Podcasts about Antioch

Reading Acts 14:23-28 where Paul and Barnabas retrace their steps, appointing elders in the churches they had planted, and returning to Antioch to report on the work of God. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

The Mission that Gives Life MeaningActs 13Teacher: Pastor Jim ThomasDate: August 2, 2026Everyone of us is curious about the purpose of life. Everyone of us wants to have a mission with meaning. And those longings are a sign that God designed us, heart, mind and soul, with a desire for something more than just a career, more than physical pleasures, and more than a big fat paycheck.In Acts 13, an ordinary church in Antioch discovers exactly what that "something more" looks like — a Spirit-sent mission that carries the gospel from a Roman proconsul in Cyprus to a synagogue in Asia Minor, and eventually, down through two thousand years, to us. This message traces that journey and makes the case that the deepest meaning you're searching for was never found by climbing higher — it's found by being sent.Join Pastor Jim as he walks us through the first recorded sermon by the apostle Paul and draws some timeless truths that will inspire and encourage all of us who are looking for a mission that gives life meaning.Support the showTo find more resources like these, follow us:Website: https://thevillagechapel.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQVTzDbaiXVUAm_mUBDCTJAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tvcnashville/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tvcnashvilleX: https://twitter.com/tvcnashvilleTo support the ongoing mission of The Village Chapel go to https://thevillagechapel.com/give/. If you are a regular giver, thank you for your continued faithfulness and generosity!

July 12, 2026 - Sunday AM Bible Class This episode is a recorded Bible class covering Acts chapters 10–12. Hiram leads the class through three chapters as they examine the recurring challenges the early church faced: welcoming Gentiles, resolving cultural and religious barriers, and stabilizing growing congregations. Key passages include the conversion of Cornelius, Peter's rooftop vision, the Gentile Pentecost in Cornelius's house, the church's response in Jerusalem, the growth of the church in Antioch, and the persecution and deliverance recorded in Acts 12. The class traces the goal of Acts (Acts 1:8) — to establish and preach the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth — and evaluates how the early church advanced that mission up through chapter 9. The instructor then details the central challenge in Acts 10–11: how Jews and Gentiles are brought together. The episode examines Cornelius as a ‘God‑fearer,' his moral life and prayers, why divine confirmation was needed, and why moral religiosity is not the same as salvation in Christ. The session walks through Peter's vision of the sheet of animals, his initial resistance rooted in Levitical food laws and cultural heritage, and how both Cornelius and Peter required divine revelation to accept Gentile inclusion. Listeners hear the account of the Holy Spirit falling on Cornelius's household (a Gentile Pentecost), the subsequent baptisms, and the debate in Jerusalem that forced Peter to explain his actions publicly in Acts 11. Attention shifts to Antioch, where the gospel advances among Greeks and other non‑Jewish peoples. The class highlights Barnabas's role in stabilizing that congregation, his bringing Saul (Paul) to help, and the importance of strengthening local churches — emphasizing the principle that one cannot evangelize the world faster than local congregations can be established and stabilized. The episode also surveys Acts 12: the arrest and execution of James, Peter's miraculous deliverance, the congregation's mixed response of doubt and praise, and the lesson that persecution, political opposition, and leadership losses do not stop the spread of God's Word when believers cooperate with it. Practical takeaways for modern listeners are emphasized throughout: acknowledge the spiritual good in seekers, show they aren't far from the kingdom, push for an encounter with Scripture, use the gospel as the neutralizing standard, refuse favoritism or second‑class treatment, strengthen bonds quickly after conversion, listen to God's leading, and invest in stabilizing local churches as the foundation for wider evangelism. The episode is driven by classroom dialogue between the teacher and participants and offers both exegetical insight and applicable pastoral guidance for welcoming diverse converts today.   Duration 44:08

In Acts 13 the Spirit moves the church from local safety in Antioch to global mission, sending Barnabas and Saul after worship, fasting, and prayer. In this message, Matthew talks through how the gospel advances through a unique leadership team, Spirit-directed obedience, and direct confrontation with darkness, never staying bottled or comfortable. Paul then preaches a clear, historical, verifiable message centered on Jesus as the promised Savior who brings forgiveness and freedom the law could never give. The gospel always demands a verdict—some rejoice and believe while others resist—and it still does the same today. Will you keep open hands, worship and fast with expectation, and proclaim the only story that saves?

For many Christians, the papacy is one of the greatest points of disagreement between Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants. But what did the earliest Christians actually believe?Tonight we'll examine the evidence from the first two centuries of Christianity—before Nicaea, before Constantine, and long before the medieval papacy. We'll look at the writings of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Hegesippus, Irenaeus, and the Muratorian Fragment to ask a simple historical question:What role did the Church of Rome and its bishop play in the earliest generations of Christianity?  We'll discuss:The authority of Clement's letter to CorinthWhy Ignatius says Rome “presides”Hegesippus' investigation into apostolic successionIrenaeus' famous statement that every church should agree with RomeWhether these sources support, challenge, or complicate modern claims about the papacyWhether you're Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, or simply interested in Church history, this livestream is designed to engage the primary sources directly.If you'd like to donate to our ministry or be a monthly partner that receives newsletters and one on one discussions with Dr. Stephen Boyce, here's a link: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=6381a2ee-b82f-42a7-809e-6b733cec05a7

As we continue in our study of Acts this week, we'll look at Acts 13:13-43. Paul and Barnabas continue their missionary journey and much of the passage is taken up by a sermon Paul delivers to the people of Antioch in Pisidia. What we find in his sermon is a reminder of what makes Christianity so compelling, so unique, and so trustworthy compared to other worldviews and religious systems: the resurrection of Jesus Christ.   The resurrection is the hinge of all human history, the great before and after. Before there was death and darkness, after is light and new life! As believers we are resurrected people, looking forward to eternity with Christ yet sure of that hope even now. This passage is an invitation to live in the confidence of the miracle of the resurrection.  Acts 13:13-43 Pastor Matthew McCleary, Associate Pastor Visit our website at www.fremontpres.org Email us at podcast@fremontpres.org  

Teach, Encourage And Be Kind To New Believers By Discipling Them In Their Faith Acts 11:22-26 21The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. 22News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. 25Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

The gospel wasn't just spread. It was intentionally sent...In this next part of our journey through Acts, we see how the early believers move beyond their borders to carry the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth. From the shores of Antioch to the heart of Rome, they step into the unknown, navigating cultural barriers, trials, and shipwrecks along the way. What looks like a dangerous journey is actually God's direction. As the Church is sent, the gospel transforms the world, and that same mission is handed to us today.

Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. Acts 1:1-5 Spencer Carey Download TranscriptGood morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. We did it you guys. We made it through 2 Samuel. 1 and 2 Samuel.And now we're in the book of Acts. So if you're new to our church, we typically, not exclusively, but the majority of what we do is we walk through books of the Bible. And we're gonna go verse by verse, passage by passage. And we're in Acts chapter 1 today. As we begin the book of Acts, we'll be in this for the next season. We're in the first five verses of the book of Acts.That is on page 1053, 1053 in your black Bibles. The main text will be coming from the Bible. So we will hold a Bible and read that with this. There'll be other texts. They'll be on the screen. But we're gonna introduce the book of Acts because it is wise when you jump into a book to have some context for what you're actually studying.So I want to point out three things as we begin to introduce us, I think, well to understanding the book of Acts. If you grab a study Bible, like the ESV study Bible, you open it up before we start reading a book. If you're gonna study it, you're gonna see different introductory elements. And I'm gonna give you three that kind of help us frame our time together in the book of Acts. Genre, author, and purpose. So let me hit those very quickly.It's important to first know the genre because not all scripture is the same. You don't read Proverbs like you read the Psalms, like you read Genesis, like you read the Gospels, like you read the epistles, the letters in the New Testament. They are all, they come from different genres. So it's important to understand what you're reading before you jump in. The book of Acts is historical narrative. Functions like the Gospels in that way.It's historical narrative. It's a bunch of stories that tell the story of how the church began starting in the first three decades of the church is what the book of Acts and 28 chapters covers. So from around 33 AD to around 60 to 65 AD, we're gonna read a bunch of stories and teachings that shaped the church early on and that we get to be shaped by as well. So it's one of the longest books in the New Testament. The Gospel of Luke is the only book that's longer and we'll be in it for a bit. So the second thing that is helpful to know is the author.And the author is Luke. So Luke was inspired by God to write this. So let's introduce ourselves to Luke. We don't know a ton. Here's what we do know. Luke was likely Greek.Okay. He may have been Jewish, it's debated, but if he's Jewish, he's very what you would call Hellenistic, meaning he's very Greek influenced. So he's Greek. What we also can see from the letters of the New Testament is he's likely a doctor. So likely a physician like Mike Goble who was just standing here leading us in prayer.He's a doctor. It's also clear that he's an historian. He was tasked with the job of both telling an orderly account of the Gospel in Luke of Jesus Christ and his life, his ministry, his death, his resurrection and the book of Acts, which tells the story of the early church. So some will say that Paul wrote most of the New Testament. It's actually not true. When you go by word count, Luke actually was inspired to write most of the New Testament because Luke and Acts is longer than all Paul's 13 letters combined.Fun fact. Three, purpose. Okay. Why is the book of Acts and our Bibles? Why did God inspire it? Why was it so important that it became an essential part of what's called the New Testament canon?What is the official books of the New Testament? Why do we have this? That's what we get to look at today. One of the things that's clear when you read the book of Luke is that there's this foreshadowing of the inclusion of the Gentiles. So that's basically, I would assume everybody in this room that comes from a non-Jewish background.There's this foreshadowing that the Gospel is going to go to the nations and that we're going to be included. And the book of Acts is going to show us how. How we are brought into the household of faith. So we're going to see this. We're going to look at the values and the witness and the Gospel that spread all that comes out of this. We're going to look at key figures like Philip and Peter and James, the brother of Jesus Christ, and Paul.We're going to look at all of this. And when you actually, if you look at a Bible and you go to Acts, oftentimes they're going to have the subscript that we have from the earliest manuscripts that says Acts of the Apostles. And if you read that, it may lead you to believe that this book is primarily about the work of the apostles. But what we're going to see is this book is primarily about a God rescuing his people and his rescue plan for the nations. And then even more of the point, one of the things that makes Acts so unique and so essential is it gives us the most comprehensive window into the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.We're going to read a lot about the Holy Spirit. No book in the Bible mentions the Holy Spirit more than the book of Acts. It would be wrong to say that this book is only about the work of the Holy Spirit, because God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son are both present and loom large in this book. But there's no other book in the Bible that gives us a more upfront window to the work of the Holy Spirit than the book of Acts, which makes this very helpful for us as we want to be a Spirit empowered people and the season that we're in trying to be missional and planting a church. So we're very excited to be able to walk this book together.And what we're going to see today and these first few verses and what we're going to see throughout this series can be summarized in this sentence, the Holy Spirit in God's church taking Jesus to the world. That what we're going to see is the Holy Spirit in God's church taking Jesus to the world. So let me pray and then we'll walk through this introduction together. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the good news of the gospel that we just sang about, that we just prayed for, that we just recited from the Scriptures. God, I pray that you would help us be, have open eyes to see how you started your church and what it's built upon.And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, go to verse one. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach. So let's pause there.Out the gate, there should be some questions that jump off the page. Who's Theophilus? When did you do all this, where you dealt with all the things that Jesus began and taught? And that is why understanding Acts, it's very helpful to have a working general knowledge of the book of Luke. The gospel of Luke helps us understand the book of Acts. Luke functions very much like a part one and Acts functions very much like a part two.So what I want to do a little bit today is to go to the book of Luke and to help us see a little bit of how this helps us understand Acts. I want to go to Luke chapter one. This will be on the screen. You can look up here and hold that place in Acts because we'll come back to it. Luke chapter one says, many have undertaken to draw up an account of these things that have been fulfilled among us just as they were handed down to us by those who were, who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you most excellent Theophilus so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.So this is very similar to the introduction to the book of Acts. Who is Theophilus? We don't know for sure. We know that his name means lover of God. Theo and Phyllis, those are two different Greek words to come together, lover of God. It is very likely that he was a wealthy Christian who put the money forward for Luke to do the work of gathering all these reports.It takes time and energy and effort and money to go and travel throughout all of the New Testament world and to put together what is the gospel of Luke? What is these stories that tell us about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? And we should be familiar with that concept because we know today they are investigative reporters, that they make their living, they get paid to go out and do investigative work and put together reports from Bob Woodward and his work all the way to reporters like Christopher Rufo today. They are all types of different people that get paid to put together reports.And that is what Luke was. He was an historian who got paid and traveled to go and put together this gospel of Luke that tells us about Jesus Christ. And what I appreciate about Luke is that he's not only just giving us a bunch of facts about Jesus, he does the work of organizing it into a story. So when you read it, like the other gospels, it has story arc. So most stories, the gospels, stories in the Bible and stories that you go and you watch in the movie theaters, most stories have a general story arc.There's an introduction, there's rising tension, so there's going to be some different plot things that happen. There's rising tension, there's a climax, and then there's resolution. That's the majority of stories. And when you read the gospel of Luke, there's an introduction to who Jesus Christ is. He was born. And then all of a sudden, very early, you see the rising tension as he's ministering and establishing and teaching the kingdom of God.He's got the tension with the Pharisees and the religious leaders. And there's this tension that builds all the way towards Jerusalem where Jesus Christ is crucified, where he is resurrected. And then there's this resulting action, which is the commissioning of the church. And I appreciate that because it makes reading the gospels a lot of fun. It helps us see that he's a good storyteller in pulling all these stories together for us to see. But buried in the end of the gospel of Luke, in what we just read a few minutes ago, is a bit of a cliffhanger.And I also appreciate the art of a cliffhanger. My oldest recently has gotten really into books. She loves reading. And what happens sometimes is that she'll come down tired. And she's like, I'm so frustrated because I just want to go to sleep. But every chapter, there's just this cliffhanger.And I just have to keep reading. And it's like, I love that you love reading. We're going to have to learn to live with a cliffhanger for a bit because you actually need to go to sleep. But cliffhangers do that. They kind of leave something lingering that draw you into the next part. And that's what's the genius of the end of the gospel of Luke.And I want to go back to what we read just a few minutes ago so that we can see that. You get the very end of Luke, chapter 24, verses 44 through 49. This is how the gospel of Luke ends. Then he said to them, this is on the screen, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Okay. That's what we call biblical theology.That's the reality that the entire Old Testament, all of it points to Jesus Christ. And he sang it. Listen, law, the prophets, Psalms, all of it points to me. Verse 45. Then he opened their minds to the scriptures, which is Jesus Christ, opening their minds to understand.46, And said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer, and on the third day rise from the dead. 47, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed and is named to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things, and behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. So Jesus points to the climactic work, his death, his resurrection. And then he tells them in verse 47, really a preview of what is ahead. He nods to, you're going to go and preach.It's going to be the message of this gospel of his life, death, and resurrection. You go preach that there's going to be a call for repentance of sins. They're going to experience forgiveness that washes and covers us. This is what you're going to proclaim, and that message is going to the nations. You are going to be witnesses of this. But first, you're going to go to Jerusalem, and you're going to wait, because power is going to come from on high.Wait for the promise of the Father. It's coming, but you go into Jerusalem first, and that's like the cliff thing. Oh, wait, what? And it's like, oh, I want to know more about that. And here's the good news. You don't have to wait a year for part two of the movie to come out.You can just flip over the book of Acts, which is what we're in. So go back to verse one. Now, we have a good working knowledge of what Luke is doing in the gospel of Luke. Pick up in verse one, the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, verse two, until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Which just for a moment, I appreciate that what is clear is that when Jesus is teaching his disciples throughout his ministry, the Holy Spirit is present with him, teaching his followers.Verse three, he presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Okay, so there's a period of time between Christ's resurrection and his ascension, which is what we're going to look at next week is when he ascended to the right hand of God the Father. That period of time is 40 days. So in that 40 days, when you look and read the end of the gospels and you pick up in this part of the book of Acts, we don't get all likely of what Jesus did during that period. We can tell that he appears to them at various times.He's not with them every second, but he appears to them and what he's doing is he's preparing them. He's teaching them the kingdom of God and he's preparing them for what awaits them. He appears to them in Jerusalem. He appears to them on a mountain in Galilee. He appears to them on a lake in Galilee and he's doing the work of preparing them for what's next for the unfolding plan to reach the nation. So he's preparing them, but also what I like in this passage is it points out that he's also establishing that he is alive, that there are witnesses who have seen Christ.That's why Paul in 1 Corinthians, he points out that there are 500 people at one point that saw Jesus in the flesh. So Jesus is both preparing his church for what is ahead and establishing I am alive through all types of eyewitness accounts that we read in the scriptures. So he's in the period of preparation preparing them for what's next over that 40 days and now he's here verse 4. And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you heard from me for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.So Jesus is getting ready to ascend, but he tells them you're going to wait. You're going to wait in Jerusalem. You're gonna wait for the promise of the Father and that's foreshadowing what we're going to see the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the church. You're gonna wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon you. Now at this point, it's very likely Jesus has taught them all about water baptism from the moment that he's baptized until now.And they should have the understanding at this point that baptism is the new covenant sign that you belong to God. But what they're going to learn is that faith does not begin with water baptism. It doesn't begin with water that faith begins with fire. That faith begins with fire that comes upon you when the Holy Spirit changes you into a new creation in Christ Jesus. When you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, the baptism of the Holy Spirit overtakes you and changes you into someone who is new that you belong to Jesus Christ. And then you enter the waters of baptism to declare that you belong to him, which is why we as good Baptists baptize after someone is converted to Jesus Christ.That's what he's giving a nod to here at the end of this verse five. So he's telling them they need to wait. You're gonna go to Jerusalem and you're gonna wait for the Spirit to come upon you. And then you're going to begin to see this wonderful redemption plan that's going to unfold. And the rest of the book of Acts is how that plan unfolds. God in his people with them, bringing them into his mission to reach the nations.And I personally am very thankful that God brings us out of the stands and into the game so that we get to participate with our God in doing the most important eternal work there is. Around this time every year, I get excited because football is not far away. Okay. I love football. It's my favorite sport. I like other sports.Football is my favorite. I like how in August as the first game approaches, how delusional I get into thinking I will convince myself by the end of August that Lenora Sellers may be a Heisman candidate for the University of South Carolina. It's going to happen. I can convince myself of that delusion while also know I can't wait for the disappointment. It's going to be so exciting. I hold those two intention simultaneously and I get excited because I love watching the Gamecocks.I love watching us take on like blue blooded SEC programs like Kentucky and Mississippi State on the SEC Plus Network where we usually play. I just I look forward to it. I like pro football. I like watching. I'm a huge Indianapolis Colts fan. I love watching every season.I was like one time we won the Super Bowl in my entire life and I enjoy doing it. I love watching it. But let me tell you something. When I play football, I had way more fun. When I got to play football growing up, I mean Friday nights were way better than Saturday mornings in the stands. Friday nights in the field were far superior to ever watching something on TV or being there in person to watch it.No, it was a lot more rewarding, a lot more fun to be in the game playing. And what I appreciate about our God is that this wonderful redemption plan that He has given us, that He's unfolding for us, we get to participate in. That we get to wait for the power of God to come upon us and we get to be obedient to where He calls us to go. We get to see the spirit change people's lives. Guys, there's nothing more wonderful in this world than declaring the good news of Jesus Christ to someone who does not believe. And then God goes to work in their heart, brings them to faith in Jesus Christ.And then 10,000 years from now, you are standing in the presence of Christ with that brother's sister because you leveraged your life now for eternity. There is nothing more important. There's nothing more glorious. There's nothing more wonderful. And none of that happens unless the Holy Spirit is present. None of that happens unless the Spirit goes to work.We're like little kids that just want to get in the game and we're like three feet tall and we want to dunk a basketball and we can jump two inches off the ground and we're dreaming up just I want to dunk it and then we get picked up and we get to participate. And that's what the spirit does in us. He works in us in a way where we get to be a part of this, the Holy Spirit in God's church taking Jesus to the world. That's what all of this is about. And that's what we're gonna see throughout the book of Acts. The Holy Spirit in God's church taking Jesus to the world.I just want to give you a preview of what's ahead. I want us to see how this this theme of the Holy Spirit and God's church taking Jesus to the world, how it shows up all over the place. Because we'll work through Acts 1, then we'll get to Acts 2. And in Acts 2 we're gonna see at the festival of Pentecost where all the Jews are coming in to celebrate that at the right time the Holy Spirit will descend upon the church. And then Peter who, think about this, just six weeks before that was denying Jesus Christ repeatedly, stands up what we'll see at Pentecost and preaches a sermon where 3,000 plus people, their eternity has changed and the church begins.And then we're gonna watch from Acts 3 to Acts 6 as the church explodes in Jerusalem. The Spirit working in profoundly wonderful ways as people are being changed. And with that comes what Jesus promised. That if you declare the good news of Jesus Christ, you will be persecuted. You will suffer and they do. And as the church begins to declare the good news of Jesus Christ and powerful, wonderful things begin to happen, the church begins to be persecuted.And that comes to the head in Acts 7 when Stephen, a servant of Jesus Christ, is declaring the gospel and he's murdered and martyred for his faith. And then we'll see how the Spirit uses that. Because the Spirit uses that to expand the church further. When we get to Acts 8 we'll see how this plan is unfolding because they're gonna spread when they're being persecuted into Samaria, into Syria. And now the gospel is spreading. And then we'll follow this as Acts 10 to Acts 12 we'll see the finally how the Gentiles are included and how God works in that.We'll see in Acts 13 at Antioch when the church is commissioned and Paul and Barnabas are sent to go and take the gospel to Asia Minor into Europe and the gospel begins to spread from Acts 13 to Acts 20 all over from Turkey to Greece. The gospel begins to go everywhere. And then as we finish the book of Acts we're gonna see in Acts 21 to 26 when Paul is giving a defense for the gospel as being persecuted, being imprisoned, and that he uses his imprisonment for the gospel to go forward. He uses imprisonment to get the gospel to Rome. He's like I want to get to Rome. So I'm gonna be in prison and that's where I'm going.And then Acts 27 there's a shipwreck and then Acts 28 he finally gets there. And what I love about Acts 28 is when he gets there guess what there are any Christians there. That's what God does. He keeps working in lots of different people. But you keep reading this the Holy Spirit and God's church taking Jesus to the world.You keep following chapter after chapter after chapter and then all of a sudden you get to 28 you get done reading it and it just ends. It's like Luke just dropped the pen and said I'm done. It's the wildest thing. Go read through the book of Acts. I encourage you guys as we start this series go read through the whole book. And you get to the end and it's just like this isn't complete.And we know that Luke knows how to write a story because you can read the gospel of Luke and you can see such compelling story arc and how it and it just that's not we just have this rising tension and it just stops. He just quits writing and it's clearly so incomplete. It's not like any other book in the Bible just stops. And the question that should linger is why. Why? Why is it just that?And the answer is because the story isn't finished. Acts continues. The story isn't finished. The gospel is still trying. We're still taking the gospel to every tribe nation and tongue. The story isn't over.The church keeps going. Years ago there were some clever Christians that came up with a church network name called Acts 29. Which was brilliant. But it was a statement on it keeps going. That we are living and Acts continues. That the story continues.And it does. It continued in the first century as the gospel spread from North Africa to as far as Spain over to India and to Asia. The gospel spread as of the next few centuries as the church began to be further established as they were once a persecuted minority. Faith becomes a majority faith in the Roman empire. And the church begins to grow and to expand and that eventually you follow the centuries and centuries later that there were some Christians who were being persecuted for their faith by the established church of England. And they say we want to go to this new place called America.And they travel to America and that kind of starts a big wave of Christians moving and pastors moving and missionaries moving to America. And eventually you saw land in this state where they start churches from the coast up to the upstate. And eventually at around the early 1900s people came to this part of the river and they began a new church. First Baptist Church of Casey. And this church ministered for a century and then all of a sudden another church started up in the area of Mill City Church. And then a few years later we merged together as one church, Mill City Church.And the spirit is still at work taking Jesus to the world. And what I love is that if you've ever read a book, you ever watched a movie that leaves the ending ambiguous? That leaves a cliffhanger? Instead of getting frustrated, what I like to do is I like to dream a bit. I like to imagine what actually is going on and what could be. Like if you watch the movie Inception, you get to imagine does the top fall or does it keep spinning?And you get to dream a bit about what that can be. If you read a book like The Giver, you get to imagine does he make it? Did he die in the snow or did he make it to experience reality? Whatever story has this ambiguous ending that is unclear, you get to dream a little bit about what that gets to be. And when you read the book of Acts, what I want us to do is I want us to dream a little bit. When we walk through this series, I want to dream about what can be.That if the Holy Spirit is at work in the church to take Jesus to the world, then let's dream a little bit. Because I'll tell you something, we dreamed for years about doing what we just prayed about earlier. For years we dreamed about planting a church. We want to multiply this church. We want to expand to a different part of the city. And then finally God put the pieces together.And if you've been here the last six months, you remember to hear this story. And I'm excited about sending out Oak Ridge. I'm excited about our little small version of Acts continued that we get to do. I'm excited that Mike who is just standing up here and that Isaac get to head out with right now it seems like 60 of y'all counting to go and take the gospel to a very strategic place on exit 51 to reach that part of Lexington that expands all the way into Gilbert and as far as Leesville. Like I'm pumped about that. But if we do that and we go, yes, we did it.We nailed it. We accomplished it. Then we missed it. If we think we've arrived at this, if we think that Jesus Christ's blood was poured out and wrath came upon him, that he conquered death at the resurrection, that he ascended to the right hand of God the Father to be king over all of creation, that the Holy Spirit descended upon the church for just Mill City in Oak Ridge. We missed it. So we need to dream a little bit.We need to dream about what can be. Dream about how God can continue to work because we got work to do. I'm gonna put up a timeline that'll hopefully help visualize this. You can go to that slide. Christ ascended almost 2,000 years ago. Like literally we're getting close to almost literally 2,000 years ago.Okay. At some point he's promised he's going to come back. He's going to return. Now you go to the next slide. I don't know where we are in this timeline. Don't get hung up on this.If you were in the book of Revelation, it's clear that you know we don't know where we are in this timeline, but we're somewhere in the middle of this. Now this expands for thousands of years. We've got a small place in that timeline where we have work to do until he comes back. And we should dream about what that gets to be. Because here's the deal. We've talked about this and we'll keep saying this, that once we set out Oak Ridge, everyone has work to do.There's no neutrality in how this is going down in January. Oak Ridge is going out and they've got work to do. And everyone who's staying here, we have work to do. So I want you to dream. How are we going to be obedient to the call to go and make disciples? How are we going to do that in our version of the Acts-continued story?What are we going to do? I want to give you some considerations for how you should think of this. Some of you need to start taking your faith more seriously. Some of you come on Sundays and you go to a group and or hopefully both. But what it has largely been is a time for you to be filled up.And don't miss something. We want we want you to be filled up. We want you to grow in maturity. But maturity in Christ is not just consuming and being filled up. It's pouring out. That God fills us so that we might multiply ourselves into others.That we might make disciples. The great commission is to make disciples. And some of you need to press into maturity. You get the wonderful opportunity to do that. You get to go deeper into the Bible, deeper into the discipline of prayer. You get to help you have a zeal for evangelizing, for sharing the gospel with your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers.And then I hope you get people that are coming around that don't know Jesus or just new to Jesus and you get to sit with them and point them to who Jesus Christ is and say, come follow me as I follow Christ. There's no better way to use your life than for the sake of helping others know Christ. And you get to. And this next season, you get to be a disciple maker. Some of you will have the opportunity to become a leader in training in your group. And you should take it and you should want this because community groups are the means by which we advance the mission in our city.Okay. Our groups are how we reach our city and our group leaders, you can talk to them. Leading a group is wonderful, but it's also quite difficult at times because the good work that God calls us to do is difficult. That's told to us. And what you get to be as a leader in training is not only grow in knowing more of Christ and maturity, but you get to be a helpful and healthy part of your group. You get to breathe life into your group that when everyone just opts out last minute and the person who was supposed to bring the meat just says, I got the sniffles and I'm out.But you're just like, I'm okay. Well, I'm jumping in. What do you need? That you're going to be a helpful part of your group. And some of you should aspire to them. You should want that.You should want to be a leader. You should want to say, hey, come follow me as I follow Christ. And I want to follow you as you're following Christ. We should want that. There's another thing I want to point out. And when I say this, this is autobiographical.When I led a group, it's reality in my group. Now, I already told my group leader, I'm like, this isn't, this is, this is not just us. This is widespread, but I want to put up group content for a moment. All right. This is last week's group content. This is second Samuel.We have five different versions of group content that show up. It's typically this format. If you're not in a group, you should be in a group and you'll see this and it's pretty great, but there's a gospel centered section. There's a community section. There's on mission section. Something that I've noticed that happens in not just my group, but in a lot of groups is that we will love discussing the Bible.We will love getting deep. We'll get the community and everyone has updates and we'll share and we'll talk. And then all of a sudden it's like time to leave and kids are going crazy and someone hurt themselves. And, and, and, you know, because they ran into the wall or something downstairs, not a, not an adult, but a child. And then it's on mission and it's like, ah, we should do it, right? Yeah.Cool. All right. Let's go home. I'm not going to ask you to show your hands, but how many times does that get buried? That's an afterthought. And it's like that, that needs to come to the foreground.There might be weeks where it's just like, ah, you know what? I love, but let's, we're eating a meal. Let's, let's, let's share some life updates. Let's, let's have some time for this. Let's not miss this because we have friends and neighbors and coworkers who we need to understand the eternal situation that right now they are journeying towards an eternity under the wrath of God because of their sin.And the church is plan a for advancing. You are the person that God has put in their life to tell them Jesus is better, that, that eternity is real and God wants you and is for you and desires you. And it's you. And we need to remember that because what could happen when you get to a church of our size is that you can get comfortable and you can think there isn't a need, but there is. And we can't miss that for a moment. So some of you, some of us need to regain our missional hustle in this season as we dream about what we could be in this Acts continued story.Some of us, some of you need to step up and serve. We've run some Numbers that are out of retreat. We kind of looked at all this stuff. There are 58 members of our church who currently do not serve in any capacity. Now there are some folks who have very, very real legitimate excuses, members of our church who have legitimate excuses for why that cannot happen.But there's a lot that don't. And here's the problem. There's 58 members of our church right now who've set in their commitment. They're committed to serving the church, but they're not serving in any capacity. When we send out Oak Ridge, there's going to be that number drops to 54. Now that tells us a couple things.First Oak Ridge is about to go out with a bunch of people who've served for years. And what Mike and Isaac are going to tell you is guess what? There's more where that came from. You got more work to do there. But what that means for us is that we're losing a big part of our church that has served for years.Like if I put up a chart right now, which I don't have, but if I put up a chart of all the different areas that people serve in our church and I just put in bright colors all the different people who've committed to go to the Oak Ridge church plan and the next slide, after they're gone, it just gets real dark. And it's because we will have opportunities for everyone to pick up a shovel and go. And I'm excited about that. I think you should be too excited about the opportunity to step into Kid City and breathe life into it, to our kids excited to step into hospitality and into groups and a bunch of different ways and to serve and to hustle and to grind because Jesus Christ is worth it.He's worthy of our worship and our service that is worthy of the gospel going forward. We're going to have a variety of ways that we get to dream. And I want you to dream. I want you to have personal dreams where you pray about this. I hope the series of Acts opens that up for you. I've got some.I want to share one of just one that's personal to me. That I feel called to this land and in this area. All right. That wasn't always the case. At one point when I went to seminary, I was like, I'm never coming back. I said it out loud.I'm never coming back. And I came back. Let me tell you something. I love this people. I love this place. Okay.My family history, they came over like 300 years ago to Pelion and they like never left. Like Pillion, West Columbia, Casey Lexington, you draw a triangle and my people have posted up in that area for 300 years. And I personally, I want this part of the Midlands, I want the Midlands to see scores and hundreds and thousands of people come to Christ. Because there's so, I know you think there's, there's lots of people that are, there's lots of churches that there are thousands of people in and around you that do not know and are not following Jesus Christ. And what I'm also seeing is that there are a lot of churches in our area that are dying as a statistical fact.There are a lot of churches in our area that are running in the red financially, that if they lose a few members, they're losing a big part of their church. They're physically dying. They are like a roof replacement away from just, it just have to shut the doors. My personal dream right now is that I want to see men in this church aspire to the office of overseer elder pastor. I want to see men in this church who want to step up and become pastors and pastor churches in this area over the next 10 years that need to be replanted, that need to be revitalized, that need life again. And right now there's a massive pastor shortage across the country.There's a massive pastor shortage. There's a bunch of boomers who are retiring, who are dying, and it's not being filled with younger generations. So what I want to see is men in this church. I want you to pray some dangerous prayers and I want you to ask, do I need to be the kind of man of character that says, follow me as I follow Christ as I shepherd the people of God here or somewhere else? And that's my personal part of the dream. And for the next 10 years, I want to see that happen all over the city.I want 50 years from now the Midlands to look dramatically different in churches because for the next 10 years, we leveraged our time, our energy, our money, and our people to send out pastors and teams of people to go and make more disciples in this city. And I want it to go further because it's been a few years since we have sent a missionary to the foreign mission field. It's been a few years and there are unreached peoples that get the smallest amount of resources and people. And some of you need to go and you don't need to be here in five years. And some of you need to have a conversation with Ben Johnson at 1040 Hub with Tim.Where's he at? Tim Rice over there, who works with IMB. We got missions, opportunities, good Lord. I'd love to see someone go to the nations, but we're going to have to pray and we're going to have to dream and we're going to have to own our part of the Acts-continued story. So in this next season, let's dream a little bit.Let's pray some dangerous prayers. Let's let the Holy Spirit work in a way that gets us in the game. Let's be obedient even when it feels risky, even when it feels uncomfortable. Let's own our part of our very small part, but important part of the story of the Holy Spirit and His Church taking Jesus to this city and the world. Let's pray.Heavenly Father, I pray that You might work in us in this season to stir us towards faith and trusting You. And the fruit of that would show up in beautiful, eternal ways. God, that first means that in this season there are people that do not know You that need to. There are people in this room who do not know You, have not surrendered their life to You, do not see You as Lord, and they need to. And I pray that You open their eyes to who You are and a baptism of the Holy Spirit would take over their lives. God, there are folks in this room that are going, that are going with Oak Ridge, and I am so thankful for their obedience to go, to be uncomfortable, to take risks.Lord, may You bless their labor, and may there be people in the kingdom of God a thousand years from now because they were obedient to go. And God, may You stir in us. May You give us a hustle. May You empower us for the good work that You have right here and beyond for years to come. In Jesus' name, amen.Transcript

