King

"Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David," 2 Timothy 2:8.

Offspring of David. A second covenant from the Hebrew Bible that holds today, God made with King David. David's kingdom would never end, and his offspring would reign for ever. Jesus is the offspring of David, raised from the dead forever, he reigns forever. So Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, foretold as the offspring of David. And his kingdom consists of the ransomed from every tribe and language and people and nation. One king, king both of Jews and Gentiles together, alike. New covenant. Church of God.

So we meet with a brother or sister today under the Lord Jesus Christ. And together we worship God in receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. New testament.

Blood

"You are the sons of the covenant that God made with your fathers, speaking to Abraham," Act 3:25.

The one covenant from the Hebrew Bible that has held ever since God made it, is the one with Abraham (& Sarah). Repeated to Isaac. To Jacob. The other covenant, with Moses and the Law, ended with the sacrifice of Jesus. The new covenant in Jesus's blood taps into the covenant God made with Abraham. So Jews and Gentiles, both, have access to God in one Spirit. In the singular sacrificed body of Christ, Jews from all over the world, and Gentiles from all over the world are all reconciled to God and to each other. By faith having become children and heirs of Abraham. Modern day Israel, a nation established by human will, has no fulfillment related to the Law of Moses. This statement holds true of any nation today. God's new creation is no modern nation, but is the congregation of faithful humans redeemed by Christ, belonging to Christ. New covenant.

We meet with a brother or sister today participants in God's new creation. And together we praise God who, through Christ, redeemed us all from the curse of the Law.

Church

"Christ entered once for all into the holy places by means of his own blood thus securing an eternal redemption," Hebrews 9:12.

Eternal redemption. New covenant. New testament. New will. Eternal covenant. New creation. New high priest. New priesthood. New temple. Real. Heavenly temple. Made without hands. Foundation made of humans: apostles and prophets. Cornerstone made of the human: Jesus Christ. Established 2000 years ago. Continuously being built to the now with human living stones: Jews and Gentiles. By faith. New Jerusalem from the sky. The Israel of God. Church of Christ.

We meet with a brother or sister today parts of God's new temple. And together we give thanks for hope that enters into the very sanctuary of God.

Privileged

"The ark of God's covenant was seen within his temple," Revelation 11:19.

Where was the ark of the covenant? In the temple. What temple? the one in the sky. Yeah. In heaven where God's throne is. The holy place made without human hands. The holy place where Jesus entered taking his own blood sacrifice securing an eternal covenant. What covenant? Not the old one. A new covenant in his blood. The covenant celebrated when we participate in communion, when we take the Lord's supper. In God's sky temple comprised of human beings answering the gospel call. Answering God's invitation through his son, born from a woman.

So we meet today with a brother or sister sharing in Jesus's sacrifice. And together we give thanks privileged to house the ark of God's new covenant written on our hearts.

Please

"God sent out his son born of a woman," Galatians 4:4.

So when the wholeness of time had come to its purpose, God commissioned his son, through a woman's birth labors making him subject to the Law's demands, in order to redeem us from the Law's curse, indeed, in order to adopt us his children. And as we are God's children, from out of the depths of our hearts we call out to God, Father!, since God commissioned the Spirit of his son to dwell there within us. So. We don't live as slaves any more. We are the children of God! And, through God, we remain heirs of his promises. New testament.

We visit with a brother or sister today in a new covenant, heirs of God's promises. And together we say: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people who please him!

Waiting

"This man was waiting for the consolation of Israel," Luke 2:25.

Old man Simeon. That's who was waiting. Waiting for what? Rather, for whom? For the consolation of Israel. Consolation. Consolation of whom? of Israel. Of God's chosen people whom he had not rejected. And who did Simeon discover at the temple? A six-week old baby boy. Jesus. He blessed the baby as Israel's consolation: God's salvation as a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to his people Israel. Jew and Gentile, together. One. New covenant. New people. New creation.

We share with a brother or sister today in the fellowship of the new covenant. And together we praise God for Jesus, savior of the whole world.

Temple

"You are being joined together growing into a holy temple in the Lord," Ephesians 2:21.

The former covenant, established through the Law of Moses, had a temple where God was worshiped, where God dwelt (in a sense). Solomon eventually built it in stone in Jerusalem. After its destruction by the Babylonians, it was rebuilt just as God's prophets had said. It stood during Jesus's time; he prophesied its final destruction by the Romans. The new covenant also has a temple: It consists of human beings - by Jews first, and then including Gentiles, ethnics. This new temple, not of stone in Jerusalem, finds its foundation on God's apostles and prophets , with Jesus as its cornerstone. An eternal temple made not by humans but of humans, where God dwells in the Spirit for ever.

We meet with a brother or sister today parts of God's holy temple. And together we give him thanks for building us into his home.

Guarantor

"Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant," Hebrews 7:22.

The Law of Moses and its covenant had a priesthood, all the descendants of Levi (hence, Levitical priesthood), and specifically, of the high priest, Aaron. When they died, they got replaced by the next Levitical descendants in line. That covenant of the Law is gone. That priesthood is gone. There is no Levitical priesthood in the worldly nation of Israel today. Yet, the new covenant established by God has a high priest generically distinct, not from the tribe of Levi, but from Judah, namely, Jesus. He belongs to a different order. He never dies; so he remains high priest for ever. He guarantees the better covenant.

We visit with a brother or sister today belonging to God's new order. And together we give thanks to God for raising Jesus from the dead to life forever.

Better

"He was looking forward to the city whose designer and builder is God," Hebrews 11:10.

Who was? Our father Abraham. Even as he and Sarah camped out in the promised land, they looked for an even better country. A heavenly homeland. A city built by none other than God himself. They recognized that on this earth they were strangers, exiles. The new covenant established by God in Christ concerns promises, spiritual, heavenly, eternal realities. They do not consist of earthly nations and geographies and governments and structures designed and built by the sweat of man. So, we set our eyes on things above not on things of this earth. New testament.

We visit with a brother or sister today fellow wanderers looking forward to God's home. And together we say to God: yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever!

Built

"You yourselves are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood," 1 Peter 2:5.

You, who? You, who have been born again to a living hope through Jesus's resurrection. You, who love him even if you have not seen him. You, who believe in him even if you have not seen him. You, who heard the announcement of the Good News. (What announcement? The preaching of the gospel.) You, who were ransomed from futile ways with the precious blood of Christ. God's spiritual house. New temple. New dwelling place of God in the Spirit. New covenant.

We visit with a brother or sister, priests and priestesses serving as God's new temple on earth. And together we offer sacrifices of thanksgiving to our God and his Christ.

Change

"Where there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well," Hebrews 7:12.

Change in priesthood? Change in the Law? What's this talking about?! The former covenant between God and Israel, effected through Moses, has been done away with. The Law, and its temple/tabernacle, and its rules, and its the priesthood under Moses's brother Aaron, was ended. (When? At the sacrifice of Jesus's own body on the cross.) Now a new covenant. A new priesthood. A new high priest. A new temple. (These are not about some hypothesized structures to be built in a modern day nation called Israel.) A new temple being built by God with living stones, human beings. A new priesthood, all people confessing Jesus as the Christ of God. A new nation, a royal people belonging to King Jesus. A new high priest, Jesus, who serves in the holiest place of all, God's own presence in the heavens. For ever.

We meet with a brother or sister today eternally changed into God's presence. And together we give thanks for Jesus, the new high priest, our confession.

Modern

"Neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation," Galatians 6:15.

Are we Jewish? counts for nothing. Are we Gentile? counts for nothing. What counts for everything now: God's new creation. Born of the new covenant. Not of the modern state of Israel. Not of the modern state of the United States. Not of the modern state of Russia. Not of the modern state of China. Not of the modern state of anywhere on earth. All that counts now is God's new creation. God established a new covenant in the cross of Christ. May his peace and mercy be upon all who walk by his rule, upon the Israel of God. The congregation of the Messiah. New creation.

We meet with a brother or sister today participants together in the new creation. And together we give thanksgivings out loud to God who alone makes all things new.

All

"In this way all Israel will be saved," Romans 11:26.

All Israel? Who is *all* Israel? It is the Israel that includes the fullness of Gentiles. The Israel that includes Jews and Gentiles, both, and. In this way? What way is that? This way: All Israel's salvation comes not all at once. In the present, a partial hardening exists among the Jews against the gospel. (Partial? Right. A goodly number of Jews do come to faith in Christ in the now, but not a majority.) At present God grafts wild Gentile branches into his cultivated olive tree stock. In this way. So, in the new covenant, God extends mercy on all, Jews and Gentiles.

We visit with a brother or sister today in the joy of God's salvation. And together we praise God for his mercy in Christ.

Israel

"Has God rejected his people?" Romans 11:1.

