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The Unknown God - The Book of Acts · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. For as I passed by and beheld
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  Speaker 1: your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To
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  Speaker 1: the unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare
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  Speaker 1: I unto you. Acts 17.23 As I study the life
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  Speaker 1: of Paul, I will be mindful to study his approach
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  Speaker 1: and how he reached the heart of those who believed
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  Speaker 1: differently than him. With the power of God, Paul delivered
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  Speaker 1: a masterpiece of a speech. He connected brilliantly with people
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  Speaker 1: from a different culture, showing he understood Greek society and
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  Speaker 1: their human needs. In the same breath, I pray that
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  Speaker 1: you give me the same precision and tactfulness that Paul
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  Speaker 1: used to reach the lost. In the same way, allow
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  Speaker 1: me to speak with affirmation, familiarity, inclusive language, encouragement, and
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  Speaker 1: hope as I lead them to the unknown God that
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  Speaker 1: created the heavens and the earth. Release in me the
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  Speaker 1: gifting of speech and communication on a level I've never known.
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  Speaker 1: I am a student and a servant first. Therefore, my
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  Speaker 1: mind is open and ready to receive all I need
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  Speaker 1: to grow. In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for making prayer
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  Speaker 1: a priority in your life. To hear the Bible come
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  Speaker 1: to life, stay tuned for the Bible in a Year.
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  Speaker 1: Brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: The Unknown God In our last story, Paul and Silas
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  Speaker 2: were beaten brutally and thrown into prison for casting a
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  Speaker 2: demon out of a little girl. As they dwelled in
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  Speaker 2: the dark and cold chamber, they sang to the Lord,
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  Speaker 2: and a mighty earthquake freed them. Now we see the
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  Speaker 2: violence of Jews in Thessalonica and the curiosity of Gentiles
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  Speaker 2: in Athens. In all of it, God is glorified, inspired
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  Speaker 2: by the book of Acts.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: in a Year podcast. But before we begin, I want
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: to let you know about a unique e-book that's yours
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: to download absolutely free today. It's called Breaking Free from Stress.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: And my prayer is that it will help you conquer
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: the daily tasks and pressures and burdens that bring stress
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: in your life. Download your free copy of Breaking Free
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: from Stress today by visiting jackgraham.org slash stress. That's jackram.org
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: slash stress. In our previous episode, we heard how Paul
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  Speaker 3: and Silas were in prison for casting an evil spirit
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  Speaker 3: out of a young girl. Though beaten, bruised, and bound
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  Speaker 3: in chains, Paul and Silas blessed the Lord with sweet
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  Speaker 3: songs of worship for all to hear. God then sent
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  Speaker 3: an earthquake to burst open the prison gates. But most importantly,
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  Speaker 3: to rock the soul of a jailer and his family
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  Speaker 3: who came to know Jesus and the power of salvation
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  Speaker 3: in their lives. Today, we'll hear how Paul and Silas
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  Speaker 3: plant a church in Thessalonica among both Gentiles and Jews,
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  Speaker 3: and how they face more opposition from unbelieving Jews. We'll
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  Speaker 3: also see how Paul speaks in words and terms the
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  Speaker 3: Gentiles in Athens can understand to introduce them to the
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  Speaker 3: unknown gods that their hearts long to meet. Let's listen
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  Speaker 3: now to the reading of God's Word.
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  Speaker 2: Paul, Silas, and Timothy walked down a small path into
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  Speaker 2: a synagogue in Thessalonica. Its doors were large and dark,
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  Speaker 2: but inside it resided hundreds of Jews and Greeks alike.
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  Speaker 2: People of different creeds had heard of Paul's teachings, so
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  Speaker 2: they came to see for themselves what the Lord may
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  Speaker 2: be doing. Paul, Silas, and Timothy spoke about the life
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  Speaker 2: of Jesus. For three weeks, they proclaimed the liberating message
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  Speaker 2: of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Some of their eyes
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  Speaker 2: lit up as they came to an understanding of who
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  Speaker 2: Jesus truly was. Some Jews and many Greeks were persuaded
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  Speaker 2: to follow God with all their lives. Both men and
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  Speaker 2: women leaders were raised up and discipled to love the city,
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  Speaker 2: and a beautiful community began to emerge in Thessalonica. Yet
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  Speaker 2: there was a brooding hive of Jews in the city,
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  Speaker 2: jealous of their drawn influence. They formed an angry mob
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  Speaker 2: and searched high and low for Paul and his friends.
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  Speaker 2: When they couldn't find them, They kidnapped a believer by
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  Speaker 2: the name of Jason. Jason was hosting the three men
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  Speaker 2: and was the closest thing they had to leverage against Paul.
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  Speaker 2: They attacked the house of Jason and set the entire
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  Speaker 2: city in an uproar. They drug Jason and a few
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  Speaker 2: other Christians out into the city streets and mocked them.
