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Speaker 1: Let us pray, and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed

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Speaker 1: and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them

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Speaker 1: Acts sixteen twenty five. As words of Act sixteen resonate

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Speaker 1: in my spirit, I stand excited because I now have

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Speaker 1: a major key to my unending success. To day, I

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Speaker 1: acknowledge that prayer should be my first response and not

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Speaker 1: my last resort. As I look at Paul and Silas,

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Speaker 1: I realize that my worship is a warship that can

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Speaker 1: be used to break the oppression and chains of the enemy.

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Speaker 1: Through my voice and through my praise and worship, you

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Speaker 1: will send a shock wave and an earthquake that will

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Speaker 1: shake the foundation of my prison and free me. No

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Speaker 1: matter where I am or what I face, I will

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Speaker 1: never forget that one of the greatest weapons that I

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Speaker 1: possess is my worship. With this truth, I will sing

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Speaker 1: your praises everywhere I go, and when I do, the

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Speaker 1: chains of hell and the chains of my enemy will

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Speaker 1: not be able to hold me. In Jesus name, Amen,

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Speaker 1: thank you for praying with us to day. Continue your

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Speaker 1: time with God by listening to today's Bible story brought

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Speaker 1: to you by Bible in a year dot.

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Speaker 2: Com singing jail birds. In our last story, we were

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Speaker 2: able to read the letter Paul to the Galician Church. Paul,

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Speaker 2: with the love and wisdom of Jesus, implored the Galician

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Speaker 2: church to stop binding themselves to the law. He encouraged

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Speaker 2: them to live under grace and living in the spirit.

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Speaker 2: Now we see Paul and Silas faced with a vexing demon.

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Speaker 2: As Paul confronts the demon, he is met with imprisonment.

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Speaker 2: As Paul and Silas dwell in the dark depths of

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Speaker 2: a Roman jail cell, they are able to be lights

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Speaker 2: of hope. Inspired by the Book of Acts.

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Speaker 3: Hello, this is Jack Graham with another episode of the

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Speaker 3: Bible in a year. In our last episode, we heard

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Speaker 3: Paul's letter to the Church in Galicia and his powerful,

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Speaker 3: beautiful explanation of salvation by Grace alone in Christ alone.

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Speaker 3: He urged the Galicians to not let themselves be enslaved

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Speaker 3: of the burden of the law now that they have

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Speaker 3: received the liberty that is ours in Christ. He then

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Speaker 3: encourages us to use our freedom in Christ, to walk

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Speaker 3: by the spirit and not the flesh, and to produce

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Speaker 3: the fruit of the Spirit in our lives today. We'll

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Speaker 3: find Paul and his missionary partner Silas confronting an evil

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Speaker 3: spirit and facing a Roman prison. Yet even in the

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Speaker 3: darkness of their cell, they are full of hope and

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Speaker 3: praise as they glorify God with singing, and as a result,

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Speaker 3: a man in his family comes to personal faith in

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Speaker 3: the Lord. Let's listen now in this reading from the

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Speaker 3: Book of.

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Speaker 2: Acts, servants of the Most High God. She screamed, make

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Speaker 2: way for the servants of God. She yelled, even louder,

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Speaker 2: These men have come in the name of God. She

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Speaker 2: laughed and twirled around in circles. It had been days

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Speaker 2: of her nonsense. Paul, Luke, Silas, and Timothy had been

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Speaker 2: followed through Thyatira by a slave girl possessed by a demon.

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Speaker 2: For days she rolled around on the floor, yelling and

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Speaker 2: proclaiming their arrival. It had grown maddening. Even though what

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Speaker 2: she was saying was true, she said it spitefully and jokingly.

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Speaker 2: Every place they entered into she yelled and screamed. It

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Speaker 2: deterred people from listening to them, It scared people away.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes truth spoken rudely can do just as much damage

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Speaker 2: as a lie. The slave girl was clearly disturbed and

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Speaker 2: fed multiple herbs to keep her mind trapped in a cage.

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Speaker 2: Her owners would make money off of her, selling her

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Speaker 2: off as a fortune teller. At first, it broke Paul's

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Speaker 2: heart to see a girl so broken. However, after days

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Speaker 2: of endless yelling, Paul was thrown into a small rage.

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Speaker 2: These men are of God. Hear them, hear them, she shouted.

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Speaker 2: Her wicked cackles pierced the ears of people in the streets.

