Singing Jailbirds - The Book of Acts

Join Julia Jeffress Sadler as she takes us on an incredible adventure in Episode 202.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing
hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations
of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors
were opened and everyone's bonds were loosened. Acts sixteen twenty
five through twenty six. Dear God, only you can fill

(00:24):
our hearts with joy. When we are in pain, sad,
or having a bad day, Please remind us of your
love and give us the strength to worship you. As
we praise you, we know you will fill our hearts
with the joy that only you can give. Thank you
for the example of Paul and Silas, and for the
songs they sang in that dark prison. Hear our hearts

(00:48):
and voices as we lift them to you today in Jesus' name.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
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(01:14):
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Speaker 3 (01:29):
Singing Jailbirds. In our last story, we learned about Paul's
letter to the Galatians, urging them in their faith and
to live by the spirit. In this story, we return
to Paul's journey where he meets Timothy, baptizes Lydia, and
is thrown in prison in Philibi as inspired by acts.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Hey, it's Julianne Thompson guest hosting for Julia Jeffrey Sadler.
Welcome back, and I'm so excited you're here for another
episode of the Kid's Bible in your podcast. Today's story
is so fun it makes me want to sing. Listen
close and warm up your vocal courts.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Paul went one day to meet Timothy in Listra. Timothy
lived with his Jewish mother and Greek father, and the
believers in the community spoke highly of him. Paul wanted
to take him under his wing and teach him. Paul
then circumcised Timothy and they began to travel and preach
to the surrounding towns. Because of Paul and Timothy, the

(02:38):
churches in the towns that they preached began to grow
in numbers and faith. Paul then traveled to Phrygia and
Galicia with a group of his friends, being full of
the Holy Spirit the whole journey. They were denied access
to Bithynia by the spirit of the Lord, so they
continued on to try Us. Paul received a vision in

(03:00):
his sleep of a man begging from Macedonia for help.
Once Paul had seen this, he gathered his group together
and they got ready and left to head for Macedonia,
as God had called them there to preach the gospel
from Troas. They went to Samothrace, then Neapolis, and from
there Philippi, the main city in Macedonia. The Sabbath came

(03:24):
and they went outside the gates and saw a river
where they believed they could find a quiet place to
talk to God. When they approached the river, they saw
women sitting there, so they approached them. There was a
woman there by the name of Lydia who was from Thyatira.
As the men spoke, God began to work in Lydia
and she responded to the words Paul was speaking. As

(03:47):
a result, Lydia, along with the other people in her house,
were baptized. She then invited them to stay at her house,
so they did. They left Lydia and headed towards a
place where they could go and pray. When they were
on their way, they came across a woman slave who
had the gift of fortune telling, which earned her masters
a lot of money. For days, this woman would follow

(04:10):
Paul and Silas and shout, these are men of God.
They're here to tell you how to be saved. After
hearing it over and over for days, Paul was annoyed
by her, so he called out the spirit in her, saying,
in the name of Jesus, come out. When he said that,
the spirit immediately left the woman. Her owners heard of

(04:32):
this and then came to the realization that one of
their money makers was gone. They had Paul and Silas
arrested and taken to authorities, saying, these Jews are here
causing a ruckus in the town in promoting things and
ideas that we as Romans, are not allowed to. All
the people around began to come into agreement with the

(04:53):
slave owners, and the authorities ordered for them to be
stripped and whipped with rods. After this, they were imprisoned
and put under careful watch in the innermost cell of
the prison with shackles on their feet. When midnight came around,
Paul and Silas began to sing songs and hymns to God.
All the other inmates in the prison could hear them

(05:14):
singing these songs. Then out of nowhere, there was a
gigantic earthquake that shook the very core of the foundation. Immediately,
all the cell doors swung open and all the chains
were broken off. The guard awoke and saw what had happened,
so he pulled his sword out, ready to kill himself
for letting this happen under his watch. No, don't hurt yourself.

