Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / October 11 - Acts 16

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October 11 - Acts 16 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, Chaplain Connery here reporting for service.
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  Well Oh dear, I actually have no idea how I'm going to need to
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  front up and do what I do. Oh dear.
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  There's going to be a lot of learning ahead of me as I learn
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  the 1003 letter acronyms and who I meant to call by their rank
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  and who I meant to be calling by their first name, and who
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  salutes me and I salute. Oh dear.
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  I'm sure there are simple rules that I will learn and that will
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  come in due course. But in the midst of all of the
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  change that is happening for me, isn't it nice that I still get
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  to sit down with you, friend? And you and I can continue to
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  read together, and particularly continue reading through this
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  journey of Acts as we hear about Paul as he travels around.
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  Well, we call it the Mediterranean, but back then it
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  was just the world. And he shared this incredible
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  good news about what Jesus had done for them.
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  And yes, friend, for you and for me.
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  So let us continue to read together.
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  Turning now to Acts 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 traveled through the area of Frajia 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 Mysia, 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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  Micea to the seaport of Troas. That night Paula 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 Troas and
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  sailed straight across to the island of Samothras, and the
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  next day we landed at Neapolis. From there we reached Phillip I,
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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 on the Sabbath, we went a little
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  way outside the city to a riverbank where we thought
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  people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak
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  with some women who had gathered there.
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  One of them was Lydia from Fiatira, A merchant of expensive
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  purple cloth who 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 baptized, and she asked us to be
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  her guests. If you agree that I'm a true
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  believer in the Lord, she said, come and stay at my home.
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  And she urged us until we agreed.
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  One day, as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a
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  slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future.
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  She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes.
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  She followed Paul and the rest of us shouting.
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  These men are servants of the Most High God, and they've come
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  to tell you how to be 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
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  Jesus Christ to come out of her and instantly it left her.
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  Her master's hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they
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  grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the
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  authorities at the marketplace. The whole city is in an uproar
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  because of these Jews, they shouted to the city officials.
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  They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to
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  practice. 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 jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape, so the
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  jailer put them in 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 foundations.
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  All the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every
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  prisoner fell off. The jailer 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
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  all here. The jailer called for lights and
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  ran to the dungeon and fell down, trembling before Paul and
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  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
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  saved 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 jailer cared for them and washed their wounds.
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  Then he and everyone in his household were immediately
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  baptized. He brought them into his house
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  and 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 the police to
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  tell the jailer, Let those men go.
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  So the jailer told Paul. The city officials have said you
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  and Silas are free to leave, go in peace.
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  But, Paul replied, they have publicly beaten us without a
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  trial and put us in prison. And we are Roman citizens, so
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  now they want us to leave secretly, certainly not let them
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  come themselves to release us. When the police reported this,
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  the city officials were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas
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  were Roman citizens. So they came to the jail and
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  apologized to them. Then they brought them out and
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  begged them to leave the city. When Paul and Silas left the
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  prison, they returned to the home of Lydia.
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  There they met with the believers and encouraged them
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  once more. Then they left town.
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  Thank you, Jesus, for your love. Thank you for the way that you,
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  our Father, open your family and invite us in.
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  Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you come to dwell in us and that
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  every step of every part of our journey there you are resident
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  in us, blessing us with your presence.
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  Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we just worship you.
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  You are a beautiful, wonderful God, mighty and able to be
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  feared for all that you are capable of.
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  But then you draw near to us and that fear becomes adoration.
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  We just adore you. I'll try you in God, and it's in
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  your blessed name that we pray. Amen.