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Speaker 2: Here are the men who have come to be in

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Speaker 2: the name of Jesus. Come out of this girl, you

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Speaker 2: unclean spirit. Paul interrupted and yelled. The girl fell on

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Speaker 2: to the floor, rolling in the dirt. Her fists banged

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Speaker 2: on the floor and her teeth bit into her tongue.

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Speaker 2: But then, like a storm that had finally been broken

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Speaker 2: by the sun, the demon left her. She wept where she.

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Speaker 3: Lay on the road.

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Speaker 2: Paul and Silas lifted her to her feet and brushed

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Speaker 2: the dirt off her clothing. She gave a remorseful grin

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Speaker 2: towards the men, and then ran back to her masters.

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Speaker 2: Even though the exacerbating noise was gone, Paul had a

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Speaker 2: sinking feeling that this was not over. The girl ran

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Speaker 2: home to her owners, wailing with tears of joy and freedom.

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Speaker 2: Her owners, however, were displeased with her restoration. They made

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Speaker 2: a great deal of money from the demon inside her.

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Speaker 2: The demon was able to tell fortunes and speak in

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Speaker 2: ancient dialects. Many people paid a great amount to listen

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Speaker 2: to a tongue of dark magic. They struck the girl

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Speaker 2: and she crawled back into the space she was kept.

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Speaker 2: The owners would deal with her later, but for now

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Speaker 2: they set their sights on Paul. Silas and Paul were

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Speaker 2: enjoying themselves in the market place. They bought food for

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Speaker 2: their travels and spoke about Christ to the shopkeepers and

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Speaker 2: vendors as they passed. Paul was walking towards a man

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Speaker 2: selling dates and bread when he felt a swift blow

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Speaker 2: to his right tempo. Paul fell immediately on to the ground.

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Speaker 2: He looked up to see a boot coming down on

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Speaker 2: his rib cage. Paul felt the air leave his chest.

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Speaker 2: He gasped and looked over to see Silas pinned onto

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Speaker 2: the ground by another large figure. Paul was turned around

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Speaker 2: and bound by ropes. He and Silas were tied up

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Speaker 2: and marched to the magistrate court house. These jews are

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Speaker 2: disturbing our city. The slave owners declared before the court

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Speaker 2: they advocate for traditions that are not Roman. Paul and

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Speaker 2: Silas looked at one another. They would not be receiving

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Speaker 2: a fair trial. Paul opened his mouth to speak to

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Speaker 2: the judge, but was interrupted by a right hook to

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Speaker 2: the jar. Their robes were ripped off their bodies, and

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Speaker 2: the magistrates ordered for Paul and Silas to be beaten

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Speaker 2: with rods. Paul watched the long and thin branch strike

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Speaker 2: Silas's back. Silas did not scream. He was strong and

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Speaker 2: knew what being a Christian entailed. He turned his back

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Speaker 2: on those who whipped him. Paul received the same beating.

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Speaker 2: The sharp branch broke through his bare skin, Blood and

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Speaker 2: splinters caked onto his back. After a steady beating, Paul

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Speaker 2: and Silas were thrown into prison. The stone floor was

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Speaker 2: cold and jagged. It ripped Paul's feet underneath him. Before

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Speaker 2: the two men could catch their breath, the jailer arrived.

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Speaker 2: He was a large man, clearly well built for his job.

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Speaker 2: His grip was violent and hard as he fastened their

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Speaker 2: ankles into chains. However, there was something different about him.

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Speaker 2: Paul could see that behind the scowl was a face

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Speaker 2: of a lost sheep. It was midnight, and the cold

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Speaker 2: prison walls enveloped the prisoners in darkness. A dim torch

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Speaker 2: light could be seen from the distant hallways where the

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Speaker 2: jailers slept. Paul could hear a steady drip of cold

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Speaker 2: water fall on to the jagged stone. It echoed across

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Speaker 2: the silent prison. All the prisoners were in the corners

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Speaker 2: of their cells, shivering and waiting for morning light. Paul

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Speaker 2: and Silas thought about Jesus, how he had suffered the

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Speaker 2: scorn of men, yet still loved them. He maintained hope

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Speaker 2: and joy, so they would do the same. One by one,

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Speaker 2: the prisoners lifted their heads as they heard voices singing

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Speaker 2: hymns to God. Paul and Silas sang with joyful shouts

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Speaker 2: and beautiful melodies. Their songs bounced off the cold stone walls.

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Speaker 2: Its echo was hauntingly powerful. The frigid prison air was

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Speaker 2: filled with the warm praises of God's children. The songs

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Speaker 2: became louder as other prisoners joined in on the melody.

