Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / November 18 - Acts 9

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November 18 - Acts 9 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Monday, it's the 18th of
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  November. So glad, so glad friends, that
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  you have tapped on player to invite me into your day so that
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  we can read another chapter of the Bible today and start this
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  week, this week, which I've got to be honest, friends, it's felt
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  like it's been a long time coming for me.
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  So I'll look. A long time ago I suggested I
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  was going to be going away for a few weeks of training with the
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  Army and well, I have to do a whole bunch of pre recordings so
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  that these podcasts could still come out each day.
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  But here I am back on the other side of it.
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  And thank you to those of you who reached out to check in on
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  me and make sure that I survived and I did.
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  Broken rib. But here I am.
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  And it has been the most humbling and profound life
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  experience to go through the experience for one month of
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  being just like any other new Army recruit.
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  Not a chaplain, not anything special, but just someone who
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  has to learn the basics of soldiering from scratch.
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  And that involves, yes, a whole lot of yelling and a whole lot
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  of weapons training, combat training, communications
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  training, radio training, leadership training, so much, so
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  much, and has given me a profound appreciation for what
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  it means to wear the green and serve your country.
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  So it has been an incredible, incredible month for me.
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  And I am deeply, deeply exhausted, but so glad to be
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  back with my family in a life where I have a say in what time
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  I get up and eat and go to the toilet and do all the normal
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  things that we just need to take for granted.
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  But friends, one of the things that I really missed was getting
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  to sit down and read the Bible each day with you.
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  So I'm delighted to be back, settling back into this
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  incredible story of the book of Acts, this story that we will
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  stay in all the way up to the week of Christmas when we'll
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  finish. Today's a pretty special kind of
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  day because today is the day we meet this dude named Saul who
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  will become quite the large character as we continue working
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  our way through the New Testament.
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  So let us hear how God calls this persecutor of His church to
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  become His church's greatest advocate as we read together
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  Acts Chapter 9. Meanwhile, Saul was uttering
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  threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord's
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  followers, so he went to the high priest.
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  He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus,
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  asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of
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  the way he found there. He wanted to bring them, both
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  men and women, back to Jerusalem in chains.
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  As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from
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  heaven suddenly shone down around him.
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  He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul,
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  Saul, why are you persecuting me?
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  Who are you, Lord? Saul asked, and the voice
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  replied, I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
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  Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you
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  must do. The men with Saul stood
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  speechless, for they heard the sound of someone's voice, but
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  saw no one. Saul picked himself up off the
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  ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind, So his
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  companions led him by the hand to Damascus.
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  He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or
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  drink. Now there was a believer in
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  Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a
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  vision, calling Ananias. Yes, Lord, he replied.
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  The Lord said, Go over to Straight St to the House of
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  Judas. When you get there, ask for a
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  man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.
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  I've shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and
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  laying hands on him so he can see again.
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  But Lord, exclaimed Ananias. I've heard many people talk
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  about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in
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  Jerusalem, and he is authorised by the leading priests to arrest
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  everyone who calls upon your name.
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  But the Lord said, Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take
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  my message to the Gentiles and to the kings as well as to the
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  people of Israel, and I will show him how much he must suffer
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  for my name's sake. So Ananias went and found Saul.
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  He laid his hands on him and said, Brother Saul, the Lord
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  Jesus who appeared to you on the road has sent me, so that you
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  might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
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  Instantly something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and he
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  regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptised.
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  Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength.
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  Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days, and
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  immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogue,
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  saying He is indeed the Son of God.
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  All who heard him were amazed. Isn't this the same man who
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  caused such devastation among Jesus followers in Jerusalem,
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  they asked. And didn't he come here to
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  arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?
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  Saul's preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in
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  Damascus couldn't refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the
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  Messiah. After a while, some of the Jews
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  plotted together to kill him. They were watching for him day
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  and night at the city gate so they could murder him.
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  But Saul was told about their plot.
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  So during the night some of the other believers lowered him in a
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  large basket through an opening in the city wall.
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  When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the
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  believers, but they were all afraid of him.
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  They did not believe he had truly become a believer.
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  Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul
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  had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had
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  spoken to Saul. He also told them that Saul had
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  preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
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  So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem
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  with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
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  He debated with some Greek speaking Jews, but they tried to
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  murder him. When the believers heard about
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  this, they took him down to say Saria and sent him away to
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  Tarsus, his hometown. The church then had peace
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  throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria, and it became stronger
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  as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord and with the
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  encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
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  It also grew in numbers. Meanwhile, Peter travelled from
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  place to place, and he came down to visit the believers in the
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  town of Lyda. There he met a man named Ioneus
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  who had been paralysed and bedridden for eight years.
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  Peter said to him, Ioneus, Jesus Christ heals you, get up and
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  roll up your sleeping mat. And he was healed instantly.
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  Then the whole population of Lyda and Sharon saw Ioneus
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  walking around and they turned to the Lord.
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  There was a believer in Joppa named Tabatha, which in Greek is
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  Dorcas. She was always doing kind things
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  for others and helping the poor. About this time she became ill
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  and died. Her body was washed for burial
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  and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that
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  Peter was nearby at Lighter, so they sent two men to beg him
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  please come as soon as possible. So Peter returned with them and
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  as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room.
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  The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him
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  the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them.
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  But Peter asked them all to leave the room.
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  Then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body, he said,
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  Get up Tabatha. And she opened her eyes.
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  When she saw Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped
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  her up. Then he called in the widows and
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  all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.
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  The news spread through the whole town and many believed in
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  the Lord and Peter stayed a long time in Joppa living with Simon,
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  a Tanner of Hides. Oh Jesus, what a revolutionary
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  message you have for us, that we are loved and that we are
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  forgiven and that we are members of your family through what you
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  have done for us. Not because of anything that we
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  do. Not because of how smart or
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  hardworking or dedicated or enlightened we are, but simply
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  because of the faith that you plant in our hearts.
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  Faith that you have indeed saved us, that you are the Messiah,
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  the Son of the living God. Thank you for this good news.
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  Thank you that today, some 2000 years later, we can still share
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  this good news and that the revolutionary grace that you
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  offer can still transform lives. Our Lord, embolden us in your
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  mission and thank you for your love.
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  We pray all of this in your life changing name, Jesus, Amen.