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dailyaudiobible · 4 years ago

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09/14/2020 DAB Transcript

Isaiah 15:1-18:7, Galatians 1:1-24, Psalms 58:1-11, Proverbs 23:12

Today is the 14th day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is a joy and an honor to be here with you today as we get fully moved into this new week that we’re…we’re working our way into and through. It is a…it is a joy to come around the Global Campfire together, hear God's word speak, hear the Scriptures spoken aloud, listen to what they say, meditate on them, think about them, invite the Holy Spirit into them and move into our day with some clarity and direction. We’re working our way through the book of Isaiah right now in the Old Testament, and then once we get to the New Testament today we will be entering a new book, another of Paul's letters, this one known as the letter to the Galatians and we’ll talk about that when we get there. But first we’re reading from the English Standard version this week. Isaiah chapters 15, 16, 17 and 18 today.

Introduction to the letter of Paul to the Galatians:

Okay. So, as we said at the beginning, we are entering some new territory today now that we are at the New Testament and we are opening the letter to the Galatians which is…is one of the foundational pieces or foundational documents that form New Testament theology, like the gospel of freedom and grace, justification through faith. These are all spoken of in this letter, but they’re spoken of for a reason. Paul is battling some controversies and reiterating what it is he’s teaching. And, once again, we have to dispel with the myth that the early church was just unbelievably harmonious and full of unity. If we could just get back to that place, we could get back to where we’re supposed to be. This has not been the story. This is not the story that’s in the New Testament as we read it and it's not the historical story. In fact…I mean here's the thing, before there was a New Testament and all of the letters that we’re reading that are the New Testament, like before they were made the New Testament, they were letters that were passed around, documents that were passed around, and the ones that we have in the New Testament, they weren’t the only writings, Christian writings about what people thought and believed and had persuasions and convictions of surrounding Jesus and how…how to live a Christian life, how to live the faith that they were being given. Over time the letters and documents that we have that make up the New Testament now, these are the ones that sort of were preserved and held in esteem, sort of rose to the top with a cohesive type of message that could be adhered to. Because at some point if like…if there's an…if God is doing a new thing and it's being documented and there is no document and people are not people of the book, but they are rather people of the experience of what they sense the Holy Spirit is doing in…in them and in their community and in the world, well then you can have people all over the map with different nuances bringing parts of their story into the mix, and there's nothing to fall back on. So, there were lots of things being said and believed about Jesus in the earliest of days. And one of the primary controversies is well documented in the New Testament and that is between Hebrew believers and Gentile believers, the ultimate question about who gets to be included. Well, this “who gets to be included” argument went on and has gone on and continues to go on until this very day. So, Paul talks about freedom and grace and justification through faith and all of these things in this letter to reiterate what it is that he is teaching. And it's not unlike what we were reading in second Corinthians, right, where he has to essentially boast, kind of defendant himself against quote unquote “super apostles”. So, let’s just understand that, but let’s also understand Galatia and where this letter is being sent to. Galatia was a province in the Roman Empire. So, Galatia’s not a city, it's a region in the Roman Empire, which is now part of a modern-day Turkey. So, in previous eras Galatians were known as Gals or Celts. And we know from…from identification in the Bible of five different churches in Galatia that were established during Paul's first missionary journey. So, there was a church in the city of Pisidia, one in Antioch, one in Iconium, one and Lystra, and one in Derbe, and Paul addresses this letter to the churches in Galatia. So, we can assume pretty safely that Paul wrote to, at least those communities. There may have been more that we don't know about. What we can deduce from this letter is that as with the church in Corinth others had come to visit these churches in Galatia and there was nuanced teachings about Jesus that Paul was not on board with. And in particular this Hebrew understanding of Jesus, the fact that Jesus was a Hebrew, that he was a Hebrew rabbi, that he commented on Torah, that his teaching was within the Jewish community, it was considered then by the Hebrew people who believed in Jesus a Hebrew thing that they were not converting away from their Judaism, they were just following Jesus teachings and how to live it out whereas Gentiles were receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, with no knowledge of the law or Torah or any of that. And, so, controversy, right? Because it’s like, who gets to…do we…are we all in? Do we get to be in. For Hebrew people this is a problem because their religion is an exclusive one that separates them from everybody else. So, to include Gentiles means to include the whole world because everybody who is not a Hebrew is a Gentile. So, they have some hurdles to overcome. And that…that never really got figured out, like not everybody was ever on board until today. And, so, there were those who visited these churches of believers in Galatia and they came and told the Galatian people that they needed to essentially convert to Judaism, they needed to follow the Hebrew customs and the practices and rituals in order to follow Jesus and that included things like male circumcision to adhere to the Mosaic law. And Paul, obviously we’ve read enough of Paul to know that that is not his position at all, and he is completely against that because in his view, Jesus has fulfilled the law. A new covenant has been initiated. And, so, there's no point in trying to live up to the old one. It's accomplished. It is finished. And now there is a new covenant that Paul is…is leading people into. And he's not happy about what people are saying. We’ll find out…we’ll find that out for ourselves. What’s not unclear…what is unclear and makes Galatians maybe a little tricky to…to date is whether or not the Jerusalem Council had already happened when Paul wrote this letter. So, like if the Jerusalem Council that we read about in the book of Acts had not happened and Paul is just like defending an issue…like he's out on the front lines of this issue, if the Jerusalem Council had already happened then Paul’s simply reiterating what had been decided and he's not happy that people are undermining what they been decided by the church. If this letter’s written before the Jerusalem Council then it’s one of the earlier writings of Paul, maybe one of the earliest Christian documents we have. Most scholars don't think that particularly. They…the consensus of scholars believe that First Thessalonians is the earliest Christian document in existence, period. Of course, we haven’t got there yet. But that's the lay of the land. Like that’s what's going on as we go into this letter. And it doesn't take too much effort for us to understand that these types of issues that are bubbling in this letter are still bubbling today. And, so, it's not too hard for us to locate our own hearts and maybe allow God to change our minds, allow…allow us to repent or for us to…to live into what we already know as true. But anyway, let's dive in. Galatians chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word and we thank You for the many complexions that it leads us into and the many different stories and even controversies that existed and that exist and for the opportunity to explore these things, wrestle with them, think about them, meditate upon them and seek understanding as we are led by Your Holy Spirit. The anchor that we have is that You have promised to lead us into all truth and so we seek. And, so, as we move into new letters, the letter to the Galatians and as we continue to move forward we invite You to lead us forward in lockstep hand-in-hand step-by-step day by day with You as You guide us in our lives. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