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Speaker 2: An orchestra of hope erupted from the dark depths of

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Speaker 2: the Roman dungeon. As herding men turned to their God.

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Speaker 2: As they sang, the earth itself began to shake, as

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Speaker 2: if God was joining in on the music. A mighty

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Speaker 2: earthquake shook the foundation of the prison. The hinges of

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Speaker 2: the doors were shaken open, and the iron bars fell

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Speaker 2: like the walls of Jericho. Paul and Silas's chains were unfastened,

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Speaker 2: and there was a clean escape made ready for them. However,

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Speaker 2: Paul and Silas did not move. They could hear the

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Speaker 2: footsteps of the jailer approaching. He turned to the corner

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Speaker 2: to see the gates busted wide open. Assuming that Paul

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Speaker 2: and Silas had escaped, the jailer drew his sword. He wept,

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Speaker 2: knowing that he had dishonored his country and to allow

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Speaker 2: escape was inevitable death. The jailer pressed the tip of

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Speaker 2: his blade against his throat and mumbled a last word

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Speaker 2: before stepping forward to fall on his sword. Stop, Paul yelled.

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Speaker 2: The jailer stumbled forward and was caught by Silas before

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Speaker 2: he could fall on his blade. Do not harm yourself,

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Speaker 2: Paul said, We are all here. The jailer trembled in

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Speaker 2: the arms of Silas. He was bent over before them,

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Speaker 2: weeping at the fact that they saved his life. Paul

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Speaker 2: and Silas guided the jailer out of the prison into

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Speaker 2: the moonlight. There they sat speaking about the hidden brokenness

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Speaker 2: in the jailer's heart. What must I do to be saved,

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Speaker 2: the jailer asked, with tears in his eyes. Paul and

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Speaker 2: Silas smiled. Believe in Jesus and you will be saved.

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Speaker 2: You and your household will be blessed, they answered. So

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Speaker 2: the jailer brought them back to his home, and they

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Speaker 2: preached the gospel to his entire family. He hid them

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Speaker 2: in his home until it was the appointed time for

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Speaker 2: them to be released. It is time for you to

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Speaker 2: leave in peace, the jailer said. The magistrates have asked

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Speaker 2: for you to go quietly and in peace. But Paul

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Speaker 2: knew why they wanted them gone. Paul and Silas were

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Speaker 2: Roman citizens, and they were imprisoned without a trial. What

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Speaker 2: they had done was condemnable under Roman law, so the

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Speaker 2: magistrates were forced to apology to Paul and Silas. After

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Speaker 2: the magistrates groveled, Paul and Silas were content to leave

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Speaker 2: with joy.

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Speaker 3: We begin today's reading learning that Paul has a new

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Speaker 3: companion in ministry, a man named Silas. Paul, Silas, and

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Speaker 3: Luke were in the Roman city of Thyra Tyra, where

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Speaker 3: they were staying in a home of a new believer

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Speaker 3: named Lydia, a wealthy businesswoman who dealt in purple fabrics.

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Speaker 3: As they went about town preaching the gospel, they were

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Speaker 3: constantly followed by a young slave girl who was possessed

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Speaker 3: by a demon that predicted the future. Her owners used

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Speaker 3: this young girl for personal gain, unconcerned about her or

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Speaker 3: her well being, and as Paul and Silas walked through

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Speaker 3: the city, the young girl would cry out loudly for

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Speaker 3: all to hear, these men are servants of the Most

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Speaker 3: High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.

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Speaker 3: Her words were true, but they did not come from God.

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Speaker 3: It is a reminder that all who proclaim Christ, you Jesus,

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Speaker 3: are not true followers or true worshipers. There are false prophets,

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Speaker 3: their demon spirits that exist that proclaim a message. This

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Speaker 3: was a work of the enemy Satan himself to distract

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Speaker 3: people from the message of Jesus and the Gospel, and

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Speaker 3: Paul saw rite through it. Finally, when he had had enough,

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Speaker 3: he spoke to the evil spirit in this young girl.

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Speaker 3: With the authority given to him by the Holy Spirit.

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Speaker 3: He commanded the spirit the demon to leave her at

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Speaker 3: at once she was set free, just as Jesus had

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Speaker 3: called out demons. Paul continues the Lord's work in liberating

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Speaker 3: captives from the forces of evil and the powers of

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Speaker 3: Satan to experience the power of God. What a relief

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Speaker 3: this must have been for the young demonized girl. The

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Speaker 3: voices in her head had left her without peace, and

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Speaker 3: now these voices were silenced. But her masters, who profited

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Speaker 3: greatly from her condition, were very angry. Their trafficking had

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Speaker 3: come to a screening halt, and they knew who was

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Speaker 3: to blame, so they appealed to the local magistrate, saying

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Speaker 3: Paul and Silas were stirring up trouble and advocating practices

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Speaker 3: that were contrary to Roman law. Of course, this was

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Speaker 3: a huge lie, but when your enemies have no real

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Speaker 3: claim against you, they will come with lies and slander.

