June 1 is the National Pen Pal Day. I wonder if you had someone as your pen pal. In my elementary school days, I had someone to write a letter to. That person replied by writing a letter back. We corresponded back and forth. It was a one-to-one relationship.
Acts 2:42 teaches something different, involving a group supporting each other. The believers were held together by the gospel and the sacraments. The Greek word for it is “koinonia,” the Church’s Life Together.
Acts 2:42 teaches something different, involving a group supporting each other. The believers were held together by the gospel and the sacraments. The Greek word for it is “koinonia,” the Church’s Life Together.
Some people think only “Jesus and Me” is enough. Yes, it is very important to have a relationship with the Lord, but God also wants us to have fellowship with Christians. God has performed an excellent work uniting us into a close and caring family. There is always room for us to grow.
We all can benefit from what the early church discovered in the book of Acts. Act 2:42 says that they devoted themselves to:
Apostles’ Teaching: We have the Gospel to learn that Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Bible leads us to understand God’s Word. The apostles were continuing learning, taking to heart, the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. What about us? Are we delighted to hear God’s Word? Are we taking opportunities that we have in church to grow in our understanding of the apostolic teaching? There still is room to grow.
Fellowship: “Koinonia” is translated as “fellowship.” When we hear “fellowship,” It is good to have a “Coffee Hour”, but koinonia, biblical fellowship, is more intense than that. The term “koinonia” means sharing in the common things. We believe in one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We were baptized in the name of the Triune God. We partake of Christ’s holy body and blood as the Holy Communion.
The Breaking of the Bread: The Greek states “the breaking of the bread” meaning the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion. The early Christians committed themselves to partaking of Communion, Christ’s holy body and blood, given and shed for them–and for us–for the forgiveness of sins.
The Prayers: “The prayers” indicates a more formal worship practice. They devoted themselves to the prayers, regular worship, the prayers and praises of God’s people, as we receive God’s Word and Sacrament. We still do this today. We sing our praises to our gracious God, and we use Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, our thanksgivings. God graciously hears and receives and answers our prayers for Christ’s sake.
We all can benefit from what the early church discovered in the book of Acts. Act 2:42 says that they devoted themselves to:
- Apostles’ teaching
- The Fellowship
- The Breaking of Bread
- The Prayers
Apostles’ Teaching: We have the Gospel to learn that Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Bible leads us to understand God’s Word. The apostles were continuing learning, taking to heart, the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. What about us? Are we delighted to hear God’s Word? Are we taking opportunities that we have in church to grow in our understanding of the apostolic teaching? There still is room to grow.
Fellowship: “Koinonia” is translated as “fellowship.” When we hear “fellowship,” It is good to have a “Coffee Hour”, but koinonia, biblical fellowship, is more intense than that. The term “koinonia” means sharing in the common things. We believe in one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We were baptized in the name of the Triune God. We partake of Christ’s holy body and blood as the Holy Communion.
The Breaking of the Bread: The Greek states “the breaking of the bread” meaning the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion. The early Christians committed themselves to partaking of Communion, Christ’s holy body and blood, given and shed for them–and for us–for the forgiveness of sins.
The Prayers: “The prayers” indicates a more formal worship practice. They devoted themselves to the prayers, regular worship, the prayers and praises of God’s people, as we receive God’s Word and Sacrament. We still do this today. We sing our praises to our gracious God, and we use Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, our thanksgivings. God graciously hears and receives and answers our prayers for Christ’s sake.
We stay warm together. It is like coal. You need a lot of coals to make fire and stay heated. We live our life together as church. God’s objective is not to have a group of Lone Ranger Christians. This is God’s plan to be part of the body of Christ.
Can you stay warm by using only one coal?
Can you stay warm by using only one coal?
John the Baptist Quiz
1) John the Baptist was how much older than Jesus?
A. 1 year
B. 2 years
C. 6 months
(Hint: Luke 1:26-28)
A. 1 year
B. 2 years
C. 6 months
(Hint: Luke 1:26-28)
2) Who was John the Baptist’s father?
A. Joseph
B. Thaddeus
C. Malachi
D. Zechariah
(Hint: Luke 1:11-20)
A. Joseph
B. Thaddeus
C. Malachi
D. Zechariah
(Hint: Luke 1:11-20)
3) Where did Jesus go after hearing that John the Baptist had been arrested?
A. Bethany
B. Galilee
C. Jerusalem
D. Nazareth
(Hint: Matthew 4:12)
A. Bethany
B. Galilee
C. Jerusalem
D. Nazareth
(Hint: Matthew 4:12)
4) John the Baptist was put in prison for declaring that King Herod violated what law?
A. Cheating
B. Violating the Sabbath
C. Adultery
(Hint: Matthew 14:4)
A. Cheating
B. Violating the Sabbath
C. Adultery
(Hint: Matthew 14:4)
5) Which of these quotes did Jesus say about John the Baptist?
A. Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.
B. This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face.
C. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
D. All of the above.
(Hint: Matthew 11:9-14)
A. Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.
B. This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face.
C. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
D. All of the above.
(Hint: Matthew 11:9-14)
Forgiving is hard! (Part 1)
The hardest thing that Jesus Christ calls His follower to do is to forgive as He has forgiven us. We are reminded of this every time we pray the prayer that He taught us: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Do we really mean that when we say it?
If someone hurts me, then later they tell me that they are sorry, I want to truly forgive them. I feel so much happier when my enemy becomes my friend.
But how can we forgive someone who is not sorry, someone who will never admit that they did anything wrong? How do I forgive someone who violated someone I dearly love? When I am struggling with situations like that, what does forgiveness look like? What can I do to free my mind, my heart, my attitude from my own prison of unforgiveness? How can I justly hate the sin but love the sinner, as Christ does for me?
The first thing I find myself doing as I struggle with anger, bitterness, or even hatred, is to look in the mirror. When I look at my feelings against someone, and I compare that attitude to Christ’s attitude toward me, I am ashamed. I am not responsible for the sins other people do, but I am responsible for the way I respond to those who sin against me.
When I honestly face my reactions, my attitudes toward another person, what I see in myself disturbs me more than what that person has done to me. That motivates me to want to let go of my bitterness and anger. It motivates me to let go of that person whom I have been allowing to live rent-free in my head.
Even if that person is not sorry, my honest evaluation of my own attitudes helps me to let go of the one who has hurt me, and release him to God, so I can work on correcting my own sinfulness and stopping fussing about his.
We will grapple more with this challenge in the next issue of the Mustard Seed.
If someone hurts me, then later they tell me that they are sorry, I want to truly forgive them. I feel so much happier when my enemy becomes my friend.
But how can we forgive someone who is not sorry, someone who will never admit that they did anything wrong? How do I forgive someone who violated someone I dearly love? When I am struggling with situations like that, what does forgiveness look like? What can I do to free my mind, my heart, my attitude from my own prison of unforgiveness? How can I justly hate the sin but love the sinner, as Christ does for me?
The first thing I find myself doing as I struggle with anger, bitterness, or even hatred, is to look in the mirror. When I look at my feelings against someone, and I compare that attitude to Christ’s attitude toward me, I am ashamed. I am not responsible for the sins other people do, but I am responsible for the way I respond to those who sin against me.
When I honestly face my reactions, my attitudes toward another person, what I see in myself disturbs me more than what that person has done to me. That motivates me to want to let go of my bitterness and anger. It motivates me to let go of that person whom I have been allowing to live rent-free in my head.
Even if that person is not sorry, my honest evaluation of my own attitudes helps me to let go of the one who has hurt me, and release him to God, so I can work on correcting my own sinfulness and stopping fussing about his.
We will grapple more with this challenge in the next issue of the Mustard Seed.
Peter and Jesus
and two charcoal fires
and two charcoal fires
In the Gospel of John we see Peter twice in the warmth of a small fire, having a life-changing experience with Jesus.
Charcoal Fire #1
The first happened in John chapter 18, when Jesus was arrested and taken to the house of the High Priest. Peter followed and quietly went right into the courtyard of the High Priest’s house to see what would happen to Jesus. Peter sat near the fire to keep warm.
Some of the people there recognized Peter and identified him as one of Jesus’ disciples. In fear, Peter three times denied that he knew Jesus. Then the rooster crowed, reminding Peter that Jesus had predicted that Peter would deny Jesus. Peter was so ashamed of himself, he left and cried for a long time.
Charcoal Fire #2
After Jesus rose from the dead, Peter met Jesus by a small charcoal fire on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was early in the morning, as the sun was rising, and Jesus was cooking breakfast.
Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
What could Peter answer? In a moment when Jesus was in serious trouble, Peter abandoned Jesus. Peter denied that he even knew Jesus, not once, but three times. Peter so much wanted to forget what he had done. But Jesus had something better in mind for Peter, than to simply forget.
Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?”, giving Peter three opportunities to correct his mistake and affirm his love and loyalty to Jesus.
“Yes, Lord. You know that I love you.”
But there is much more to this story that gets lost in our English translation of the Bible...
Charcoal Fire #1
The first happened in John chapter 18, when Jesus was arrested and taken to the house of the High Priest. Peter followed and quietly went right into the courtyard of the High Priest’s house to see what would happen to Jesus. Peter sat near the fire to keep warm.
Some of the people there recognized Peter and identified him as one of Jesus’ disciples. In fear, Peter three times denied that he knew Jesus. Then the rooster crowed, reminding Peter that Jesus had predicted that Peter would deny Jesus. Peter was so ashamed of himself, he left and cried for a long time.
