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September 14 - Acts 1 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it is Sean. Here it is Thursday, it is the
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  14th of September. And I have got to say that I'm
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  delighted, friend, that as a birthday present to me, you have
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  decided to join me and read not just the next chapter of Isaiah,
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  but today we start a whole new book of the Bible.
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  We start to read through the book of Acts and what a
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  crackerjack book this is. As we see the Holy Spirit coming
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  to God's disciples, we see the church start to grow and spread,
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  and we see these brave men and women who speak out their faith
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  and then whose heritage you and I celebrate our Christian life.
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  What a wonderful, wonderful book.
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  This is, of course, the second of the two volumes that are
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  written by Luke, that wonderful communicator, that physician, as
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  he writes to convince his friend that Jesus is the Lord.
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  So yes, this is a biased work. Yes, this is a selective
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  collection of all of the things which happened to put together
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  an argument to say that Jesus is in fact God's Son.
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  Jesus did live, He died, He rose again, and his spirit came in
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  power to begin the work of his church.
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  Who is the active person in this book?
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  It is not Peter, it is not Paul. The active character in this
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  book is Jesus and his spirit and we will hear his fingerprints
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  everywhere. And so with that anymore pre
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  waffle from me, let us dive right into this as we pick up
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  the story where Luke's gospel left off.
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  Reading together Act chapter one.
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  In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything
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  Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to
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  heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions
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  through the Holy Spirit during the 40 days after he suffered
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  and died, He appeared to the apostles from time to time, and
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  he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive and
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  he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.
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  Once, when he was eating with them, he commanded them, do not
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  leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised.
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  As I told you before, John baptized with water.
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  But in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy
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  Spirit. So when the apostles were with
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  Jesus, they kept asking him, Lord, has the time come for you
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  to free Israel and restore our Kingdom, He replied.
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  The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and
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  times, and they are not for you to know.
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  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
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  and you will be my witnesses, telling people about me
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  everywhere, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria,
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  and to the ends of the earth. After saying this, he was taken
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  up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no
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  longer see him as they strained to see him rising into heaven, 2
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  white robed men suddenly stood among them.
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  Men of Galilee, they said. Why are you standing here
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  staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you
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  into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same
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  way you saw him go. Then the apostles returned to
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  Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a
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  mile. When they arrived, they went to
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  the upstairs room of the house where they were staying.
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  Here are the names of those who were present Peter, John, James,
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  Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, son
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  of Alpheus, Simon de Zealot, and Judas, son of James.
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  They all met together and were constantly united in prayer,
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  along with Mary, the mother of Jesus, several other women and
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  the brothers of Jesus. During this time, when about 120
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  believers were together in one place, Peter stood up and
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  addressed them. Brothers, he said the scriptures
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  had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who
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  arrested Jesus. This was predicted long ago by
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  the Holy Spirit speaking through King David.
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  Judas was one of us and shared in the ministry with us.
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  Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his
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  treachery, falling head first. There his body split open,
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  spilling out all his intestines. The news of his death spread to
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  all the people of Jerusalem and they gave the place the Aramaic
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  name Akaldema, which means field of blood, Peter continued.
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  This was written in the book of Psalms where it says let his
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  home become desolate with no one living in it.
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  It also says let someone else take its possession.
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  So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among
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  the men who are here with us. The entire time we were
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  traveling with the Lord Jesus from the time he was baptized by
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  John until the day he was taken from us.
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  Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus
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  resurrection. So they nominated 2 men Joseph
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  called Besabbas, also known as Justice and Matthias.
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  Then they all prayed. Oh Lord, you know every heart.
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  Show us which of these men you have chosen as an apostle to
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  replace Judas in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone
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  where he belongs. Then they cast lots, and
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  Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other
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  eleven. You are such a present, God
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  Jesus, as we hear you walking around and talking with our
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  brothers and sisters, with with people who live just 2000 years
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  ago in that part of the world. It blows our mind that you, our
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  Holy God, would come and choose to live amongst us.
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  Thank you that you have given us this Holy Spirit, this Helper,
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  and that you give us the task of sharing your love and living at
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  your mission in the world around us.
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  Thank you that you have given us your Helper, the Spirit that
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  lives inside of us, the greatest gift you could ever give us.
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  Your presence in us. Empower us.
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  Change us. Shape us so that we would be
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  true to your mission of love and forgiveness and truth in our
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  lives. You are wonderful and we worship
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  you, and it's in Your name that we pray Jesus.
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  Amen.