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Speaker 3: Once again, Paul and his friends find themselves persecuted, only

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Speaker 3: this time not by Jews, but by Romans. He and

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Speaker 3: Silas were seized, beaten, and thrown into prison. But even

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Speaker 3: in this Paul and Silas persevered with praise and saw

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Speaker 3: the opportunity to worship God as a testimony and a

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Speaker 3: witness of the power of Jesus. When bad things happen

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Speaker 3: to us, when circumstances turn against us, when we are

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Speaker 3: persecuted or set aside for our faith, do we continue

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Speaker 3: to praise God? Too often we miss the opportunity to

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Speaker 3: witness to the glory of God and the grace of

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Speaker 3: God in our lives, in our hardship. But Paul and

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Speaker 3: Silas didn't miss this chance. So as they sat in

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Speaker 3: their cell that night, rather than weeping and whining and

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Speaker 3: licking their wounds, these men sang great songs of praise

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Speaker 3: and worship, and the other prisoners could hear them lifting

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Speaker 3: up their God in the name of Jesus. We then

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Speaker 3: hear how at about midnight God sent a mighty earthquake

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Speaker 3: and rocked the prison through open the prison doors and

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Speaker 3: caused the change to fall off all the prisoners. This

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Speaker 3: was their chance to escape, but they didn't. They didn't

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Speaker 3: run away. When the jailer awoke, he was certain that

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Speaker 3: the prisoners would be gone and it would cost him

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Speaker 3: his life, because when commanders were found out that they

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Speaker 3: had not done their job, they would be executed. So

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Speaker 3: He resolved to take his own life, but Paul stepped in,

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Speaker 3: letting him know that no one had escaped. Listened to

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Speaker 3: the jailer's response. In Acts sixteen, verses twenty nine to thirty,

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Speaker 3: the jailer called for the lights and rushed in and

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Speaker 3: fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them

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Speaker 3: out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

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Speaker 3: That's the most important question that any one of us

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Speaker 3: can ask and be answered by the witnesses of the gospel. Sirs,

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Speaker 3: what must I do to be saved? When we see

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Speaker 3: a miracle like this, when the earthquake came and shook

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Speaker 3: the house, there's a greater purpose and plan. The change

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Speaker 3: God wanted to break were not merely those binding Paul

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Speaker 3: and Silas and the other prisoners, but the change of

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Speaker 3: sin that held the jailer and his family. And as

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Speaker 3: a result of Paul's perseverance and praise, this man and

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Speaker 3: his entire family opened their hearts to the Gospel of Christ.

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Speaker 3: They were all saved. The men went with him to

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Speaker 3: his home, and his entire family worshiped the Lord with

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Speaker 3: the apostle Paul and Silas, and that next morning, the

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Speaker 3: magistrates that were that Paul and Silas were to be released,

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Speaker 3: they discovered that these men weren't merely Jews, but Roman citizens.

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Speaker 3: It is the first indication that Paul will why use

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Speaker 3: his Roman citizenship to advance the Gospel of Jesus far

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Speaker 3: and wide, all across the Roman Empire. And we'll hear

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Speaker 3: more about that in our next reading. Dear God, we

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Speaker 3: thank you for this great scripture in Acts chapter sixteen,

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Speaker 3: and the power of the Gospel to change lives. Lord,

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Speaker 3: in the midst of our trials and tribulations, may we

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Speaker 3: always praise you. You have told us to give thanks

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Speaker 3: always that we can praise You even in the darkest

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Speaker 3: of times, because when we do, You are glorified, and

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Speaker 3: Jesus is magnified, and people will see and hear our witness.

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Speaker 3: Because of what Christ has done for us, we can

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Speaker 3: stand firm in the midst of life's greatest challenges. May

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Speaker 3: it be so in our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen,

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Speaker 3: thank you once again for joining the Bible in a year,

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Speaker 3: and you can help ensure that more and more people

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Speaker 3: can hear the life changing message of God's Word with

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Speaker 3: your generous gift today to keep these gospel centered messages

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Speaker 3: reaching people around the world, Please give at www. Dot

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Speaker 3: bible in a year, dot com