By no means! (Wait - what people are we talking about here? Jews. Israel.) God has not rejected his people whom he knew from times past. God has always kept a remnant of these folks by his grace. Throughout the centuries before Christ (including Christ himself!) and in the 2000 years since Christ to the present, God has kept the Jews as a people, though scattered throughout the world. We make no mistake about that. Nor do we make a mistake about this: the modern nation of Israel in the mideast today does not exist in answer to the old covenant. The old covenant ended. The only covenant in force today is the new one in Christ. God expects Jews and gentiles alike to come to faith/trust in Christ and so be saved. New covenant. New testament. New will.

We meet with a brother or sister today participating together in the Israel of God (not in the Israel of the world). And together, we give thanks to God anticipating Christ's return to collect all his people, Jew and gentile.

Washed

"Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant," Hebrews 9:15.

Who? Jesus. His blood purifies our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Whoever is called may receive the eternal inheritance. (Called? who gets called? Anyone who hears the gospel call. God invites all in the Good News. I mean, that's the point of the proclamation!) By God's new covenant, by God's will, we (the called) have been sanctified through Jesus's sacrifice. We (Jew & gentile) have had hearts sprinkled clean with his blood, we have washed our bodies in pure water. So we draw near to God. In full assurance of faith.

As we meet with a brother or sister today we affirm Jesus as high priest of our confession. And together we give thanks to God by confessing his name.

Anyone

"The Law does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God," Galatians 3:17.

What covenant did God ratify before the covenant based on the Law? Again: The one God made with Abraham based on God's promises. Where God would bless all peoples through Abraham's seed, Christ. A covenant further based in the same faith/trust that Abraham had with God. The faith/trust that any human being, Jew or gentile, may have in Christ and join with Christ as heirs in covenant with God. A covenant that anyone, anyone at all, being baptized into Christ has put Christ on. And that anyone, anyone at all, may belong to Christ. That anyone, anyone at all, may become an heir according to God's promise.

And so we meet today with a brother or sister joint heirs in the promises of God. And together we bless the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is become our father, too.

Ancient

"You are sons of the covenant that God made with your fathers," Acts 3:25.

That's Peter preaching to fellow Jews. What covenant? What covenant was still working? The one through Moses and the Law? No. Nope. That one was broken by Israel, and God took it away. So what covenant? The one God made through Abraham (& Sarah!) with the people. Yeah. The one when God said to Abraham: And in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And who is Abraham's seed? God's messiah. christ. Jesus. God made a promise in that ancient covenant. God promised blessing to all of earth's peoples. God integrates his new covenant into that eternal promise. A blessing to all. All of us. Jew and gentile. In Christ.

We visit with a brother or sister today in the new covenant with God. And together we give thanks to him for Jesus who blesses us with forever life.

Anyone

"I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah," Jeremiah 31:31.

Who makes the new covenant? God. Who does he make the new covenant with? Israel and Judah. (It's quite distinct from the former covenant given through Moses and the Law. Which they broke. Over and again. We remember that covenant is done and over with.) So God has not rejected his chosen people. That is, not his remnant leftovers. God builds a new covenant based on his promises to Abraham. Not on the Law. And. The new covenant includes anyone in the nations who fears God. Gentiles, ethnics. All who call upon the name of the Lord!

We get together with a brother or sister today solid in the promises of God. And together we honor God who covenants with anyone calling on the name of Jesus.

Permanent

"God qualified us as ministers of the new covenant of the Spirit," 2 Corinthians 3:6.

New covenant of the Spirit? Yes! The Spirit gives life. Desperately needed because the old covenant based on letters carved in stone brought condemnation and death. That covenant that kills was itself brought to an end. And the new covenant of life in the Spirit brings righteousness and glory. Glory! The permanent covenant shines! It takes away the fog of the old testament, and gives freedom in Christ. And we all, Jew and ethnic alike, are being transformed into the bright image of Christ. New testament. Good News!

We meet up with a brother or sister today to celebrate the new relationship we have with God and each other. And together we give thanks for his eternal life-giving ministry.

Temporary

"By the blood of the eternal covenant," Hebrews 13:20.

Eternal covenant? Yes. God has taken away the former covenant, the one sealed with the blood of animals, the one with ancient Israel. It was temporary. Yes. And God has established a new covenant sealed with the blood of Jesus. This covenant is eternal. In this new covenant God grafts all peoples through faith in Christ into the root stock of the promises God had made with Abraham. With faithful Abraham. And by this new covenant God now equips his people with everything good. Equipped to work his will in us through Jesus. God's blessings promised to Abraham on all earth's families through Abraham's seed: Jesus Christ.

As we meet with a brother or sister today, we work God's will with each other. And together we give glory to God for his grace for ever and ever.

Strangers

"You were separated from Christ ... strangers to the covenants of promise," Ephesians 2:12.

God had made the law of covenants and ordinances with Israel through Moses. Through the sacrifice of his body, Christ abolished it. God had also made covenants of promise (not law). Before the law of Moses, God promised to bless all families of earth through Abraham and Sarah. As of yet, however, gentiles, ethnics, any other peoples were not part of that. Not yet. But Christ came and preached peace between far off and near by peoples. Christ's blood (the seal of the new covenant) brought us all near to God. Through his body on the cross, Christ created in his very self one new people. Christ reconciled us all in his one body to God. Through Christ we all have access to God in one Spirit. We all, together, form the new temple of God on this earth.

We visit with a brother or sister today being blessed by God's promises. And together we give thanks to God for calling us all into the one body of Christ.

New

"This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood," Luke 22:20.

Communion. Lord's supper. Bread and wine. One loaf, one cup. One body. One Spirit. One hope. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. One God; Father of all, over all, through all, in all. New covenant. New will. New testament. New agreement. New deal. The old covenant, weak, impotent, passing away, completed, is done. And gone. The old covenant has been fulfilled. New covenant is established. We do not look to the old testament with ancient Israel to hear God's will today. We listen to the new will, to the terms of the new covenant, we pay attention to the new and last testament of God for today's guidance to life. The gospel of Jesus Christ.

We meet with a brother or sister today attending to Jesus's life in God's new will. And together we give thanks that the old testament is done.

Completely

"I have come not to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill them," Matthew 5:17.

So. Jesus says he came to fulfill the law and the prophets. What law? The one of the covenant God made with Israel through Moses when God released them from Egyptian slavery. The one they broke. That law. That's what Jesus came to fulfill. And he did. Completely. He did not abolish it arbitrarily. No. Rather: Christ ended the law by fulfilling it. Jesus was its culmination and our righteousness. Jesus came in the flesh and did the law, he did God's will. Having fulfilled it, it's over. It's done. It is finished. So by his sacrifice, Jesus took out the earlier covenant to establish the new covenant. And by this new will, we are made holy through Jesus's offering.

We meet with a brother or sister today in a new covenant with God. And together we give praise for God's grace lavished on us in Christ.

Brick

"Not one stone upon another will be left here that will not be thrown down," Luke 21:6.

That's Jesus talking about the second Jerusalem temple. This second temple had been built when Judah and Israel returned to the land after their captivities. We remember the first temple had been destroyed when the nation of Judah ended since the people broke their covenant with God. The second temple then became the place for all the sacrifices required in the (broken) covenant. Jesus now prophesied this temple would fall like the first. And the need for its sacrifices would go away for ever. Something new dawned over the horizon. Something new that called for a temple made up of human beings, not brick and mortar. It called for a final sacrifice announcing a new covenant.

We meet with a brother or sister today founded on something eternal and new. And together we give thanks to God for a new covenant heralding his kingdom in Christ.

Trustworthy

"I am with you according to the covenant I made with you when you came out of Egypt," Haggai 2:5.

Wow! How about that?! Though Israel had destroyed the covenant with God. Though God consequently rejected both Israel and Judah sending them into their respective captivities. Though God destroyed their nation. Though God destroyed Jerusalem. Though God destroyed the temple. Though there was no covenant left. He yet kept a remnant of people, leftovers. So that he might show himself uniquely trustworthy to his covenant anyway. Not because he was legally bound to it. No. He was not. Not at all for that reason. But because that's the kind of God God is. He wants to bless, even as we prove ourselves unworthy. God is not man. God is God. No other is like him. God alone is God.

When we visit with a brother or sister today we assert that our relationship roots in God's own character. And together we give thanks through Jesus for his steadfast love.

Pure

"All of the peoples will call upon the name of the Lord and serve him," Zephaniah 3:9.

God promises that in a sure, certain time, all peoples could understand so that they might call on the Lord's name in a pure speech. But first, the remnant of Israel must return to Zion, God's holy mountain. By God's grace and power. And they did. After seventy years of captivity many of Israel and Judah returned from their scattering. They rebuilt the temple. The prophets affirmed David's royal line continued in his descendant, Zerubbabel. Even so, Israel needed continuous reminders they had broken covenant with God, and continued to violate it. Something new must come. Not by our might. Not by our strength. But by God's Spirit.

