Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / November 28 - Acts 16

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November 28 - Acts 16 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's a Thursday.
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  It's the 28th of November and you have tapped on play and
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  invited me into your day. Thank you for doing that.
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  Hello. Hello and hello.
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  I hope you are going well because today we are going to
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  continue doing what we do, reading another chapter of God's
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  Word. And today we we're continuing
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  this fascinating story in the book of Acts as we see this
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  church start to grow. And we've just gone through this
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  incredible council of Jerusalem where they have decided that
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  actually people don't have to be Jews and they don't have to
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  follow the Jewish rules to be a Christian.
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  But there's a couple of things we'd like them to do just so
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  that we're not offending all the Jews as we build this unified
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  church. And as this happens, we see the
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  split as Paul and Barnabas go their separate ways.
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  And this story really is going to follow Paul from here.
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  And that's not to say that there's not a whole lot of
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  incredible work going on in the church through all those other
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  apostles as they go around preaching.
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  And Jesus is growing his church everywhere through all sorts of
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  people. But Luke chooses Paul and this
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  story to convey to his friend Theophilus that yes indeed, this
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  is not a story about Jews seeing the fulfilment of the law in
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  Jesus, but this is a story about Gentiles discovering that they
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  are indeed created by a loving God and accountable to that God
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  for our lives and our gifts. And so that, friends, that is
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  where we are and that is where we are headed.
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  So let us strap on our backpacks and head on on the road on the
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  second missionary trip that Paul takes as we read together Acts
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  chapter 16. Paul went first to Derby and
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  then to Lystra where there was a young disciple named Timothy.
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  His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a
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  Greek. Timothy was well thought of by
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  the believers in Lystra and Iconium, so Paul wanted him to
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  join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the
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  area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left,
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  for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.
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  Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers
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  to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in
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  Jerusalem. So the churches were
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  strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day.
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  Next, Paul and Silas travelled through the area of Phrygia and
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  Galatia because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from
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  preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.
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  Then, coming to the borders of Mycia, they headed north for the
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  province of Bethania. But again the Spirit of Jesus
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  did not allow them to go there. So instead they went on through
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  Mycia to the seaport of Troas. That night Paul had a vision.
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  A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there
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  pleading with him come over to Macedonia and help us.
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  So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having
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  concluded that God was calling us to preach the good news
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  there. We boarded a boat at Tryas and
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  sailed straight across to the island of Summerthrace, and the
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  next day we landed at Neapolis. From there we reached Philippi,
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  a major city of that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony,
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  and we stayed there several days.
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  On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a
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  riverbank where we thought people would be meeting for
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  prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered
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  there. One of them was Lydia from
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  Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth who
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  worshipped God. As she listened to us, the Lord
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  opened her heart and she accepted what Paul was saying.
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  She and her household were baptised and she asked us to be
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  her guests. If you agree that I am a true
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  believer in the Lord, she said come and stay at my home and she
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  urged us until we agreed. One day as we were going down to
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  the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that
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  enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for
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  her masters by telling fortunes. She followed Paul and the rest
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  of her shouting. These men are servants of the
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  Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be
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  saved. This went on day after day until
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  Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon
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  within her, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out
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  of her. And instantly it left her.
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  Her masters hopes of wealth were now shattered.
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  So they grab Paul and Silas and drag them before the authorities
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  at the marketplace. The whole city is in an uproar
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  because of these Jews. They shouted to the city
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  officials, They are teaching customs that are illegal for us
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  Romans to practise. A mob quickly formed against
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  Paul and Silas and the city officials ordered them stripped
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  and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten and
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  then they were thrown into prison.
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  The gaoler was ordered to make sure they didn't escape, so the
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  gaoler put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet
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  in the stocks. Around midnight, Paul and Silas
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  were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners
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  were listening. Suddenly there was a massive
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  earthquake and the prison was shaken to its foundation.
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  All the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every
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  prisoner fell off. The gaoler woke up to see the
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  prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had
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  escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself, but Paul shouted
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  to him, Stop, don't kill yourself, we're all here.
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  The gaoler called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down
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  trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and
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  asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
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  They replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved
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  along with everyone in your household.
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  And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who
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  lived in his household. Even at that hour of the night,
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  the gaoler cared for them and washed their wounds.
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  Then he and everyone in his household were immediately
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  baptised. He brought them into his house
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  and he set a meal before them and he and his entire household
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  rejoiced because they all believed in God.
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  The next morning, the city officials sent police to tell
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  the gaoler, let those men go. So the gaoler told Paul, the
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  city officials have said you and Silas are free to leave, go in
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  peace. But Paul replied, they have
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  publicly beaten us without a trial and put us in prison, and
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  we are Roman citizens. So now they want us to leave
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  secretly, certainly not let them come themselves to release us.
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  When the police reported this, the city officials were alarmed
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  to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
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  So they came to the gaol and apologised to them.
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  Then they brought them out and begged them to leave the city.
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  When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the
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  home of Lydia. There they met with the
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  believers and encouraged them once more than they left town.
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  Jesus, you are a God of peace and a God of wholeness, and you
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  rule over a very broken world, our Lord.
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  This world, as you so know, is held in the grip of the evil 1
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  where there is hurt and distrust and greed and selfishness and
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  war that just ravages all the corners of our globe.
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  Jesus, we pray for your spirit, your spirit of wholeness and
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  forgiveness and freedom to wash through our world.
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  And Lord, all of those who are oppressed and struggle for the
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  basic rights and all of those oppressions which break your
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  heart as you see your children. Lord, I pray that Your way would
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  be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
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  And Lord, open our eyes and open our hearts so that we can see
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  the part that we have to play in shaping this world to be more
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  like the place You want it to be.
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  Holy Spirit, come shape our hearts, attune us so that we can
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  see Your priorities and that that can shape the way that we
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  choose to live our lives, but always living in the surefire
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  knowledge of your love and Your grace for us.
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  Our Lord, I pray that this love would be known throughout the
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  world and that all people can know you and your love for them.
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  For you are the antidote to all that is wrong with our world.
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  So we praise you, our holy and good and righteous and wonderful
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  and powerful God, and we pray that your will be done.
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  All of this in your name, Jesus, Amen.