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Colossians 

11/30/2015

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In writing to the Colossians, Paul followed a standard letter form of salutation, thanksgiving, prayer, main body, and concluding remarks. The salutation (1:1, 2) carries greetings to the church from himself and Timothy. Then follows a statement of thanksgiving for the good condition of the community (1:3–8) and a prayer that the Colossians may be filled with a knowledge of God’s will, which will result in worthy conduct (1:9–11).
The first part of the body of the letter summons the Colossians to praise and then quotes and applies the great hymn about Christ (1:12–23). Specifically, the first part begins with a confessional thanksgiving to the Father for calling them to be his own unique people (1:12–14). A hymn follows, celebrating Christ as the sovereign Creator and Redeemer of all that exists (1:15–20). The Colossians are participants in the results of Christ’s reconciling ministry (1:21–23).

The second part of the body of the letter describes Paul’s apostolic ministry (1:24–2:5). His was the task of making known the mystery of God concerning Christ to the Gentiles in general (1:24–29) and to the churches of Colossae and Laodicea in particular (2:1–5).

The third part of the body of the letter introduces Paul’s primary concern for the Colossian congregation: they are to follow the received tradition about Christ (that is, the teachings about Christ they had first accepted), and not to fall prey to the current false teaching (2:6–23). They are to walk in the light of the received tradition (2:6, 7), and they are warned against the false philosophy (2:8). The hymn of 1:15–20 is again referred to, here stressing Christ’s divine lordship (2:9, 10) and proclaiming his victory over the principalities and powers (2:11–15). Because of such a Christ, the Colossians are exhorted not to submit to the regulations and tenets of the false teaching (2:16–23).

The fourth part of the body of the letter summons the church to a life befitting Christians (3:1–4:6). Those who have been raised with Christ are to seek the things that are above (3:1–4). That means they are to put off the traits and attitudes listed in a catalog of vices (3:5–11) and to put on the traits and attitudes listed in a catalog of virtues (3:12–14). In worship they are to conduct themselves in a unified and orderly way (3:15–4:1). The so-called “household code” concerning marriage, children, and slavery (3:18–4:1) appears in a context dealing with worship (3:15–17; 4:2–6). The most pressing admonitions in the code are addressed to wives and slaves, groups that especially would crave the equality promised in the gospel (Gal 3:28; note Col 3:11). So Paul probably used the code to call for order in the public worship service.

​Paul concluded his letter by first stating that Tychicus and the recently converted slave, Onesimus, would inform the church about his circumstances (4:7–9), and then adding a series of greetings (4:10–18).
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Galatians

11/26/2015

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I pray you all have a blessed Holiday being thankful for so much! I will unpack the book we read today on Sunday during the teaching time. Enjoy an extra round of turkey in anticipation :) 
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2 Corinthians 10-13

11/25/2015

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​Reading though chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians is a challenge for me. I am a Pastor, I grew up in a Christian home and asked Jesus to rule my life when I was 5. I served in the youth group, went on mission trips, and taught younger children, all before I was 18. Then when I got married I served in many different ways in the church, including church board, trustee, men’s ministry, preaching and teaching, Sunday School, usher, sound team, and small groups. Yet 2 Corinthians 11 shows me, that all means nothing and in fact, it shows that I can do all of that and still be destined for Hell. That line of Paul, “masquerading as servants of righteousness”, scares the crap out of me. There are many lines in God’s Holy Word that scare me to death and that line is one of them. What I do means nothing in the eternal saving of my soul. In fact, what I do could and might stand in the way of my own salvation. I can look good, doing great things for God, and still be totally destined for destruction. That is why Paul says we should only ever boast in the Cross. Paul was so much better of a “man of God” than I am, yet he only ever talked about the Cross and what that means. That is the same for me. I can only boast in the Cross. That is all I should talk about. That is all I should tell others about. That is all that matters. Now the Cross should motivate me to do things, but that is the Cross at work in my life and the Cross that matters. Let this chapter soak deep into your soul and then let it explode out with an exclamation point of the Cross of Christ. Tomorrow, celebrate and be grateful for the one things that matters, the Cross of Christ. 
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2 corinthians 6-9

11/24/2015

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​Reading through 2 Corinthians 6-9, one thought kept ringing in my ears. I read this line a few years ago while working thought the widow’s mites from Mark 12. “True generosity is not about how much you give, but how much you sacrifice”. Paul is showing in 2 Corinthians 6-9 that the Gospel, and the truth of how much Jesus sacrificed, should motivate us as the bride of Christ to also sacrifice greatly for the kingdom. Knowing how much God in His grace gives us and sacrifices for us had better bear the fruit of sacrifice in His children. If God’s children do not sacrifice generously, then they do not really know the Gospel and have not been impacted by the grace of God.
 