What if the biggest threat to your church isn't disagreement—but trying to create unity without the Holy Spirit?In Acts 11, the early church faced one of its greatest challenges. Jews and Gentiles were coming together for the first time, old prejudices were being broken, and God was doing something no one expected. What kept the church from falling apart wasn't better organization or stronger personalities—it was the leadership of the Holy Spirit.In this message, you'll discover how the Holy Spirit leads individual believers, guides the entire church, confirms His work through other Christians, and produces a unity that no human effort can manufacture. You'll also learn why many modern ideas of church unity fall short of God's design and how true unity is always built on biblical truth, not compromise.If you've ever wondered how to recognize God's leading, how churches should make important decisions, or what genuine Christian unity really looks like, Acts 11 gives a timeless answer. You'll see how Peter, Barnabas, and the believers in Antioch followed the Spirit's direction and became part of one of the greatest movements in church history. Watch until the end to discover the simple principle that unites believers across every background, personality, and culture—and why losing it leads to confusion instead of revival. If this message encouraged you, consider subscribing for more verse-by-verse Bible teaching and biblical preaching that helps you know Christ, follow the Holy Spirit, and live out your faith.

Tennessee's mountains, forests, rural communities, and abandoned places have produced some of the most extraordinary unexplained creature reports in Appalachia.In this episode of Phantoms & Monsters Radio, Lon Strickler presents eight disturbing eyewitness accounts from across Tennessee. These cases include a whitish-gray Bigfoot known locally as the Cherokee Devil, a massive creature that appeared to vanish through a dimensional opening near Roan Mountain, repeated encounters with a seven-foot black canine humanoid, a nearly invisible entity running through the treetops of Antioch, and a red-eyed, featureless being observed in an abandoned northeastern Tennessee town.The presentation also examines a bizarre white reptilian humanoid that approached a vehicle near a cemetery, a feathered winged humanoid seen ascending to the roof of a Columbia residence, and a mysterious yellow-eyed entity that remained completely unaffected after being fired upon with a shotgun near Jonesborough.Several witnesses reported missing time, slowed perception, glowing eyes, overwhelming dread, unexplained screams, apparent cloaking, and creatures capable of moving in ways that defy normal physical limitations.Were these witnesses encountering undiscovered animals, supernatural manifestations, interdimensional beings, or entities connected to the Appalachian landscape itself?Join Lon Strickler as he examines the testimony, patterns, and possible implications behind these compelling Tennessee encounters.Subscribe to Phantoms & Monsters Radio for additional eyewitness reports, paranormal investigations, cryptid research, UFO accounts, and unexplained phenomena.

Tennessee's mountains, forests, rural communities, and abandoned places have produced some of the most extraordinary unexplained creature reports in Appalachia.In this episode of Phantoms & Monsters Radio, Lon Strickler presents eight disturbing eyewitness accounts from across Tennessee. These cases include a whitish-gray Bigfoot known locally as the Cherokee Devil, a massive creature that appeared to vanish through a dimensional opening near Roan Mountain, repeated encounters with a seven-foot black canine humanoid, a nearly invisible entity running through the treetops of Antioch, and a red-eyed, featureless being observed in an abandoned northeastern Tennessee town.The presentation also examines a bizarre white reptilian humanoid that approached a vehicle near a cemetery, a feathered winged humanoid seen ascending to the roof of a Columbia residence, and a mysterious yellow-eyed entity that remained completely unaffected after being fired upon with a shotgun near Jonesborough.Several witnesses reported missing time, slowed perception, glowing eyes, overwhelming dread, unexplained screams, apparent cloaking, and creatures capable of moving in ways that defy normal physical limitations.Were these witnesses encountering undiscovered animals, supernatural manifestations, interdimensional beings, or entities connected to the Appalachian landscape itself?Join Lon Strickler as he examines the testimony, patterns, and possible implications behind these compelling Tennessee encounters.Subscribe to Phantoms & Monsters Radio for additional eyewitness reports, paranormal investigations, cryptid research, UFO accounts, and unexplained phenomena.

Share, Share, Share; His Message Is For Everyone Acts 11:19-21 19Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

