You've Got Mail

What are Epistles?  They're not the leaders of the early church -- Those were the Apostles!  The Epistles are a series of letters you find in the New Testament of your Bible.  These are letters written by the likes of Paul, Peter, James and John.  The letters originally were written for specific people about issues in specific places at specific times, but the church has come to see them as inspired ... as containing eternal truths for us all that are inspired by God!  So, you've got mail in your New Testament in-box that you need to read.  Here are a few of the inspired messages you will find when you open that mail:

In Paul's letter to the church in Galatia, we read about the Fruit of the Spirit -- the qualities that grow in our lives when we are living for God: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law."  -Galatians 5:22-23 (TNIV).  Looking for someone who lives by the guidance of the Holy Spirit?  Look for someone whose life displays the Fruit of the Spirit! 

In the 13th Chapter of Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth, we find The Love Chapter -- a moving passage about the power of love.  We often read this passage at weddings, but it's really about how all of us are to treat each other.  Here's a video clip from one of my favorite movies: The Mission.  Robert De Niro plays an 18th Century slave-trader and mercenary who leaves his life of sin to become a Jesuit priest, ministering to the same native tribe he used to enslave.  In this clip, De Niro is reading the moving words of 1 Corinthians 13 as he learns, from his experiences with his native hosts, what it means to love others.

Another powerful epistle we studied today is Paul's letter to Philemon.  You can read the entire letter HERE.  (It's only 25 verses long!)  Paul met and befriended a run-away slave named Onesimus, who then became a Christian.  Paul sent Onesimus back to his owner (another Christian, named Philemon) with this letter -- urging Philemon to take back Onesimus, "no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother ... a brother in the Lord."  Philemon 1:15 (TNIV).  This letter's message of Christian brotherhood and freedom was used by abolitionists in the 18th and 19th Centuries as they argued for an end to the evil institution of slavery.  On a lighter note, here is a cute little video that tells the story of Philemon and Onesimous with singing puppets.  As one of our class members said this morning, it's so bad that it's good ;-)

 We had a full house in Sunday school this morning -- and a number of great nominations for Best Epistle Passage. 

Ben, our newest class member, nominated the entire Third Letter of John.  Why?  Because, by number of words, it is the shortest book in the Bible. To John, you are what you do.  Check out verse 11:  "Dear friends, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.  Anyone who does what is good is from God.  Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God."  - 3 John 1:11 (TNIV).

Jack chose Colossians 3:20 (TNIV): "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord."  His mother told him to pick that verse, and he did ;-)


Wes picked 1 Peter 1:24-25 (TNIV): "[T]he grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever."  When Peter writes these words, he is quoting from Isaiah 40.


Nick selected Paul's description in his letter to the Ephesians of the "full armor of God:"

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  -Ephesians 6:13-17 (TNIV).

Jake nominated 2 Corinthians 9:6 (TNIV): "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously."   

Adrienne sent in her nomination by text -- Romans 12:2 (TNIV):  Do not conform to the patter of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will." 

Paige also selected a verse from Romans -- Chapter 1, verse 18 (TNIV):  "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of human beings who suppress the truth by their wickedness."

Alex chose our winning passage of the week, 1 Corinthians 3:18-19 (TNIV):  "Do not deceive yourselves.  If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become 'fools' so that you may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight."  Congrats to Alex, who wins the Wesley Award for Best Epistle Passage!  Congratulations also to Wes, our overall winner, with three Wesley Awards to his credit this school year!

This brings the Wesley Awards to an end for this school year.  We will start up again in the Fall.  In the meantime, we will be posting during the Summer as the Spirit moves us ... but not every Sunday. 

 I leave you (for now) with this benediction from Jude 1:24-25 (TNIV): "To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—  to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."  Now, listen to this song, Breathe (Benediction) by the Newsboys.  It's a remake of the classic hymn, Breathe on Me Breath of God, and it includes the words of Jude's famous benediction!

Amen, and God Bless You ... 

Act(s)ion Heroes

Welcome to our recap of today's youth Sunday school class, where we took a look at the New Testament's Book of Acts (often called the Acts of the Apostles). 

The Book of Acts tells the fascinating story of the birth and early history of the Christian Church.  Tradition tells us that Acts was written by Luke, a physician and travelling companion of the Apostle Paul.  Luke wrote Acts for a patron by the name of Theophilus.  Acts is something like a sequel to the Gospel of Luke.  In Luke 1:3-4 (TNIV), the author of the Gospel of Luke writes: "I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you might know the certainty of the things you have been taught."  The Book of Acts then begins: "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven ... "   -Acts 1:1-2 (TNIV).  So begins Luke's telling of the history of the early church -- a history filled with Christian act(s)ion heroes such as Peter, Paul, Stephen, Barnabas and Philip.  If you haven't read the Book of Acts, or you would just like to brush up on it, here is a tremendous little video that condenses the whole book into three action-packed minutes:

This week, we had four nominations for the Wesley Award for the Best Story from Acts.  Nick nominated the story of the Stoning of Stephen, which you can read in Acts, Chapter 7 here.

Stephen became the first Christian martyr, getting stoned to death for boldly proclaiming to the religious leaders that they had murdered "the Righteous One" -- Jesus -- by playing a part in the events that led to his crucifixion.  A young man named Saul was in the crowd when Stephen was stoned.  Luke tells us that Saul "approved of their killing him."  -Acts 8:1 (TNIV).  Saul later became a living example of the redemptive power of Christ, being transformed from a persecutor of Christians to a great Christian missionary and teacher! 

Wes  selected a particularly gruesome story ... the Death of King Herod.  You can read about it in Acts 12:19-24 here.  Herod Agrippa, whose image is seen on the coin below, was struck dead by an angel when his subjects likened him to a god and he did not correct them and give credit where it was due -- to the God of his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

Luke tells us in Acts 12:23 (TNIV) that "the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died" ... eeuuww!

Adrienne picked the Earthquake Jailbreak found in Acts 16:16-40 (TNIV).  We read there that an earthquake freed Paul and Silas from their chains while in prison.  But they didn't flee the scene.  They stayed put until their jailer and his entire household had come to believe in God!

And our winning scripture was chosen by Paige, who picked a story we can all fall for!  In Acts 20:7-12, we read this about a man named Eutychus:  "On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.  Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. 'Don’t be alarmed,' he said. 'He’s alive!'   Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted." -Acts 20:7-12 (TNIV).

I'll bet your pastor never preached someone to death!  And then helped bring him back to life!  Do you think that Paul's all-night sermon (and Eutychus' fall) helped church attendance the following week or hurt it?  Congrats to Paige for selecting our Wesley Award Winner of the week.  Join us next week, when we bestow the Wesley Award for Best Epistle Passage.