Growing up in the Gilchrist house, oft heard was the phrase, “Use the dictionary.” A request for a definition was met with the answer, “Look it up in a dictionary.” This taught the importance of words and their meanings. One of the first books to acquire for serious Bible study is a good Bible dictionary. This is because words matter. So-called “liturgical language” has fallen on hard times. Society has become “unchurched,” and some words found in the Bible have become misunderstood. Because society is sometimes lazy, individuals shut down mentally when unrecognized words are heard. So, some classify words as “churchy,”— derogatorily, as in, “That preacher uses too many churchy words.” Big words should not be used to show off, but there are some words that need to be understood and deserve some time and attention. There is nothing wrong with digging a little deeper into words, not for liturgy, but because of biblical significance. The Hebrew word “messiah” is used thirty-nine times in the Old Testament (Vine 150). It means “anointed one.” It refers to someone anointed to a specific task or given the authority to do a job. There are multiple messiahs in the Old Testament. Patriarchs were anointed (Psalm 105:15). The priests were anointed (Leviticus 4:3, 5, 16; 1 Kings 19:16). The prophets were anointed (Psalm 105:15). Kings were anointed (2 Samuel 7:13; Isaiah 45:1). More importantly, there is a Messiah that the Old Testament points to coming, Who would fulfill prophecies and promises. He would be anointed

Visiting Two Cities In the first 15 verses of Acts 17, Paul visited two cities, Thessalonica and Berea. “…Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures…” (Acts 17:2). It was Paul’s practice at this time in his missionary journeys to visit the synagogue in the city he was visiting and preach the Gospel of Christ. He did this in both cities (Acts 17: 1-2, 10). The Gospel was originally a message for the Jews, who should have been prepared to receive Christ once he came (Romans 1:16). Paul did not preach just to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. The majority of the Gentile population was not looking for the Christ to come, because they did not have the same information that the Jews had. The Jews had the writings of Moses and the other prophets long before Paul preached that Christ had fulfilled these prophesies. The Law and prophets pointed to Christ’s coming as a King, Prophet and Savior. Moses spoke of Christ in Deuteronomy 18:15 and Isaiah wrote many prophesies about the Christ who would come. The Jews, having this information, were looking for a Savior. When Christ came, and was not the kind of Savior and earthly king they wanted, they rejected him and killed him. However, not all Jews rejected Christ. The first 15 verses of Acts 15 depict the two ways Jews reacted to the Gospel. Trouble in Thessalonica Paul spent three