This Summer, we spent our Sunday mornings looking at key themes in the letters by the Apostle Paul. The series “13 Letters” gave us a chance to look at the astounding wisdom, experience, and hope Paul shared with his friends, churches, and, even now, with today’s followers of Jesus. These invaluable letters make up half of the Bible’s New Testament.
At the highest level, the letters provide us a compelling picture of what the early church looked like, what the first followers of Jesus wrestled with in their own lives, and how they lived in light of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Majors themes of faith, hope, and love are apparent. But as we listened on Sunday mornings, we also heard of the freedom, unity, and encouragement given to us through Jesus. Through our generosity, by living the Spirit, and in our relationships with one another, we can actually bring pleasure to God. We were challenged to embraced the mystery, to see Jesus throughout the entire story of the Bible, and to “honor the emperor” while remaining faithful to the true and better King.
A great resource to help you continue walking through the 13 Letters, and even the rest of the New Testament, is the “New Testament for Everyone” series of books from N.T. Wright (you can buy them individually or as a set). Also check out the great Bible Plans from the Bible App to help you make the Bible a daily priority. And of course, you can always go back and listen to these messages below or any past messages in our Series Archive.
Matt Carder - October 30, 2016
Saul to Paul
There is perhaps no other person in scripture that epitomizes change and growth than Paul. Although his involved extraordinary circumstances, there's much we can take away from it to encourage growth in our lives.
From Series: "How Do We Grow?"
For a loving parent, there is nothing their child can do that would make them (the parent) love them less. But similarly, a parent also devotes him/herself and wishes nothing more to see their child grow and mature into who God uniquely created them to be. God has the same desires for us. The process though of what spiritual growth looks like can be difficult to define. We seek to do just that in this series.