“True generosity is not about how much you give, but how much you sacrifice”.
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2 Corinthians 1-5

11/23/2015

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Today and the next 2, we will read through the 2nd letter to the church at Corinth. We can tell from both of these letters that these are not the only interactions in writing from Paul to this troubled church. But the 2 that we have in God’s Word are both very different and equally the same. So I wanted to give an outline today of this 2nd letter.
I.   Salutation (1:1–3)
II.   The Nature of Apostolic Ministry (1:3–7:16)
      A.  Defined in terms of Paul’s relations with the Corinthians (1:3–2:17)
      B.  Defined in light of its glory and shame (3:1–7:16)
III.   The Expression of Apostolic Ministry through the Collection for Jerusalem (8:1–9:15)
      A.  Examples of sacrificial giving (8:1–15)
      B.  Care in handling the collection (8:16–24)
      C.  An appeal for a generous response (9:1–15)
IV.   Paul’s Defense of His Apostolic Ministry (10:1–12:13)
      A.  Defended by answering allegations (10:1–18)
      B.  Defended by resorting to the foolishness of boasting (11:1–12:13)
V.   Paul’s Future Plans (12:14–13:10)
      A.  Anticipation of a third visit to Corinth (12:14–21)
      B.  Paul’s warning that he will deal forthrightly when he comes (13:1–10)
VI.   Farewell (13:11–14)
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1 Corinthians 11-14

11/20/2015

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​Today we read 1 Corinthians 11-14. This section of Scripture is one of the hardest parts of the Bible to understand. This section is also one of the most hotly contested parts of the Bible between scholars. If reading through it today you only pick up 2 things, God will be blessed. In this section of the letter, Paul is laying out for the Corinthians how they should function as a body and specifically how they should function as a body when they are together in fellowship and worship services. That is why love is such a focus of Paul in this section and I pray the love Paul describes is something you picked up from the reading today. The other key thing I pray you picked up is focused around 14:40. God is a God of order, not chaos. God created everything with fine detail and beauty. God is not random or arbitrary. So Paul is telling the church, they must also be a church of order, detail, beauty, and not a church of chaotic random uncontrolled actions. God wants us, the church, to do everything with excellence, to the best of our ability, with great detail. And God wants the church to do it that way, because they are image bearers of Him, and He is that way. I hope and pray you also caught this in the reading today. Let the smarter people figure out the hard stuff in this passage and stick with growing in love and doing everything with excellence and order.  
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1 corinthians 7-10

11/19/2015

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Here are my thoughts on 9:19-23

​19.--For though I be free; rather, though I was free. He has voluntarily abandoned this freedom. The true rendering of the verse is, For being free from all men [Gal. 1:10], I enslaved myself to all. In acting thus he obeyed his own principle of not abusing his liberty, but “by love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).
20.--Unto the Jews I became as a Jew. When, for instance, he circumcised Timothy (Acts 12:3) and probably Titus also (Gal. 2:3); and he was continuing this principle of action when he took the vow of the Nazarite (Acts 21:21–26), and called himself “a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees” (Acts 23:6). To them that are under the Law. That is, not only to Jews, but even to the most rigorous legalists among the Jews. It should be carefully observed that Paul is here describing the innocent concessions and compliances which arise from the harmless and generous condescension of a loving spirit. He never sank into the fear of man, which made Peter at Antioch unfaithful to his real principles. He did not allow men to form from his conduct any mistaken inference as to his essential views. He waived his personal convictions in matters of indifference which only affected “the infinitely little.”
21.--To them that are without law, as without law. In other words, I so far became to the heathen as a heathen, that I never willfully insulted their beliefs nor shocked their prejudices, but on the contrary, judged them with perfect forbearance and treated them with courtesy. Paul tried to look at every subject, so far as he could do so innocently, from their point of view. He defended their gospel liberty, and had discussions with Gentile converts on terms of perfect equality. Not without law to God. Not even “without law”. Much less “opposed to law”, though free from it as a bondage. Even the Gentiles were “not without law to God” (Rom. 2:14, 15). So that Paul is here using language which base opponents might distort, but which the common sense of honest readers would prevent them from misinterpreting.
22.--To the weak. His whole argument here is a plea for condescension to the struggles of weak converts. A similar condescension to their prejudices might be necessary to win them to Christianity at all. Paul often touches on our duties to weak brethren (Rom. 14:1; 1 Thess. 5:14; Acts 20:35). All things to all men. He repeats the same principle in ch. 10:33, “I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved;” and once more, at the end of his course (2 Tim. 2:10). This condescension laid him open to the malicious attacks of religious enemies. But not on that account would Paul ever be led to abandon the fruitful aid of that universal sympathy and tolerance which is one of the best tests of Christian love. That I might by all means save some. He adds this explanation of the motive of his condescension to various people lest any should accuse him of men-pleasing, as some of his Galatian opponents had done (Gal. 1:10). In his desire to win souls he acted with the wisdom and sympathy taught by experience, suppressing himself.
23.--And this I do. The better reading is, and I do all things. For the gospel’s sake. This is a wider feeling than even “for the elect’s sakes” of 2 Tim. 2:10. With you. The “you” is not expressed in the original, where we only have “a fellow-partaker of it.” But the word illustrates the deep humility of the apostle.
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1 corinthians 1-6