When we visit a brother or sister today we serve God in his mercy and strength. And together we give thanks that he hears us calling on him with the pure voices he gave us.

Peace

"I will make them one nation in the land," Ezekiel 37:22.

God can take a valley full of dry bones to give life to dead nations. Israel and Judah are both destroyed by their faithlessness to God's covenant. Yet, God promises to collect their leftover, dried bones into one living nation, under David's royalty. Unlike before, there will be a different covenant: an everlasting covenant of peace. In it, God will be their God and they will be his people. And all nations will know that God dwells among this people made holy by his own work. Yes. We, all of us, need a covenant of peace. Between us and God. That's what the Good Book's talking about.

We meet with a brother or sister today through the mediator of that new covenant, Jesus, the lasting king of David's royalty. And together we give thanks that God's grace establishes terms of peace with humankind.

Leftovers

"Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them," Jeremiah 23:3.

So God has mercy. After destroying Israel and Judah utterly for their faithlessness, his love wins out. God always assures a remnant, a few left overs. (Left behind? No worries - God's at work.) God promises that in 70 years he will restore a remnant. And they will rebuild the temple. Why? Why does God do this? It's not because of the covenant that they destroyed. It's because he had made yet another covenant, but with David: His royal line would last for ever. So. God saved the leftovers to secure the royal line. To bless the whole world.

We meet with a brother or sister today under the auspices of the eternal king, Jesus, royal descendant of David. And together we give thanks to God who counts the leftovers as worth it.

Broken

"The Lord said: I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I have removed Israel," 2 Kings 23:27.

(Wait! What are we talking about in these exploratories right now? This: Covenants God established and their implications. OK? So. We pay attention.) God had covenanted with ancient Israel to protect them for ever in the promised land, but Israel's part was to keep God as God. They didn't. First, God gave a millennium of prophetic invitations to return despite their refusal, then God withdrew his protections, not only for the northern kingdom (Israel) but for the southern (Judah), too. God said of Jerusalem and the temple specifically: I will cast off this city that I have chosen and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. And alien armies devastated the land, Judah no longer existed, as was true of Israel a century earlier. Covenant broken, covenant ended. Something new has got to happen.

We fellowship with a brother or sister today in a new covenant signed in Jesus's blood. And together we give God thanks for inviting us into eternal relationship.

Desperately

"They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers," 2 Kings 17:15.

Who despised God's covenant? Israel did. (And Judah. But more later about these.) They went after false idols. They sacrificed children. They became false. Though God covenanted with them to bless them and protect them for ever, they rejected him and the covenant. So God rejected all the descendants of Israel. He gave them over to plunderers. He cast them out of his sight. So. God's people, chosen through covenant, broke the covenant that validated their election. The covenant became useless. Obsolete. We need something new. Desperately. So says the Good Book.

We meet with a brother or sister today and know our fellowship depends upon God's grace. And together we give thanks to Christ who establishes a better covenant between us and God.

Possession

"If you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession," Exodus 19:5.

(The Good Book says that the former scriptures are for our instruction. So we learn.) God had said the words above to ancient Israel. He had just borne them out of Egyptian slavery on eagles' wings to his holy mountain. God said to them: You shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation; and he would be their God. All Israel agreed to the covenant. But Israel abandoned him for other gods. So God then said: You will soon utterly perish from the land; you will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed in it. 'Soon' meant about 900 years in human years. We learn God's love is hot and serious.

We meet today with a brother or sister in deep reverence for our God. And together we give him thanks that Jesus paid the price for our sin.

Testament

"I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah," Jeremiah 31:31.

New agreement? new testament? new deal? Hmm. But first, what was the covenant they already had? Well, it was the covenant God had made with them some nine centuries earlier. Yeah. When God brought them handily out of Egyptian slavery. They agreed to make God their God and to follow his Law. God agreed he would protect them and bless them forever. (Pretty sweet deal!) But they violated it big time. And God's covenant protections went away. By now, only left-overs of this people remained. In captivity. again. So. God promised a new, different covenant. Of utter forgiveness.

When we visit with a brother or sister today we share in that new covenant with God. And together we give thanks that through it he forgives our every sin.

Awaits

"Maranatha!" 1 Corinthians 16:22.

O Lord! Come! Yes, Lord Jesus! We call you: Come soon! We're waiting for your bright entrance! Your shine in the cloudy skies! Yes! We've been waiting for you! For two thousand years we have been through rain and fire and earthquake and war and strife and famine and failure and recovery and ups and downs in this old, broken, and tottering world. And we're calling for you to come: Bring the new skies and the new earth! We're calling for you! We're expecting you! Bring your kingdom to fulfill God's finished victory! Victory over all the deadly sufferings of this age. Come, Lord Jesus! Bring your resurrection! Infuse us with eternity! Your bride awaits! And with the great Spirit, we call: Come!

We visit with a brother or sister today expecting Jesus to bring us home very soon. And together we praise him in faith anticipating his advent any moment now. Marana tha!

Real

"The congregations in Asia say: Hello!" 1 Corinthians 16:19.

So. This, a real letter from real people to real people. No AI bots here. No boilerplate. No copy & paste from who knows what. Aquila and Prisca (the husband & wife team) say, Hi! The congregation that meets in their home says so, too. All the brothers and sisters send their well-wishes. They welcome each other with a kiss, a holy one. Paul personally signs his own name and sends his love in Christ. Yes! We belong to a fellowship of real people not bound by geography or circumstance. A fellowship that transcends time and space into the very heart of the eternal God.

Meeting a brother or sister today we stand in awe of the relationship Christ bought for us. And together we give thanks to Christ, the same as yesterday, today, and on into the ages.

Men

"Act like men," 1 Corinthians 16:13.

So now he's talking to men, males specifically. The call: Men - act like true men act! Strong. Valiant. Courageous. Watchful. On guard. Standing. Firm in the faith. Getting stronger. Your. everything. must. be. in. love. And that's how true men must act. So says the Designer and Maker of men.

We visit with a brother or sister today, all of us growing in the faith of Christ. And we give thanks that our God continues to mature us together into the full measure of the stature of Christ.

Electronic

"I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem," 1 Corinthians 16:3.

Whoa! What's that all about? Well, here we are, not of the world, but in this world. And it's about money. Money contributed by God's people to be sent to far-away needy followers of Christ. (No post office for regular people, no electronic money transfers in those days, right?) So, it's about how to collect such contributions and to get them accountably where they're needed. It's about the apostle Paul, no less, who never asks people just to trust him with their gift. It's about a careful record of money transfers. It's about righteousness even in this-worldly affairs.

When we visit with a brother or sister today we trust verifiably in love. And together we give thanks that Jesus trusts us with his message of peace.

First

"On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up," 1 Corinthians 16:2.

(It's amazing that the Good Book moves from a most stirring vision of victory in Jesus (!) to something so common as instructions for collecting money toward famine relief. So. We belong to the kingdom of heaven, but we still live on this troubled earth. In it, but not of it, right? Anyway.) The tradition of contributing money weekly for churchly affairs arises from this very note. Yet, this instruction had to do with what we nowadays call a special contribution. The collection went to ease the burden for brothers and sisters in hardship, for benevolence - in civil government, we'd call it for welfare. In any event, as people gaining assured victory, we have each others' backs in these passing troubles. That's what we do as we await in hope until Messiah comes.

As we meet with a brother or sister today we attend to each other's good. And together we give thanks to Christ who shares the boundless riches of his heaven with us all.

Victory

"Death is swallowed up in victory," 1 Corinthians 15:54.

Death rules over this world. Oh, sure: We humans speak of cycles of life and death. You know, when someone dies someone else is born. We like to comfort each other with the notion that nobody dies as long as the living remember them. But we know better. We know. We die. And too soon nobody's left to remember. Nothing's left but tombstones of the unremembered dead. The whole cosmos rushes toward its own extinction. But God's victory is life over death! God's victory will swallow up death itself! And life, forever life, will reign in Christ.

When we meet with a brother or sister today we talk about eternal life. And together we thank God that his life into eternity begins in this world through Christ, his victory!

Work

"Your hard work is not worthless," 1 Corinthians 15:58.

What hard work? Living out the new life in Christ. Continuing to love even when people act unlovable. Tolerating each other even when people act intolerable. Forgiving one another even when people act unforgivable. Yielding our freedoms even when people do not deserve our consideration. Using our gifts to help each other grow up into the way of Christ. Serving our Master's will. Submitting to Christ. Keeping on keepin' on. That labor. That toil. That hard work is not in vain. Jesus is coming soon. He's bringing the reward.

