SPB Sermons || Acts 18:21-34 | Speaking Hope | Rev Andrew

Have you ever found yourself in a place where you wanted to say something, but the culture, the language, the whole world around you was so different you didn't know where to begin?Paul did. He stood in the middle of Athens — a city of temples and idols, the philosophical capital of the ancient world — and somehow found a way to speak hope into it. He didn't start with condemnation. He didn't shout from a safe distance. He walked the streets, listened carefully, looked for what was good, and from an altar inscribed "To an Unknown God" he opened up the only God of the universe.In this sermon from Acts 17:22–31, Rev Andrew Irwin draws out Paul's missionary pattern and asks what it means for St Paul's & St Barnabas to be a church that speaks hope into North Belfast — into our streets, our lodges, our community centres, our cafés, our campuses, our homes. A church that doesn't hide behind locked doors or shout from a distance, but enters in, listens, and proclaims the risen Christ.Some will sneer. Some will want to hear more. Some will believe. Our call is not to control the reaction. It is to be faithful in the speaking.Preached at St Paul's & St Barnabas, Belfast — Sunday 10 May 2026.www.spbbelfast.church