In this episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal delivers a rich expository sermon on James 5:1–6, one of the most striking prophetic passages in the New Testament epistles. Drawing on the Jewish literary and cultural context of James's original audience — Jewish Christians scattered from Jerusalem by persecution — Tony unpacks why this text is not a blanket condemnation of wealth, but a devastating judgment oracle against those who hoard riches and oppress the vulnerable. Along the way, he explores the eschatological weight of accumulated wealth, the theology of God's omniscient justice, and the stunning comfort available to the suffering believer. The episode closes by returning to James's thesis: that trials of every kind, including economic oppression, can be counted as joy because of who God is and what He has done in Christ. Key Takeaways James is a deeply Jewish book written to a specific audience — Jewish Christians dispersed from Jerusalem by Saul's persecution, not a general audience of wealthy or Gentile believers. The prophetic "Come now" signals a judgment oracle, not a direct address — James is not rebuking wealthy members of his congregation, but pronouncing eschatological judgment on oppressive landowners using a technique common in Amos, Malachi, and Micah. Hoarding wealth is not morally neutral — it is self-condemning — The corroded gold and moth-eaten garments are not just symbols of decay; they serve as legal evidence against those who refused to use their wealth for God's glory and the good of others. Withholding wages from laborers constitutes a form of murder — In the ancient world, depriving workers of their wages could literally cost them their lives. James draws on Old Testament law to frame predatory economic exploitation as a capital sin. God sees and hears the cries of the oppressed — The wages of defrauded workers "cry out" to the Lord of Hosts, echoing the blood of Abel in Genesis 4. God's justice is not passive or delayed out of ignorance — it is certain and coming. Matthew 25 reframes Christian mercy as care for the body of Christ — The sheep-and-goats judgment is not a general humanitarian mandate, but a specific call to care for persecuted brothers and sisters — and to recognize that mistreating them is mistreating Christ Himself. Trials are counted as joy through the doctrine of imputation — Suffering is not stripped of its pain, but it can be moved from the loss ledger to the profit column because God uses adversity as the instrument of sanctification and glorification. Key Concepts The Prophetic Address: Who Is James Actually Talking To? One of the most common misreadings of James 5:1–6 is assuming James is directly rebuking wealthy Christians in his own congregation. Tony Arsenal corrects this by grounding the passage in its literary and historical context. James employs a well-established prophetic technique — seen in Amos, Malachi, and Micah — of addressing an absent party in order to pronounce judgment on them, while simultaneously comforting those who overhear the oracle. His audience is the dispersed, impoverished Jewish Christians who fled Jerusalem under Saul's persecution. There were almost certainly no wealthy landowners in the room. The "Come now, you rich" is a judgment declaration directed outward, designed to assure the suffering poor that God has seen their oppressor and will act. Far from being a proof-text for radical poverty, the passage is a pastoral comfort wrapped in prophetic fire. Corroded Gold as Legal Evidence Against the Soul James's claim that gold and silver have "corroded" is deliberately shocking — and theologically precise. Gold, uniquely among metals in the ancient world, does not corrode. By saying it has already corroded, James is not making a metallurgical claim but a moral and eschatological one. The accumulated, hoarded wealth of the oppressor has lost its purpose. It sits idle while workers starve, and in doing so it becomes evidence — a legal witness — against its owner in the court of divine justice. Tony draws a direct line between this image and Jesus's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about treasures stored on earth being subject to moth and rust. Both brothers — Jesus and James — appear to be drawing on the same shared wisdom, likely rooted in the same household and the same mother's instruction. Unused wealth does not just fail to help others; it actively indicts its holder. Counting It All Joy: The Accounting Logic of Sanctification Tony closes the sermon by returning to James 1:2 — the thesis statement of the entire letter — and unpacking the word "count" as an accounting term, directly related to the doctrine of imputation. Just as righteousness is reckoned to the believer in justification, so suffering can be reckoned as joy in sanctification. This is not a call to pretend pain isn't real, or to perform contentment. It is a theological reframing: what belongs in the loss column of the ledger can, by faith, be moved to the profit side — not because the trial was pleasant, but because God is sovereign, good, and working all things toward the believer's conformity to the image of Christ. The oppressor means their wickedness for evil. God means it for glory. The supreme example is the cross itself — the only truly innocent man, suffering the worst evil ever committed, for the redemption of His people. Memorable Quotes The corrosion of that gold serves as evidence for the condemnation of those who are harming you — and the corrosion of this wealth is an indication of the corrosion of their very souls. He sees your pain. He sees your suffering. He sees your victories even when no one else is celebrating them. He sees you — and that should be a great source of comfort. Imputation is an accounting term. And when we count it all joy, we're taking what should be a red line in the loss ledger — what should be an expense — and we're able to move it to the profit. Not because it didn't hurt, and not because we wanted it to happen, but because our God is good enough to not rob us of the chance to be sanctified. Full Transcript Tony Arsenal: Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you." It's always a little, uh, strange to sort of jump into the middle of a series, and, um, you know, Wes is one of the most competent preachers that I know personally, so I trust that he has given you a good and satisfying overview. Uh, but I don't feel like I would be doing my responsibility if I didn't at least touch on a few things, uh, related to the, the intro to James that I think is relevant for this particular passage in a way that maybe is not relevant for the rest of the book. So some of this I hope is review, I, I anticipate is review, but I think it's worth, uh, touching on. James, as you know, is the, the half brother of Jesus. He was the leader of the Jerusalem church, and specifically he was sort of the figurehead of the Jewish church as a whole. Um, the Jewish church was the only church for the very early part of the church's growth. There were always, uh, Gentile believers. Even in the Old Testament, there were Gentiles who trusted in the Lord of Israel and the God of Israel. They were often called God-fearers. They rarely converted all the way to Judaism, but they were sort of seen as an attachment to the Jewish people. They didn't participate in all of the blessings of the Jewish people, but they did participate in most. They often had the same kind of protection. They were in a form of covenant with God. Um, they were able to worship and offer sacrifices. The temple itself had a whole portion of the temple dedicated called the Court of Gentiles, specifically for these Jewish worshipers. And as the church spread, primarily through persecution, which we'll touch base on here in a minute, as the church spread out from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria, and ultimately to the ends of the earth, it took on a, an increasingly Gentile Greek flavor. As more and more primarily initially Greek converts came into the church, and then of course, as it spread to other sort of non-Hellenistic lands, other, other types of people, other nations, other people groups joined the church, the scriptures which-- the New Testament we receive primarily from Paul, at least in terms of the epistles, um, also began to take on a more Gentile flavor. Not because Paul was a Gentile, but because Paul was ministering primarily to Gentiles What we'll see here is that James is a very Jewish book. I'm sure that along the way there's been several kinds of things pointed out to you to show that, but I wanna show a couple things that not only establish James as the author, James the brother of, of Jesus, but also root the, not only the author, but the audience in a distinctly Jewish Christian, uh, context. So you don't have to turn there, I'll read this, but in Acts, uh, 15, which is the, the great Jerusalem Council, uh, we read this. It says, "With the following letter..." So the, the council meets, they make a decision about what k- what parts of the Jewish law were going to be commended to and recommended, uh, and required for the Christian believers, the Gentile Christian believers, and when they're done, they send this letter to all of, all of the churches. And it says, "With the following letter, the brothers, both apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are at, of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings." Now, I don't know about you, but I always sign my emails the same way, right? I've got, like, my work signature that I have to use, that the, the hospital makes me use with all the proper formatting and colors and fonts, but I always have the same signature. Mine is very simple. I just say, "Thanks," right? I just sign it as, "Thanks," above my signature, and I'm sure you all have that sort of characteristic way you sign a s- sign an email, or maybe it's the way you say goodbye at the end of a phone call. My father-in-law always says, "So long," which is a phrase you don't hear very often, so it's very distinct to him. We all have these little tells in our communication that sort of tip off who they're from. If you turn quickly back over to James 1, so just flip the page, uh, to the left here, he starts his letter by saying, "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes in the dispersion, greetings." It's the only two letters in the New Testament that we have where the author identifies himself, sends to a sort of generalized audience, and then signs it, "Greetings." Now, James, the brother of Jesus, was the leader of the Jerusalem Church. He was the leader of the Jewish ch- the Jewish Church in general, and he signed the letter coming from the Acts Council as sort of the presiding minister. If, if we were, y- you might call them, like, the moderator of your business meeting, or we would call them the moderator of our presbytery or our session in the Presbyterian context I come from. He was the one who sort of, like, presided over there, and so the letter that went out to the churches was signed in his name and written, drafted by him. So we see this characteristic way that the letter is addressed with this final word, "Greetings," which is not used frequently in the New Testament We also see when we look at the language carefully that the audience of this, uh, of this letter, it's debated and there are good arguments, but i- in my opinion, it's very clear that the audience of this letter is not Jewish Christians in general or, uh, Jews who have not yet converted. There are some people who would say that 'cause they're called the 12 tribes. But instead it is the Jewish Christians who originally dwelled in Jerusalem and were sent out into the countryside after the persecution that was started primarily by Saul. If you look at Acts, Acts 1 which is, uh, the passage where Saul begins to persecute the church or where Saul kinda comes on the scene as the persecutor of the church, there's a couple distinct, um, distinct linguistic markers we should touch base on. Starting in verse one it says, "And p- Saul approved of his execution. And there arose a day-- that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. They were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made a great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church and entered the house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison." When we look at this and we compare it to that, uh, again, that first verse of James where he says to the ones who are scattered, we see that there's a pretty strong linguistic parallel that tells us that the people he has in mind for this letter, the people he's addressing, are the same people who were dispersed or scattered out of Jerusalem in the persecution. When he says to the 12 tribes in the dispersion, that word dispersion is not really a translation. It's what we call a transliteration. So it's not like we've taken a word and sort of given it an English word. We've just changed the word, the letters over to English letters. In Greek, the word is diaspora, dispersion, and in, uh, Acts 1, the verb used to, to sort of describe this scattering of them is diaspero. And it is a picture of scattering seed. This is what a farmer would do. So it's not even the normal word we would use when someone is fleeing persecution. It's this idea that God has scattered Christians out into the world, in this case by persecution. He scattered them out into the world to be planted. A lot of this is where we get phrases from Tertullian about the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Now, why does this matter? As I mentioned, we often think in Gentile categories when we're reading the New Testament, and for good reason. One, we're all, all Gentiles, I'm presuming. I, I don't, I don't think-- I think I mentioned this last time, and no one came up and corrected me. I don't think anyone here is ethnically Jewish with ancestry that they're directly aware of, you know, where they trace their lineage directly back. Europe is a, a big amalgamation of just about everything, so most of us probably have a smattering of different ethnicities. But none of us are ethnically Jewish to the idea that we would, uh, identify as such in the same way. And even if we were, we've been raised and grown up in a Gentile context. We live in the West. We have-- We think in different categories. And what's more is most of the New Testament is written primarily to Gentiles by someone who is ministering to Gentiles. So Paul uses a fair amount of, of Hebraisms or things that are related to the Old Testament. Of course, he's explaining the Old Testament, and he makes ample reference to the Old Testament because that is the word of God, and it is profitable for our teaching, our correction, our reproof, and ultimately for our, our sanctification. But he uses metaphors and language in a way that is not common to the Israel context that Jesus and James and Peter and the other apostles were raised in. We don't have time to go there, but there's even some metaphors that Paul uses that are actually used the opposite way in, uh, in the more Hebraic Jewish, uh, epistles we have. One example that comes to mind is, um, Paul looks at the concept of milk, and that's not necessarily a good thing, right? It's not a bad thing, but it's what immature believers use, right? They can't handle the meat of the Bible. They have to be given the milk of the gospel before they can progress to the meat. In the Book of Hebrews, which I don't think was written by Paul, and in other places, Peter uses milk as a way to talk about nourishment, right? We think of the land flowing with milk and honey. Milk was not seen as some sort of substandard food that was only for babies. It was seen as, like, the richest, best thing that you could eat. We all have a linguistic environment that we grow up in. We all have a shared vernacular. You know, if I say something like, "You can't get there from here," everyone knows what that means. Obviously, you can get there from here, but you have to take this circuitous route. We know what that means. I think if we went around the room, we probably would find that there is this shared language. And then if we took individual families, we'd find that even within those families, there's further narrowing down of sort of like inside jokes and words that are used in ways that are not necessarily the same as others So when we read James, or when we read the letters of Peter or the letters of John, we should default to thinking more along the lines of comparing them to the words of Christ in the Gospel, first and foremost, and then to the Old Testament before we start to think about them necessarily comparing them to Ja-- or to Paul or to other kind of first century Hellenistic literature. That's not, of course, to say that Paul and James contradict. I'm sure that we went through a long explanation with much detail when you got to James chapter two, which is, of course, the most famous example. Paul uses the word justification or justify in a legal sense to make or to declare someone to be righteous. It's the verdict that the judge delivers, and it communicates the status. It actually performs what it says. When the judge says, "I find you not guilty," it changes your status from being potentially guilty to being cleared of all charges. Paul uses it slightly differently. He's not using it in the sense of to make someone righteous or to declare them righteous. He's using it to say they've been shown to be righteous. They've been validated. They've been vindicated. And if we get that mixed up, that's the source of all sorts of confusion. So when we come to this passage, and we'll get there, I promise, when we come to this passage, we have to understand some of the metaphors and the language that's being used draws from an existing body of shared cultural language that is foreign to us and is in some ways foreign to the rest of the New Testament, apart from what we see in the Gospels And it's important to remember, and this is why it's so key to land, that the audience of this letter is the persecuted, poor Jewish Christians who probably had a fairly comfortable life, relatively speaking, living in Jerusalem. These are city folks. These are people that live in Jerusalem or farm into the fields immediately around Jerusalem. They were established. They owned land. They probably had family that they had to leave, and now they're scattered out into the country with nothing. They're sent out into the world with no jobs, no family connections, no social welfare. Because they've left the Jewish faith, at least from the perspective of the Jews, they can't even go to their Jewish brothers and sisters and rely on the hospitality that's required in the law of Moses This is so important when we think about how James opens the letter and delivers what I think is his thesis statement. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of every kind." Trials like not knowing where the next meal is gonna come from, not knowing where the next roof over your head is, not being sure you can feed your children. We all face real trials and tribulations in our life. Some of them are related to our faith, and some is just the fallen human condition in the fallen world we live in. But we're talking here about a totally different category of, uh, trial and persecution than most of us hopefully will ever experience That brings us to our actual passage now. James opens up this section with a linguistic marker that signifies this is a change in topic. He says, "Come now," or another way to translate it might be, "Now listen. Listen up." When my son is doing something that, uh, I need him to stop or I need to give him instructions, I hold him by his shoulders and I say, "Look at my eyes. I want your eyes right here. Look at my eyes." That's what Paul is doing. He's stopping and he's interrupting the flow of language. This shows us this is a new topic and a new audience. James is not speaking to rich Christians in his audience. First, 'cause there likely weren't any rich Christians directly in his audience. Remember, these are the, the poor Christians scattered out into the Judean countryside, into Samaria He's using a technique that's really common in the prophets. It's common in Jesus, where he's addressing the people who are not really listening as a way to establish that they will be judged, to hold them accountable, but also to comfort those who are hearing the message. This is a form of prophetic address. We see this in Amos, where he's chastising the Jewish leaders. Uh, in Malachi and Micah, this happens. Malachi is primarily, at least initially, is primarily, uh, a book that is railing against the rich leaders in Jerusalem who had oppressed their own brothers and sisters. The chances that those Jewish cr- uh, Jewish leaders were reading his prophecy or hearing his prophecy is pretty slim. So he was addressing a different group to establish the judgment that he was proclaiming on another party. Jesus does this when he says like, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees." There were probably scribes and Pharisees in the audience there, but he wasn't just talking to the people in front of them. He was pronouncing a judgment oracle, a judgment prophecy on all people who fit that category, and James is doing the same thing here James is not opposing wealth generally. Sometimes James is used as kind of a New Testament example to justify the idea that we should all be poor and wear shabby clothing and walk around barefoot and dirty all the time. Right? This is a key passage that's used, uh, in parts of the church that really emphasize sort of a poverty-based lifestyle. Think of like the wandering monks of the Middle Ages or the, the, um, sort of more radical exclusionists that exist even in our day. I remember when I was in college, I was really enamored with this figure named Shane Claiborne. Some of you have probably heard of him, and I remember I was so impressed because he, he didn't buy new shoes. He just cut new shoes out of duct tape and put them back together. Now, there's some, you know, there's some rugged, uh, rugged get-it-done-ness that, uh, I think us, uh, New Englanders can appreciate, but God does not call us to wear duct tape shoes, at least not universally. I'm not gonna comment on whether he calls Shane Claiborne to do that. I also don't think Shane Claiborne does that anymore. Um, some of us he may call to a lifestyle of poverty in association with a mission field or in association with a specific calling. He does not call us generally to be poor or to not gain wealth What he is opposing here is the refusal to use wealth appropriately for God's glory and the accumulation of wealth just for wealth's sake We'll see that as we unpack the language here a little bit. He establishes that he's not just talking about the earthly hoarding of wealth, as though somehow the very act of accumulating wealth was itself the problem. What he's doing is he's pronouncing an eschatological judgment on those who hoard wealth and use it to oppress others. We see here he says, "Come now, you rich, and weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you." Th- that word weep and howl, those are li-- those are words that are most commonly used in prophetic literature to describe the final cry of anguish. Think about the weeping and gnashing of teeth that Jesus talks about. This is the language he's using. He's talking about the final estate of those who refuse to submit their wealth to God He says, "Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be the evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasures in the last days." Now, remember what we said. We, we should read this not in light of some general wisdom, although it is general wisdom that if we accumulate wealth, it tends to not actually go well for us if we're not utilizing it in God-honoring ways. But we should read this in light of the most obvious connection, his big brother, Jesus, who taught his people, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." To maybe land this linguistic, uh, this linguistic connection a little more, I don't know, vibrantly, I'm gonna speculate a little bit. So if you don't like it, then you can disregard it. This is not God's Word. This is a speculation. I can just imagine little Jesus, little nine-year-old Jesus, and probably little six or seven-year-old James and the rest of their siblings, and there's quite a few of them. And we have Joseph, uh, who maybe at this time was still living, although probably not. We know he was living until Jesus was later, you know, 12, he was still around, but we don't know exactly when he left the picture. But he was a carpenter, and he was not, probably not overly wealthy. Uh, they had had to pick up and move, you know, cross-country anyways. They-- We don't know exactly where they were from initially, but they went to Bethlehem, and then they returned to Nazareth. They probably didn't have a lot. There were a lot of mouths to feed and only one business. They didn't have a farm. They didn't own livestock that we know of. I can just imagine a time when little J- little James or one of his sisters was frustrated about the fact that they didn't have anything. And I could picture Mary getting down and going, "Do not store up treasures in, in, uh, in heaven or on Earth. It's all gonna waste away." The same way we might tell our children kind of a, a moral kind of story. Sometimes we have this picture, last time I was here I, I spoke on Philippians 2, we have this idea that Jesus was somehow like Superman, that he, he was just pretending to be a normal human most of the time. As it touches his humanity, as, as we think about Jesus as a human, he had a, his own human set of thinking faculties, his own human knowledge. He grew in wisdom and stature is what Luke teaches us. Well, where did he get some of this wisdom? There's a good reasonable argument to be made that some of the pr- more proverbial type sayings that we see in Christ, that they actually come from the wisdom of his mother and father. And a really good reason to believe that is James relies on the same exact, uh, sort of proverbial wisdom to l- land his point. He doesn't create his own metaphor, he goes back to, at the very least we can say he goes back to the words of Christ. That's a very safe position to take. But this is the shared linguistic context that they both grew up in And he says, "You've done this in the last days." Now, the, the phrase last days in the Bible, uh, in the New Testament generally refers to the time period from Christ's resurrection to his return. We, for a lot of reasons, think about it as kind of like that climactic end period in time. Depending on your, your persuasion, maybe this is when the Antichrist comes, or maybe this is before or after, or maybe during the time when the church is raptured. But in either case, we think of that sort of last period in time before Christ finally comes back. But the New Testament writers are really talking about the entire duration, from Christ's resurrection to his return is what they're referring to. But it does have in view this idea that we are in the last times. The, the final judgment is not necessarily strictly something that's out there in the future. We are living in the last days now, and so what we do and what we say and, and how we worship and if we worship is eschatology. It is the theology of the last times He also positions this as though this is a universal thing going on with those who hoard wealth. This is a very shocking image. Um, we have very good ways to preserve things in our modern world, right? We have ways to m- to make, uh, stainless steel that won't rust, or at least won't rust quickly. But most things in the ancient world, even most precious metals, corroded. Um, I remember when I was growing up, there was this project in my hometown. I lived in a, a little town called White Bear Lake in, in, um, Minnesota, although little is relative. It's pretty big compared to most of what we have out here. And I remember when I was maybe 12 or 13 years old, they had this big building project to build this brand-new, beautiful lakeside pavilion in