We visit a brother or sister today participating together in the work of our Master. And together we give thanks to God for bringing us into his labors of love.

Deal

"The sting of death is sin," 1 Corinthians 15:56.

Oh. So we're back to that now. Again. Yep. Sin. What a downer. Why do people make such a big deal out of it? Why not just let it slide? Well, in fact, people don't make a big deal out of it. We do just let it slide. But God makes a big deal out of it. He does not let it slide. Why not? because he loves us. because while we pretend it's not a big deal, sin deals us death. Yeah. We sit down at the card table with sin. And every card is death. Yep. We get dealt death cards. But then Jesus takes all our cards. He takes the deal. And he lets us walk away. He doesn't run - he dies.

When we walk with a brother or sister today we know to have received an unmatchable gift at someone's great cost. And together we give thanks to God for his grace in Christ.

Twinkle

"We shall all be changed," 1 Corinthians 15:51.

Look! In an instant. A split second. Quicker than batting an eyelid. (Did you see it?) Faster than an eye-twinkle. That fast and faster yet, we'll be transformed. And at that future moment: Are we dead? We'll be raised to life. Are we still living? We'll transform. Suddenly. Perishable changed to imperishable. Mortal changed to immortal. The stuff of this earth cannot share in the stuff of the new world. So God changes us. And when that happens: The victory of God's life swallows up death! Sin brings death. But God brings life's victory in Christ. Wow! (The best is yet to come! Way best!)

As we visit with a brother or sister today we share confident hope in the victory of God. And together we give thanks to Christ for living our path to life.

Adam

"With what body type do they come?" 1 Corinthians 15:35.

Talking about resurrection. Dead people raised from the dead. Impudent question: What kind of body have they got? Answer: Fool! Don't you understand? Everything has some kind of body particular to its type. Seeds. Grasses. Humans. Animals. Birds. Fish. Earth things. Sky things. Sun. Moon. Stars. Other stars. Everything looks like its own thing. Dead people have this body type: Image of first Adam. Perishable. Dishonor. Weak. Natural. Dusty. Made of and belonging to earth. Resurrected people have this body type: Image of second Adam. Imperishable. Glory. Power. Spiritual. Belonging to the skies. Life giving.

As we meet with a brother or sister today we hope in God who will sort the baffling things. And together we thank him that Christ is become our life giving spirit.

Vice

"Bad company rots good morals," 1 Corinthians 15:33.

So. People often use this line to encourage young people not to hang out with other young people who smoke. Or vape. Or whatever vice. (It's useful wisdom, indeed!) But what's the context here? Hanging out with people whose worldview is: This life here and now is all there is. Whose worldview is: Eat! drink! you die tomorrow! No resurrection! Yeah, the context tells of believers who avoid fellowship with believers. And who fellowship instead with drunken stupor and pursuing sin. Such behavior just adds shame to our living death. Jesus, rather, leads us into communion with believers and into life. Resurrection life.

When we find a brother or sister today we share life in the living Christ. And together we thank God for resurrection and life in the eternal Spirit.

Grateful

"Christ has been raised from the dead," 1 Corinthians 15:20.

But. Were that not true, then. Then the gospel announcement is worthless. Then faith is worthless. Then preachers lie. They pervert God. Then faith has no object. Then we are under sin. Then the dead who had believed ... they're just dead and that's that. And then we, hoping in Christ, justly get the pity of all lost causes. But. In fact. Christ has been raised! He is the first indicator that God will renew the dead who had been faithful and grateful to life forever.

We visit a brother or sister today in the joy of hope. And we thank God that believing in Christ has great reward!

Fixing

"We preach and so you believed," 1 Corinthians 15:11.

You know, we really don't agree with the way God's fixing the world. In fact, we don't think he even gets it, what to do about wars, about human atrocities, about climate, about failed justice, about natural disasters. We ask: Why doesn't God do something about ... (fill in the blank). Yeah. So, if God loves us, he doesn't have the power to fix it; or, if God has the power, he doesn't love us because he's not fixing it. No matter: here's how God's fixing it, fixing us: Preaching the Word about Jesus and creating living faith in him.

When we meet a brother or sister today we share lives in the God who loves and does. And together we say, Thank you, Father, for the faith of Christ.

Stand

"I preached to you," 1 Corinthians 15:1.

What did Paul preach? the Gospel. Good News! Note: he did not preach how to vote. not what party to back. not which type of national social justice. not racism. not which laws to support. not economic system. not whether democratic or socialist or totalitarian government is best. No. Not any of this. He preached the Gospel. Death, burial, resurrection of Jesus. For our sins. As the Scriptures said. That's what his hearers heard. That's what his hearers received. That's where his hearers took their stand. That's the message by which they were being saved. (Unless their faith got misplaced into other things.)

We visit with a brother or sister today because we hold a common faith in Jesus, not in our stand on baseball. And together we thank God that he has been saving us in Jesus for sure, and in him alone.

Alive

"Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he was raised, he appeared," 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4.

All in accordance with the Scriptures. God had planned all this beforehand, and had talked about it in the Good Book long before the events. First importance. First things first. Foundational. Back to basics. In accordance with the Scriptures. Who saw Jesus alive after he had died? Peter. The Twelve. Five hundred at once. James. All the apostles. (And, Mary. And, Joanna. And, the other Mary. And, Salome. And, the other Galilean women.) And, last of all, Paul. The gospel message: received! The same message, intact: delivered.

We meet with a brother or sister today transformed by the message we heard. And together we give thanks to God for resurrection to the new world.

Green

"In your thinking be mature," 1 Corinthians 14:20.

Sometimes adults talk like children in ignorance and immaturity, don't we? But here is an imperative call to think (and act) maturely, not as children. So what does that mean? This: the congregation comes together to edify, to build up one another in the love of Christ. (Love bears, believes, hopes, endures all things, right?) The congregation does not gather to discover who's the most spiritual. Or most gifted. Or most connected. No. We come to help each other hike difficult ascents, to comfort each other in heart-braking grief, to enjoy each other's company in green pastures. All the while shepherded by Christ toward God, our father for ever.

We visit with a brother or sister today in the maturing of God's love. And together we thank God for leading us home.

Mindfully

"Whoever speaks in a tongue speaks to God, not to people," 1 Corinthians 14:2.

So, it says: Do not forbid speaking in tongues. It also says: But not in church (unless someone understands the language and explains it mindfully to the rest). Why not? No one understands a tongue speaker. Tongue speaking benefits only the speaker. For the congregation, it's empty talking into the air. It's pointless for the mind. No outsider can say Amen! to it. Nobody gets it. Five words of instruction understood by the mind are better than 10,000 in a tongue. Tongues are a sign for unbelievers (who will say the speakers are out of their minds). But teaching God's word with the mind, clearly, understandably, convicts unbelievers that God is here and builds up the believing congregation. That's what's to happen in church. That's what it says.

We meet with a brother or sister today and share God's word mindfully with each other. And together we praise God that he is here.

Purpose

"In order to excel, you must strive for building up the congregation," 1 Corinthians 14:12.

It's not a suggestion; it's an imperative: Must. When we get together in church, we've got to do more than just average for helping each other out. So just what builds up the congregation? What builds up each other? An insightful message. Clear, unmuddled speaking. Patient, careful teaching. These types of activities build up, encourage, and console us in the fellowship of Christ. That's how we excel. We, each and every single one of us, have excellent purpose in his kingdom.

We visit with a brother or sister today and share a good word from the Lord with each other. And together we thank God for providing the grit that moves us on in love to his good work.

Strive

"You must strive for the spiritual things," 1 Corinthians 14:1.

Must? Well. in a word? Yes. Must. Imperative. Gotta do this. Do what? pursue spiritual gifts. Who's got to do this? Us. Us, who? Us who want to go to heaven when we die. That is: Us who belong to Christ. Us who expect to get fit to live like Jesus did. Spiritual things. First and foremost spiritual thing: Love. Pursue it. Then, the more important spiritual things, like, prophecy. Prophecy? Yeah. That is: to speak God's word in a way that builds people up and encourages people and consoles people. Strive for these kinds of spiritual things. (It's what it says.)

When we meet today with a brother or sister, we speak edifying words. And together, we thank God for outfitting us to join in Christ's saving work.

Enigma

"We're looking through a mirror now at an enigma," 1 Corinthians 13:12.

We can barely see dimly at present. Like looking through a mystifying mirror. Prophecies just give momentary glimpses. Our knowledge is so fragmentary. Our explanations are children's immature reasonings, cute, but inept. Yet. When perfection comes we will understand, we will speak, we will reason wholly, clearly, face to face with God; we will know maturely as we have been known. The perfection of maturity: God's love nurtured in our intents and actions.

We visit with a brother or sister today abiding in God's perfecting work. And, together, we thank God who clarified his love in Jesus's life. And death. And resurrection.

