Welcome to Youngsville Free Methodist Church

Here are a few things to look for, or mull over from each chapter of our reading today.

In the interest of balancing reading with reflection, I think today I will just make comments in writing as I read….instead of trying to create a narrative.

It’s a rather short letter, but even before I read it I know there will be something worthwhile within it for me today.    That’s how I always want to approach my devotions!

I never gave much thought to Jude…I mean, the man behind the letter that he penned.   Jude grew up with Jesus…he knew him longer than any of the disciples.   Jude and Jesus played together, ate meals together…probably slept in the same bed.    As cool as that seems, it probably made it harder for Jude to accept that his brother was actually God in human form.

Merry Christmas!     Peter is writing to us!  Think of it…that great Apostle who walked with Jesus, walked on water, walked away…and then was restored.   The one who saw Christ transfigured, saw him crucified and then resurrected….and watched Him ascend into heaven.    That great man of God is speaking to us directly.

Paul considered Timothy his “true son in the faith” and so his letter offers “fatherly” advice.  But more than that, it’s a challenge to excel and not settle for a mediocre Christian life.

Today’s reading begins with an exhortation to faith, but I also learned a couple of other things as well.

Although it’s one continuous thought, Paul highlights several different roles of Christ in today’s reading.    Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Father and High Priest.

The quick read through 1 Peter leaves me with the impression that the people of Turkey were being persecuted, or asked to suffer in some way. 

I have witnessed Pastors resigning their position in the church based on what this letter contains.    Should they have done that?   You decide.

It’s not hard to read the Bible in a year if you simply read one book a day….wow.     Six whole chapters in one day.   Okay, here we go….

Toward the end of the letter Paul asks a particular person to help him bring harmony back to the church by repairing a relationship between two women.   I wonder how many churches have been crippled or killed because the devil used this same attack on them?

As I have often said this year, one blog entry won’t scratch the surface of what’s contained in Ephesians.   I think I’ll just make some notes as I read.  Maybe if I ever look back at this again, I’ll be able to remember what caught my attention that day.

Just found this out in my study today…. within 10 years of the time that Paul wrote these letters (possibly less than 5 years)  there was a huge earthquake in Turkey that wiped out Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis (another nearby town).   It’s very likely that Philemon died in this tragedy, along with other Christians.  The towns were never rebuilt.

The last two chapters in Acts we learn that Paul travels to Rome after a dangerous sailing adventure, and then spends two years ministering out of his private apartment in Rome.   It doesn’t sound much like prison…more like house arrest.  

As Paul is on trial at several different locations the case is delayed for a ridiculous amount of time.  It would appear that justice has been shortchanged and Paul is the victim of politics.   That is, until you consider that this is exactly how Jesus wanted it to play out.

It’s only one line, and it really doesn’t add anything to our doctrine….but I hadn’t seen it before and somehow knowing it made me feel closer to the story.

As I begin today’s reading I am reminded that in the last reading we were talking about loving your neighbor.    This passage makes more sense when we look at it through the lens of love.

Among the usual deep and helpful words of Paul to the Romans there are a couple of comments that I have a hard time explaining….

Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.   Paul is emphatic about that, right?    Well then, how do you reconcile his thought that some people are created to be destroyed?

Paul addresses at least four things here: The importance of faith, the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice, the obligation we have to live in obedience and the war that this understanding sets up in our body.

behind!   Should be caught up later today.

A word to the leader:  Even if you do your job well, there will still be people who think the worst of you.  I mean, if they crucified Jesus and didn’t appreciate Paul….what can we expect?    Today’s passage makes me think about suffering and ministry, and how it all glorifies the Lord.

The first thing that goes through my mind as I read this passage is that Paul recently had reason to believe that the Church in Corinth had strayed away or was drifting.   Today it seems like he is celebrating in the knowledge that the report wasn’t true.    That makes me think of something….

Well, well, well.      Just yesterday I mentioned that I believed that Paul called himself an apostle because he received a direct commission to do so from Jesus, and today that’s how he begins his letter.    It’s almost as if we’ve read this book before….

Today is the first Sunday in Advent for 2017.   How amazing to be reading about the birth of Christ and the resurrection of Christ in two different settings!

Something about the way that the New Living Translation phrases these familiar lines makes it easier to understand.     The most common mistake is the think that 1 Corinthians 13 “stands alone” when it really was meant to be read with chapters 12 and 14.   I’m glad they are together here.

Is Paul saying that preachers shouldn’t be paid, that women should keep their heads covered when praying and men cannot have long hair?   It seems that way, doesn’t it?    Let’s take a closer look….

Paul covers a lot of ground in these few chapters, and his thoughts in print have provided many generations with wise guidance that helps us maneuver our way past many obstacles that have the potential to collapse families, communities and nations.