Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / August 27 - Acts 9

Transcript

August 27 - Acts 9 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Wednesday, it's the 27th of
• 0:16
  August. And did you realise that at this
• 0:20
  time in human history where we have got these long protracted
• 0:24
  conflicts happening around the world that just break our
• 0:27
  hearts? It's actually today, August
• 0:30
  27th, back in 1896 that the world's shortest war ever
• 0:35
  happened and the small island nation of Zanzibar off the East
• 0:38
  Coast of Africa, their Sultan died and was very quickly
• 0:42
  replaced by his cousin who stepped in to take control.
• 0:45
  But the British didn't like his cousin.
• 0:47
  They wanted another bloke to be in power.
• 0:48
  So they told that new Sultan. Mate, get out of there.
• 0:51
  You got till 9:00 in the morning on two days time to be out.
• 0:56
  But of course, he barricaded himself there with almost 3000
• 0:59
  of his soldiers and artillery, and the British naval ships at
• 1:04
  9:00 AM opened fire on his palace.
• 1:07
  They reduced it to a smouldering mess, destroyed his yacht and he
• 1:12
  fled the country. And this all happened in 38
• 1:15
  minutes. And then the British Empire
• 1:17
  installed their favoured candidates who became the new
• 1:20
  Sultan. There you go, that's how you do
• 1:22
  it back in the days of Empire. But here we are telling a
• 1:26
  different story, not so much about war, but about conversion
• 1:29
  to love. Today is the day that we hear
• 1:32
  about Saul turning to a new mission that will consume the
• 1:37
  rest of his life. And if it weren't for him, the
• 1:40
  New Testament sure would be a whole lot shorter.
• 1:43
  So let's continue with this story, reading Acts Chapter 9.
• 1:56
  Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and
• 2:01
  was eager to kill the Lord's followers.
• 2:04
  So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed
• 2:07
  to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in
• 2:10
  the arrest of any followers of the way he found there.
• 2:14
  He wanted to bring them, both men and women, back to Jerusalem
• 2:18
  in chains. As he was approaching Damascus
• 2:21
  on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down
• 2:25
  around him. He fell to the ground and heard
• 2:28
  a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting
• 2:34
  me? Who are you, Lord?
• 2:36
  Saul asked, and the voice replied, I am Jesus, the one you
• 2:42
  are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city,
• 2:46
  and you will be told what you must do.
• 2:49
  The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the
• 2:52
  sound of someone's voice but saw no one.
• 2:55
  Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his
• 2:58
  eyes he was blind, So his companions led him by the hand
• 3:03
  to Damascus. He remained there blind for
• 3:06
  three days and did not eat or drink.
• 3:09
  Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias.
• 3:12
  The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling Ananias.
• 3:17
  Yes, Lord, he replied. The Lord said, go over to
• 3:22
  Straight St to the House of Judas.
• 3:25
  When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul.
• 3:29
  He is praying to me right now. I've shown him a vision of a man
• 3:34
  named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can
• 3:37
  see again. But Lord exclaimed Ananias.
• 3:41
  I've heard many people talk about the terrible things this
• 3:44
  man has done to the believers in Jerusalem, and he's authorised
• 3:48
  by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your
• 3:52
  name. But the Lord said go, for Saul
• 3:56
  is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and
• 4:00
  to the kings, as well as to the people of Israel, and I will
• 4:04
  show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake.
• 4:09
  So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and
• 4:13
  said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the
• 4:18
  road has sent me, so that you might regain your sight and be
• 4:22
  filled with the Holy Spirit. Instantly something like scales
• 4:27
  fell from Saul's eyes and he regained his sight.
• 4:31
  Then he got up and was baptised. Afterward he ate some food and
• 4:35
  regained his strength. Saul stayed with the believers
• 4:39
  in Damascus for a few days, and immediately he began preaching
• 4:43
  about Jesus in the synagogue, saying he is indeed the Son of
• 4:47
  God. All that heard him were amazed.