Persists

"Love never ends," 1 Corinthians 13:8.

Sure it does. People talk about it all the time. Fell in love. Fell out of love. Used to love somebody, but no longer. Well. Yeah. Love no deeper than passing passion comes and goes. But. But this love: Patient. Kind. Humble. Attentive. Forgiving. Affirming good. Sustaining truth. Tolerant. Faithful. Hopeful. Prevailing. This love has no end. Depends upon deliberate intentional choices we make. Not upon fleeting, though deep felt perhaps, wandering emotions. This love persists. Like God's love in Christ.

We meet with a brother or sister today to see God's love working in each other. And we thank God together that Jesus loves us so.

Best

"I will show you the best way of all," 1 Corinthians 12:31.

The best? best over what? the best over all ways of living in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Better than tongues speaking. Better than prophetic, mystical powers. Better than knowing secrets of the universe. Better than mountain moving confidence. Better than any philanthropy. Better than consuming oneself in fiery passion. Well, what is it? This most excellent way. It's the way of love. Of course. All those other ways come to their end. But love presses on beyond the end.

We visit a brother or sister today enveloped by God's love. And together we thank God that we have the most excellent life in Jesus, lover of our souls.

Integrated

"In one Spirit, into one body, were we all baptized," 1 Corinthians 12:13.

Doesn't matter where we came from, Jew, Greek, slave, free. Whatever kind of pagan we were, we, all of us, drank one Spirit. As we were being baptized into Christ, Christ's Spirit introduced us into Christ's one body. Whatever gifted differences be among us, we each remain one integrated body together in a common care, common suffering, and common honor with each other. We pursue together the singular way toward excellency in the Spirit.

Meeting with a brother or sister today we affirm becoming mutually integral parts of Christ's one body. And together we give thanks to God who made us belong.

Incoherent

"How ever you were led astray, you know that you were being led to voiceless idols," 1 Corinthians 12:2.

Yeah. That's when we were pagans and sloppy feelings led us to incoherent idols. But God's Spirit never leads to feelings that curse Jesus. Rather, the Spirit of God ever convicts that Jesus is Lord. Sure, there's a bunch of different spiritual gifts, ways to serve, actions to take: but all these manifest the will of God's one Spirit. His Great Spirit empowers us for the one common good, to love each other no matter what. Like our Lord, Jesus, loved.

We visit with a brother or sister today empowered to honor each other in God's love. And together we give thanks for his Spirit leading us to forever life in Christ.

Sharing

"When you come together it is not the Lord's supper that you eat," 1 Corinthians 11:20.

Hmm. So we got together Sundays to remember Jesus' body and blood together. At any rate, that's what we thought we were doing. But it wasn't. What made it not the Lord's supper? Eating their own food without taking time to share. Some went hungry. Some got drunk. This showed they despised God's church. They humiliated the poor. Such profaned Jesus' body and blood. It became an existential problem - drinking and eating judgment to death. So. Now we examine our hearts and remember the whole body of Christ as we share with all. In this manner we eat the true Lord's supper. Together.

We meet a brother or sister today and we commune in Christ through sharing as there is need. And together we thank God for giving us Jesus as our share in eternal life.

Redeemed

"The head of a wife is her husband," 1 Corinthians 11:3b.

So, just as a husband's head is Christ, similarly, a wife's head is her husband. The Good Book is not talking about women generally to submit to men generally. And, it's not talking as though Christ were not the head of women generally. No. It's talking about a husband and a wife, specifically. About a specific wife and her specific husband. About a specific husband and his specific wife. And not about any wife. But about a woman redeemed by Christ. When this woman prays or prophesies she must wear a hat. It's a symbol of her authority to pray or prophesy. If she doesn't, she dishonors her head. That's what it says.

When we visit a brother or sister today, we do so in honor of Christ. And together we give thanks in deep respect to God and his Christ who leads us into glory.

Technical

"The head of every man is Christ," 1 Corinthians 11:3.

Man. That is, the male human being. This is starting to get a bit technical. In this verse, the Good Book's not referencing man in the sense of a generic human. It's about males (not females), specifically. But more specific, it's about husbands. And even more specific, about husbands redeemed by Christ. This man is not footloose and fancy free. This man must submit to Christ. Christ is his head. Just as God is the head of Christ, so also is Christ the head of this man. Head of every one of these men. And this man, when he prays or prophesies, must not wear a hat. Because if he does, he dishonors Christ. Because this man is the image and glory of God. This man must not cover that image. It's what it says.

When we visit a brother or sister today, we do so in honor of Christ. And together we give thanks in deep respect to God and his Christ who leads us into glory.

Scruples

"Not all things build up," 1 Corinthians 10:23.

Permitted? Yes. Up-building? No. Talking about freedom again, the liberty we enjoy as people redeemed by Christ. We've got freedoms in God's presence that we did not have before coming to Christ. And we will not let others' cultural scruples limit our own liberties. But. In Christ we join the greater call to nurture the work of God. Salvation of all humans. So. We seek our neighbor's good. We yield personal rights to give no cultural offense to Jew or to Gentile or to God's church. Indeed, we build up each other to glorify God.

We meet with a brother or sister today attentive not to offend each other in exercising personal liberties. And together we praise God who did all things to build us up into Christ.

End

"The end of the ages has come," 1 Corinthians 10:11.

Yes. It has come upon us. On us. Us! Talk about time, a day, a thousand years, an era: but the end is upon us. Urgency. Urgency to live right. To live as good boys and girls. Because if we don't, we die like all the others who thought they'd get away with sin. But didn't. We don't pursue evil. No idolatry/greed. No sexual immorality. No grumbling/whining. We don't fellowship with demons. We be careful not to fall. No giving in to temptation: God will help us endure it. God is faithful. God provides escape from sin. We don't put Christ to the test. Rather, we commune with Christ.

We meet with a brother or sister today free to live Christ's victory to the end. And together we thank God that he carries us through forgiveness and mercy into holiness and glorification.

Enslaved

"I am free from all," 1 Corinthians 9:19.

Paul, sent out by Christ to preach, owes no man anything: he is free from everyone. But. He made himself a slave to everyone. He enslaved himself to all. Why? because. Because of the Good News of Jesus. Enslaved so as to give up the rights of liberty. Why? so that by becoming a slave to Jews he lives like a Jew. So that becoming a slave to Gentiles he lives like a Gentile. So that to the weak he lives weak. So that he becomes all things to all people. But, Why?? So that by giving up liberty, maybe he will save some and together they will share with him in the blessings of Christ.

We visit with a brother or sister today blessed together in Jesus' run. And together we thank God for the prize he promised at the end of our race.

Ordered

"The Lord ordered those who proclaim the gospel to live from the gospel," 1 Corinthians 9:14.

Jesus ordered and commanded a lot of things, but the Scripture does not often highlight the notion. But here it does: The Lord. (That's Christ Jesus, right? yes, it is.) Ordered. (That's an imperative, command form, right? yes, it is.) That gospel preachers must get paid for their preaching of the gospel. Pay the preacher. That's what the discussion here is about, oddly enough. So, who's to pay? We who get taught; the congregation. Well, what if we don't? Then, if we don't, it's like we're mocking God. (This is so weird!) And God will let us harvest the rot we deserve. It's what it says. So, instead, we will invest in the Spirit. And receive eternal life.

We meet a brother or sister today aware of the fellowship Christ calls us to. And together we give thanks that we share for real in broadcasting the message of Christ!

Certified

"Am I not an apostle?" 1 Corinthians 9:1.

Ever wonder what it takes to get certified as an apostle? Well, here's part of it. a. You have to have seen Jesus. b. You had to be chosen by Christ. c. Jesus had to send you out as his messenger to preach his gospel. d. You had to have people hear the message and believe in Jesus to follow after him. e. The believers must have seen your (miraculous) signs as his true apostle. The big idea: You had to have been there with Jesus directly instructed by him. Failing that, we don't get certified. But! We can become followers of Jesus. We become disciples by heeding Jesus' teachings given to his apostles. They wrote it all down in his Good Book.

When we visit with a brother or sister today we listen to Christ. And together we give thanks for the life-giving message of Jesus' Good News.

Required

"If somebody thinks to know something, he still doesn't know what he's got to know," 1 Corinthians 8:2.

Why not? because logical, rational deduction cannot deliver the whole of required knowledge. Right thinking brings us along the pathway, but it has no capacity to lift us up all the way into God's realm. No. What completes the path is love. To know for sure that there is only one God, our Father, Creator of everything; to know there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom we exist; to know idols are nothing and multiple deities are human imagination. This knowledge, true and essential as it is, does not quite get us yet to the place we must be. Love completes the journey. To forego privileges of knowledge so as not to wound the weak conscience of a brother or sister, this is love. This is to be known by God.