the center of town, and it w- just gleamed in the sun. It was so gorgeous, and it was made of copper, and everybody loved it, and two years later, it was bright green. I think it's still bright green. I think they figured out it wasn't worth repairing, so they, they just, they just make sure it doesn't keep getting worse, and at some point, I'm sure they either have or will tear it down. But the one metal in the ancient world that didn't do this was gold. It's part of why gold is such a durable measurement of wealth is because it doesn't wear out. It doesn't corrode. It's very soft. It's very easy to damage it, which is why we don't build statues out of it, or we don't build, uh, buildings out of it usually, but it didn't corrode. So when James says here, "Not only your silver, which tarnishes and corrodes, but your silver and gold have corroded." Not are corroding, but have corroded. The rich hearer of this is probably, you know, sitting around like Scrooge McDuck with a pile of gold coins thinking, "Ah, it looks pretty good to me." And what James is saying is, "No, no, no. No, it's corroded. It's eating away at your heart. It's lost its value because you refuse to use it, and so it sits in a pile doing nothing for no one, except serving to further your own condemnation." This is such a crazy, shocking situation that the insanity of not using your wealth, period, the insanity of sitting on your wealth in the ancient world is going to serve as a form of evidence justifying the condemnation of these wicked fools And further, the corrosion of this wealth is an indication of the corrosion of their very souls. There's something about money. I was-- When I was here a couple times before, I preached one of the wealth passages out of Ecclesiastes, and there's something about money that has a unique way of really, really wrecking us. Either we don't have it and we want it, or we have it and we don't wanna lose it, or we have it and we don't spend it wisely. It seems like there's an infinite number of ways to screw it up. And we landed last time that the gospel is good news because with the nearly infinite ways of screwing it up, we're going to screw it up. But the one way that he talks about screwing it up here is hoarding it and sitting on it and not using it Moving on into verses four and five, James moves us now to a more sort of temporal register. He starts out by talking about what wealth is and what it's doing and how it will ultimately affect the entire life and eternity of those in his targeted audience, those he's proclaiming this prophetic, uh, judgment against. But in verse four, he moves back to the behaviors that are being, uh, being engaged in to show the state of these people's souls. He says, "Behold, the wages of the laborers you, who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter." James here points at the, at the behaviors that show this hoarding behavior, and he does it for a number of reasons. One, he needs to call out sin. That's part of the role of a Christian, and especially a leader or a minister in the church, is, um, to not only call out sin in the body of, of Christ, but in a, I think a very particular way, and there's all sorts of, uh, all sorts of theological controversies flying on around about Christian nationalism and other associated things. Some of it is just the spirit of the age. Um, post-COVID, there's a, a real strong sense that our government has failed us and we need to replace it with something else. But there is a, a true way, and I, I think some of those things are a little misguided, but there's a true way that the church, particularly her leaders, should be speaking to the culture around us, and yes, even to the government, to proclaim the truth of God into a wicked and godless culture. This might take the form o- of a m- minister who goes to a town hall meeting to speak out against a gambling association that's going to be forming, or a, an elder in the church or a deacon in the church who goes to speak to, uh, to the city hall or to the state legislature about the wickedness of abortion and about what we see it does to women's lives when they are fooled into thinking that this is the right thing for them. Again, the church is not the state, and the state is not the church, and we should be very careful not to cross those lines for all sorts of reasons. But we as a culture, as a Christian culture, in the United States particularly, have lost sight of our responsibility to speak truth in all circumstances to those in power So James is doing that, of course. But even more so, this is a way that he establishes for his direct audience, for the Jewish poor Christians who have been scattered in this diaspora, in this dispersion. He looks at them in a sense and says, "I see you. I see what's happening to you." And as God's representative, as his chosen voice for this message, as his inspired author, God sees you too This goes back again, the first two chapters of James serve as kind of a thesis statement and table of contents for the whole book. We get an idea of what may have been happening, the actual, uh, acts that were being engaged in, in, in chapter two verse six, he says, "You have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?" James has in mind here a form of predatory land purchasing, where the rich were sort of sweeping up property. They were sweeping it up, and then they were charging probably exorbitant prices to those who would lease the land to try to eke out a living. Does that sound at all like any of our current context, right? When's the last time any of us have tried to buy a house and found anything reasonable? Well, a large part of that is that there are big companies that are scooping up all the land and buying all the, the developments. Now, I'm not commenting on those particular situations. I don't know those people. I don't know their hearts, and some of those things actually are doing good things for the community. But we're familiar with this idea of someone who will purchase a resource, who will then jack the price up in order to turn a profit on it. I'm not opposed to turning a profit. Y- y- yeah, it takes money to run a business, and you have to, you have to recuperate those funds if your business is going to survive. But there's a, there's a way that that can be done that is a predatory act These rich landowners were getting fat on those that they were victimizing In our, in our modern world, we tend to think of someone who is overweight as unhealthy, for good reason, right? Too much weight, and I say that with someone with a little too much padding around the middle, so no, no judgment on this, but too much weight is not healthy, right? We hear that from our doctors, that there's a healthy weight range and there's an unhealthy weight range. In the ancient world, obesity was not the concern, right? Malnutrition was the concern. And so when you see, uh, a king in the Old Testament who's, who's noted to be fat, that's not always negative. Sometimes it is, but he's noted to be fat or he's noted to be large. Even the word for glory, I'm sure you've heard this before, the word for glory in the Old Testament has to do with being heavy. So this idea of weightiness or, um, being able to eat enough to actually gain weight instead of being thin was seen as a good thing, but not when you use it as a way to victimize other people. A person who gathers wealth honestly and enjoys it, that's, that's Proverbs right there. That's the Book of Ecclesiastes in its sort of positive sense, is that we, when we accumulate wealth and we use it for God's glory, it's perfectly okay for us to also use it for our enjoyment. God wants us to enjoy the fruit of our labor. But when we accumulate wealth and use it as a way to gain power over someone and to abuse them, that is what James is railing against here And ultimately, with the audience that James is writing to, this is a form of murder. This is why he says, "You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter." Because a person who can't feed their family in the Old Testament or in the New Testament era was likely to see them die. There are not a ton of people in modern America that are starving to death on the streets. It's not to say it doesn't happen. It's not to say that there's not things like food insecurity or malnutrition, but there are, there are plenty of places people can go to get their basic food needs met. It was not like that-- It's not like that in most of the world now, and it certainly was not like that in the ancient world. And so a, a landowner who again refuses, we're talking about the Jewish landowners, refuses to obey the Jewish law to leave some leftovers for the poor, and instead gleans all the way to the corner so that they can turn a little bit of extra pro-profit, is not only sinning against the Old Testament law, but is committing murder in the strictest sense by refusing to preserve the life of these poor, uh, Christians who are destitute And again, James is encouraging his readers here that the Lord has not ignored their plight. We can think back to the Book of Habakkuk, where Habakkuk basically lodges a lawsuit against God, saying, "You are not paying attention. You're not doing your thing. You're not being faithful to your covenant." And God says, "Let me show you how faithful to my covenant I am. The Chaldeans are on the way." And Habakkuk is like, "Whoa, wait a second here. That's not what I had in mind." God sees the oppression of the poor. He knows when His people are targeted. He knows when children are abused or when widows are ignored. He knows when the government does something to shut down a church, or when the medical institution refuses to acknowledge your personal rights. He sees those things, and He's not ignorant, and He's not static. He's not sleeping on those things. The purpose here is to comfort the oppressed by showing that God is not ignorant of what has happened to them. Just two quick Old Testament examples that use similar language. In Genesis 4, we read of Cain and his murder of Abel, and in verse eight it says, "Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?' He said, 'I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?' And the Lord said, 'What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.'" Numbers, uh, 35 verses 30 says, "If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. And you shall accept no ransom from him who has fled to the city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land except for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it." There's a rich history in the Old Testament of language of inanimate things, land, blood, wealth, other kinds of things that give testimony to God in some way, and specifically of these inanimate, uh, impersonal things testifying to the sin of the people that dwell around them. Even Christ says, "If these people do not worship me, the rocks will cry out." Now, the rocks are not literally crying out, although it certainly would be within God's power to make the rocks sing. But Christ is not saying in that passage that the rocks are going to form mouths and begin singing Hosanna or whatever song they might have been doing. What he's saying is that the very rocks themselves give testimony to the glory and goodness of God. So even if the people around here fail to do so, the entire rest of creation is doing so, and that is what James is saying here. My dear brothers and sisters scattered in the dispersion who have nothing, and in society's eyes are nothing, some of you are facing persecution. Some of you will be killed for your faith, but God sees because the wealth that is being accumulated on the breaking of your own backs is crying out. The corrosion of that gold serves as evidence for the condemnation of those who are harming you We often want justice in the moment. I think we always want justice in the moment, don't we? I think it's a really hard discipline to say, "That person wronged me, but I'm okay letting God sort it out." That is a hard pill to swallow, but it is often the pill that we have to take. It's the medicine that God uses to further our justification, our j- our, uh, excuse me, our sanctification Paul says, you know, "Do not take vengeance. Let the Lord do that." We can trust, and this is where the comfort of this passage comes for us, brothers and sisters, we can trust that when we are wronged, that when someone has done something to us that is a violation of God's law, that that sin will be punished. Now, when we're dealing with other Christians, that sin has already been punished, and so it is not, it is not appropriate for us to hold onto that and to take vengeance. That's what the parable of the unmerciful servant is all about If I as a Christian refuse to forgive my brother and sister when they've wronged me, it's me saying that I'm a better judge of their sin and I'm a better executioner than the Lord is when he punished that sin on the cross. But that sin was not atoned for when we're talking about unbelievers. When we're talking about those who will ultimately end their earthly life and find themselves waking up in flames, that sin has not been atoned for, and so God will have his justice, and we will have our justice. We won't turn there, but in Revelation, we're familiar with the passage, I think it's chapter six, where the martyred saints are under the throne and they say, "How long, O Lord?" Well, God doesn't answer their question, but he gives them new clothes. When Job cries out and he's, he's saying, "I don't understand why this is happening. Why are you targeting me, God? Why, why are you a hunter with your arrows in my liver?" God doesn't tell him why, but he says, essentially, "I'm God and you're just going to have to trust me that this is right." We see a very similar, uh, kind of situation here when we think about when, uh, when Abraham, uh, when God tells Abraham what he's about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah, and then Abraham negotiates, apparently negotiates with God, uh, trying to secure the salvation of the city for the sake of the righteous. And we read starting in verse 20 of chapter 18, he says, "The Lord said to, to Abraham," he says, " 'Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. If not, I will know.' " God is always seeing and investigating the sin of people We're, we're teaching my son, August, the children's catechism, which is a, a great resource. Um, and one of the questions is, "Can you see God?" And the answer is, "No, but he always sees me." Now that may feel at first to some people like a little bit of a heavy-handed answer, but knowing that God sees us is not just there to correct our sin. It should do that, right? Even the secret sins we commit in the dark when, when we're not being watched by anyone else, even, even those God sees. But do you know what else He sees? He sees your pain. He sees your suffering. He sees your victories even when no one else is celebrating them. He sees your progress. He sees you, and that should be a great source of comfort Now this passage, especially verse six, can be a little bit hard to apply because although we're the targeted audience, we're not the target of the judgment oracle. So I think what we have to do, we have to, we have to think about this in light of the way that God talks about the judgment of unbelievers in other places in the scripture, and how that helps us to understand kind of what our, what our status is. If you'll take your Bibles and open to Matthew chapter 25, I think the, um, the account here of the goat and sheep judgment, uh, is instructive for us Starting in verse 31, it says, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory and the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King answered them, 'Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those on the left, 'Depart from me for you for, uh, depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, I was naked and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also, uh, they also will say, answer saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not minister to you?' Then he will answer them saying, 'Truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Now, this passage is sometimes understood as a general command to feed the poor or the sick, or to visit those in prisons, or any of the f- the sort of mercy ministry things that, that, um, are mentioned here. And those are all things that Christians should do, right? We should be engaged in, um, in mercy ministry to the poor, to those who are destitute. We should be mindful and thoughtful of those who have needs around us. What this passage is teaching, though, is not a general command to feed all people, but a specific command to care for your brothers and sisters in Christ when they have a need He doesn't say to the righteous, "You did these to everyone." He says, "Whatever you did to the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me." All of the things that are listed here, the, the six mercy ministries that are listed by Christ here, are things that persecuted Christians were suffering at the time, persecuted Jew- Jewish Christians, and that would be common experiences for, for Jewish Christians and for all persecuted Christians. Right? They're hungry. They don't have food. Our diaspora Jewish Christians don't have land to farm, and even if they're able to scrape together enough funding to lease out a farm, they're being, uh, they're being totally overwhelmed by the cost of that. The sort of homeowners association dues of these pyramid schemes that were going on in the first century, they were so exorbitant that it wasn't even subs- subsistence farming. Christians were being thrown in, uh, in prison. They didn't have enough money to replace their clothes when it wore out. They couldn't have access to clean water. We take clean water as such a, such a basic thing, and it's so easy. You just turn on the tap, or you just go to the store and you buy a bottle of $7 water. It wasn't like this in the first century. If you didn't have a well, you didn't have water, unless you had someone who cared enough to share this precious resource with you. And so what Christ is saying to, to his people, both in the immediate audience on the Sermon on the Mount, uh, and in this, the Olivet Discourse here, what he's saying to his people is when someone in the body of Christ does not have what they need, the body of Christ should step up and make sure that that is the case, that they take care of that person. And likewise, he's saying to those who are not a part of the body of Christ, "Depart from me, I never knew you." Now, the intro to this, why it sometimes is called a parable, is the sheep and the goats. We sometimes go way too far into the arena of comparing the behavior of sheeps with the behavior of the people here, right? Sheep are nice, they're affable, they listen to you. In reality, from what I understand, sheep are pretty dumb and can be very stubborn, right? And then we, we read and we go, "Goats are stubborn, they're rebellious, they're not really good for anything." Well, there's a reason people have goats on farms. They, they can be stubborn, right? They can be destructive, but they also serve a purpose. So the point here is not that sheep are good and goats are bad. The point is that sheep are not goats and goats are not sheep. And, uh, another point that comes with this is sheep don't become goats by behaving like goats, and goats don't become sheep by acting like sheep. I have some friends that will tell you they have very affectionate, friendly, lovable goats, right? I'd, I would... If I could get my kids one of those little pygmy goats that everybody loves, I would do that, 'cause they can be very kind, very sweet, and they're very smart. But they're not sheep. And if you read this passage carefully, this fact that those who are taken to the right are, are in fact taken to the right is not because they fed the poor. It's not because they ministered to Christ by feeding the least of these. They did those things because they were part of the kingdom The King says to those on His right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." The sheep on the right were always going to be the sheep on the right. They were predestined according to the counsel of God's will before all time to live and walk in good works. That's just Ephesians 2 there. That's also just James 2 there. You have faith, I will show you my faith by my works. This is evidence language, loved ones Likewise, the ones who are told to depart into eternal darkness were also predestined not to inherit this kingdom. No kingdom was prepared for them before the foundation of the world. They have no inheritance. They have nothing. They will end up in the state that they are trying to impose on these poor Jewish Christians. They will end up in the state that they may be trying to impose on some of us in this room And for the final verse here in, in chapter five, in verse six here, there's a lot of discussion and debate in the commentaries about who the identity of this righteous one is. It says, "You've condemned and murdered the righteous person, he does not resist you." Now, some commentators will take the fact that this is the singular righteous person, that he has been murdered and h- was condemned, and will take this as a reference to Christ. And that would, would make good sense, right? The Jewish, the wealthy Jewish landowners, the wealthy Jews in Jerusalem who per- who persecuted and cast out, um, the Christians, they were in the same group of people who condemned and murdered Jesus And at least at the time of writing this, and in many ways in our own day, God is not necessarily resisting them. He's allowing them to store up judgment for the coming day of wrath There are others who will take this as sort of the hypothetical singular, right? The righteous one or the righteous person is this, uh, representative hypothetical person that represents all of the persecuted Christians. And so it's more like saying, um, to the, the wealthy landowners who are persecuting Christians, "You have condemned and murdered the Christians, the righteous people, and we do not resist you." Now, at the end of the day, it's, it's always good to have good, sober, well-intentioned, text-based debates about what the Bible means. We can and we should try to convince others, uh, when we think they're wrong about what the scripture means. So that's not what I'm saying here. But in many ways, which of those two perspectives it actually is doesn't change the interpretation of this passage. Like we read in Matthew 25, like we read in Acts 9 when Christ comes and confronts Saul, what you do to God's people, you are doing to Christ himself. What you do to the body, you have done to the head. It's a little bit weird to say that when I stub my toe, I injure my head, but that's true, right? I don't injure my toe as though it's some separate piece. It's not like I'm a Lego man where I can just swap out a hand that gets cracked and put it back on. When I injure my toe, I injure myself. My whole body is injured even though it's specific to a part of my body. When you-- when someone persecutes you, when they, uh, try to extort your wealth, your funds, when they try to harm your body, when they try to take away your children, all things that are happening not just out there in the world, but in our country, even in our own region. When they try to tell you that because you don't wanna play a basketball game, that you can't play sports at all. When a city taxes a portion of a church's property because they don't think it's being used for religious purposes, they are doing that to Jesus Christ himself, and God will not be mocked This should call us both to faithfulness and to encouragement How people treat Christ or how people treat Christ's people, including how we trust, tr- uh, treat Christ's people, shows us what we think about Christ. The people who take care of the church do so because they love God, and they do it out of a regenerated heart that already loves God. And the people who hate the church do it because they hate Christ, and they do it out of their wickedness and out of their wicked heart This brings us back again to the thesis statement of James. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." And then he says later in that, uh, first chapter in verse nine, "Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass, he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower fails, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." Now, you're all coming up to the end of James here. Um, we probably have two, two more sermons, I would guess, and the rest of this chapter is reinforcing this. It's unpacking for the immediate audience and therefore for us, it's unpacking that although the rich have their punishment coming to them, that likewise our consolation, our comfort from Christ is also coming to us. He closes the whole letter out, he returns to his thesis statement to say, "I'm not going to pretend that the trials you're going through are joyful, but you can count it all joy." You can reckon it, you can impute it as joy, my brothers and sisters. You can put it in the joy column instead of the t- the pain column, right? We had discussion about the beautiful word imputation in the announcements and scripture reading in the beginning here Imputation is a, is an accounting term. And when we count it all joy, we're taking what should be a red line in the, in the loss ledger, right? We're taking what should be an expense, and we're able to move it to the profit. We're able to move it to the positive side, not because it didn't hurt and not because we wanted it to happen, but because our God is good enough to not rob us of the chance to be sanctified When we are oppressed and opposed, those who are oppressing and oppose us mean it for evil, just like Joseph's brothers, uh, and Pharaoh, and all sorts of wicked men in, in the Old Testament and in our own world. Pilate, Herod, you mean, you name it in the Bible, this applies. They meant their wicked acts for wicked things, but God, rich in mercy, works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. And what is that purpose? That we might be transformed into the image of Christ so that Christ may be glorified and He may be the firstborn among many brothers. When we face trials and suffering of every kind, it leads us to our sanctification and to our ultimate glorification. We do not earn those things. We don't sanctify ourselves any more than we justify ourselves, or that any more than we will glorify ourselves or will raise ourselves from the dead. That is all God's work from start to finish. But God does use these things that He brings us through as a way to bring about that work It's like he bends us over the hammer, over the anvil of trials, and he hammers us until we become a sharp sword in the hand of, in his hand. Or he polishes us with a rough cloth until we become a smooth, beautiful gem, right? Think of any number of refining things that need to be done. It always involves, if the thing was, uh, was a person, it always involves something that would hurt a little bit. It always involves a little bit of damage to wear away the impurities. Our sanctification and our glorification is no different than that. He uses adversity. He uses the wicked actions and intentions of, of evil men and women. He uses those things to glorify us. So although we should never, uh, we should never seek those things, right? You don't have to go and make yourself the soft target to the wicked people. It's okay to keep your head down. There's nothing wrong with that. The Jewish Christians were probably doing their best to keep their heads down most of the time, and that's fine. There's not any words in scripture about being a coward if you don't, if you don't put a target on your back. But your target is gonna get there eventually, and that's not a bad thing. We can welcome that. We can count it as joy because of who God is and what he's done. The supreme act of suffering, the supreme act of, of evil happened to the only innocent person there ever was, and it happened to him for us.  this episode is available below.