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And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

[singing starts] raised you up on eagles wings bore you on the breathe dawn made you to shine like the sun and held you He’s holding you in the palm of His hands [singing stops]. My sweet sister Rosie from Oklahoma this is Soaring on Eagles wings from Canada and I just want to tell you how much I love you. And I’m so proud of you that you faced your fears and was obedient to what the Lord wanted you to do and you aired that very painful part of your life so it may be it may be of help to someone else. But look what the Lord has done for you. He’s healed your mind, He’s healed your body, He’s given you this ministry to pray for our children and grandchildren, He’s given you the sweetest, gentlest spirit that comes across to all of us your DAB family and I appreciate what you do for our children. I pray for you and your children, that your relationship will be cemented in the Lord and that you will see all your children serving Jesus. Thank you for what you do. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This family loves you. We surround you with our prayers and we thank God every day for what you’re doing. Every time we think of you, we pray for you. God bless you. God keep you safe, you and your children in Jesus…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Sue’s from California I’m a longtime listener and first-time caller. My husband and I just celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary today. God is so good, and He’s always been a part of our family. My family desperately needs your prayers. My husband is on hospice. He has Parkinson’s disease and dementia and today it was confirmed that are 25-year-old daughter has cancer. It has spread to her pancreas and lymph nodes. It cannot be removed surgically so she will begin chemotherapy in October. My 35-year-old son has something going on in his body also, but he doesn’t want to tell me because of everything else going on. I have major depression, diabetes and something’s wrong with my colon that I’m trying to get treated. This year has been the hardest time of our lives. We have many people praying for us, and I’d like you to pray for us too. We know God has a plan and a purpose for our lives not to harm us but to prosper us. We have very strong faith and we know God is with us and will bring us through this. Some days though when it all hits the fan like today it’s hard not to feel like it will never end and is hopeless. But God is good and faithful. Thank you, DABbers for your love and prayers. This is Sue’s in California.

