unity and maturity

Good evening friends,
In today's reading Paul says that Christians who take great pride in their teachers are immature in the faith. We all probably have teachers we are grateful to for shaping us, and that's fine. At the same time, God is the one who does everything. Having different approaches or favorite writers or teachers, doesn't divide us. The church is one, and Christ is our foundation.

God bless,
Sam

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. ²I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, ³for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? ⁴For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?

⁵What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. ⁹For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Seek heavenly things

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Paul urges his readers to put their faith into practice. When we become Christian our old self dies and we begin a new life centered on Christ. In that life everyone is equal and we are all called to grow in Christ's image. That's the calling for all Christians. Being a Christian is first of all about following Christ. Thinks like traditions, institutions, even community are consequences of following Christ together.

God bless,
Sam

Colossians 3:1-11

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, ³for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). ⁶On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. ⁷These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. 

⁸But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. ⁹Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices ¹⁰and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. ¹¹In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

children or adults

Good evening brothers and sisters,
Paul continues his argument that quarreling and division is a sign of poor spiritual life. Teachers, pastors and other leaders are God's servants to build up the church, but it is all about God. The teachers we follow can make a big difference in our life, but the foundation of our life is Jesus. As the election draws closer, let's remember what is important. We are each made in God's image; we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Our political opinions are important, but they are not ultimate.

God bless,
Sam

1 Corinthians 3:1-10

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. ²I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, ³for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? ⁴For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human? 

⁵What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. ⁹For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. ¹⁰According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.

God's field

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Paul has just finished talking about how he and other teachers do share wisdom with spiritually mature Christians, though the wisdom they share is different than the world's wisdom. Now he continues by describing that the Corinthians aren't mature yet. Paul has to feed them milk instead of solid food in terms of his teaching. The mark that they are immature is that they are divided and people make too much of who their teachers are. Paul describes teachers, specifically himself and Apollos, another important early Christian teacher, as servants of God. Like field hands, Paul planted and Apollos watered, but the growth comes from God and it is God's field. Different churches, different denominations, different political affiliations; it's easy to make too much of the subsets in our life. The point is that we belong to Christ as members of the one church, the one body of Christ. We are one in the Lord, and as one we will grow strong.

Since we're thinking about unity, this week is the week of prayer for Christian unity. During this week keep the worldwide church in prayer and pray that the unity we already have in Christ would become more visible. On Monday there will be a service for Christian unity sponsored by the North East Church Cluster at St. John the Evangelist on Humbolt St. The evening begins at 6 with a soup supper and the service begins at 7. I really hope to see you there; these ecumenical services are fun and inspiring. I've been sad in my time here how few people from Laurelton attend them. In addition, we could really use a few ushers for the evening. Let me know if you're interested.

Blessings,
Sam

1 Corinthians 3:1-10

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, 3for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? 4For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?


5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. 9For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.

seeking maturity

Good morning sisters and brothers,
This morning we continue our reading from yesterday's service as Paul begins his letter to the Colossians. From my reading it seems that the Christians in Colossae were interested in astrology and angels and heavenly powers. Paul doesn't outright tell them they can't have these kinds of curiosities but he works hard in this letter to make sure their focus is on God through Jesus Christ. Twice in our passage for today Paul refers to the mystery of God, explaining that this mystery has now been revealed to the saints (in other words to his readers). That revealed mystery is Jesus Christ himself, and Christ is the heart of everything Paul preaches.

In addition to his emphasis on Christ as God's revealed mystery Paul also talks a good deal about struggle and suffering in terms of his ministry. This reminds the Colossians of Paul's efforts so they will pay more attention and it reminds them to expect some hardship as part of their discipleship. Wisdom and growth in maturity are the other themes Paul really hammers on in this section. While the mystery of Christ is revealed when we come to faith, our life after that is one of growth. We aren't finished when we accept Christ, so Paul wants to make sure the Colossians don't get too comfortable at their current level but keep making progress towards the goal of full maturity (Christ is our model for what that looks like). All of these hopes Paul has for the Christians of Colossae are good goals for our community as well as we work to gain more spiritual maturity and as we focus on Christ who even now lives in us.

Blessings on your week,
Sam

Colossians 1:24-2:5
24I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face. 2I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself, 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments. 5For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ.