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September 24 - Acts 25 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's a Wednesday.
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  It's the 24th of September. Glad to have your company on
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  this day, this auspicious day. Did you realise that today is
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  actually the day in 1960 when the USS Enterprise was first
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  launched? No, not the fictitious Star
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  Trek, USS Enterprise. Did you know that actually four
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  years later, the pilot of the very first Star Trek episode was
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  aired and they borrowed the name from the USS Enterprise, which
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  was actually in the US Navy, which was this giant nuclear
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  aircraft carrier, in fact the world's first nuclear aircraft
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  carrier. And they thought that was the
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  most wild and and fantastical event.
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  So when they came up with this crazy story named Star Trek,
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  that was the name that they chose.
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  So all your trickies out there, this is the birth date of the
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  actual USS Enterprise. But space travel aside, we are
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  going to do some time travel today.
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  Travelling back to pole, appearing before Festus and
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  Agrippa, as all this positioning is going on behind the scenes
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  ultimately for Jesus aim to be met for Paul to take his message
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  on to Rome. So let's read it together.
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  Acts chapter 25. Three days after Festus arrived
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  in Caesarea to take over his new responsibilities, he left for
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  Jerusalem, where the leading priests and other Jewish leaders
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  met with him and made their accusations against Paul.
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  They asked Festus as a favour to transfer Paul to Jerusalem,
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  planning to ambush and kill him on the way.
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  But Festus replied that Paul was at Say Saria and he himself
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  would be returning there soon. So he said, those of you in
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  authority can return with me. If Paul has done anything wrong,
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  you can make your accusations. About 8 or 10 days later, Festus
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  returned to Say Saria, and on the following day he took his
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  seat in court and ordered that Paul be brought in.
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  When Paul arrived, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered
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  around and made many serious accusations they couldn't prove.
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  Paul denied the charges. I am not guilty of any crime
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  against the Jewish laws or the Temple or the Roman government,
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  he said. Then Festus, wanting to please
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  the Jews, asked him, Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and
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  stand trial before me there? But Paul replied, No, this is
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  the official Roman court, so I ought to be tried right here.
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  You know very well I'm not guilty of harming the Jews.
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  If I've done something worthy of death, I don't refuse to die.
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  But if I'm innocent, no one has the right to turn me over to
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  these men, to kill me. I appeal to Caesar.
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  Festus conferred with his advisers and then replied, Very
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  well, you have appealed to Caesar, and to Caesar you will
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  go. A few days later, King Agrippa
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  arrived with his sister Bernice to pay their respects to Festus.
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  During their stay of several days, Festus discussed Paul's
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  case with the king. There is a prisoner here, he
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  told him, whose case was left for me by Felix when I was in
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  Jerusalem. The leading priests and Jewish
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  elders pressed charges against him and asked me to condemn him.
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  I pointed out to them that Roman law does not convict people
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  without a trial. They must be given an
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  opportunity to confront their accusers and defend themselves.
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  When his accusers came here for the trial, I didn't delay.
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  I called the case the very next day and ordered Paul brought in.
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  But the accusations made against him weren't any of the crimes I
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  expected. Instead, there was something
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  about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul
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  insists is alive. I was at a loss to know how to
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  investigate these things, so I asked him whether he would be
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  willing to stand trial on these charges in Jerusalem.
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  But Paul appealed to have his case decided by the emperor, so
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  I ordered that he be held in custody until I could arrange to
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  send him to Caesar. I'd like to hear the man myself,
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  Agrippa said, and Festus replied.
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  You will tomorrow. So the next day, Agrippa and
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  Bernice arrived at the auditorium with great pomp,
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  accompanied by military officers and prominent men of the city.
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  Festus ordered that Paul be brought in then.
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  Festus said King Agrippa and all who are here, this is the man
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  whose death is demanded by all the Jews, both here and in
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  Jerusalem. But in my opinion he has done
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  nothing deserving death. However, since he has appealed
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  his case to the emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome.
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  But what shall I write the emperor for?
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  There is no clear charge against him, so I have brought him
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  before all of you, and especially you, King Gripper, so
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  that after we examine him, I might have something to write
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  for. It makes no sense to send a
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  prisoner to the emperor without specifying the charges against
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  him. Jesus, thank you for today, for
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  the big things and the small things that will happen.
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  My Lord, I pray that in all these things that we can know
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  your love and know your presence, and that Your love
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  will continue its transformational work in US, and
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  that Your Spirit would continue to grow in US so that the fruits
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  of your Spirit would continue to grow and ripen for all to see
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  and experience in the way that we live.
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  Thank You that You have loved us, that you have chosen us, You
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  have wrapped us in your love, that you have forgiven us, that
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  you have provided this perfect way for us to find our way
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  before your throne with nothing but love and welcome from you,
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  from our Father. We are so grateful.
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  We know that we don't deserve your love, but we are so
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  grateful nonetheless. Thank you for your love.
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  Thank you for your closeness to us and thank you for your spirit
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  in us. We just praise You Jesus, and we
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  pray all of these things in your holy name, Amen.