The Bible Recap - Day 330 (Acts 17) - Year 4

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible recap. Before we dropped in on Paul's letter to the Galatians, we were hanging out with Paul and Silas in prison in Philippa and watching them get released, after which point the local authorities apologized for imprisoning them without a trial since their Roman citizens. Today they head for Thessalonica, where they're staying with the guy named Jason. Thessalonica is a big court city in Greece today, with a population of about a million people, except now it's called Thessaloniki. It's about 100 miles from Philippi, which is about a 4-day trip.

Starting point is 00:00:38 By the way, Paul writes two letters to the church in Thessalonica, and we'll read those letters tomorrow. The guys aren't Thessalonica for a long time, and at one point Paul spends a string of three days going to the local Jewish synagogue to reason with them about the scriptures. He shows them how Jesus is the Messiah the prophets wrote about. Here's one thing I find interesting about this. Paul isn't just sharing his own personal testimony, even though he has a more compelling one than anyone I've ever met. Instead, he's sharing scriptures testimony of Christ. It's true that personal stories are moving for many people,

Starting point is 00:01:10 but Paul knows that subjective experiences can also be easily dismissed by anyone who has a different experience. So he takes a more objective and logic-based approach. He's sharing facts, not feelings. He lets scriptures speak for itself. Per usual, the audience is split. Some believe and some don't. The ones who believe include Jews as well as a lot of Greeks and a lot of female leaders.

Starting point is 00:01:32 The Jews who don't believe him form a mob and start a riot and they go to Jason's house to try to find the guys. When they can't find them, they drag Jason and a few others out of the house and take them to the authorities. Like most of the accusers, they're saying that the early church is rebelling against the establishment. This time, Caesar in particular. They say, these men have turned the world upside down. Yes and amen. The effects of the gospel are dramatic. That's the upside down kingdom of God. Jason posts bail for everyone and the authorities let them go home. This money probably has a

Starting point is 00:02:04 bit of a promise attached to it as well. In a way that bail money serves as a promise that you'll return for your court date, Jason's money probably serves as a promise that Paul and Silas will leave town. They leave in the middle of the night and head to Berea. First up, a synagogue. And you know how Paul loves a good scripture testimony, so he shares it and they love it. But they don't just take his word as fact. They crack open their scrolls every day and check his words against scripture. They walk in wisdom and humility, they're open to receive, but not just anything, they'll only receive the truth. And because of that, a lot of them believe, including Greeks and prominent

Starting point is 00:02:39 male and female leaders. When word gets back to Thessalonica, they march over to Berea to try to shut it down, so Paul packs up to leave, but Silas and Timothy stay behind. When Paul gets to Athens, he sends word that he needs Silas and Timothy there's stat. We don't know why he needed them so urgently, but they don't make it to him for a while. He's in Athens, maybe with Luke, we don't know for sure, and it's full of idolatry. People there worshiped so many different things. In part because they were open to many different ideas and philosophies. They are inundated with religious options and the people love hearing new ideas. In fact, a lot of the prominent people Paul encounters are kind of professional seekers.

Starting point is 00:03:17 They're always following the current trends which change frequently. It seems like they love to seek, but they don't like to find. They prefer to just keep seeking. This is New Territory for Paul. He's mostly been used to talking to Jews or Gentiles who already have some kind of grasp on the Hebrew scriptures, but the Athenians are not on that page at all. Still, they're intrigued by Paul's message, not because they're moved by their own sinfulness and God's great mercy, but because it's a new idea they hadn't heard yet. Paul is educated and knows how to lean into that when it's helpful, so he talks to them in the intellectual language they understand.

Starting point is 00:03:52 Much like Jesus did when he used agricultural analogies in his parables to farmers and fishermen, Paul quotes philosophers and poets they're acquainted with, he points out that they know something is missing, amidst all their religious paraphernalia, they still have an altar dedicated to an unknown God. He says, I know the God you're missing. I know the one your soul cries out for and hasn't bound amidst all these other altars and opinions. But you didn't make him like you made these idols in their altars. In fact, he made you. And when he

Starting point is 00:04:22 did, he was intentional about every detail, including the time and location of your birth. It all serves to point you back to him. And he calls you to repent and turn to him. So repent, because someday he will judge the earth through the one he raised from the dead. Some of them mock the idea of the resurrection, but others believe, including Dionysius and Amaris. Today, my God shot was in Paul's quote from a Greek poet in verse 28. It says, in him we live and move and have our being. Paul clips a quote from culture and paces it into his conversation about God because it speaks to the truth of who God is.

Starting point is 00:04:59 Ultimately, all truth is God's truth. Anything that is true points back to him, the author of truth, the way, the truth, and the life. Which is kind of what this verse says. In Him we live, He's the life, and move, He's the way, and have our being. He's the very truth at the core of who we are. And He's where the joy is. Tomorrow we'll be reading first and second Thessalonians. We'll link to a short video overview of both books in the show notes, so check those out

Starting point is 00:05:27 if you have a chance. If you're new here, you may not know much about our Daily Steady Guide, Daily Journal, and Weekly Discussion Guide, so let me fill you in. The first is our Daily Steady Guide. This is just for you to do at home by yourself. I've written roughly five questions today to help you dig into the text and learn more on your own while you're reading. The second thing that partners great with the Daily Study Guide is our Daily Journal. This has writing prompts and space for you to record what you're learning

Starting point is 00:05:55 as well as your God shot. And third, we have our weekly discussion guide. This is a great tool for friends and families and church home groups to use in addition to your daily reading and recap. For this, I've written roughly 10 questions each week that will help drive a deeper connection to what you've learned and help you build community in the meantime. If you've been around for a while and already have these tools, we think you're going to want fresh copies of these for next year and here's why. Every year that you read, you're learning more about God's character and your answers and your thoughts are going to change as well. Having fresh versions of the study guide or the journal gives you space to record new

Starting point is 00:06:31 ideas and new God shots as God keeps revealing new things to you by Himself every day. You can see inside all three options when you visit the site on our store, so check them out and get your copies today at the BibleRecap.com, then click the store link, or you can click the link in the show notes. on our store, so check them out and get your copies today at the BibleRecap.com, then click the store link, or you can click the link in the show notes.

The Bible Recap - Day 330 (Acts 17) - Year 4

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