• 4:51
  Isn't this the same man who caused such devastation among
• 4:55
  Jesus followers in Jerusalem, they asked.
• 4:58
  And didn't he come here to arrest them and take them in
• 5:01
  chains to the leading priests? Saul's preaching became more and
• 5:06
  more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn't refute his
• 5:10
  proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.
• 5:14
  After a while, some of the Jews plotted together to kill him.
• 5:17
  They were watching him day and night at the city gate so they
• 5:22
  could murder him. But Saul was told about their
• 5:25
  plot. So during the night some of the
• 5:28
  other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening
• 5:31
  in the city wall. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem,
• 5:35
  he tried to meet with believers, but they were all afraid of him.
• 5:39
  They did not believe he had truly become a believer.
• 5:42
  Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul
• 5:46
  had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had
• 5:49
  spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had
• 5:53
  preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
• 5:57
  So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem
• 6:01
  with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
• 6:05
  He debated with some Greek speaking Jews, but they tried to
• 6:08
  murder him. When the believers heard about
• 6:11
  this, they took him down to say Syria and sent him away to
• 6:15
  Tarsus, his hometown. The church then had peace
• 6:19
  throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria and it became stronger
• 6:24
  as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord and with the
• 6:27
  encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
• 6:29
  It also grew in numbers. Meanwhile, Peter travelled from
• 6:35
  place to place and he came down to visit the believers in the
• 6:38
  town of Luda. There he met a man named Inaeus
• 6:42
  who had been paralysed and bedridden for eight years.
• 6:46
  Peter said to him, Inaeus, Jesus Christ heals you get up and roll
• 6:53
  up your sleeping mat. And he was healed instantly.
• 6:57
  And the whole population of Luda and Sharon saw Inaeus walking
• 7:01
  around and they turned to the Lord.
• 7:05
  There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha, which in Greek is
• 7:08
  Dorcas. She was always doing kind things
• 7:11
  for others and helping the poor. About this time she became ill
• 7:16
  and died. Her body was washed for burial
• 7:19
  and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that
• 7:23
  Peter was nearby at Luda, so they sent two men to beg him
• 7:27
  please come as soon as possible. So Peter returned with them, and
• 7:31
  as soon as he arrived they took him to the upstairs room.
• 7:35
  The room was filled with widows who had been weeping and showing
• 7:38
  him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them.
• 7:42
  But Peter asked them all to leave the room.
• 7:44
  Then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, Get
• 7:49
  up Tabitha. And she opened her eyes.
• 7:53
  When she saw Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped
• 7:57
  her up. He then called in the widows and
• 8:00
  all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.
• 8:05
  The news spread through the whole town, and many believed in
• 8:08
  the Lord. And Peter stayed a long time in
• 8:11
  Joppa, living with Simon, a Tanner of Hides.
• 8:24
  Our Lord, we hear the description of this time where
• 8:29
  the church grew in peace. Lord, you are a God of stability
• 8:36
  and a God of order and a God of peace.
• 8:40
  And we live in this broken world where war is all around us, war
• 8:45
  dragging on, and we see the destruction and the hurt.
• 8:52
  And Lord, here you are transforming lives through your
• 8:55
  spirit. Lord, I pray that in all these
• 8:57
  areas where there is hurts and isolation and pain and
• 9:01
  suffering, Lord, I pray that you pour out your spirit.
• 9:07
  Bring your comfort to those who need it most.
• 9:11
  Lord, bless the minds of those with decision making capacity
• 9:15
  that they would be brought to a place of peace so that our world
• 9:21
  canmore resemble your Kingdom. A place where the vulnerable are
• 9:24
  cared for. And whatever we're able to do to
• 9:29
  aid this process and the bringing of peace into our
• 9:31
  world, Lord, convict us of those actions.
• 9:36
  We just love you and we praise you, Creator, Saviour,
• 9:43
  encourager, and we pray all of this in the powerful name of
• 9:47
  Jesus, Amen.