Dear Church Family,
Preparing my "week ahead" calendar today has brought into clear focus how close we are to Christmas! Though that realization brings with it a flurry of "Oh, I must still get this"...and "that still needs to be done" thoughts, it also brings some grateful realizations of how much there is to celebrate.
Should we Celebrate, or look for another?
Isaiah 35. Matthew 11.2-11
Riding up the elevator a few weeks ago mid-Sunday morning someone turned to me and said "It's working!" At first I thought theses words were addressed to the elevator. However, after a few more moments I realized they were talking about the church. They were off to an early start in celebrating our church's theme for these next few months, "celebrating the gift."
This chapter is jammed full of stuff to talk about, but I will try to keep it to 2 or 3 major points.
“When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints?” (v1)
This is the first verse of the chapter and Paul is making a claim:
Morality does not come from the legal institutions.
“Is it right and moral?” Is NOT the same thing as asking “is it legal?”
Our younger grandson, 14 months old, is just learning to talk. He's figured out "mama," and surprised his parents last week when, while watching his 3-year-old brother circle the house pretending to be a train, he came up with a second "word" -- "choo-choo." Then, a couple of days ago, as he overheard a Christmas program on television, he added to his verbal repertoire "Ho-Ho-Ho."
Isaiah 2:1-5
When we look back into the world of ancient Israel. Into this world of ploughshares and pruning hooks. While It may be that in normal times, life was about plowing and planting and pruning and praying for good weather. However in times of crisis, things took a different shape.
Dear Family and Friends:
It’s hard to believe we’ll be back in the Midwest in two days! We’re eager to see family and friends, worried about the cost of living in the U.S. for five weeks, and a little stressed to leave our Copa home and our work here.
1 Corinthians 5
[Note to the reader: In this chapter Paul talks about some intense, possibly crude, topics – if it may offend or bother you, maybe don’t read this]
A man having sex with his mother (or possibly step-mother). Dude. Eww.
This is the first issue Paul chooses to address. The Greek term is “porneia” which the NRSV translates as “sexual immorality.” Apparently, there is a man who is “living with his father’s wife.” Paul doesn’t tell us who the man is, but focuses on the people of Corinth and their response instead.
1 Corinthians, Chapter 4.
Many translations of the bible split this into two simple sections: v1-13 and v14-21.
v1-13
This section is all about the ministry of the Apostles. If you’ve been following along with the previous blog posts, this has been a reoccurring theme from the beginning. (DRAMA!)
However, Paul makes some amazing points throughout these verses.
It was clearly a “you-must-come” kind of invitation. The Bolivian Bishop, Javier Rojas, would officiate. And Bolivian President Evo Morales, a close pal of the bishop’s, might make an appearance! So we said Sure, we’d be delighted to attend.
Hey again,
This week is 1 Corinthians 3.
This chapter is a little harder to split up into nice little sections, so we are gonna hit up a few separate themes that come up instead.
The first theme is that of a new Christian. In the first few verses of the chapter Paul talks about the new Christians of Corinth using the analogy of a baby. When a baby is born, obviously it cannot handle a steak dinner right away. The baby has to drink milk and then eventually soft food and then finally steak (or celery, for you vegetarian readers)
Hey friends.
So this week is all about 1 Corinthians 2, which is one of my favorite chapters to talk about.
It splits into two major sections: v1-5 and v6-16.
The first section (v1-5) is all about proclaiming Christ.
In v3 Paul talks about coming in weakness and fear and trembling. This, plus some other verses in other books, leads some scholars to think that perhaps Paul had some sort of physical problem – like maybe a stutter or something. He points it out because he wants to emphasize that all the power of his message comes from JESUS!
I am so glad I have an office with a window. Not only with a window, but with a window two stories up -- so I can look at "leaf-level" toward the trees on our church property and across the street at the park.
These last days of October have been especially beautiful - so many of them sunny and colorful - and I am trying to savor some moments every day. For when November comes - and it is coming very soon - we can count on much of the color, and more of the warmth, disappearing.