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October 12 - Acts 17 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Thursday, it is the
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  12th of October and I'm so grateful that you have joined
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  me. Invited me into your day so that
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  we can continue injecting God's Word into our lives where it can
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  give us the rhythm of God's Kingdom as we go about our days
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  and today's reading. Oh dear poor old Paul.
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  He just gets pushed from one place to the other to the other
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  until he finds himself in one of the great centers of the ancient
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  world where God breaks his heart for his people.
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  So let's read this wonderful story written in Acts chapter
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  17. Paul and Silas then traveled
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  through the towns of Amphilippis and Apollonia and came to
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  Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue.
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  As was Paul's custom, he went to the synagogue service and for
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  three Sabbaths in a row, he used the scriptures to reason with
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  the people. He explained the prophecies and
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  proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead.
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  He said, This Jesus I'm telling you about is the Messiah.
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  Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul
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  and Silas, along with many God fearing Greek men and quite a
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  few prominent women. But some of the Jews were
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  jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the
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  marketplace to form a mob and start a riot.
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  They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so
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  they could drag them out to the crowd.
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  Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of
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  the other believers instead, and took them before the City
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  Council. Paul and Silas have caused
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  trouble all over the world. They shouted, and now they're
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  here, disturbing our city too, and Jason has welcomed them into
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  his home. They are all guilty of treason
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  against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king named
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  Jesus. The people of the city, as well
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  as the City Council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports.
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  So the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post
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  bond, and then they released them.
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  That very night, the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea.
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  When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue,
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  and the people of Berea were more openminded than those in
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  Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul's message.
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  They searched the scriptures day after day to see if Paul and
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  Silas were teaching the truth. As a result, many Jews believed,
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  as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.
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  But when some Jews and Thessalonika learnt that Paul
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  was preaching the word of God and Berea, they went there and
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  stirred up trouble. The believers acted at once,
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  sending Paul onto the coast while Silas and Timothy remained
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  behind. Those escorting Paul went with
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  him all the way to Athens. Then they returned to Berea with
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  instructions for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him
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  while Paul was waiting for them. In Athens he was deeply troubled
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  by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city.
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  He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God
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  fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to
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  all who happened to be there. He also had a debate with some
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  of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.
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  When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said,
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  What's this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas
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  he's picked up? Others said he seems to be
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  preaching about some foreign gods.
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  Then they took him to the high council of the city.
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  Come and tell us about this new teaching, they said.
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  You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to
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  know what it's all about. It should be explained that all
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  the Athenians, as well as the foreigners and Athens seem to
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  spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.
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  So Paul, standing before the council, address them as
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  follows. Men of Athens, I noticed that
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  you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along
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  I saw your many shrines, and one of your altars had this
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  inscription on it to an unknown God.
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  This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I'm
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  telling you about. He is the God who made the world
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  and everything in it. Since he is the Lord of heaven
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  and earth, he doesn't live in manmade temples, and human hands
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  can't serve his needs, for he has no needs.
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  He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies
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  every need from one man. He created all the nations
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  throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they
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  should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
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  His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps
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  feel their way toward him and find him, though he is not far
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  from any one of us. For in him we live and move and
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  exist. As some of your own poets have
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  said, we are his offspring, and since that is true, we shouldn't
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  think of God as an idol designed by Craftsman from gold or silver
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  or stone. God overlooked people's
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  ignorance about these things in earlier times.
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  But now He commands everyone everywhere to repent of their
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  sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging
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  the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he
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  proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.
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  When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead,
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  some laughed in contempt, but others said we want to hear more
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  about this. Later.
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  That ended Paul's discussion with them, but some joined him
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  and became believers. Among them were Dionysus, a
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  member of the council, a woman named Demarius, and others with
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  them. Jesus, in you we live and move
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  and exist. You are never far from anyone of
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  us. Thank you that our whole life,
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  our whole being is so intimately wrapped up in you and your love
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  for us, your forgiveness of us, and the identity that we have as
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  your loved and forgiven children.
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  Thank you that you truly are the God of the universe who did make
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  the heaven and the earth, and who loves us nonetheless.
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  We thank you that you hear our prayers and you bend your ear to
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  know what it is that's going on for us.
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  It boggles our mind, but that's what your word says.
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  So we claim it and we thank you for it.
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  And it's in your wonderful name that we pray Jesus.
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  Amen.