She was a maiden from Antioch who lived (perhaps as a slave) in the house of Sabina, wife of a Senator. When Seraphima brought the senator's wife to faith in Christ, the governor summoned Seraphima before him. When she held firm in her faith, he cast her into prison and send several young men to her cell by night to defile her. When they arrived, she was praying to God, and an angel of the Lord appeared before them, clothed in light and bearing a sword; and the young men fell down unconscious. Finally, Seraphima received her martyr's crown when she was beheaded by the governor's order. Sabina, the senator's wife, recovered and buried her body, from which a healing myrrh flowed. This was during the reign of Hadrian.

Patrick celebrates the release of his free 14 track album, KEEP GOING, and details how you can get it. Keep Going – The Patrick Madrid Show Album Release Party! (00:36) Marty - Caller yesterday thought that a pastor would be charged $100 for not submitting a marriage certificate after a wedding. That is not the case, I am a lawyer. (06:50) Craig - How can I explain transubstantiation? (16:06) Megan - Why do you think so many famous saints died young? (33:19) Charles - About the gentleman who was having a difficult time understanding transubstantiation. The Miracle of Lanciano would help him understand. (43:55) Adam - Why is the bishop of Rome the Pope and not the Bishop of Antioch? (47:32) Al - I was raised Catholic and converted to being Evangelical. What is the Catholic definition of salvation? (49:11)

Drop us a note about the podcast. A proverb can sound calm until you apply it to real life: “It is not right to acquit the guilty or deny justice to the innocent.” We start there, using Proverbs 18 to talk about wisdom that runs deep and justice that can't be bent without breaking a nation's trust. When accountability gets selective, victims get forgotten and the culture learns the wrong lesson. From that foundation, we slow down and let Scripture do the heavy lifting. We pray for you, your family, and our leaders, then read a marriage passage from Song of Solomon that honors covenant love. After that, Acts 19 takes us to Ephesus, where the gospel threatens an entire industry built on idols and the city erupts into confusion. It's a vivid picture of what happens when truth collides with profit, reputation, and spiritual counterfeits. We also address a question that keeps surfacing in church life: is Jesus Christ enough, or do you need a specific denomination to be saved? We argue plainly for Jesus Christ alone as the mediator, and we talk about the most practical way to change a country: spread the gospel, live it, and don't outsource discipleship to politics. Along the way we highlight Psalm 147, a Medal of Honor story of Technical Sergeant Charles F. Carey Jr., and a candid take on modern entertainment, ideology, and the possibility of using AI to bypass cultural gatekeepers and rebuild stories around faith and American values. If this stirred something in you, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review. What part hit you hardest: justice, Scripture, courage, or the future of storytelling?#ChristianNation#AmericanPatriot#DailyBibleSupport the showThe American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribeCountryside Book Serieshttps://www.amazon.com/Countryside-Book-J-T-Cope-IV-ebook/dp/B00MPIXOB2 America's Christian Heritage Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/2622483

Our 4th and final NT norm is the centrality of prayer in the life of the early church. Listen in as we share 4 "P" observations on prayer - It was a Priority; It Preceded the filling and work of the Spirit; It was the church's response to Persecution; and it was Personal and Persistent. 4 P's: 1-Priority. Begins the book of Acts—“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers" (1:14).  In Ch. 2, the church was praying when the Holy Spirit filled them.  Acts 2:42- he church was devoted to prayer. It was one of the first things that marked them out—alongside the apostle's teaching, breaking the bread, and fellowship. Acts 6: We see the priority of prayer even more strikingly when the apostles single out prayer alongside of the ministry of the Word as their primary responsibility. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” “I stand here to confess frankly that from my inmost heart I attribute the large prosperity which God has given to this Church vastly more to the prayers of the people than to anything that God may have given to me. I know it is so.” - Charles Spurgeon 2-Precedes the filling and work of the Spirit.  Acts 2 begins with the believers all together in one place, praying. And we know what happened next—the sound from heaven like a mighty rushing wind, filling the house where they were.  Acts 4- The believers are gathered together praying in the midst of persecution—praying specifically for boldness. “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness" (4:31). Acts 13- The prophets and teachers of the church in Antioch were gathered and they were worshipping the Lord and fasting. Just then the Holy Spirit calls out Barnabas and Saul. And after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.  These are pretty pivotal moments in the history of the gospel—especially in Chapters 2 and 13. And we see that God's people had been devoting themselves to prayer in the time leading up to these great events—these experiences of the Spirit's work. Prayer had paved the way for these people to respond when the Spirit showed up.  3-Persecution- Prayer was the church's consistent response to persecution. Acts 4- Peter and John have just been threatened by the high-priestly council. "When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord. . .” (4:23-24). Their immediate reaction to the threat of violence from the ruling authorities was to pray. And hear what they prayed: “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”  Acts 12- Peter is in prison and miraculously rescued by an angel of the Lord. When he is rescued, it says “he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” Again, the response of the church to the persecution of her people is to pray.  Acts 16- Paul and Silas in prison. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” In the midst of persecution, we find these two workers praying and singing hymns.  Prayer is what we do when we are persecuted. It is the response of God's church to the threats and persecutions. In each of these moments, God miraculously answered. 4-Personal and Persistent. In Acts, we don't get much details about the personal prayer lives of the apostles. Many references are to the church praying corporately. However in Paul's epistles, we find Paul talking about his own prayer life all over the place – way too many to reference, will just name a few- Eph. 1:16- "I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers…" and we see his personal prayer for the Ephesian believers.  Eph. 3:14-19. Paul's prayers were important enough for him to write out for them and for us. A few examples from 1st Thessalonians: 1 Thess. 1:2- "We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers." 1 Thess. 5:17- "Pray without ceasing." 1 Thess. 5:25- "Brothers, pray for us."  Paul was not voicing prayers for believers every moment of every day. He was sometimes preaching the gospel; he was sometimes sleeping; he was sometimes eating or traveling. But he had such a habit of prayer that he described it as day and night, constant.  Eph. 6:10-20- Paul teaches us that we are in a spiritual battle and prayer is an essential weapon. Paul commands us to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. The Word, The Spirit, and constant prayer. As we've found these 4 NT norms, we have seen in a new way for us how intertwined they are. The Word bears fruit by the power of the Spirit. The Spirit honors and responds to the preaching of the Word and obedience to the Word and prayer. Prayer is what invites the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, and there is no real prayer without the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Prayer was seen as part of the work of the church. It was at the center of their ministry. We have a saying among our teams here that prayer is the greater work. We believe that because we ultimately believe that this work we're doing is His work. It doesn't move forward unless He moves and the Spirit grants repentance and life. Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the growth.” Prayer is an admission of our helplessness and a plea for God to do what only He can do. That's why we see the early church devoting themselves to it. Prayer was necessary to them—it was just a part of their lives, and of their gathering together. If you are listening and feel like you're a terrible pray-er, don't give into discouragement or paralysis or accusations --- just start! Read a good book on prayer. Make sure you're spending daily time with God alone in the Word and in prayer. Use your drive or shower to pray. Post a prayer list by your bathroom mirror and pray as you brush your teeth. Set a timer for a certain time each day. 12:12, 3:10. And ask God for help!  This concludes our series on NT norms – daily ministry, the Word, the Spirit, and prayer.  

