Daily Read is a podcast designed to bring you God’s Word, read aloud, with space to reflect and pray. Join folks from across InterVarsity as we stay connected to Jesus together. Our daily episodes feature a short passage of scripture read a couple of times, with some context and reflection questions to help you along the way.
Acts 20:1-12 (NIV)
Read by: Tammy Eckhart
Have you ever felt stuck spiritually in a place? Have you ever had to return to that place later in life?
In today’s passage we journey with Paul and his companions as they return from their journey to Macedonia to Troas. Traps was the place were they arrived after being blocked by the spirit, they did not know what to do or where to go and they had to wait on God. Then Paul had a dream of a man calling him to come across the sea, and so they went.
But now after having experienced the faithfulness of God they are headed back through this place on their way back but now filled with faith. They are returning to the place where they experienced confusion and ambiguity but now with stories of God’s faithfulness.
Some of us are faced with returning home to the place where we were once stumped in our faith. We have to face people or situations from our past and bring our new increased faith to bear there. Today’s passage gives us an example of that. What would it look like for you to return to a previous context with renewed faith?
----------REFLECT----------
1. What moment in this passage stood out to you?
2. How might you relate to Paul and his companions in this story, how might you feel distant from their experience?
3. What would it look like for God to show up in spaces where you previously experienced spiritual ambiguity and hardship? What dead things would come to life?
----------GO DEEPER----------
Bible Project: Acts 13-28 Overview >> (https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/acts-13-28/)
InterVarsity Press Selections: Acts >> (https://www.ivpress.com/Search?q=acts)
----------CONNECT----------
Find an InterVarsity Chapter >>
Start an InterVarsity Chapter >>
Learn More >> (http://intervarsity.org/)
24 Aug 2021
Acts #54 - Disruptive, Blameless, or Both?
Acts 19:23-41 (NIV) (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19%3A23-41&version=NIV)
Do you think the Gospel you’ve heard or live out has the power to disrupt cultural and economic structures that don’t honor God?
Cities today are known for their architecture. Think of iconic landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Empire State Building in New York City, or the Eiffel Tower in Paris. For Ephesus, the building that would have come to mind was the enormous temple to the Goddess Artemis. People from around the region would travel here to worship at her temple seeking fertility in their crops or their business or their families. And not totally unlike we do today, people would take a miniature version of whatever it is they came to ephesus to see home with them.
Metal workers across Ephesus would cash out on the sale of miniature replicas of the Goddess Artemis. But ever since this guy Paul showed up talking about the risen Jesus, fewer and fewer people seem to be interested in buying their replicas. In today’s passage this causes a riot, and it brings into sharp focus the reality that following Jesus has had an impact in society from the very beginning, and it should today too.
----------REFLECT----------
1. As you listened, and imagined yourself there, what if any emotions came up for you?
2. The cultural and economic realities of Ephesus were disrupted because people started to follow Jesus. What cultural or economic realities do you think would rightly be disrupted if people began to follow Jesus in your context?
3. The Gospel Paul preached was indeed to blame for challenging the status quo, but was preached in a way that didn’t allow anyone to hold anything against them. This often isn’t true of us, we’re either not challenging what we say and do, or we say and do things in such a way that people rightly find fault in us. Ask Jesus to help you walk this tension out today.
----------GO DEEPER----------
Bible Project: Acts 13-28 Overview >> (https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/acts-13-28/)
InterVarsity Press Selections: Acts >> (https://www.ivpress.com/Search?q=acts)
----------CONNECT----------
Find an InterVarsity Chapter >>
Start an InterVarsity Chapter >>
Learn More >> (http://intervarsity.org/)
23 Aug 2021
Acts #53 - The Power of Jesus
Acts 19:13-22 (NIV)
Read by: Ginger Montalvo
Have you ever found yourself trying to use the name and the power of Jesus for your own gain?
In today’s passage, Luke contrasts two groups of people and their response when they recognize the power of Jesus. One one hand we see the seven sons of Sceva, and on the other hand we have the people of Ephesus, particularly a number of people who practiced sorcery. The sons of Sceva are a group of Jewish men who try to cast out a demon by invoking the name of Jesus without actually knowing him or submitting to him. This does not end well for them.
The people in Ephesus and especially those practicing sorcery, were all too familiar with all kinds of magic incantations and pagan practices. As we’ll see in tomorrow’s passage Ephesus was a city that was known for its pagan worship. So, while it may sound strange to us, sorcery in that time was much more normal and less terrifying than it is today. Sorcerers would help people deal with things that they could not control and charge them to do so, albeit by means that did not honor the LORD. But when they recognize the power of Jesus, their reaction can actually teach us a lot about what it means to submit to Jesus.
----------REFLECT----------
1. What moment in this passage surprised you? What did you not expect?
2. The sons of Sceva get whooped because they try to baptize actions that are not actually submitted or empowered by the LORD by saying “in the name of Jesus.” How are you tempted to do this? To associate something you’re doing with Jesus without actually following His leadership?
3. One drachma is equal to one day’s wages, 50,000 drachmas are equal to 137 years of wages. Those who saw Jesus' power not only confessed and repented, they abandoned that in which they had placed their hope and it cost them a lot. We may not have sorcery scrolls, but we absolutely have things that we place our hope in that pale in comparison to Jesus’ power. What is that for you?
----------GO DEEPER----------
Bible Project: Acts 13-28 Overview >> (https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/acts-13-28/)
InterVarsity Press Selections: Acts >> (https://www.ivpress.com/Search?q=acts)
----------CONNECT----------
Find an InterVarsity Chapter >>
Start an InterVarsity Chapter >>
Learn More >> (http://intervarsity.org/)
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