When we meet a brother or sister today we receive each other in the love of God. And together we praise God for gifting us authentic life in Christ.

Idolized

"About food offered to idols," 1 Corinthians 8:1.

Well. Turns out the discussion isn't really about idolized foods. I mean, sure, there's a conversation about the okay-ness of eating a steak that was presented first as a meal for pagan deities, and then leftovers available to the rest of us. (fyi: It's ok if you think it's ok.) But the conversation nails the meaning of love among brothers and sisters. Mature believers do not flaunt correct spiritual knowledge undoing the tender conscience of weak faith in other brothers or sisters. Says again: The mature in Christ show their maturity in Christ by sacrificing their freedoms to assert Christ's love for weak-faithed brothers or sisters. Bought with a price, we are not our own.

When we meet with a brother or sister today we affirm care for each other in God's kingdom. And together we praise God for freeing us from carefree observance of freedoms.

Eschaton

"The time is wrapping up," 1 Corinthians 7:29.

Time? Time for what? For the end. End of what? Of time itself. That is, the ending time of this age. Some Bible students say that Paul (and Jesus, too!) had the mistaken notion that the end of everything (it's called the eschaton) was just around the corner. But, they suggest that since we're 2000 years later and no wrap up yet, the urgent pressure's off. But that's exactly what contemporaries said even 2K years ago: Nothing's changed, we got all sorts of time. And Peter warns, 1K years to God is like 1 day. (So we're only a couple of days in.) Time's passing away. So we live unworried about passing worldly affairs, but devote ourselves to pleasing the Lord.

We visit with a brother or sister today redeeming the time. And together we say Thank You! to God for giving enough time to include us in Christ.

Assigned

"Each one must live as the Lord assigned to each," 1 Corinthians 7:17.

O brethren, let us unpack this strange saying forthwith. It says: our Master assigned every believer to a way of life. God has called each one to a certain role in the world. Now, many of us pray for God to reveal his will for us: What career? What town to live in? Which person to marry? And so on. (but we've got to wrestle with him in asking, because.) Because. Well, here's God answering: Are you married? Stay married. Are you single? Stay single. Are you a slave? Stay a slave. Are you circumcised? Stay circumcised. Are you uncircumcised? Stay uncircumcised. Just stay in the condition we were in when God called us. Just stay there. He owns us. Stay there with God.

We meet a brother or sister today blessed by God's call on our lives. And together we give thanks that he stays with us through this world into the next.

Bodies

"So glorify God in your body," 1 Corinthians 6:20b.

So what do we do with these bodies that currently make up part of our selves in this world? We enjoy them with the control God created for us to have over them. In Christ we are no longer natural beings but are spiritual beings. Our spirits live now in communion with God's Spirit. He exercises the rule over our bodies. Not the other way around where our bodies' desires control us. God created our bodies to be for the Lord. We do not give them for sexual immorality. No. Rather, God wills that our bodies belong uniquely to our respective spouses. We are not our own.

When we visit with a brother or sister today we yield to the Spirit's control over us. And together we thank God he gives freedom not to obey our bodies' passions but to serve Christ's purposes.

Transaction

"You are not your own," 1 Corinthians 6:20.

I am free to be me! Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness! That's my right! Especially, the pursuit of whatever I feel will make me happy! True! But not true for Christians. That is, not true for men and women who have confessed Jesus as Lord. When we came to Christ, we entered into a transaction with the God of the universe. We traded our lives for his in the sacrifice of Christ. We have been redeemed. That is, somebody bought us at a great price. The master owns us. Henceforth we live for him. He makes our life-rules. We live to glorify God in and with our bodies. Sanctified.

As we visit with a brother or sister today, again we confess Jesus as Lord. And together we praise God that he has bought us for life as he ever designed it to be.

Washed

"You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified," 1 Corinthians 6:11.

We practiced sexual immorality. We were idolaters. We were adulterers. We practiced homosexuality. We were thieves. We were greedy. We were drunkards. We were abusive. We were swindlers. We were no heirs of God's kingdom. Yeah. That's who we were. (Not all were all of those, but all of us were some of those and more.) But now. Now we are clean, justified saints. Wow! Purified? How? In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the Spirit of our God.

We get together with a brother or sister today no longer sinners but as saints. And together we praise God for washing us heirs into the kingdom of his Christ by his Spirit.

Holiness

"To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you," 1 Corinthians 6:7.

Life under the cross of Jesus calls to an uncommon standard, doesn't it? That's holiness. Sanctification refers to something different from the common, secular, vulgar. Rather, says the Good Book, be defrauded, suffer wrong than to go to secular court against fellow saints. (That thinking just does not sit well, does it?) But here's the fuller thinking: Bring your case if need be, not to secular courts, but to the court of the church. Bring the case to someone wise enough in the congregation. (wow! this really is different from the usual.) Saints will judge the world, even angels. So it says. So these worldly cases are just so much trivia.

Meeting with a brother or sister today, we defer to each other in humility before the cross of Christ. And together we give thanks to God for his mercy and grace.

Monastery

"You'd have to go out of the world," 1 Corinthians 5:10.

In order to do what? This: To get away from all evil activity, we'd have to exit life altogether. The remotest monastery whether on top of a foreboding mountain, or way out in a harsh desert, or behind impregnable walls in an urban center, cannot separate a person from the problem of sin. Why not? because it's from within that comes all kinds of evil, not from outside. We backpack it in with us wherever we go. Instead, God's holy monastery is the church of his first-born, right smack dab in the middle of all humanity. Its mission offers sincerity and truth to all surrounding sinners who want it.

We visit with a brother or sister today associating with no malice and evil among us, his saints. And together we thank God who purifies us in the blood of the Passover lamb.

Satisfaction

"There is sexual immorality among you," 1 Corinthians 5:1.

Yeah? So? What's the problem? Sounds like hypocrites, prudes, trying to legislate morality. Everybody knows whoring's a victimless crime. Hmm. Well. Such words preach easy by men seeking to justify our own sexual satisfaction most any way we can get away with. Noticeable, though, not too many women preaching that cause. Mere animal satisfaction yields rot among human beings. Biblical injunctions supporting God-designed sex between a man and a woman yield joy, honor, and wonder throughout their lifetime.

We approach a brother or sister today honorably in God's discipline. And together we thank God for purifying us in the Passover lamb and transforming us into true humans.

Economy

"We are fools for Christ," 1 Corinthians 4:10.

Here it is again, lest we forget. God's economy has no connection with earth's way of doing things. People speak of economic systems, you know, capitalism, socialism, communism, or whatever. All these are worldly plans having a common goal: to bring prosperity to their respective adherents. Some plans do a better job of it than others. Nonetheless, none of these follow God's economy. His economy begins with the notion of giving (what folly!), not of getting. Grace bestows undeserved life. And his fool preachers proclaim that against this greedy, miserly world.

We meet with a brother or sister today receivers of God's unmerited generosity. And together we return thanksgivings for Jesus who foolishly gave us all he had.

Written

"Not beyond what is written," 1 Corinthians 4:6.

This line still talks about wisdom and foolishness, pride and humility. It says we must learn this: Follow only what is written. This is what the Lord's earliest missionaries lived by, so that we'd do the same. Because when we humans base our faith on our unique experiences (and not in the writings of Scripture) then we get puffed up in the pride of our wonderful experience against others' lesser experiences. (Now, each of us may well have had experiences ...) But in fact, we received our faith just like everyone else does. We received it by hearing what has been written. It did not originate in our better-than-others' experiences. We received it. So we claim nothing beyond what is written.

We visit with a brother or sister today humbly recognizing our common faith in Christ, the Word. And together we give thanks to God our only source for the faith.

Everything

"All things are yours," 1 Corinthians 3:21.

The end of the matter: Any so-called wisdom that fails to recognize God's thoughts brings nothing but deception. God knows people's rationalizing remains a futile endeavor; boasting in human ingenuity is all smoke and mirrors. God has already secured for human beings ownership of everything! Human beings who trust the foolishness of God: human beings who form his church. This congregation belongs to Christ. Christ belongs to God. And so, everything (world, life, death, present, future) belongs to this people, by the wisdom of God.

We visit with a brother or sister today rich beyond measure in God's wisdom. And together we give thanks to God in Christ for everything.

Potato

"You are God's temple and God's Spirit dwells in you," 1 Corinthians 3:16.

Not talking here about you. Not you, singular. Not talking about taking good care of your body by not overeating, not smoking, not being a lazy couch potato. No. Ain't talking about none of that. Total missing the notion, those ideas are. Instead: Talking about you, plural. Yes, us. Us. Us, together. The church. God's temple. The congregation. Not the Jerusalem temple. Talking about the new Covenant. The new Creation. God's new People. And whoever would destroy God's temple, God will destroy them.

