The breastplate of God's righteousness protects us from the schemes and attacks of the devil as we live out our daily lives in Christ.

Pastor teaches us the 2 meanings of righteousness in the Bible;

1. The righteousness we receive through faith in Christ Jesus - a right relationship with God throuigh the gift of His Son.
2. Righteousness is also the way we desire to live based on what we have received at no cost through our Savior Christ Jesus. And growing in our faith. Seeking to do what is right - not to earn our righteousness, but as a way to thank God for the gift of righteousness that is given to us through Jesus.

Ephesians 6:14

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Why did Jesus teach us to pray. "Lead us not into temptation"? God does not tempt, but He is the One who gives us the strength to face testing/temptation and provides a way of escape from the lure of evil.

Pastor Dodge opens today's teaching with a quote from St. Augustine, "The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed." Meaning what the New Testament teaches is already in the Old Testament scriptures and the Old Testament scriptures find their fulfillment in the New Testament. The Old Testament isn't to be sloughed off, it is at the heart of the New Testament teaching. In order to understand the New Testament we need to be well versed in the Old Testament. This is what we will see in today's study of Acts 17.

Acts 17:1-3 - Paul and his companions come to a synagogue in Thessalonica and Paul explains that Jesus is the Messiah. Paul is showing them the Hebrew Scriptures and demonstrating how Jesus is the fulfillment of what the Jewish people have been longing for.

Some ways the Messiah was mentioned in the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures and revealed in the New Testament through the life and death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ:

• The New Adam
• The Seed of the woman
• Virgin born Immanuel
• Passover Lamb
• Heavenly Manna
• Son of David
• Suffering Servant
• New Covenant
• Divine Son of Man
• The King who enters Jerusalem
• The First and the Last
• King of Kings

Acts 17:4-10 many believed but some did not and so the believers send Paul and Silas away to Berea where they went again to the Jewish synagogue.

Acts 17:11-12 - The Berean Jews received their message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. And as a result many of the Berean Jews believed along with prominent Greek women and men.

The Christian faith is a rational faith. It is not something uncovered by human reason but is entirely rational because God is entirely rational.

God has done mighty things. He is the God of the universe and the God of human history and in His Word He reveals to us His Son - our Redeemer and Hope.

Paul reasoned with them and we too need to confront the reasoning and the wisdom of God as revealed through ancient Hebrew prophets, through apostles and through His Son.

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For the full list of videos in this series, Dig Deeper, https://www.awakeusnow.com/dig-deeper

For more check out our Sunday series, God ACTS! https://www.awakeusnow.com/god-acts-then-now

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The question we need to ask ourselves is: "What do I value most? Am I going to value things that don't last, or am I going to value what God values most - those qualities that endure forever?"

"Forgive us our debts/sins as we forgive others" is not a prayer to be spoken lightly, but a prayer to be lived. Even the most devout believer has a daily need to reconnect with God through repentance and forgiveness.

"Give us ... our daily bread" is not a "mundane" prayer request. Jesus is calling us to look to God, to trust Him with our entire lives, and to call on Him to meet all our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

We explore an action the Apostle Paul took. Was Paul compromising what had been decided at the Council in Jerusalem (Acts 15) when he circumcised Timothy?

Chapter 15 was about the question of Gentiles needing to be circumcised to be a genuine follower of Jesus. The Council at Jerusalem's unanimous decision was no - that salvation is though faith in Christ Jesus alone. But now in Acts 16 the questions is if Paul is going against what had been decided in Jerusalem when he circumcised Timothy.

Acts 16:1 - Paul came to the city Lystra where a disciple named Timothy lived. Timothy's mother was Jewish and a believer but his father was a Greek/ With a Greek father, Timothy had not been circumcised when he was 8 days old as were Jewish boys, so he is uncircumcised.

Vs 2-3 Paul wanted to take Timothy along on his upcoming journey, so he circumcised Timothy because of the Jews who lived in the areas they would be going to. People knew that Timothy's father was a Greek. But they also knew his mother was a Jew. Was Paul going against what the council in Jerusalem said? No. In Acts 15 we are told how we are saved only through faith in Christ, but the Gentiles were told to be gracious and reflective of Jewish sensibilities, especially around the idea of not wanting the Gospel to come under disrepute.

Their upcoming journey was to many towns with Jewish people and in their eyes Timothy would have been seen as a hypocrite who had abandoned his jewish heritage and faith.

What Paul is saying is that no Gentile needs to be circumcised but Jewish people were called to be circumcised and Timothy is making it clear that he is a faithful Jew. His circumcision shows his heart is for his fellow Jewish people, as well as Gentiles.

Timothy and Paul will spend many years together. Paul and Timothy have a beautiful friendship. Paul will consider Timothy his spiritual son.

And then we read in Acts 16:4-5 that as Timothy and Paul traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in the Council of Jerusalem. And the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. More and more Jewish and Gentile people became followers of Jesus.

Timothy and Paul recognized the importance of reaching all with the gospel of Christ.

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

View live or on demand: https://www.awakeusnow.com/tuesday-bible-class

For the full list of videos in this series, Dig Deeper, https://www.awakeusnow.com/dig-deeper

For more check out our Sunday series, God ACTS! https://www.awakeusnow.com/god-acts-then-now

Join us Sundays

https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Or watch from our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@AwakeUsNow/videos

Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.

Our natural self tells us to pray, "MY will be done." But Jesus says we are to invite God to conquer us, to take charge of our lives and change our hearts so that we willingly pray, "YOUR will be done."