Hey this is Daniel in Tennessee as well but I’m gonna go by my trail name now seeing though is I’m responding to Daniel in Tennessee. So, Running Bear, which is my wife would totally enjoy me going by my trail name. She was AT Princess and she passed away three years ago and me and the kiddos have definitely experienced a lot of suffering in our lifetime and walked through a long, long, long journey. Still in that journey. But I wanted to let you know Daniel in Tennessee that we are praying for you and our heart grieves for you guys in this very long journey that is incredibly hard of watching someone that you dearly love suffer and being helpless not to able to take that away from them. We get that and we’ll definitely be praying and praying that you see God’s faithfulness and His fingerprints on your life and on the life of the community around you. And, so, I hope that not only does the word come to life in a greater way, but that you guys will be able to find rest in spite of everything. All right, blessings upon you guys.

Hi DAB family this is All the Treasures in Wyoming with a quick update on our sweet Emily. She is out of the hospital. She is…has been transferred to a long-term rehab facility to help her with all of the deficits that still remain from her having those blood clots that caused her to code and her kidneys to fail. Our family is amazed as am I, I am in awe again of God’s goodness, His faithfulness, His mercy, and just thank you all so much for praying cause I know He answered your prayers in regards to this. So, thank you so much and to God be all the glory.

Hi everybody from my Daily audible Bible family this is Carmen in Germany and I just had to call in now because, listening to Brian’s reading or his commentary this morning was like it just turned on a light, it was like bonb. You know, if you’ve ever had that just something go, wow, I mean, it’s like cut through the brain fog. And I wanted to share it with you because, I don’t know, maybe it will be helpful to somebody else. But anyway if you want to listen to what I listened to it was September 10th about 20 minutes maybe a little bit less than 20 minutes into his reading, second Corinthians, he’s talking about Paul and, you know, the endurance that he had to endure basically. But anyway, the thing that really resonated with me or hit me was that I’ve been praying so often for the wrong things. You know, usually I pray for God to make everything go away, make the pain go away, make the difficulties go away, make the, you know, burdens, whatever go away. And Brian said, you know, maybe we’re praying for the wrong things. Maybe we need to pray for strength because through all these things that we go through we…we come out stronger. And, you know, a few years ago when my husband left me I thought I was at the bottom of the pit, wherever, but anyway it’s been three years now, I haven’t seen him, he’s filed for divorce and I thought I would never get through this time but I’ve come to realize that I’m getting stronger. I have become stronger and my relationship in the Lord has become stronger. So, this was just so encouraging to hear and I’m going to be asking God for __ now for strength. I just wanted to share that. Love you guys.

Hi, DABbers this is Kara from Denver. I have a…sort of what I consider a strange prayer request. It’s for my ex Nathaniel. And we were together seven years. We had three kids, one was an abortion and the other two are with separate adoptive families. So, I know at least are doing well. But we had an extremely tumultuous relationship and we did a lot of hard drugs and he has schizophrenia. And we both have sobered up at least. This was seven years ago that we broke up. But I really just would like to lift him up. I will always love him and care about him even though that part of our lives is…is over. And I request…I asked him specifically if he wouldn’t mind if…he wouldn’t mind if I prayed for him here and he said he didn’t mind. So, I consider that really…really progress and really great. So, if you guys wouldn’t my lifting him up. He just got done with a long probation and he is just looking to start living his life. I know he’s with someone else now and I just…I just…I always, yeah, that…that’s it guys. I would just really appreciate that. Lift up Nathaniel and thank you very much. I love you all you guys so much.

Hi guys this is Grin Life from Texas my name’s Tammy and I’m the one that recently on the Prayer Wall had asked for prayer because my husband lost his job and we’ve been looking for seven months for something. But I just wanted to shout out to the Lord that, you know, they…we found something and it’s even better than what we could imagine. And in the midst of all this I was diagnosed with colon cancer stage IIIC, which is the highest stage III, and I’m undergoing chemotherapy. But God is so good. I just want to let you all know that in the midst of suffering, it’s bittersweet, God blesses you. I’ve had friends and family come from all over giving me cards, bringing me food, just loving on me because the work my husband God is out-of-state. So, he’s gone and is not here with me. But it’s okay, God is carrying me. He really does sustain you. And I just want you guys to be encouraged that whatever you’re going through whether it’s those down in the hurricane area or the fires in California and Oregon or in your financial crisis or guys that have called in and said your…your wives or children don’t know the Lord and you’re the only one serving, hang in there, fight, fight on your knees and know that God will come through. It took us seven months but we knew, we knew God would come through for us and he will for you too and just keep a smile on your face and trust that He loves you and He sees you and keep walking in righteousness and faith and love and know that you will be blessed and you will have a story and I just want to…I just want to pray for all me DAB friends and family that you would hang in there, that God would come through and speak to you somehow, someway, through the word, through a friend, in your dreams and your visions and put peace over your heart, fill you up, which…