Sobered by the warning we meet with a brother or sister today in quiet reverence. And together we give thanks that God's life giving Spirit dwells in us through the power of the cross.

Confessors

"I laid a foundation," 1 Corinthians 3:10.

A foundation for what? For God's building. Well, actually, more to the point, a foundation for God's temple. Yeah. The temple of God. In the old system, God's temple was in Jerusalem. But no longer. Not now, not ever again. God's Spirit lives in his temple. And you, O human confessors of Jesus as Lord, are that temple. Confessing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God - that's the foundation laid once for all time. On which believers scaffold as its living stones.

We meet carefully with a brother or sister today serving God living among us. And together we give thanks that he places us on his eternally firm foundation.

Waiters

"What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants," 1 Corinthians 3:5.

They're servants. Waiters. Like, at our tables. Slaves, even. We can think back to any or of all the preachers of the gospel that we've ever known or heard of. Do we remember our favorite? Perhaps the one that first or best taught us the story of Jesus? Well. They're not anything. They're just field workers planting or watering or whatevering in the field. But they're nobody special. God is the special One. God gives growth. God. God will pay his field workers their appropriate wages. But God's treasure is the crop he himself grows. So we turn eyes away from the preachers to the One they preach about.

When we see a brother or sister today we remind each other of God's work in Christ. And together we give thanks to him for him.

Nourishes

"You are not ready for solid food," 1 Corinthians 3:2.

No? Why not? Well, the discussion has been about being a natural (soul-ish) person versus being a spiritual person. Spiritual adults behave like Christ. Now, people born into Christ (born of water and Spirit, right?) are no longer natural. But we're babies in Christ. We must grow up. Grow up into the mind of Christ. As long as we do not, we're just roly-poly babies whose world starts with milk bottles, continues with tantrums for attention, and ends with diaper changes. Yeah. Pretty much like: I'm for this guy; or, I'm for that gal. Just like natural, unspiritual people.

We meet with a brother or sister today in service to God's purposes, not to our own wills. And together we give thanks that he nourishes us up to behave like sons and daughters of the Creator. Like his Son.

Babies

"I could not address you as spiritual people," 1 Corinthians 3:1.

Instead, the apostle must address us as babies. Babies in Christ, perhaps, but babies nonetheless. (Oh, yeah?! When you say things like that, Paul, it makes me want to just stomp my feet and throw myself on the floor and beat my fists on the ground and yell out loud!) And why must he address us like babies? because we haven't grown into spiritual adults yet. because we still think with a fleshly mindset: I follow this religious heavyweight or I follow that other more religious one. (Or think that one political figure or another is our salvation!) Jealousy. Strife. Signs of toddler behavior. Not attuned to the Spirit and mind of Christ.

We meet with a brother or sister today humbled and quieted by the Spirit of God. And together we give thanks that God grows us patiently into spiritual adults focused in the mind of Christ.

Soul-ish

"The natural person does not accept the things of God's Spirit," 1 Corinthians 1:14.

Why not? Because spiritual things seem folly to that natural person. Natural? Yes. Well, what it actually says is: Soul-ish. The soul-ish person. These folk have only body and soul. But not spirit. So not spiritual. The Good Book can use the terms spirit or soul meaning pretty much the same thing: the inner person. But sometimes it distinguishes soul from spirit. Then, soul refers to the part of a person that's not the body, you know, like the mind or will or thinking part. What's natural to all people. But their spirits? The spiritual part of humans that connects with God is lame. The spirit must become whole to render us connected, spiritual people. Regenerated spirits hear God's Spirit and receive the mind of Christ. Spiritual persons hear the difference between God's true wisdom and the world's deceiving folly. Soul-ish persons do not.

Visiting with a brother or sister today we give thanks together to God for bringing our spirits to life by faith in Christ's sacrifice.

Free

"We impart a secret and hidden wisdom," 1 Corinthians 2:7.

Ah! So! Hmm. So there is wisdom here after all! A mystery wisdom, indeed! Wisdom that God held fast in his mind, held back from before the beginning of time. Nobody knew it or about it. Not even the powers of present times had a clue. Not the devils. Not a single solitary one got it. (If they knew, they wouldn't have crucified Jesus.) So. Does anyone now understand it? Yes. God's secrets are given away for free. By God's Spirit. To spiritual persons. To persons who have received God's Spirit, instead of the world's spirit. To persons whose spirits God's own Spirit brought to life, not to persons whose souls are still chained to the natural world.

When we see a brother or sister today, we rejoice in the Spirit's truth alive in us. And together, we give thanks to God for opening up his wisdom for us.

Consequently

"So that your faith would be in God's power, not in men's wisdom," 1 Corinthians 2:5.

So that. (?) The phrase - So that - emphasizes that the next thought hangs on something said earlier. OK. So what was said earlier? Well, a couple of things. Thing One: Know nothing except the preaching of Jesus Christ crucified. Thing Two: Demonstration of the Spirit and of power. So, we hear the preaching that God worked through the cross of Christ and we recognize God's power to save us in it. In consequence, our faith rests in that message. Not in a skillful sales speech closing. Consequently. So that. Faith in God. not in man.

We visit with a brother or sister today resting in the power of God's cross. And together we give thanks for the announcement telling us that God worked in Christ.

Hogwash

"God chose what is low and despised," 1 Corinthians 1:28.

What it says. Yes. To put a finer point to it, God even chose what just isn't. (Isn't? Isn't what? Isn't of any value at all.) God chose what humans consider base, scorned, hogwash. Why? Why? Why!? To show worldly wisdom, power, and position for what it is: utterly bankrupt. To show that God takes what we throw out in the garbage and creates wisdom, righteousness, and redemption. (Mind you: It's talking about hanging somebody on a tree here.) To bring human endeavor to its knees in the presence of God. To bring humans to boast only in the work of Christ.

We meet with a brother or sister today and take pride only in Christ. And together we give thanks that God has reached down into our hearts and lifted us up with our Lord.

Foolish

"God chose what is foolish in the world," 1 Corinthians 1:27.

Hey! Who's he calling foolish? Me? He's saying I'm foolish? (Well, in a word: Yes.) Wait! Does this mean that if I get called by God then I'm a fool? (Yes. A fool for God. A fool caught up in God's folly.) Doesn't sound very dignified. (No, it doesn't.) But then: Chosen. Chosen by God, through God's folly. Through what folly? Through the shame of the cross. Through that death Jesus died. Nailed without a shred of dignity. Naked to the crowds. Ridiculed by his world. Disowned by his own. Through that foolishness. By which God's salvation manifests cosmos-shaking power to the world's pretentious wisdom, sham nobility, impotent strength.

We meet a brother or sister today in the folly of God seeking resurrection to eternal life. And together we thank God for choosing the way of the cross.

Think

"Consider your calling," 1 Corinthians 1:26.

Who's he talking to? us. That we should consider our calling. Hmm. What calling? God's calling. You know, the Invitation. the Altar Call. (That's how we call it sometimes.) You know, when we heard and understood the story of Jesus, his life. His death. His burial. His resurrection. When we heard that he died for our sins. That he bled his blood on the cross for us. When we understood that we should change our ways and turn our lives over to him. That call. He says: Think about it.

We meet a brother or sister today and we consider God's call on our lives. And together we thank God that he didn't care about our social status when he invited and received us.

Folly

"The message of the cross is folly," 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Folly? It's what it says. Like foolishness, folly? Yep. Folly, like foolishness. That's the way it is for people who are dying. Who are perishing. (Meaning: for people who reject the cross' saving power. And so who will die without the salvation it brings.) But. For people being saved by the message of the cross, it is the power of God. Not folly. Power! For us who depend on it, we trust this folly (as human wisdom calls it) as the power of God for our healing into forever life in communion with God. And with his once crucified on the cross, but now Risen, Christ!

We visit with a brother or sister today to remind each other of God's power. And together we give God thanks that the word of Jesus' cross saves.

Quarrels

"But I'm of Paul. I, rather, with Apollos. I, instead, with Cephas. Well, I'm of Christ." 1 Corinthians 1:12.

And so it goes. I'm of Luther. I'm of Leo XIV. I'm of Calvin. I'm of Nestorius. I'm of Arminius. I'm of Campbell. I'm of Augustine. I'm of Wesley. I'm of Menno. I'm of Athanasius. I'm of the Orthodox. I'm of the Protestants. I'm of the Messianics. I'm of the Pentecostals. I'm of the Roman Catholics. I'm of the Evangelicals. I'm of the Progressives. I'm of the East. I'm of the West. Oh, yeah? Well, I'm not with any of you losers - I'm with Christ - so there! put that in your pipe and smoke it! (As though Christ were divided and we were baptized into whom did not die for us.)