Charcoal Fire #2
After Jesus rose from the dead, Peter met Jesus by a small charcoal fire on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was early in the morning, as the sun was rising, and Jesus was cooking breakfast.
Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
What could Peter answer? In a moment when Jesus was in serious trouble, Peter abandoned Jesus. Peter denied that he even knew Jesus, not once, but three times. Peter so much wanted to forget what he had done. But Jesus had something better in mind for Peter, than to simply forget.
Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?”, giving Peter three opportunities to correct his mistake and affirm his love and loyalty to Jesus.
“Yes, Lord. You know that I love you.”
But there is much more to this story that gets lost in our English translation of the Bible...
The New Testament of the Bible was written in the Greek language. The Greek language has various different words that all get translated into English as “love.” In the “charcoal fire” story in the last chapter of John, we hear Jesus and Peter using two different words that both appear in English as “love.”
Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, agapas me – Do you love me?”
The dictionary form of that verb is agapao. Many Christians today are familiar with the noun form of this word, agape, God’s unconditional sacrificial love. As used in the New Testament, agape expresses
The question that Jesus asked Peter was, “Agapas me – Do you love me?” What was Peter’s answer?
“Yes, Lord. You know that philo se – I love you.”
Whoa! Did you notice Peter used a different word? The verb phileo and the nouns philos and philia are a weaker expression of love than agape. Phileo means “like” someone. It means being friends, even really good friends. But it’s not agape.
Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, agapas me – Do you love me?”
The dictionary form of that verb is agapao. Many Christians today are familiar with the noun form of this word, agape, God’s unconditional sacrificial love. As used in the New Testament, agape expresses
- God’s love to us,
- our love for Him,
- and His love through us toward others.
The question that Jesus asked Peter was, “Agapas me – Do you love me?” What was Peter’s answer?
“Yes, Lord. You know that philo se – I love you.”
Whoa! Did you notice Peter used a different word? The verb phileo and the nouns philos and philia are a weaker expression of love than agape. Phileo means “like” someone. It means being friends, even really good friends. But it’s not agape.
The focus of philos love is feeling.
The focus of agape love is commitment.
The focus of agape love is commitment.
It wasn’t a warm wonderful feeling that held Jesus to the cross; it was agape love.
When Jesus asked Peter, “Agapas me – Do you love me?”, Peter’s answer is admission that his love for Jesus weak, selfish, and broken, not the kind of love that Peter should have, not the kind of love the Peter wants to have for Jesus.
Perhaps a clearer translation of this conversation between Jesus and Peter might be something like this:
When Jesus asked Peter, “Agapas me – Do you love me?”, Peter’s answer is admission that his love for Jesus weak, selfish, and broken, not the kind of love that Peter should have, not the kind of love the Peter wants to have for Jesus.
Perhaps a clearer translation of this conversation between Jesus and Peter might be something like this:
Jesus said to Peter, “Simon son of John, agapas me – Do you love me more than these?”
Peter answered, “Yes, Lord. You are aware (oidas) that philo se – I am your friend.”
Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my lambs.”
Jesus said to Peter a second time, “Simon son of John, agapas me – Do you love me?”
Peter answered, “Yes, Lord. You are aware that philo se – I am your friend.”
Jesus said to Peter, “Take care of my sheep.”
Jesus said to Peter a third time, “Simon son of John, philos me – are you my friend?”
Peter was sad because Jesus asked him the third time “Are you my friend?”
Peter said, “Lord, You are aware of everything. You know (gnoskeis) that philo se – I am your friend.”
Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my sheep.”
Peter realized that Jesus knew him better than Peter knew himself.
Now we can see more clearly why Peter was sad. He wasn’t sad because Jesus asked the same question three times. Rather, Peter was sad because Jesus changed His third question. Jesus brought His question down to Peter’s level – “Are you my friend?”
When Jesus asked the third time, “Are you my friend?”, Jesus affirmed that Peter’s broken love was enough. Jesus forgave Peter for abandoning Him at His trial. Jesus accepted Peter’s selfish, broken love. ...just as He accepts our weak, selfish, broken love for Him.
Then Jesus commissioned Peter for His service. “Feed my lambs; Take care of my sheep.” ...just as He calls us to serve Him
Now we can see more clearly why Peter was sad. He wasn’t sad because Jesus asked the same question three times. Rather, Peter was sad because Jesus changed His third question. Jesus brought His question down to Peter’s level – “Are you my friend?”
When Jesus asked the third time, “Are you my friend?”, Jesus affirmed that Peter’s broken love was enough. Jesus forgave Peter for abandoning Him at His trial. Jesus accepted Peter’s selfish, broken love. ...just as He accepts our weak, selfish, broken love for Him.
Then Jesus commissioned Peter for His service. “Feed my lambs; Take care of my sheep.” ...just as He calls us to serve Him