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firstumcschenectady · 8 years ago

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“What Do the Wise Men Mean?” based on Isaiah 60:1-6 and Matthew 2:1-12

In April of 2002 I was studying abroad at Oxford University in England when my dearly beloved grandfather died. He passed away late on a Saturday morning, which meant I heard about it around nightfall. With the help of friends and housemates I figured out what to eat for dinner (seriously, this involved asking a friend what I liked to eat, I was beyond knowing), found a chapel to pray in (a housemate walked with me, seemingly I wasn't trustworthy to walk a few blocks by myself), and got a plane ticket home (a friend found it for me). By the end of the night things were set: I was scheduled to leave early the next morning a bus to Heathrow airport and would get to Newark by that evening.

In those frugal college days I didn't keep much cash on hand, and even by those standards I happened to be running low on pounds. I had dollars, but I didn't have have pounds. For reasons that now escape me, I exchanged currency was in the back of a department store, and I certainly wasn't thinking about the need for cash the night my grandfather died. I didn't realize I needed money that night, and even if I had, by the time I could have pulled myself together enough to notice - the store would have been closed.

By morning I realized my error, but it was Sunday, and EARLY morning, and there was no way to solve it. (In retrospect I could easily have asked my housemates, but my deeply independent nature didn't come up with that idea!) I got to the bus on time, with a plan. I had enough money in American dollars to pay TWICE the bus fare. I figured that would work.

It didn't.

The bus driver was sympathetic, but unable to let me on the bus without paying the fare – in pounds. I had no pounds. I had no way to get pounds. And I had to get on THAT bus to make my flight home. Getting home to my family felt like a need. The grief for my grandfather was deep seated, and raw.

I don't remember how it happened exactly, someone must have overheard my offer of paying twice the fare and why I had to get home, but the people on that bus paid my fare for me. Many people offered one pound each and then it was paid and I was on my way home. My independent nature was so embarrassed by that at the time that I blocked the story for years and it has only recently re-emerged.

Now, with a bit more perspective, I'm less ashamed that I wasn't able to do everything perfectly without notice and in the midst of grief. Now, with the wisdom of another decade and a half I'm not embarrassed to have needed help anymore. Instead I am grateful for the gifts of strangers when I needed it most

I am so grateful for the chance to read Shirley Readdean's excellent sermon from last week, and she motivated me to be playful with the text as well. The story of the magi was told to make sense of the world and of Jesus, it is intentionally metaphorical and rich in meaning, making easy space for us to explore our own lives within it.

It struck me this week that accepting gifts from strangers isn't particularly easy – at least it hasn't been for me. I'm told Simone Weil once said, “It is only by the grace of God that the poor can forgive the rich for the bread they give them,” which has to do with both the challenge or receiving gifts AND the issues of income inequality. This story of Matthew's gets into all of that!

What would this experience have been like for Mary and Joseph? They were relatively young, or at least she was and he might have been! Mary certainly hadn't known much of the world, and there is no reason to think Joseph had either. They were likely quiet provincial. By the best guesses of scholars they were poor. If Joseph made his living as a carpenter that would mean that there was no longer access to the family lands – they'd been lost to debt. Peasants living without land were worse off than those still living on it. Likely they worked very, very hard and had little time to travel. If they were from Nazareth (which seems more likely than anything else), then they knew about the Roman destruction of Sepphoris 4 miles away and about 8 years earlier. They knew oppression, poverty, and hard living. They also knew a deep faith in a God who cared about the people, and who did not want them dying of complications of poverty. I suspect it was their Jewish faith that helped them get through the day, every day. I suspect it was much easier to trust fellow Jewish residents of Nazareth than it was to trust outsiders or non-Jews, the world had taught them to be wary.