How can we live a life that pleases God? We imitate people all the time, so let's imitate God. Zach Wiggins, Director of Student Ministries at the Antioch Campus, continues our series, “Ephesians: One in Christ,” preaching from Ephesians 5:1-14. Notes in this sermon: Walk in love Walk in light Visit www.bluevalleychurch.org for more information about Blue Valley Church in Overland Park and Olathe, Kansas.

With season 1 and 2 complete we move into Acts: Season 3. The narrative shifts to Antioch and the focus is on Paul - previously called Saul - as he shares the gospel in Gentile areas. ___ With Silas and Timothy back in Berea Paul moves on to Athens, Greece. While waiting for Silas and Timothy, Paul walked around Athens and noticed a great deal of religion but a missing relationship with God. 

Losing Our Life By the Devil's Helpers David Eells - 7.26.2026 (originally 7/18/19)  (Audio) We Must Lose our Life to Gain Our Life Mar 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he spake the saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33 But he turning about, and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and saith, Get thee behind me, Satan; for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men. 34 And he called unto him the multitude with his disciples, and said unto them, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's shall save it. 36 For what doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? The Hatred of the Wicked Crucify our Life Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you; 18 yea and before governors and kings shall ye be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak. 20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. 21 And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child: and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. 22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. 23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. 24 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household! Joh 15:18 If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which none other did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But this cometh to pass, that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Luk 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets. Luk 6:27 But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, 28 bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. 29 To him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also. 30 Give to every one that asketh thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. 32 And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? for even sinners love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? for even sinners do the same. 34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much. 35 But love your enemies, and do them good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. 36 Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Joh 7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Saved From Hateful Enemies Luk 1:67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, 68 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people, 69 And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David 70 (As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old), 71 Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To show mercy towards our fathers, And to remember his holy covenant; 73 The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father, 74 To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies Should serve him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 2Ti 4:18 The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. 2Ti 3:10-11 But thou didst follow my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, patience, 11 persecutions, sufferings; what things befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: and out of them all the Lord delivered me. Psa 34:17-19 The righteous cried, and Jehovah heard, And delivered them out of all their troubles. 18 Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But Jehovah delivereth him out of them all. We are called to Suffer For Jesus, His people, and His Life in us. Mat 17:12 but I say unto you, that Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. 13 Then understood the disciples that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. Act 5:34 But there stood up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in honor of all the people, and commanded to put the men forth a little while. 35 And he said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves as touching these men, what ye are about to do. 36 For before these days rose up Theudas, giving himself out to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed, and came to nought. 37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the enrollment, and drew away some of the people after him: he also perished; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad. 38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown: 39 but if it is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them; lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God. 40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles unto them, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name. 42 And every day, in the temple and at home, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus as the Christ. Act 9:13 But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many of this man, how much evil he did to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14 and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call upon thy name. 15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel: 16 for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. 17 And Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 18 And straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight; and he arose and was baptized; Rom 8:16 The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: 17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him. 2Co 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 4 who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ. 6 But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: 7 and our hope for you is stedfast; knowing that, as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so also are ye of the comfort. 8 For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our affliction which befell us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9 yea, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead: 10 who delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver: on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us; 11 ye also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift bestowed upon us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf. Php 1:27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ: that, whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear of your state, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the gospel; 28 and in nothing affrighted by the adversaries: which is for them an evident token of perdition, but of your salvation, and that from God; 29 because to you it hath been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer in his behalf: 30 having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me. 2Th 1:3 We are bound to give thanks to God always to you, brethren, even as it is meet, for that your faith growth exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all toward one another aboundeth; 4 so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye endure; 5 which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God; to the end that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 6 if so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, 7 and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, 8 rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: 9 who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day. 11 To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfil every desire of goodness and every work of faith, with power; 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2Ti 2:2 And the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier. 5 And if also a man contend in the games, he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully. 2Ti 2:9 wherein I suffer hardship unto bonds, as a malefactor; but the word of God is not bound. 10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 Faithful is the saying: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him: 12 if we endure, we shall also reign with him: if we shall deny him, he also will deny us: 2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 2Ti 4:2 preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables. 5 But be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry. 6 For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: 8 henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing. 1Pe 2:19 For this is acceptable, if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 21 For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed. 1Pe 3:10 For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile: 11 And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good? 14 But even if ye should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed are ye: and fear not their fear, neither be troubled; 15 but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear: 16 having a good conscience; that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ. 17 For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. 18 Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you: 13 but insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. 14 If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you. 15 For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil-doer, or as a meddler in other men's matters: 16 but if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name. 17 For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator. Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Murmur not, brethren, one against another, that ye be not judged: behold, the judge standeth before the doors. 10 Take, brethren, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spake in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we call them blessed that endured: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful. Rev 2:9 I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. 11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Php 3:7 Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ, 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith: 10 that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; 11 if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, 8 though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation; 1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 2 that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 3 For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles, and to have walked in lasciviousness, lusts, winebibbings, revellings, carousings, and abominable idolatries: 4 wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: 5 who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. 7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer: 8 above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins: 9 using hospitality one to another without murmuring: 1Pe 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; 7 casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you. 8 Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, 9 whom withstand stedfast in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your brethren who are in the world. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ, after that ye have suffered a little while, shall himself perfect, establish, strengthen you. 11 To him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

The gospel wasn't just spread. It was intentionally sent...In this next part of our journey through Acts, we see how the early believers move beyond their borders to carry the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth. From the shores of Antioch to the heart of Rome, they step into the unknown, navigating cultural barriers, trials, and shipwrecks along the way. What looks like a dangerous journey is actually God's direction. As the Church is sent, the gospel transforms the world, and that same mission is handed to us today.

In this Pastor's Choice message, “A River or a Bog?”, Mark Medley brings a vivid and searching question to the center of everyday discipleship: are we living as people through whom God's blessing flows, or are we becoming stagnant by holding too tightly to what we have been given?Beginning with Proverbs 11:24-25, Mark points to the surprising wisdom of God's kingdom: “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” Generosity is not merely a financial principle; it is a way of life. Those who refresh others are themselves refreshed. From there, he traces the picture of rivers throughout Scripture, from the river flowing out of Eden in Genesis to the river of the water of life in Revelation, bright as crystal and bringing healing to the nations.Rivers in the Bible speak of God's presence, nourishment, cleansing, comfort, new beginnings, and life that moves outward. A river remains fresh because it flows. It receives and releases. It blesses what is downstream. A bog, by contrast, turns inward. Its waters grow murky. Its ground becomes unstable. It traps, grips, and paralyzes. Through a striking story from the Mourne Mountains of Northern Ireland, Mark shows how unforgettable—and dangerous—the bog image really is.This message presses the question into personal life, family culture, business practice, and church mission. There are seasons when God draws us close for healing, strengthening, and restoration, but we are not meant to remain permanently closed off in self-protection. God heals us so that life can flow through us again.Mark then turns to the book of Acts, contrasting the early church in Jerusalem, which experienced power and community yet struggled to move outward, with the church in Antioch, a diverse, praying, fasting, sending church that released its best people for the work of God. Acts 1, Acts 8, and Acts 13 become a challenge to every believer and every church: will we resist the outward call of Jesus, or will we become a river for the nations?The message concludes with Zechariah's vision of a Jerusalem without walls and with Jesus' invitation in John 7: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Christ is the source of living water, and those who come to Him are invited into His generous, outward-moving mission. God is calling His people to be a river, not a bog.We are Trinity Community Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.Subscribe to our Podcast & YouTube channel to find past sermons, classes, interviews, and more!Find us on Facebook & Instagram

This episode of High School Sports Saturday broadcast live from the new Williamson County Schools (WCS) Innovation Center in Franklin, Tennessee, opens with WCS District Director of Athletics Coach Patrick Whitlock, who introduces the expanded Fall Media Day lineup—now featuring girls' volleyball and soccer alongside football—while highlighting the center's career-focused vocational programs (including flight simulators, cybersecurity, culinary arts, and hospitality management), the "Outside the Lines" (OTL) student media initiative, student transfer policies, and the importance of hiring quality coaches to build strong school athletic culture. First-year Centennial High School head coach Coach Chad Broadrick then details assembling his coaching staff, transitioning from defensive coordinator, and reshaping the Cougars' offense following the loss of key 2025 playmakers Mitchell Granger and Malachi Steel by leaning on five returning senior offensive linemen ahead of preseason scrimmages against Lebanon, Independence, and Father Ryan. Next, Nolensville High School head coach Coach Scott Stiddem provides an outlook on his second season leading the Knights, detailing the return of 14 starters (seven on offense and seven on defense), extensive stadium upgrades featuring new turf with heat-reducing green rubber pellets, LED lights, and a video board, his strong support for multi-sport athletes, and a challenging early schedule starting with a Thursday night season opener against Antioch on MyTV30. Nolensville senior defensive lineman Jake Centell follows, explaining how his background as a three-time state-placing wrestler enhances his leverage, hand-fighting, and physical conditioning on the field, while discussing his summer weight training regimen, interest in aviation, and college recruiting process. Senior quarterback Ryan Newell then discusses taking over as Nolensville's starting signal-caller alongside a close-knit group of classmates who have played together since middle school, explaining how his commitment to play Division I baseball at Bowling Green State University and his childhood experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu assist his vision and quick decision-making under pressure as the team pursues a state championship. Finally, The Tennessean high school sports columnist Tom Kreager wraps up the broadcast by reviewing the start of full-pad practices across Middle Tennessee, analyzing the commitment of five-star offensive lineman David Sanders Jr. to the University of Tennessee, spotlighting Christ Presbyterian Academy's (CPA) passing attack led by quarterback Bo Bryan and wide receivers Maximus Curry and Maddox Porter, and previewing The Tennessean's annual "Dandy Dozen" series profiling the region's top high school football talent.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He was a disciple of St Peter, born in Antioch. St Peter took him to Rome (he was bishop of Antioch before being bishop of Rome, so Antioch is as much the 'see of Peter' as is Rome) and made him Bishop of Ravenna. In Ravenna, he healed the wife of the military governor of a grave illness, after which the governor and his household confessed Christ and were baptized. Apollinarius was able to form a house church in the governor's home, from which he labored for the Gospel for twelve years. Eventually, he was condemned to exile in Illyria for his faith, and began a life of missionary travel in the Balkans, travelling as far as the Danube. After twelve years of this work, he was driven back to Italy by the hostility of some of the pagans. He was received with joy by the people of Ravenna, which aroused the envy of the pagan elders, who denounced him to the Emperor Vespasian. When the elders asked permission to kill Apollinarius, the Emperor only gave them permission to drive him from the city, wisely saying 'It is not seemly to take revenge on behalf of the gods, for they can themselves be revenged on their enemies if they are angered.' But, in defiance of the Imperial decree, the pagan leaders attacked and killed Apollinarius with knives. His holy relics are preserved in Ravenna, in a church dedicated to him.

24 And there was also a strife amongst them, which of them should seem to be the greater.Facta est autem et contentio inter eos, quis eorum videretur esse major. 25 And he said to them: The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they that have power over them, are called beneficent.Dixit autem eis : Reges gentium dominantur eorum : et qui potestatem habent super eos, benefici vocantur. 26 But you not so: but he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; and he that is the leader, as he that serveth.Vos autem non sic : sed qui major est in vobis, fiat sicut minor : et qui praecessor est, sicut ministrator. 27 For which is greater, he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? Is it not he that sitteth at table? But I am in the midst of you, as he that serveth:Nam quis major est, qui recumbit, an qui ministrat? nonne qui recumbit? Ego autem in medio vestrum sum, sicut qui ministrat : 28 And you are they who have continued with me in my temptations:vos autem estis, qui permansistis mecum in tentationibus meis. 29 And I dispose to you, as my Father hath disposed to me, a kingdom;Et ego dispono vobis sicut disposuit mihi Pater meus regnum, 30 That you may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom: and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.ut edatis et bibatis super mensam meam in regno meo, et sedeatis super thronos judicantes duodecim tribus Israel.St Apollinaris, a disciple of St Peter, came with the latter from Antioch to Rome. He was consecrated Bishop of Ravenna and preached the Gospel of Christ amidst many persecutions, including prison and exile. The Apostle of Ravenna was beaten to death A.D. 79.

Reading Acts 13:13-25 where the Apostle Paul preaches in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, arguing first to the Jews there that Jesus is the Christ according to the prophets. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

In this episode of Antioch Conversations, Pastor Andy Comer sits down with Mela Knight to share her powerful story of moving from the darkness of her struggles to finding peace and purpose in Christ! Mela talks about how reading the Bible chronologically transformed her life, what her meaningful Hebrew tattoos represent, and how God uses her to help others feel seen and welcomed at church. She also reflects on her trip to Israel, her heart for serving alongside her husband Jamie, and why connecting people into the church family is her calling.

In this episode of Antioch Conversations, Pastor Andy Comer sits down with Erin Franklin, new location host at Antioch Georgetown, as she shares her story of coming to know Jesus, discerning a call to ministry, and other fun topics.Erin talks about helping people move from first-time guests to connected family members, removing barriers so they can truly belong and grow in the local church. We hope you enjoy this conversation and getting to know Erin as much as we did!