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  Speaker 2: They beat them in the courtyards and goaded Paul and
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  Speaker 2: his followers to show themselves. When Paul, Silas, and Barnabas
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  Speaker 2: did not emerge in time, the men took Jason's money
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  Speaker 2: and left him. The mob left and the city returned
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  Speaker 2: to its peace. Jason was restored by his fellow Christians.
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  Speaker 2: They met every need of his, as was the custom
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  Speaker 2: of the church by Peter and the apostles. The church
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  Speaker 2: in Thessalonica immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night
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  Speaker 2: to Berea. They had to escape before the mob re-emerged
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  Speaker 2: even more angry than before. So the disciples left, confident
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  Speaker 2: that the Thessalonian church was well-equipped to brave the storms ahead.
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  Speaker 2: Berea was a more peaceful city than Thessalonica. Its Jews
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  Speaker 2: were passive and calm. They received the words of Silas
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  Speaker 2: and Timothy well, so Paul left them to rest among
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  Speaker 2: the people of Berea. Paul journeyed to Athens, the city
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  Speaker 2: built on wisdom, philosophy, and corruption. There was a beautiful
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  Speaker 2: dichotomy in Athens. The people there were deep thinkers and inventive,
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  Speaker 2: yet they lacked depth of soul. They lacked hearts that
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  Speaker 2: aligned with the benevolent will of God. As a result,
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  Speaker 2: they were knowledgeable yet shallow. They were wise yet foolish.
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  Speaker 2: They were brilliant yet lost. Paul passed through the city
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  Speaker 2: streets of Athens. He was amazed at the buildings, libraries,
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  Speaker 2: and courtyards. He walked the city streets with attentive eyes
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  Speaker 2: and ears alert to the Holy Spirit. As he was walking,
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  Speaker 2: he passed by many idols. Each false god was built
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  Speaker 2: to represent a human desire for pleasure and success. There
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  Speaker 2: were gods to sex and alcohol. There were gods to
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  Speaker 2: war and money. There were gods to physical strength and
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  Speaker 2: outward beauty. Paul passed by an altar with an inscription
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  Speaker 2: that wrote, Paul smiled and entered into the courtyard where
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  Speaker 2: many philosophers and scholars met to debate and learn. Paul
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  Speaker 2: spoke with Stoic philosophers and inquisitive students. His mind was
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  Speaker 2: engaged by the rhetoric, but he was careful to not
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  Speaker 2: lose the heart of Jesus. As he conversed with the philosophers,
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  Speaker 2: they became confused, saying, What is this babbler saying? And,
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  Speaker 2: He seems to be a simple preacher of foreign divinities.
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  Speaker 2: Yet they did not say so mockingly. They truly desired
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  Speaker 2: to understand what Paul was speaking of. Every person in
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  Speaker 2: Athens desired to hear something new. So Paul spoke about
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  Speaker 2: the life and death of Jesus. My brothers and sisters,
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  Speaker 2: Paul shouted, I have perceived that you are very religious
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  Speaker 2: since I saw an altar to the unknown God in
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  Speaker 2: your courtyard. So Paul spoke about the God they did
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  Speaker 2: not know, the God that made all things and the
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  Speaker 2: God that saves.
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  Speaker 3: In today's scripture, Paul, Silas, and Timothy are reaching both
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  Speaker 3: Jews and Gentiles in Thessalonica. Paul knew the Jewish scriptures
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  Speaker 3: better than most, and was able to reason through what
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  Speaker 3: God had already revealed to show those who were open
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  Speaker 3: to hearing how Jesus was and is the promised Messiah.
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  Speaker 3: His preaching was compelling, courageous, and convincing. The gospel was
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  Speaker 3: continuing to make powerful inroads throughout the Roman world. The
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  Speaker 3: most powerful government in the world is no match to
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  Speaker 3: the power of the gospel. No wonder Paul said, I
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  Speaker 3: am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it
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  Speaker 3: is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes,
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  Speaker 3: to the Jew first and also to the Greek. That's
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  Speaker 3: Romans 1, 16. Men and women are coming to faith
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  Speaker 3: in Christ and are now growing in their faith, being
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  Speaker 3: discipled in each new city as churches are forming. As
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  Speaker 3: was always the case, of course, the Jews who refused
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  Speaker 3: to believe were very opposed to the work these men
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  Speaker 3: were doing. And once more, Paul and the others had
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  Speaker 3: to deal with lies and even persecutions. But this did
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  Speaker 3: not deter them. They knew this was to be expected.