Or, if we want to take Matthew's story at face value and put the Holy Family in residence in Bethlehem, then they were in a small village 6 miles from Jerusalem. There, too, they would learn to be cautious of outsiders, particularly the Roman Empire and their regional authorities: the religious leaders of the day. Mary and Joseph would have found it much easier to trust the Jews in their own village than outsiders, the Temple priests, or non Jews.

Wherever they originated from, as Jewish peasants Mary and Joseph would have had good reason to be hesitant about outsiders and non-Jews. Furthermore, the primarily stories of the faith included the stories of exile and return – that is, of domination from Eastern empires and their strange gods. The gospel of Matthew tells us that the the magi were from the East, and that they stopped in Jerusalem on their way to Bethlehem. That would be reminiscent of the eastern empires that had previously dominated the Jews AND a connection to the empire that currently dominated them. These magi had the power to gain an audience with King Herod, who was known to be crazy and cruel. Can you see what I'm getting at? It is possible that the magi would have been terrifying to Mary and Joseph, and for good reason. Then, to add to all the complications of their existence, these strange and powerful strangers came into their home bearing VERY expensive gifts.

How would Mary and Joseph felt? Would they have been afraid? Were they overwhelmed? If so, what bothered them the most? The non-Jewishness? The connection with their history of exile? The connection the Magi had to the power-players of the Roman Empire? The power they themselves had? The foreign language? The expensive gifts? The expectations placed on their baby son? Or was it simply the danger the strangers brought with them by declaring Jesus to be a threat to Herod's power? Whichever of these bothered them MOST, I'm thinking that if I was in their sandals, I might not want those magi around very much.

The magi are VERY different, VERY powerful, and thus VERY dangerous. They don't know Jewish traditions or laws, and they are connected to the power structure of oppression. Furthermore, in basic human nature, it is especially uncomfortable to receive gifts that can never be repaid. Jewish peasants would never EVER be able to repay the gifts of the kind that the magi bought, Jewish peasants were living just BELOW subsistence level and gold, and frankincense and myrrh are EXPENSIVE. In fact, those are the kinds of gifts that aren't given in normal human exchange – they are the kind of gifts only given to people in power (like kings) in hope of recognizing the king and winning favor. The gifts of the magi communicate that Jesus was perceived as a king, of a standard order human kingdom. Likely that's one of the reasons the story is told, to prefigure Jesus' kingship. However in real life, that would be AWKWARD.

The presence of the magi in the story Matthew tells helps develop the story in other ways too: it gives a reason for King Herod to know of the threat of Jesus, thereby making the journey to Egypt seem more plausible (really it exists in order to present Jesus as the new Moses); it indicates that the life of Jesus would be significant beyond the realm of Judaism; and it foreshadows the ways that the adult Jesus would threaten the power of Rome and the authority of its appointed leaders. The magi themselves, coming from East to Jerusalem, fulfill dreams dating back to the exile, as we can see in Isaiah. That dream is not just of a restoration, but of restored power to the Jewish people and international recognition. The coming of the magi in Matthew is meant to indicate that Jesus is bringing the fulfillment of the desires of centuries. Even so I still think the men themselves would be terrifying to actual Jewish peasants.

On top of it all, I still wonder what it would have been like to such receive gifts from strange and powerful men. It can be hard to receive gifts anyway, they require a certain openness and vulnerability. It is harder when the gift is one-sided and cannot be reciprocated. I think, at least for me, it is also difficult to receive gifts from strangers. I take this from the fact it has taken me nearly 15 years to tell the story I started with! Furthermore, the acts of giving and receiving a gift is a connection between people, and would be hard to build a connection with people who are frightening, strange, and powerful. Finally, and this I've been worried about since childhood, if these expensive gifts were given to the Holy Family before a significant journey HOW ON EARTH would they keep them safe without a caravan to protect them?

The story doesn't go into these details at all. It just says the magi offered Jesus the gifts and then left by another road, thereby short-changing Herod. Metaphorically this suggests that being present to Jesus would change how people used their power in the world and who they trusted. That suggests that the giving of the magi's gifts to Jesus was helpful to the magi! That's easy enough to believe – it is a wonderful and transformational thing to be able to give a generous gift. (This may be why they're hard to receive!)

