it is in Him that we “live and move and have our being.”

I challenge you today to be on the lookout for God-sightings. Maybe you will see Him in the laughter of a friend, a sunset that takes your breath away, a word of encouragement, a passage in Scripture, the lyrics of a song, or the visit of a loved one. You’ll find yourself saying, “Wow, God was here all along.” 

Recalibrate: When was the last time you noticed God at work in something?

Respond: Pray that God will give you eyes to see and ears to hear from Him today.

Research: Read Psalm 139 and realize how intimately God is connected to you.

How do you see God at work in your child? In your family? Share with your child the ways that you know God is real because of them. Pray and thank God for the opportunity to see a clearer picture of Him and His wondrous love because of your child.

Do you think following Jesus is ever like an adventure? When Jesus lived on this earth He was always on the move, always on to the next adventure! In the book of Acts, we see that His followers were always adventuring. Where is a place (school, the park, a friend’s house) that you are thankful to have Jesus join you for an adventure?

If you have some free time today, instead of picking up your phone, leave it in your pocket. Try to listen to the different noises around you. You just might realize there is more going on than you thought! God has a tendency to show up when we are looking and listening.