Words of Welcome

Rembrandt, Paul in Prison Philippians 1:21-30 Paul wrote his letter to the Philippian church from a jail cell, and yet the defining word for this letter is joy. We see this in Paul’s word of thanksgiving for the Philippian church: “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy for all of you” ( Phil 1:3-4 ). He’s grateful that he can share in their “progress and joy in the faith” (Phil. 1:25). Now, this joy isn’t rooted in their circumstances. After all, Paul is in jail and they’re suffering some form of persecution. Nevertheless, they’ve found joy in God’s presence. It’s for this reason that Paul can write: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice” ( Phil. 4:4 ). This joy that marks the letter is rooted in a spirit of friendship and affection.  Now, Paul does have a life and death dilemma. He’s ready to die and be with the Lord, and yet he knows he still has work to do. So, he declares: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain”...

Marc Chagall's "The Praying Jew"  Psalm 119:1-8 Last Sunday’s sermon ended with an invitation: “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.” Just so you know, I wasn’t asking for applause. But,  what better way to start a sermon that mentions true happiness than by offering the same invitation? So, “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!” When it comes to happiness, the Declaration of Independenc e asserts:   We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. According to Thomas Jefferson and his colleagues, the “pursuit of happiness” is a self-evident and unalienable right endowed to us by our Creator. Jefferson never explained what he meant by this, but the pursuit of happiness appears to be a natural right. The emphasis should be placed on the word “pursuit.” So,...

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 On more than one occasion Rial has said that “Words Matter.”   I think that what he means is that a word has a definition and we should pay attention to it.  I agree, but words also have nuances, and context often determines meaning, especially in the English language.   Now, I realize that you didn’t come to church today to get a lesson in English grammar, but I believe that Paul has something important to say about words in our text.  It’s not an issue of grammar or definitions, but whether our lives match our words.   Because Paul was a traveling preacher, he was something of a talker, but unlike many other contemporary preachers of his day and ours as well, Paul was a straight-talker.  He said what he meant and meant what he said, and so people could have confidence in his message.  Paul’s own confidence in God’s calling on his life gave him confidence in his message as well.  Therefore, he had the courage to pr...