It is with humble gratitude that I think of the people who paid for my bus fare, people whose names I didn't know and who I have thus been unable to pay back. They have left me with gratitude for the opportunities I have to help others along the way, and gave me a more clear sense that we as humans are all in this together. That moment in time was one when I truly didn't have what I needed, and others provided it. I am thankful to have known that need, and even more thankful to have had it cared for.

The graciousness of Mary and Joseph who let strange and powerful foreigners into their home to greet their baby and give expensive gifts is mesmerizing, even after hearing it every year. Those strange men whose very lives seem designed to frighten were actually intending to extend grace. They were the ones most changed by the experience. Part of the grace of receiving gifts is allowing the gift-giver to be transformed. Thus, may we find the grace to be open to the gifts that strangers have to offer, and receive them with openness and gratitude! Amen

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/

https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

January 8, 2017

#Thinking Church #Progressive Christianity #Magi #Epiphany #UMC #FUMCSchenectady #Rev Sara E Baron #Wise Men #Bus Fare #Kindness of Strangers #Receiving Gifts #Grace Filled #Jewish Peasants #Openness and Gratitude #Strange and Foreign Men who Give Good Gifts

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years ago

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09/15/2021 DAB Transcript

Isaiah 19:1-21:17, Galatians 2:1-16, Psalms 59:1-17, Proverbs 23:13-14

Today is the 15th day of September, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s wonderful to be here with you today as it is every day as we come around the Global Campfire together and take the next step forward in the Scriptures which will lead us back into the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament and into the letter to the Galatians in the New Testament. And we’re just getting going in the letter to the Galatians. But first, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Isaiah 19, 20, and 21.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in our reading from the letter to the Galatians today we were beginning to see the whole scenario be unpacked again, a scenario that we've seen before. The issue of the Jew Gentile, the Jewish believer in Jesus and that Gentile believer in Jesus and the incompatibility, at least in the understanding of things that this was and the tensions that arose because of it. Tensions that we’ve talked about before, right? Tensions to the point that the people were taking vows to assassinate Paul. So, pretty…pretty big tensions. So, let's just at least get the lay of the land, because Paul does a bunch of disclosure about his own personal testimony, his own story in his own writing today. And according to Paul by the time that the letter to the Galatians was being written he had already been 17 years into his faith journey. And what he claimed was that the gospel he received he received from Jesus in person and not anybody else. In fact, he provides details that he only met Cephas or the apostle Peter once and that was 14 years prior. And then he claims that the only other apostle he ever met was Jesus’ brother James. So, the gospel that he received that he is teaching that we are reading from and deriving New Testament theology from, Paul claims was given to him by direct interaction, direct revelation from Jesus. At the same time, the church, the Jewish church, the Jewish believers in Jesus are also growing together as a community of faith. They have convictions. They are beginning to form doctrine and they're not completely compatible. And, so, we see in the…in the book of Acts the Jerusalem Council which we talked about a number of times, deciding how and what a…a Gentile who wants to come to faith in Jesus, how they need to behave. And it’s…it's different because they don't have to stay in the traditional Judaism customs or rituals or holidays. They have to do different things. So, it’s like a couple of different ways to get there depending on your ethnicity. So, we can understand then why there would be a little bit of tension over who gets to be right, and we can see then why certain people traveling around the Roman Empire would visit some of Paul's churches to at least bring the other side of the story. Of course, Paul thought it was inflammatory and divisive and wanted absolutely nothing to do with it in order to preserve the gospel that he had received by direct revelation from Jesus. Meanwhile the super apostles, as Paul calls them in second Corinthians, they’re kind of like, yeah, but we knew Him. We walked with Him. We saw Him do what He did. We have direct revelation from Jesus as well. And beyond just religious persuasion or faith conviction, Jews and Gentiles, they were not friendly toward each other on the regular, right? Jewish people were separate and separatists and they ended up marginalized because of it, but they also looked at Gentiles, especially Roman Gentiles, like Romans, the people in control of the land, they felt occupied. They felt segregated. Roman citizens had rights and privileges that the…the Jews did not. And, so, the Jews being separatist anyway had healthy or dismissed trust for the…the Gentiles, the Romans because they had power over them. So, opening your heart like that in faith to walk alongside somebody could be really risky. If a whole group of people in power are prejudiced against you and your people, then you kinda stay on guard. That's true of a couple of thousand years ago. It's true of a thousand years ago. It’s true today. So, as we look at this and see that it's kinda convoluted and pretty messy we can go like, Okay. I get…I get it. What's Paul after here? What's he so worried about if people decide they want to get circumcised and want to kinda take their faith in that direction and still honor the Lord Jesus and revere him and worship him, but they also want to observe Purim or Yom Kippur? Like, what's the big deal here? Ironically, the big deal is over freedom. All of the tension is about freedom. Paul's gospel, the message that he's preaching is that the Mosaic law was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and there is no need to try to live up to it anymore. You can observe it, but it's not your way to salvation. It's not going to make you righteous. Jesus did the job. Through Christ, through faith, through grace we are made righteous, which is the good news. The news that you are free and through faith you can be made righteous before God, and not just righteous but grafted into the family of God so that you might call God Father, Abba pappa, daddy. This is good news. We who are listening right now, we know this is good news. And yet this good news in a number of ways made some of the tenants, some of the core understandings of Judaism obsolete. And, so, that…that's where we land today in our reading from the letter to the Galatians. We will continue forward tomorrow because now we've got the lay of the land. And, so, Paul's argument about faith, freedom, justification, grace, these things have a backdrop now, a context as we continue to take steps forward tomorrow and the day after and the day after and the day after for all of the days that God will let us keep going.

