As we prepare for Holiday Club we're going to be looking at the parable of the four soils today.

We cover a lot of ground this week - from Turkey to Israel, via Greece. What can we learn from Paul's work, his words and his warnings?

As we've been reading through Acts we've read about lots of people getting baptised. But why did they do it and why do we still do it?

There are many parts of Paul's story where it is obvious that he is involved in a spiritual battle. Often, in the western church, this is a part of our Christian life that we hear very little about - but for Christians in other parts of the world it is very much a part of their everyday experience. So what do we mean when we talk about spiritual warfare?

There are plenty of verses in the Bible about not being afraid because God is with us. But does that mean that I shouldn't feel afraid? Did people like the apostle Paul ever feel afraid knowing that physical persecution was a likely outcome of his actions as he approached a new city? Let's find out.

What is God like? Many of us may have ideas about what God is like - and the people of Athens had ideas about what God is like - but Paul wanted to show them, and us, what God is really like - and he wants us to know how we can know God for ourselves.

How do we know what is true? The Bereans wanted to know whether or not what Paul was saying was true - so they went away and studied the Scriptures. They didn't just reject his message out of hand because of centuries of tradition - they were open to the truth. What can we learn from their example?

Today we're taking another look at the Great Commission and thinking about what it means to 'go'.

If you want to watch the video that is included in this talk you'll find it here: https://youtu.be/WgouzNt9LbA?si=xeIYYn-wYdSzPXh-

Paul travels to Philippi and has quite an adventure involving being thrown into prison and having the prison doors opened in an earthquake. But that wasn't the best bit of the story.

As Paul and Barnabas continue their journey they see the Holy Spirit transforming lives. But we are in a spiritual battle and so they also encounter hostility, hardships and persecution. Obedience to Jesus will often make life harder - but Paul encourages us to remain faithful because it is totally worth it.