11/18/2015

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Today we covered a lot of ground in the first 6 chapters of 1 Corinthians. This is a book I am looking forward to unpacking together with my church starting in September 2016. There is a lot of topics, truths, and commands covered by Paul in this 16 chapter letter. I thought that it might be helpful it today, I gave an outline of the book in how it is all broken down. So here is an outline for 1 Corinthians
 
DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH (1–4)
   Salutation, introduction (1:1–9)
   The fact of divisions (1:10–17)
   The reason for divisions (1:18–4:21)
   Misunderstanding the church’s message (1:18–3:4)
   Misunderstanding the church’s ministry (3:5–4:21)
DISORDERS IN THE CHURCH (5–6)
   Excommunication (5)
   Lawsuits (6:1–8)
   Loose morals (6:9–20)
DIFFICULTIES IN THE CHURCH (7:1–16:4)
   Marriage (7)
   Things offered to idols (8:1–11:1)
   Concern for those less mature (8)
   Willingness to give up freedom (9)
   Danger of pagan feasts (10:1–11:1)
   Public worship (11:2–16)
   The Lord’s Supper (11:17–34)
   Spiritual gifts (12–14)
      Various kinds of gifts (12:1–11)
      Purpose of gifts (12:12–31)
      Supremacy of love (13)
      Superiority of prophecy over tongues (14:1–25)
      Using gifts in worship (14:26–40)
   The resurrection (15)
   The offering (16:1–4)
DILIGENCE IN THE CHURCH (16:5–24)
   Travel plans (16:5–12)
Exhortations, greetings, benediction (16:13–24)
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Romans 12-16

11/17/2015

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​Today we read the closing 5 chapters of Romans. This part of the letter by Paul, is him showing how the theology of chapters 1-11 should play out in action. You could say that chapters 12-16 is Paul’s discourse on how to make better disciples. I find it interesting that Paul lays out the Gospel for his readers in the first part, then shows in the second part how the Gospel must affect the life of a convert. 12:1-2 is the opening lines of the second half of the book. These 2 verses are also a broad heading for everything else that follows. Let me give a few examples…
 
“Living sacrifices…belong to everyone else in the body and are not their own” (12:1, 12:5)
 
“Living sacrifices…are subject to the authorities God has placed in their lives” (12:1, 13:1)
 
“Living sacrifices…consider those who are weaker in the faith” (12:1, 14:1)
 
“Living sacrifices…accept one another as Jesus does” (12:1, 15:7)
 
“Living sacrifices…do not cause divisions in the body” (12:1, 16:17)
 
So Paul in the section we read through today is telling us what it means to be living sacrifices. Jesus is the greatest living sacrifice and if we claim to love Him, we must look like Him and also be living sacrifices. We need to ask ourselves today, does every action and word I do, show to the world around me that I am a living sacrifice and an image bearer of the greatest Sacrifice? 
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Romans 9-11

11/16/2015

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​Theology must produce doxology. Today we finished reading Paul’s theological framework for salvation, God, the human race, and Jesus. Romans is Paul’s clearest systematic theology of God’s plan in reconciling a people to Himself. I am a theology nerd (I even have a shirt that says I am). I love to sit and study the Bible, digging deep into all the areas of theology. Here is a systematic list of all the major areas of theology from the Bible.
·         Theology proper – The study of the character of God
·         Biblical theology – The study of the bible
·         Christology – The study of Christ
·         Pneumatology – The study of the Holy Spirit
·         Soteriology – The study of salvation
·         Anthropology – The study of the nature of humanity.
·         Hamartiology - The study of sin
·         Angelology – The study of angels/demons
·         Ecclesiology – The study of the church
·         Eschatology – The study of the end times
 
I love theology so much that sitting down and reading through John Calvin’s “Institutes”, which is the famous church father’s theology book (which is 1001 pages), is a very fun activity for me. I know I sound crazy. So I love me a good theology discussion, essay, reading, and teaching time. The greatest thing I love about theology though, is the fact that when I find more answers to my theological questions in the Bible, the more mystery and questions it creates. I would consider myself an average theologian. What is even crazy is that every time I study theology and unpack more of Scripture, 10 more questions arise that do not have simple or even any answer at all. Theology is my friend.
 
But as Paul shows us from Romans, as with many of his other letters, theology must not stand on its own. As Paul ends chapter 11 with praise to God and rejoicing in all that he has just unpacked, he is showing us that theology must breed doxology or praise to God. If theology just stands on its own and does not result in praise to God and action in making disciples, then theology is an idol. Theology and the study of it all, including all the areas listed above, must start our praise to God and action in making disciples. Everyone is a theologian. Everyone believes and thinks something. If we study the Bible, we must let it drive the truth and theology in it, into a deeper affection and worship of God and action in making more disciples. Theology must be the right hand to the left hand to worship and action. Both hands must be present in our lives. As I stated at the beginning, theology (Biblical truth) must produce doxology. 
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