Prayer:

Father, we pray that that's many, many, many, many more days and years. We thank You so profoundly for knitting us together as a community around the rhythm of the Scriptures in our lives each day and we thank You for where we are in the year as we encounter these letters from Paul and as we explore what the people were thinking, what they had to wrestle with. Because so often we’re wrestling with doubt and anxiety and all kinds of stuff and we cast it upon You, but we often pick it back up and we have kind of an existential angst underneath it all the time. Are we doing this right? Are we believing this right? Are we on the right path? And it's so helpful to see that this has been a struggle. Many people from the very beginning and asked these hard questions of their own hearts and looked deep, deep within for where You are leading and guiding and illuminating the truth. So, come Holy Spirit, that is our prayer, that the light of truth would shine deeply into our hearts, revealing what is false so that it might be removed, but also revealing what is true so that we might hold on for dear life. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, that’s the website, it is indeed where the Global Campfire is and where you find what's going on around here. So, certainly check it out as I say often. If you have the app…and if you don't, download the app. It's free and it's…it’s the best way to experience a whole year in the Bible for…for various reasons but check that out. And check out all the different things you can check on the website or on the app as well by pushing the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner.

But in the Drawer or on the web you’ll see the Community section and that's a good place to be familiar with. There are links to the different social media channels that…that we participate in. And, so, you can find connection there. It’s a good thing to…to know. If we have an announcement or something, if you're following along then you’ll probably get that in your feed and that's a good thing. So, check that out. But the Prayer Wall lives there as well and the Prayer Wall is a very, very valuable resource in this community because it's there and people are there all the time. And, so…and it is what it is, a Prayer Wall. Like if you're carrying some things that…that are just too heavy of a burden you don't have to drag it by yourself. You can reach out and the Prayer Wall is a great place to do that. Reach out. But it's also a place to respond in prayer for those who have also reached out who are carrying burdens that are too heavy for them to carry alone. And what we begin to find is that we’re all carrying things and we don't have to do this alone. And the Prayer Wall, if nothing more, and it's much more, but if nothing more it reminds us that we’re not in this alone. But it's always on, never off. You can always reach out. You can always reach back. So, be familiar with that.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app and share from there, no matter where you are in the world or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi everyone, it's Christy from Kentucky I wanted to welcome our new sister Natalie from Arizona to our DAB family. Natalie it was no coincidence that this was the first app you saw because girl you are on an adventure of a lifetime here. We have been together for a long time, and we welcome you into our family. Look forward to hearing from you a lot. And, so, just wanted to tell you that you we love you sister and we're glad you're here. I also wanted to call in today to pray for our sister Lisa. Lisa your phone call broke my heart. And, so, I wanted to call in and pray specifically for you today. Father we love You. We praise You Father, God. We give You all praise and glory Father for waking up this morning. And Lord so many people find themselves in the midst of storms. But Lord Your word tells us that there will be trials in this world. And Father Lisa finds herself today in the midst of a storm where she feels alone. And Father I just pray that You will touch and comfort her Lord Jesus. I pray that she will be still in Your presence Father God, just feel Your love surrounding her. You'll never leave us You'll never abandon us. That assure promise. And Father I ask that You touch…heal her body Father. Bring her back to restoration the way she was before January Father before this horrid, horrid virus touched her body. Lord we ask that You annihilate away from her body. Father we ask You to take it from this earth in Your precious name Jesus. We thank You for our sister, Lisa and we pray that she feels the blessing that You have made her to be, not a burden. She is a blessing, and You have her here for this time for a reason. And, so, Lord, I just thank You Father that You are with her...

