In God We Live and Move
Acts 17:28 · Fresh Start: When Life Takes an Unexpected Turn
“In God we live, move, and exist. As some of your own poets said, ‘We are his offspring.’” — Acts 17:28 (CEB)
Paul quotes their poets back to them. He doesn’t arrive with foreign language and foreign ideas and demand that Athens learn his vocabulary. He finds the truth already embedded in their culture and names it. “In God we live and move and exist.” This is the most intimate claim about God in all of Scripture — that God isn’t a distant force to be appeased but the very atmosphere in which every moment of your life takes place. You don’t go to God. You’re already in God. Every step, every breath, every conversation this week happened inside the presence of a God who holds all things together. You are not trying to find your way to a faraway deity. You are God’s offspring, already held, already known.
Tomorrow we gather to explore what it looks like to find your voice in a foreign place — and to discover that the God who made everything isn’t waiting for you to arrive. God is already there. Join us at 8:30 a.m. with hymns and organ music, or 10:15 a.m. with our praise team. Online worship is available at mcphersonfirst.org/worship/pages/online-worship.
God in whom we live and move and exist, we are your offspring — known, held, and loved before we ever reached for you. Christ, you stood in foreign places and spoke the truth with grace. Holy Spirit, prepare our hearts for worship tomorrow. Amen.