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  Speaker 3: Jesus himself had told the disciples that they would face rejection, persecution,
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  Speaker 3: and even death in his name. We also need to
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  Speaker 3: remember this. Comfort and popularity are not the marks of
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  Speaker 3: effective followers of Jesus. If we are to be about
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  Speaker 3: the work and witness of the kingdom of Christ, the
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  Speaker 3: enemy will oppose us. There is reason to rejoice and persevere, however,
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  Speaker 3: and not bow to the pressure of the world. We
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  Speaker 3: must not be silent in our generation. With the church
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  Speaker 3: in Thessalonica in good hands, Paul and Silas left by
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  Speaker 3: cover of night to Berea, where they found that the
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  Speaker 3: Jews were thoughtful and eager to examine the Scriptures with
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  Speaker 3: an openness to believe. For this, they were commended as
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  Speaker 3: having noble character. Of course, soon enough, trouble found Paul
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  Speaker 3: and Silas again, as Jews from Thessalonica went to Berea
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  Speaker 3: to stir up turmoil. We then hear how Paul left
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  Speaker 3: for Athens ahead of the others. As he awaited their arrival,
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  Speaker 3: he went throughout the city, this magnificent city in ancient Greece.
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  Speaker 3: His heart was grieved and troubled as he saw the
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  Speaker 3: abundance of idols. It seemed that the Athenians were eager
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  Speaker 3: to find meaning to place their hope and trust in
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  Speaker 3: something even if it was a false god. They worshipped
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  Speaker 3: many gods. But ultimately, all of their attempts pointed to
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  Speaker 3: simply human desire. It was human wisdom at its worst.
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  Speaker 3: Everyone served what they thought made sense to them. Sadly,
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  Speaker 3: this sounds a lot like our world today, when everyone
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  Speaker 3: is worshipping themselves or something or someone they choose to worship.
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  Speaker 3: Paul was surrounded by people far from God, though they
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  Speaker 3: were seeking God in their own way. In the synagogues,
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  Speaker 3: the Jews failed to see Jesus for who he was,
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  Speaker 3: the promised Messiah. And in the marketplace, he found Greeks
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  Speaker 3: who thought themselves wise but failed to grasp the deeper
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  Speaker 3: meaning of life that was found only in the one
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  Speaker 3: true God. Rather than write them off and forget about
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  Speaker 3: them as fools, Paul engaged them with a thoughtful conversation
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  Speaker 3: in words that they could understand. He had seen their
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  Speaker 3: idols and witnessed their many gods. One in particular had
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  Speaker 3: stood out. So when they brought Paul to the Areopagus,
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  Speaker 3: the place where the city council gathered to discuss these things,
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  Speaker 3: here is what Paul said to them in Acts 17,
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  Speaker 3: verses 22 to 23. People of Athens, I see that
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  Speaker 3: in every way you are very religious. I walked around
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  Speaker 3: and looked carefully at your objects of worship. I even
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  Speaker 3: found an altar with this inscription, to an unknown God.
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  Speaker 3: So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship,
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  Speaker 3: and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
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  Speaker 3: He then told them about the God that they could know,
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  Speaker 3: the God they could know in the person of Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 3: the God who loved them and sent His Son to
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  Speaker 3: die on the cross to rise again so that all
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  Speaker 3: who believed in Him could have eternal life. As a result,
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  Speaker 3: some of those gathered came to faith in Christ, even
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  Speaker 3: some of the prominent members of the local government. Paul
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  Speaker 3: didn't change the gospel message to make it acceptable to
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  Speaker 3: these people. He simply spoke in a language and in
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  Speaker 3: a context that they could understand in order to point
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  Speaker 3: them to Jesus, who is, of course, the known God.
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  Speaker 3: The message stayed the same. The invitation to life and
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  Speaker 3: freedom did not change, only the way that it was presented.
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  Speaker 3: Today's reading reminds us that God gives us wisdom and
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  Speaker 3: reason for a reason. And he has given us the
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  Speaker 3: Holy Spirit to help us say the right words at
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  Speaker 3: the right time, using God's word to proclaim the gospel.
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  Speaker 3: May our witness be strong and true. And as the
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  Speaker 3: scripture tells us, may we be ready to give a
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  Speaker 3: reason for the hope that is in us through Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 3: Dear God, we thank you for Paul's example of sharing
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  Speaker 3: the gospel to people far from you. May we also
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  Speaker 3: boldly speak your name in our culture, in the public square,
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  Speaker 3: in the marketplace, wherever we go, that people will know
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  Speaker 3: who the unknown God is, that you have made yourself
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  Speaker 3: known in the person of Christ, and that all who
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  Speaker 3: put their faith and trust in him can discover eternal life.
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  Speaker 3: In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you for listening
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  Speaker 3: to today's Bible in a Year podcast. Before we go,
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: I want to let you know about a unique e-book
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: that's yours to download absolutely free today. It's called Breaking
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: Free from Stress. And my prayer is that it will
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: help you conquer the daily tasks and pressures and burdens
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: that bring stress into your life. Download your free copy
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: of Breaking Free from Stress today by visiting jackgram.org slash stress.
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: That's jackgram.org slash stress.