PBJ (Pastor Brian Jones) reads scripture followed by a brief devotional about that scripture passage.
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Read Philippians 4. When we read Philippians 1 last week, I described to you the giving track record of the church in Philippi. Thanking the Philippians for their financial support was one of the key reasons that Paul wrote this letter. We saw that in verse 10 when we read, “I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.” Later in verse 14 Paul wrote, “Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles” then he went on to describe different times that this church had sent him money: “when I set out from Macedonia” (v. 15b) “when I was in Thessalonica... more than once
Read Philippians 3. In many of the places where Paul founded churches, he faced immediate opposition and follow-up opposition. Immediate opposition refers to the persecutions he faced from locals--sometimes Jewish, sometimes Gentile--who were opposed to the growing gospel message. We read about these frequently in the book of Acts. Although there was much opposition, God saved his chosen ones and a new church was founded. “Follow-up opposition,” as I referred to it in the previous paragraph, has to do with the infiltration of false teachers in the churches that were established. It is in Paul’
Read Philippians 2. What are some ways we believers in Christ are distinct from the world around us? We have different beliefs about the past and the future, for one. We have different morals that cause us to make different choices and respond differently when we sin. We spend our time and our money differently. We certainly have a different understanding of who God is and what he’s done for us in Christ. These are all important differences, but maybe they don’t distinguish us from the rest of the world as much as we’d like to think that they do. Here in Philippians 2, Paul invited the believe
Read Philippians 1. This is another of Paul’s prison letters (v. 7: “whether I am in chains...”), this one written to the church at Philippi. Paul founded this church during his second missionary journey (Acts 16:6-40). He also visited Philippi twice during his third missionary journey (note: Philippi is in Macedonia; Paul went there in Acts 20:1-2 and returned in Acts 20:6). The Philippians were givers: They supported Paul’s work by sending him money while he was in Corinth (Acts 18:1-5 and Philippians 4:16) so that he could stop making tents (Acts 18:3) and devote himself “exclusively to pre
Read the book of Philemon. This is yet another of Paul’s prison letters as we saw in verse 1, “Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ....” Verses 1b-2 tell us the recipients of this letter who were, “Philemon... Apphia [almost certainly Philemon’s wife] our sister and Archippus [possibly the son of Philemon and Apphia].” When we take this mention of Archippus and compare it to Colossians 4:17, “Tell Archippus: ‘See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord’’ we begin to see that Philemon lived in Colossae. This family was not the only recipient of this letter, however, for t
Read Colossians 4. This chapter began by continuing to describe how being raised with Christ and setting our minds on things above (3:1-2) changes our daily lives. After applying this truth to masters (4:1), the scripture turned to our prayer lives (vv. 2-4) and how we share the gospel (vv. 5-6). The rest of the chapter was concluding personal remarks (vv. 7-18) that closed the book. For our instruction today, let’s turn to verses 5-6: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you
Read Colossians 3. In many different ways, Christ calls us to live in the present based on things that are past or future. In the present we have to live in a fallen world and we struggle against the instincts of our fallen nature. But we came to know Christ in the past and when that happened we were “raised with Christ” (past, v. 1a). In the future, we're told that our life “is now hidden with Christ in God” (v. 2) and will be delivered to us fully and finally “when Christ who is your life appears” (future, v. 3). So what do these past and future events have to do with us now? First, they cal
Read Colossians 2. The church at Colossae that received this letter was not started by Paul. Colossians 1:7 plainly states that the people who received this letter from Paul had received the gospel from “... Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf.” As we read yesterday in chapter 1, Paul was thankful and encouraged by the faith of these Colossians. Now, here in chapter 2, Paul assured them that he was “contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.” Though they were not churches he had founded, Paul was c
Read Colossians 1 Whenever I read Paul’s descriptions of his prayers, I am struck by how different they are than the way I often pray and the way that I’ve heard most other Christians pray. Frankly, most of our prayer requests and prayers for each other are about physical illnesses and injuries or other basic life problems. While there is nothing wrong at all with praying for these things—and we should pray for them—think about them in contrast to how Paul prayed for the Colossians here in Colossians 1. First of all, he and his associates “have not stopped praying for you” (v. 9a) which is som
Read Ephesians 6. This chapter began by continuing to specify what it meant to “walk in the way of love “ (5:2a) for children (vv. 1-3), fathers (v. 4), slaves (vv. 5-8), and masters (v. 9). The rest of the chapter encouraged believers to prepare for spiritual battle (vv. 10-20) and gave Paul’s final greetings. I want to focus on part of Paul’s instructions to slaves. In verse 6b, Paul encouraged slaves to work “as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.” Then he repeated the point in verse 7 when he wrote, “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people....