(05:37):
No one has left, shouted Paul. Then he fell to
his knees in front of them and asked how he
could be saved. Paul and Silas looked at him and said,
believe in Jesus and you will be saved, along with
everyone in your house. They spoke with him about God,
and the guard cleaned their cuts and wounds. After this,

(05:59):
he and his house were all baptized in water, and
the guard invited Paul and Silas to eat with him
and his family in their house. The next morning, Paul
and Silas were released escorted by the same officers who
beat them and imprisoned them. After they were released, they
went to Lydia's home and met with her and her family,

(06:21):
and then left.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
Today we meet a new missionary who became fast friends
with Paul. His name is Timothy. Although he was young,
Timothy was becoming well known in the town of Listra
because he was a strong follower of Jesus. Paul began
to teach him and help them, and they traveled around

(06:50):
together sharing the good news of the Gospel. After Paul
had a dream or vision of a man in Macedonia
crying out for help, the group began the learning to
Macedonia to find out what God was up to. As
we heard, they met Lydia, who came to know Jesus,
and Paul cast an evil spirit out of a slave

(07:11):
girl who was getting on his last nerve. But the
people who owned this slave did not like this one
bit because they relied on her fortune telling to make money.

Speaker 4 (07:22):
So what did they do?

Speaker 1 (07:24):
They told the Romans that Paul and Silas were causing trouble,
and as a result, Paul and Silas were arrested, stripped, whipped,
and beaten. They were thrown into prison in the very
middle of the jail with chains and shackles. Paul had
been here before. What the Bible says next is truly amazing.

(07:48):
Since Paul and Silas had been whipped, certainly they had
lots of cuts and blood and sores all over their bodies.
They were badly beaten and in terrible pain in a
prison with their legs put into stalks thick shackles that
are placed far apart in order to cause your legs
to cramp. Could things get any worse? It was midnight,

(08:12):
the darkest part of the night. But do you know what,
Paul and Silas were filled with joy, actual joy. How
they were not happy about all that happened to them,
but the joy of the Lord was filling their hearts
so much so that they couldn't help but worship him.

(08:33):
Now picture this. Paul and Silas were not just quietly
mouthing the words to their favorite song or playing it
silently in their hearts. They were singing out. Do you
know how we know this because the Bible tells us
that all of the other prisoners could hear them. It
was then that a gigantic earthquake shook the prison. All

(08:56):
the cell doors swung open and the chains fell to
the The guard believed in Jesus was saved and baptized
with his whole family. Once again, God showed up for
his people. They may have been beaten and chained, but
they were still on the side of God of the universe.
He would watch over them, comfort them, and show up

(09:19):
for them. He could keep his promise to never forsake
them no matter what. This is such a great lesson
for us today. The next time we find ourselves in
a sad situation, hurt by others, beaten down, or just
having an awful day, we can remember Paul and Silas.

(09:41):
We can hear the sound of their voices singing out
loud with praises to God in the midst of their
terrible suffering, and we can do the same. There is
just something about worshiping God that uplifts your spirit and
fills you with joy. Try it today and see in fact,
play your favorite worship song right now as a prayer

(10:03):
and offering to God, thank him for all He's done
for you and for who he is. Tell him you
love and trust him, and see if joy doesn't fill
your heart just like it did for Paul. And silas.
I am so glad you joined me today. I hope
you'll be back to hear about more singing jailbirds. Remember,

(10:24):
the Bible is the best story ever told. It's God's
story to you, and it's all true. Did our podcast
resonate with you? Invite someone you care about to tune
in as well. Together we can uplift kids and parents alike.
Thanks for listening to Pray dot Com Kids Bible in
a Year. For more inspiring stories and wisdom to last

(10:44):
a lifetime, download the Prey dot com app for free today.

Speaker 4 (10:56):
Thanks for listening to Kids Bible in a Year. I
want to invite our adult listeners to check out my
other show, Unapologetic, God's Truth on today's topics. It's unfiltered, important, inspiring,
and we have awesome conversations and amazing guests such as
Candice Cameron Bray, Vice President, Mike Pince, doctor Robert Jeffers,

(11:19):
Shandon Breen, Maddy Pruett, and so many others. We are
helping you have conversations that empower you to have bold
faith in a broken world. You'll be excited, inspired, and
encouraged in your faith as you check out Unapologetic. Remember
that you can tune in wherever you get your podcasts,

(11:40):
and on pray dot com