Welcome to episode 255 of Grasp the Bible. In this episode, we will examine the courage to confront — why love sometimes demands confrontation, and why silence in the face of public sin is not grace but cowardice.  Key takeaways:   Peter — the apostle who received the vision about Gentile inclusion, who defended Gentile freedom at the Jerusalem Council — fell into public hypocrisy at Antioch out of fear of man. Spiritual maturity and apostolic authority did not protect him from condemnable sin. Peter's sin was not merely personal. His withdrawal sent a public message that Gentiles were second-class Christians, and it was influential enough to sweep even Barnabas along with it. When public sin influences others, the stakes are no longer private. Paul opposed Peter to his face, in front of everyone. He did not handle it quietly. Public sin that is influencing others requires public confrontation to protect the body — private rebuke is insufficient when the damage is already corporate. The issue was not table manners. The issue was the truth of the gospel. Peter's behavior implied that faith in Christ plus Jewish custom equals full acceptance — a direct contradiction of justification by faith alone. When the gospel itself is at stake, silence is not charity; it is betrayal. We confuse loyalty with enablement, niceness with love, and cowardice with grace. Paul loved Peter — and that love compelled confrontation, not cover-up. Silence in the face of significant sin is not kindness; it is complicity. Some hills are worth dying on. Paul identified the gospel as one of them. Not every disagreement requires confrontation, but gospel-level compromise is non-negotiable. Better to stand alone for truth than unite around error. Receiving confrontation with humility is as important as offering it with courage. Peter did not respond to Paul's rebuke with retaliation. He received correction and remained in fellowship. True friends speak truth to us even when it is uncomfortable.  Quotable:   Silence is not always the loving thing. When error is public, when people are being led astray, when the gospel itself is at stake — your silence does not keep the peace. It makes you complicit. The church's health and the gospel's integrity depend on believers who love truth more than comfort.  Application:   Examine where loyalty has become enablement. Is there sin in a friend's or family member's life that you are aware of and silent about? Name the real reason you haven't spoken — fear of conflict, desire for approval, reluctance to risk the relationship. Paul loved Peter, and that love required confrontation. Protecting someone in their sin is not loyalty; it is a failure of love.  Identify the theological compromises you are tolerating for unity's sake. Prosperity gospel. Denial of Christ's exclusivity. Sin reframed as identity. False teaching spreading in your church or small group. Silence in these moments is not neutrality — it is a vote for error. Discern the difference between peripheral disagreements worth overlooking and gospel-level issues that must be addressed.  When confrontation is necessary, do not shrink from it. If you know you need to have a difficult conversation — with a friend drifting into sin, a leader who is compromising, a false teacher influencing your community — pray for courage and then have it. Strip away the fear of man. Remove the desire for comfort and approval. Love the person enough to risk the relationship for the sake of their soul.  Receive confrontation with humility. This passage cuts both ways. When you are the one being confronted, receive it as an act of love rather than an attack. Do not be defensive. Do not retaliate. Ask whether the rebuke is warranted before deciding it is not. The same courage Paul praised in himself he modeled in how he treated Peter afterward — they remained in fellowship. Truth-telling and relationship are not opposites.  Connect with us:   Website:  https://springbaptist.org Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus) Need us to pray for you? Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/  If you haven't already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider. 

Trinity Anglican Seminary is built on the same daily prayer rhythms you practice every time you hit play. Morning Prayer. Evening Prayer. Weekly Eucharist. It's a place where chapel and classroom aren't two separate worlds, they're one. Whether you're pursuing a degree or exploring a certificate in Anglican studies, come experience being formed in community around study and prayer at Trinity. Learn more at tas.edu/dailyoffice.Morning Prayer for Monday, July 20, 2026 (Proper 11; Margaret of Antioch, Martyr, 4th c.).Psalm and Scripture readings (60-day Psalter):Psalm 501 Samuel 112 Corinthians 2:12-3:18Click here to support The Daily Office Podcast with a one-time gift or a recurring donation.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to access the text for the Daily Office at DailyOffice2019.com.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Trinity Anglican Seminary is built on the same daily prayer rhythms you practice every time you hit play. Morning Prayer. Evening Prayer. Weekly Eucharist. It's a place where chapel and classroom aren't two separate worlds, they're one. Whether you're pursuing a degree or exploring a certificate in Anglican studies, come experience being formed in community around study and prayer at Trinity. Learn more at tas.edu/dailyoffice.Evening Prayer for Monday, July 20, 2026 (Proper 11; Margaret of Antioch, Martyr, 4th c.).Psalm and Scripture readings (60-day Psalter):Psalm 51Ezra 8:21-362 Timothy 3Click here to support The Daily Office Podcast with a one-time gift or a recurring donation.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to access the text for the Daily Office at DailyOffice2019.com.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

How does the Gospel change our relationships? Pastor Derrick Lynch continues our series, “Ephesians: One in Christ,” preaching from Ephesians 4:17-24. Notes in this sermon: The Gospel manifests and motivates transformed relationships. Visit www.bluevalleychurch.org for more information about Blue Valley Church in Overland Park and Olathe, Kansas.

Monday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Apollinaris; born in Antioch, and became a disciple of St. Peter; his successor as bishop of Ravenna, St. Peter Chrysologus, preached a sermon in his honor in the 5th century, recalling how in the Church’s infancy, St. Apollinaris showed deep faith and dedication in the face of punishment; two beautiful churches in the onetime important Byzantine city of Ravenna are dedicated to him; he died in 79 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 7/20/26 Gospel: Matthew 12:38-42

With season 1 and 2 complete we move into Acts: Season 3. The narrative shifts to Antioch and the focus is on Paul - previously called Saul - as he shares the gospel in Gentile areas. ___ Paul, Silas, & Timothy leave Luke in Philippi and make their way to the capital of Macedonia - Thessalonica - which is greatly influenced by Roman culture and ideology, even the Jewish leaders have fallen victim to its schemes. The synagogue's affection and affiliation with Rome has led the leaders to refuse Jesus as Lord and they violently sent Paul and Silas away. They left by night and found themselves in a backwoods town called Berea where their message was received with great eagerness.

The Book of Acts | The Amazing Church in Antioch | 7-19-26 by Kearney eFree Church

When I went to Furman University back in the early 70s, I was giving the nickname “Kid”. It's what all the people in the band and music department called me, it was on the back of my Phi Mu Alpha fraternity jersey, even to this day, 50 plus years later, my college friends call me “Kid”.I'm not quite sure how I came to be called “Kid” … but it stuck. Maybe it was because I acted like a kid or looked like a kid, I never really knew.Do you have a nickname? What is it? Who gave you that name? How did you get it? Nicknames are given for a lot of reasons. Some are given to honor you. Some are given to embarrass you. Some are given because of the way you act, the way you look or the way other people see you.In ancient times, the city of Antioch was famous for creating and giving nicknames to people, places and things. These nicknames could have been given in honor or ridicule. In Antioch, the Followers of Jesus were given a very distinct nickname based on their passion for, and devotion to Jesus… and it stuck!I encourage you to read Acts 11 as we discover and unpack this nickname and look at how God was active, present and alive in Antioch and how believers changed the entire feel of the city. 

In Acts 11, we meet the ordinary followers of Jesus who helped shape one of the most influential churches in the early Christian movement. The church in Antioch wasn't built by famous leaders, but by everyday people who faithfully shared the hope of Jesus, encouraged one another, and lived with remarkable generosity. As we reflect on their story, we're invited to consider what God might do through our own ordinary lives—and how He can use a community of faithful people to bring hope to our city.

June 24, 2026 - Wednesday PM Bible Class This episode is a classroom-style exploration of Barnabas, the New Testament figure known as the "son of encouragement." Recorded as part of a summer teaching series, the speaker walks listeners through key passages in Acts (chapters 4, 9, 11, 13, and 15) to trace Barnabas' life, ministry, and influence on the early church. Topics covered include Barnabas' background (Joseph the Levite from Cyprus), his generosity in selling land to support believers, and his defining role encouraging and strengthening the church at Antioch. The episode looks closely at how Barnabas bridged the gap between the church and Saul (Paul), advocated for second chances (notably with John Mark), and helped develop emerging leaders—demonstrating humility, courage, and sacrificial support. Listeners will hear Scripture readings and practical illustrations, including personal anecdotes from the class (camp mailboxes of encouragement, Devo leadership) and contemporary analogies (nicknames and team roles) to highlight how encouragement functions as ministry. The class discusses why churches struggle to accept changed people, how encouragers see potential rather than past failures, and the risks and sacrifices involved in standing with the rejected. Contributors and voices in the discussion include the class leader and responses from members. The episode emphasizes five practical lessons: encouragement changes lives; godly people look beyond a person's past; great leaders develop other leaders; encouragers also need courage; and godly people help restore failures. Expect a study grounded in Acts with clear, applicable takeaways for church life—how to give hope, mentor others, offer second chances, and use generosity and courage to advance spiritual growth in your community.   Duration 37:50

June 28, 2026 - Sunday AM Bible Class This episode is a sermon-style study through Acts chapters 6–8, centering on Acts 6:1–7 and tracing a recurring pattern in the early church: success invites new problems, and God's people must respond biblically. Neal walks the congregation through the first of four challenges in these chapters, examines subsequent disputes that arise as the gospel moves outward, and previews Stephen's pivotal defense in Acts 7. Topics covered include the practical complaint of the Hellenist widows being neglected, the apostles' wise response of discernment and delegation, and the appointment of seven servants—Stephen, Philip, Procurus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas (a proselyte of Antioch)—who are prayed for and commissioned. The sermon highlights the apostles' priority to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word, the laying on of hands as dedication (and possibly the impartation of gifting in the first-century context), and the resulting fruit: continued numerical growth and many priests turning to faith. The episode then follows the ripple effects of that growth: Stephen's ministry among the Greek-speaking Jews, the disputes and false witnesses stirred up against him, and the challenge of addressing angry, unreceptive listeners. The speaker traces Stephen's strategy in Acts 7—seeking connection, emphasizing God and his work, appealing to Israel's history, and finally confronting stubbornness and sin—and explains the pattern of God raising deliverers, people rejecting them, and God vindicating them. Practical applications are drawn for today's churches and leaders: how to handle internal complaints biblically, the value of delegation and qualified servants (parallels to deacons), the importance of elders/eldership staying focused on prayer and the Word, and principles for speaking truth to difficult or angry listeners (Matthew 18, Galatians 6, Ephesians 4). The episode underscores that faithful, God-centered responses to problems lead to unity, confidence in leadership, and further growth. Format and guests: this episode is a single-message sermon delivered by the congregation's teacher (no outside guests). Key takeaways include the governance model shown in Acts 6, the spiritual qualifications and heart behind servant ministry, the pastoral tactics Stephen uses when facing opposition, and the encouraging outcome that faithful obedience deepens the church's witness and produces growth.   Duration 43:58

Chapter 12 of the Book of Acts wraps up with Herod dying, Saul and Barnabus completing their mission in Jerusalem and heading back to Antioch.  Luke divides Acts into two parts and Chapter 12 is the end of the first portion.  The good news of Jesus Christ dying and being raised from the dead as the ultimate sacrifice for sin has been proclaimed in Jerusalem and beyond, primarily through the leadership of Peter.  The second portion of Acts will highlight Paul's missionary endeavors. As we recap the first 12 chapters to see how God has worked through His people, we see that the Word of God has increased and multiplied in 4 ways - the spoken word, the written word, the silent word, and the Living Word.  It's as vital and vibrant today as it was for the early church.  How can we as individuals and corporately continue to see God's word increase and multiply?   Acts 12:20-25 Elder Greg McGinnis   Visit our website at www.fremontpres.org Email us at podcast@fremontpres.org

Tate Matthews welcomes Tom Kreager (TK) of The Tennessean to the show to discuss the highly anticipated release of the 2026 Dandy Dozen. Marking the 20th anniversary of the prestigious list, which first began in 2007, TK breaks down the elite twelve mid-state high school athletes who made the cut. The duo previews the alphabetical roster, featuring heavy hitters like Antioch's 4-star Colorado quarterback commit Andre Adams, Upperman's Ole Miss commit Colton Johnson, and an explosive trio of receivers from Brentwood Academy. TK also provides behind-the-scenes details of the players' recent indoor photoshoot held at Franklin Road Academy (FRA). Later in the segment, Tate and TK review a special anniversary piece: "The 10 Biggest Misses of the Dandy Dozen.". They reflect on historical evaluation misses, discussing players who were completely left off the list—like Goodpasture's Keenan Reynolds, who later finished fifth in the Heisman voting—and players who were ranked far too low, such as Donta Hightower, Graham Barton, Marcel Reed, and Alontae TaylorSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Acts 11, ordinary, nameless believers—scattered by persecution—stepped into Antioch, crossed cultural lines, and preached the Lord Jesus to Hellenists, and “the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21, ESV). These were not apostles or platformed leaders, but faithful “them” whose obedience launched gospel advance from the third-largest city in the Roman Empire and birthed the very name “Christians.” This message confronts the lie that God only uses the gifted, the clean, or the famous: He delights to rest His hand on ordinary people who simply proclaim Christ with steadfast purpose. Whether you're in a hidden Tarsus season of waiting or feeling sidelined by past failure, the same sovereign Lord who used the scattered is at work in you—preparing, shaping, and ready to unleash fruitfulness for His glory.

She was born in Antioch of Pisidia to pagan parents; her father was a pagan priest. When she was about twelve years old her mother died, and she was given into the care of a woman who told her of the Gospel of Christ. She was immediately filled with love for Christ and consecrated her life to His service. Her father, hearing of this, was furious and disowned her. When she was fifteen years old, she was brought before the governor Olymbrius, who first desired to marry her and, when she refused, ordered her to make sacrifice to the idols. She refused and proclaimed herself a Christian. For this she was harshly tortured, imprisoned, and finally beheaded. While she was in prison she was tormented by demons, but drove them away by her prayers. For this reason she is especially invoked for deliverance from demonic possession. One of her hands is preserved at Vatopedi Monastery on the Holy Mountain, and some of her relics are preserved at an Albanian Monastery dedicated to her.

Together, we continue our exploration of the sacrificial memorial of the sacrament of the Eucharist. Fr. Mike reiterates that the whole Church, both visible and invisible, is united in the Sacrifice of the Eucharist. He also further unpacks the importance of a quote from St. Ignatius of Antioch, which states that the offering of the sacrifice of the Eucharist must be united with the apostolic succession of our Pope and bishop. Today's readings are Catechism paragraphs 1369-1372. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.