Day 32 of Heart Dive 365.

I'm your Bible study friend Kanoi.

Welcome to the Heart Dive podcast.

Holly took us through the first six chapters of the books of Acts, and we continue

in that book today, reading chapter 7 through 8 in the ESV by Crossway Translation. But before we get started, if you could please help us out by hitting your thumbs up button, the like button, the subscribe button, all the buttons that you know will be helpful and supportive of this ministry and of this channel. Commenting along the way is always helpful as well. And if you're new to this Bible study, please take a look at the show notes or description box. There's lots of info in there for you. I've got a link to my Bible notes. You can go to our website as well, heartdive.org, if you want a one-stop shop for all things heart dive and what we do here in this ministry. But the main thing is that we are reading God's word, and that's where we want to be every single day. Thankfully, by the gift of technology, we get to do it together. So we are happy that you are here. Let us know in the comments where you're watching from and how you found us. That, happy Monday, everybody. We're going to go ahead and get started, but before we do, let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you so much that we have the opportunity to be able to read your word. We thank you, Lord, that we have access to it, that we have the freedom to do it. We thank you, Lord, for the gift of your word. We know what it does. We know that it is encouraging. We know that it cuts through the bone and marrow. we know that it can be offensive sometimes to us whenever we are living a certain way.

But we say thank you because we know that ultimately at the end of the day, whenever we allow this ward to transform our hearts, we are transforming from glory to glory.

We are becoming more and more like you and the likeness of your image. And that is what we want, Lord, because we know that's what you want. And so please forgive us for our sins. We just ask that you will please take away any desires in our hearts, God, that may be unholy or unrighteous. We want to submit ourselves before you and allow you to have that lordship over our lives, because that is the best way to live on this earth. So we just open up

ourselves to you today to have your way. Please open up our eyes and our ears and our hearts, Lord,

to be able to hear your word and to receive it so that it can bear fruit. Help us also to forgive

others. And we just pray, Lord, for the proper nourishment that we need for this week, for whatever

circumstances that we are in, week, for whatever circumstances that

we are in, whatever season of life that you have us in. God, we know that you will minister to us

in a very personal way. So let us be able to hear that sweet whisper today. We love you. In Jesus'

name, amen. We left off in chapter six with a brief introduction of Stephen, and the Sanhedron was saying that he was blaspheming against the temple, and that he was speaking against Moses and God.

And so now he is going to give his defense, I guess, to that argument. I would call it more of an offense, as he makes one of the most profound arguments found in the Bible,

just using the word of God, using Scripture.

So we start off here in verse 1.

And the high priest, who is most likely still Caiaphas, said, are these things so?

And Stephen said, brothers and fathers hear me.

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was

in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haryan and said to him, go out from your land and from your

kindred and go into the land that I will show you. Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans

...