Hey DAB family this is Jasmine calling from New York now. I just wanted to call in today just to…just to speak on what I've…what's been going on this week. So, I've recently just started my new school year this week, which is on September 8th, and I just knew I felt the Lord telling me that this is like the time where I will be testing my faith and how close I am to Him. And it really has come to pass, and I notice that I've been actually like slacking or procrastinating on reading the word and eating God's word. So, I just wanted to tell you guys for those…I just wanted to pray for those who may be starting a new job or just school in the past coming month week or a couple of days. I just wanted to pray for you guys because it is hard when new things come up in your schedule for your daily life. So, Lord heavenly Father I just pray today that You just help us to refocus ourselves onto You Lord. Help us to not draw near other things but You Lord. I pray that You just comfort us give us peace and give us the courage to follow Your purpose and do Your will and obey You each and every day. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Bye.

Good morning family this is Kim from Kentucky and it's Sunday morning September the 12th and I'm out walking and just been listening to DAB. And wow psalms 56 today. David a man after God's own heart how he confessed that there was times when he was afraid but he chose to trust God. And yesterday a sister talked about, you know, trusting someone is just you learn that by spending time with them. And we do that day after day as we hear the faithfulness of God. That's something that I…comes to me quite often. One of the attributes of God is God is faithful. And I remember today because it's been 23 years since my husband passed away from a brain tumor and moved to heaven. And God has been faithful for 23 years and 365 days and 24 hours a day and 60 minutes out of an hour. And I have had some fears, but I have chosen to turn back to God and put my…all of my trust in him like David in his word. And He has proven himself faithful over and over again. So, wherever you're at in this moment of time and whatever you're going to I pray that you reach up to God because I know He will reach down with His faithful hand. He's good like that. He is so good like that. Be blessed family. I love you all.

Good morning this is Denise from Cali and I’d just like to pray for that last caller. Today is August 12th, 2021, and the caller who prayer…who asked for prayer for his son who he had to commit into an institution for him threatening his brother. Father God I just lift up our brother to You Father, God and Lord I pray for strength, I pray for comfort and peace over him Lord. I pray for his son Father God, that You will restore his mind back to sanity Father God. I pray Lord that…for divine intervention to be in that situation Father God. And carry up Your guardian angels round about him Father God. I just come against these…this spirit of depression in the name of Jesus, this…this spirit of anxiety in the name of Jesus and I ask that it be loosed in Jesus’ name. And I released Father God. Father God I ask Lord that Your peace will be upon him Lord Father God and that You will restore his mind back to sanity and that You will restore this family Father God, the relationships, that You would just heal these…the relationships of the brothers and the father Father God. And I thank You Lord. I thank You that You are our healer, and You love us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hello good morning DAB family my name is Victor here I'm talking from my country Nigeria I'm from Nigeria. Family I just joined the DAB new family. I…you know with the program __ in my country living in my country's it’s just like __ and I'm still a youth. I found out like…I realized I've really __ from my Creator. So, I just have to…I just have to find my __ find my way back to God. That is when I downloaded the DAB family app. __. I just wanted you to know to put me in prayers because I really really have lost my way to God and I'm trying to bring myself back to him and I want children of God to put me in your prayers to be very successful. I tried everything every day of my life __ to make sure I've become successful, and I’ve achieved sometime in life. Please children of God __ DAB family and everybody just please put me in your prayers. I want you to put me in prayers. Help me find my way back to God and help me __ so I can know what I'm doing with my life, and I can be a successful person. Thank you DAB family. I really do appreciate. And it's nice joining the family. Everything above the DAB app and every scripture and daily __ messages. And everything is just in moderation. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much I love you all and I love the author the publisher of this. Thank you.

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