We meet today with a brother or sister humbled by fleshly quarrels. And giving thanks together we ask our God for forgiveness and for growth in the power of the cross of Christ.

Baptized

"Is Christ divided?" 1 Corinthians 1:13.

No. Indeed. We were baptized into the One name. Undivided. Integral. Whole.

We meet with a brother or sister today united in Christ. And together we give thanks to God, the only savior of us all.

Undivided

"Through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, may you all speak the same thing, and not split, but unite with the same mind and purpose," 1 Corinthians 1:10.

That's the prayer. Because. because we (humans) like our division to be better than theirs. Our team better than theirs. Our religion better than theirs. Our leader better than theirs. As though we were baptized into some division. Or some team. Or some religion. Or some leader. No. We were all baptized into the One crucified. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Lord of all of us. We, all of us, have his mind. His purpose.

We meet today with a brother or sister to celebrate our common mind in Christ. And together we give thanks that he purposes us together into his undivided people.

Waiting

"I give thanks to my God always for you," 1 Corinthians 1:4.

Why? Because God's grace was given to these folk. God's grace in Christ. Because God made them rich in all sorts of spiritual gifts: speech, knowledge, confirmations. All this anticipating the revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes. Christ will sustain his people to the end. All the way to his Day when he shows up again. So. God called us into the fellowship of his son. So. We encourage each other waiting for the completion of it all.

We wait today with a brother or sister expectantly for Jesus' appearing. And we, too, give thanks together for God's grace extended to us and to others.

Priceless

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father," 1 Corinthians 1:3.

Grace. Unmerited favor. Generosity. Much more good received than what was deserved. Than what could be deserved. A gift. An expensive gift. A priceless gift. A gift given away. Given away freely. Given away at no cost to the receiver. A gift given at unimaginable cost to the giver. A gift that tells about the giver, not the receiver. Grace. Tells about the heart of the giver. Tells about the character of God. Received by faith in the work of God's son. Received from the Lord Jesus Christ. The gift: God's presence, protection, power. Eternal relationship.

When we meet a brother or sister today we give thanks for God's grace given to us by Christ. And for peace with him, from him.

Cheap

"Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus," 1 Corinthians 1:1.

So that's who's writing the letter. And it's from Sosthenes, too. (Don't know much about him other than this honorable mention. But God knows him well, of course. But, then, he's probably the same fellow who got beat up pretty badly in front the of court house in Corinth when a new Roman governor booted everybody out of the court, because he couldn't care less about their religious issues. Yeah. So the plaintiffs took care of business with Sosthenes personally because he was the synagogue manager who should've known better than to let someone like Paul teach that Jesus was the Christ of God, having made a new covenant with Jews and Gentiles, both, through Jesus' crucifixion.) That's who it's from.

When we visit with a brother or sister today, we recognize the story of Jesus didn't come to us cheap. And together we give thanks to God for giving the Word of Christ to us freely.

Holiness

"To those sanctified in Christ Jesus," 1 Corinthians 1:2.

So it's a letter to these folk. To God's congregation. To people called to be saints. Called to be saints together with everybody everywhere who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yeah. Their Lord and our Lord, too. Hmm. If Jesus is our Lord can he be Lord for other people, too? Sure! He's Lord of all who call on his name, whoever and wherever they are. Anyway. This letter is to the sanctified folk. Sanctified in Christ Jesus.

We visit with a brother or sister recognizing Jesus' lordship over us. And together we give thanks to God for his call in Christ for our holiness.

Good

"May the God of peace prepare you to do good," Hebrews 13:20, 21.

The God of peace? Yes. The one (and only!) God who raised up Jesus from the dead. The God who made Jesus the great shepherd of his sheep. The God who established an eternal covenant through the blood of Christ. This God. This God made peace between himself and ourselves. May this God prepare us to do good. What good? To do the good that does his will. The good that pleases him. The good mediated through Jesus, his Christ. The good that glorifies this God for ever.

We visit with a brother or sister today in the peace of Christ. And together we give thanks to God for Jesus' sacrifice that makes our doing of his will good.

Fixes

"Remember your leaders, the ones who spoke the word of God to you," Hebrews 13:7.

We do not misunderstand. Though valuable, the heart of the matter is not the leadership. It's the word of God they spoke. That word keeps us from running off with weird teachings. God's word tells first and foremost about Jesus Christ. He never changes. Yeah, people confuse improved technology with broken human hearts. (That's how messed up we are.) The same Jesus fixing human hearts yesterday fixes them today. And will fix them tomorrow. God's same word fixes for always.

We meet with a brother or sister today considering the way-of-life outcome of those who spoke the word of God. And together we give God thanks that the same way of Christ gives us eternity, too.

Will

"It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace," Hebrews 13:9.

Talking about the inner self, here. The heart. The place in which and from which we take decision to action. Not just feelings and emotions. The place where our inner self sets its will. OK. So what makes that place strong? Well, for sure, not weird teachings. Not special foods. Instead: grace. Grace that leads us to endure the same social scoldings that Jesus dealt with. Grace to know we don't belong here in this land. Grace to live out a sacrifice acknowledging Jesus as Lord. Grace to do good. Grace to share what we have. Grace to please God.

When we visit with a brother or sister today we become Jesus' instruments to give and receive grace. And together we thank God from whose throne comes all grace.

Way

"Brotherly love must abide," Hebrews 13:1.

Must? Yep. That's what God calls acceptable worship. With reverence and awe. God is our father. We're his kids. He calls us to care about each other, for real. Yes. And, hospitality to aliens. Too, caring for prisoners. And staying clean for one's spouse. And live free from the way of money. Yeah, we be happy with what we've got. Wait - how is all this worship? Because God is our helper. Because God will never leave or forsake us. Never. He is become the way for our life.

We receive each other as brothers or sisters. Always. And together we give thanks to our Father who makes us all family in his son, Jesus.

Regalia

"You have come to the city of the living God!" Hebrews 12:22.

We have come to Mt. Zion! (Not to Mt. Sinai and the Law.) We have come to the Jerusalem in the sky! To angels, multiplied thousands in festive regalia! To the church of the first born children registered in the sky! To God, judge of all! To the spirits of the perfected righteous! To Jesus, mediator of the new covenant! To his sprinkled blood! (His speaks better than Abel's.) So, we hear. We will not refuse God (a consuming fire!). We listen. We offer him respectful and awed worship in living faith.

We meet with a brother or sister today carefully minding God. And together we offer praise and thanksgivings to the living God who saves us by grace.

Tighten

"So tighten up your slacking hands and unstrung knees," Hebrews 12:12.

Yes! Restore your grip. Pump your legs. Exercise right to heal lame joints. Drop bitterness. Leave sexual immorality. Eschew unholy things. Go the straight path. This is God's training. This shows he's made us his kids. No more infighting. Run toward peace. Labor toward holiness. The finish line: Seeing the Lord! Receiving grace. Entering the eternal sky kingdom.

When we see a brother or sister today we prod one another on to love and good works. And together we give thanks for Jesus who trains us right beside.

Exsanguinated

"You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood," Hebrews 12:4.

Resisted? Resisted what? Sin. Resisted sin. What's he saying here? He's saying: Look at Jesus. He resisted sin's hostilities against him to the point that he shed blood. Exsanguinated. But you (we) have hardly resisted like that. So. What's his point? Stop whining. About how tough we have it. We haven't resisted legitimately enough to get tired. Giving up already? No. We stand up. Tall. Before God. Children of God. Disciplined by God. Loved by God.

We visit with a brother or sister today standing in God's power and discipline. And together we praise God to be counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.

Designing

"Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith," Hebrews 12:2.

The ancients. Abel. Enoch. Noah. Abraham. Sarah. Isaac. Jacob. Joseph. (Amram and Jochebed.) Moses. Israelites. Rahab. Gideon. Barak. Samson. Jephthah. David. Samuel. And countless others; together form an immense cloud of witnesses. Their commonality: God's commendation for their faith. Trust. Just so, we lock our eyes on Jesus. He endured the shame of the cross. So we endure the struggle ahead. Having endured, he sits beside God. Having endured, we shall sit there with him. We understand. By faith.

Meeting with a brother or sister today we share the hope of our faith, living in Christ. And together we give thanks to Christ for designing and consummating our faith.

Quest

"Must believe that he exists and he rewards whoever seeks him," Hebrews 11:6.

Who must believe? Well, whoever wants to draw near to God. To please God. That's whoever. And what must whoever believe? (a) That God is. That God is there. Yeah. And that's it? No. (b) And must believe that God rewards whoever searches for him. Whoever must believe the quest for God is worthwhile. Without this, nothing. Want to please God? Want to draw near to God? Start the quest there.

We visit with a brother or sister today believing God will meet us there. And together thankful to God, we draw near to him who already was drawing us to himself.