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October 3 - Acts 11 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is.
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  Tuesday. It is the third of the 10th,
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  2023. Hello.
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  So good that you could press play, tap play, but dial play
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  however you ended up here. Hello, welcome.
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  So good to have your company. Thank you for inviting me into
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  your day so that you and I can continue reading this book.
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  This story of the church growing in the world.
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  And this reading today is awesome.
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  It shows that even in God's church, as it's growing and so
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  powerfully with God's spirit at work, people are still people.
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  And we just take a while to get our heads around change.
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  And it's pretty uncomfortable for them as they see the church
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  just growing so rapidly and including all these people that
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  they they didn't really understand We're going to be
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  part of this movement and they're trying to work out what
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  this looks like and how they keep moving forward.
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  And it's wonderful to hear the the slowness and the generosity
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  as they grapple with these issues.
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  So let's put down the busyness of the day that's already
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  bouncing around in our heads. Take a deep breath and let us
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  invite God's spirit to speak to us through this chapter is read
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  it together in Acts Chapter 11. Soon the news reached the
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  apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had
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  received the word of God. But when Peter arrived back in
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  Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him.
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  You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them, they
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  said. Then Peter told them exactly
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  what had happened. I was in the town of Joppa, he
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  said. And while I was praying, I went
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  into a trance and I saw a vision.
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  Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners
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  from the sky, and it came right down to me.
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  When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild
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  animals, reptiles and birds, and I heard a voice say, Get out,
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  Peter. Kill and eat them.
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  No, Lord, I replied. I've never eaten anything that
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  our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.
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  But the voice from heaven spoke again.
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  Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.
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  This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained
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  was pulled back up to heaven. Just then, three men who had
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  been sent from Cesaria arrived at the house where I was
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  staying. The Holy Spirit told me to go
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  with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles.
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  These six brothers here accompanied me and we soon
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  entered the home of the man who had sent for us.
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  He told us how an Angel had appeared to him in his home and
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  told him send messages to Joppa and summon a man named Simon
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  Peter. He will tell you how you and
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  everyone in your household can be saved.
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  As I began to speak, Peter continued.
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  The Holy Spirit fell on them just as he fell on us at the
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  beginning. Then I thought of the Lord's
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  words when he said John baptized with water.
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  But you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
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  And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift He gave
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  us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand
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  in God's way? When the others heard this, they
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  stopped objecting and began praising God.
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  They said we can see that God has also given the Gentiles the
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  privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.
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  Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the
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  persecution after Stevens death traveled as far as Phoenicia,
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  Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God,
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  but only to Jews. However, some of the believers
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  who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Siren began preaching to the
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  Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. The power of the Lord was with
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  them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and
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  turned to the Lord. When the church at Jerusalem
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  heard what was happening, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
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  When he arrived and saw this evidence of God's blessing, he
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  was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay
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  true to the Lord. Barnabas was a good man, full of
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  the Holy Spirit and strong in faith, and many people were
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  brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus
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  to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought
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  him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with
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  the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people.
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  It was an Antioch that the believers were first called
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  Christians. During this time, some prophets
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  traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch.
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  One of them, named Agabus, stood up in one of their meetings and
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  predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the
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  entire Roman world. This was fulfilled during the
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  reign of Claudius. So the believers in Antioch
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  decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea,
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  everyone giving as much as they could.
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  This they did entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to
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  take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.
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  Thank you for being patient with us, Jesus.
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  We are slow and stubborn humans, and so often our hearts have
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  this inertia that takes so long to shift.
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  We're like a great big ship heading in One Direction, and
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  when you offer us a different opportunity, it takes time for
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  us to slowly turn our hearts. Jesus, give us nimble spirits
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  that we can be ever ready, ever able to respond to your calling
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  and your prompting in the moment.
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  That you would have us do so. Thank you that you are present
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  with us, that you prompt us, that you guide us, that you
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  nudge us, that your Holy Spirit is active, leading us each day.
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  Ah, we just offer ourselves to you and pray that you use us in
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  whatever way that you have planned.
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  We are your servants and you are our God, and we submit wholly to
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  you. And we pray all of this in your
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  name, Jesus. Amen.