A Strengthened Faith, Pt. 3

When we visited Berea, I found that the Bereans today are much like the Bereans in Paul's day. They were kind and open-minded to the things of God.

A Strengthened Faith, Pt. 3

"Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so."

(Acts 17:10-11)

As I revisit our journey to Greece and Turkey, I hope you are blessed and encouraged by what you read and the pictures you see. We had a wonderful 10-day trip and came back strengthened even more in our walk with God and confidence in the Word of God. I hope to take this journey again in the future, and if we do, I would love for you to go with us!

After we visited Delphi, we drove to northern Greece to a city called Kalambaka. The mountains in this area are beautiful, but when you look closely at the pictures taken of these mountains, you notice something remarkable. There are multiple monasteries built on top of these mountains! There are 24 in all, with 6 still in operation. The Monastery of the Holy Trinity, as seen in this photo, was constructed in the 15th and 14th centuries AD. It can be reached by walking almost 2 miles uphill, or one can take the cable cart. (No thanks!)

You can see the cable line to the left if you zoom in on the picture. The monastery was featured in the 1981 James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only.

We drove 3 hours from the monasteries in Kalambaka to Berea. (Yes, the Berea mentioned in Acts 17!) In 2004, I preached at the murals in the city depicting Paul's visit to Berea. I got to preach again and had a blast.

Here is a picture of me preaching in Berea, a picture of our group, and finally, a photo of Peter and me.

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Peter and his wife, Athena, own the gift shop across the street from the murals. Ashley and I went in and did a little shopping. We were able to share with them, and I led them in prayer and asked God to bless them. They were so kind, and when I told him I was a pastor, he got so excited and gave me a gift to take back home with me. I found that the Bereans today are much like the Bereans in Paul's day. They were kind and open-minded to the things of God.

Let me encourage you to be like the Bereans. Be open to what God desires to tell you in His Word. Also, whenever you hear someone preaching, check to make sure that what they are saying is consistent with what Scripture teaches. In doing so, you will be like the Bereans that Paul saw when he came to this city around AD 50. Paul had a fruitful ministry in Berea, as indicated in Acts 17:12: "Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men."

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Podcast of the Week

Interview with Dr. Jenifer Wakefield, Pt. 2

Pastor Danny continues his conversation with Dr. Jenifer Wakefield, biblical counselor and head of the women's ministry at Great Hills Baptist Church, about the issues of same-sex attraction, gender dysphoria, and abortion and how Christians can effectively minister to people struggling with these issues, especially how parents can help their children if they are tangled up in these issues.

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