The city of Philippi had a long and interesting history. It was initially colonized by the people of Thasos around 360 BC. It was renamed “Philippi” by Philip of Macedon in 356 BC and was eventually abandoned in the 1 4th century after the Ottoman conquest.
Continue reading “An Introduction to Philippians.”Father’s Day is here. For most dads, it is just another day in the great and rewarding journey of doing the best we can for our families. Like Mother’s Day, we celebrate this day as an opportunity to honor the contributions dads, all over the world, play in the life of the family. Dad’s should be honored and encouraged every day for the role they play in this life, society, and the church. My grandmother used to say, “Anyone can have a child, but it takes a special man to be a father.” I agree wholeheartedly.
Continue reading “A special man.”Paul first arrived in Ephesus on his second missionary journey (Acts 18). He visited a second time during his third missionary trip (Acts 19) which proved to be a tumultuous time for the church. People were baptized, silversmiths were infuriated, and a riot even broke out. Paul’s relationship with Ephesus was interesting, to say the least.
Continue reading “An introduction to Ephesians.”The book of Galatians is challenging and powerful. Written by the apostle Paul early in his ministry (around 49-50 AD), it reveals one of the first serious doctrinal struggles in the church. The main issue at stake was legalism vs. grace.
Continue reading “An introduction to Galatians.”As we pointed out in our introduction to 1 Corinthians, the Corinthian church would have been challenging. This one gave him the most grief and heartbreak of all the churches he started. You see this culminating in Paul’s admonition in 2 Cor. 13:5, when he said to them, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (ESV) Undoubtedly, Paul is beginning to question their salvation and connection to Jesus.
Continue reading “An introduction to 2 Corinthians.”First Corinthians is a significant book for the church because today’s church struggles with so many of the issues and problems of this church. No doubt this was a challenging church to call brothers and sisters, but that is precisely what Paul did. This letter reminds us that no matter how bad it gets, it could always get worse, and there is always hope.
Continue reading “An introduction to 1 Corinthians.”Outside of the Church of Christ, Romans is one of the most popular books in the New Testament. I have never been absolutely sure, but it seemed like we were not sure what to do with it.
Continue reading “Introduction to the book of Romans.”The book of Acts is perhaps the most widely taught and read book in the churches of Christ. So much of our doctrine and practice comes directly from this 28-chapter history in narrative form. While it does contain history it is also a remarkable story of promises and fulfillment.
Continue reading “An introduction to the book of Acts.”An introduction to John’s Gospel.
There was a time when I didn’t appreciate the Gospel of John as much as say, Matthew, but that has changed. All the gospels are unique and that’s part of the beauty, but John just seemed, well, odd. John presents Jesus in beautifully articulate words and ideas that require more effort. The gospel of John soars to the highest peaks in the New Testament. From antiquity, it was known as “the spiritual gospel” because of its focus.
Continue reading “An introduction to the gospel of John.”Most scholars agree that Luke’s gospel and the book of Acts were written by Luke who is an interesting character. Truthfully, we don’t a whole lot about him personally. We don’t know where he was born or how he died. We have hints to where he was born and how he and Paul became friends and coworkers in Acts 13:1. In that passage we see Lucian of Cyrene as one of the prophets and teachers at Antioch. I believe this is Luke which would mean that that they meet at Antioch before Paul and Barnabas left on their first missionary journey. If this is Luke it means that he was a Gentile like Timothy. He was important to Paul because he was a physician who Paul calls “the beloved physician” (Col. 4:14).
Continue reading “An Introduction to Luke’s Gospel.”Easter is an important day for all Christians. It’s important because Jesus rose from the grave, victorious over death and sin, and promises the same to us. Numerous passages in Scripture equate that truth.
Continue reading “A lesson on Easter”This gospel account is the second book of the New Testament that was probably written by John Mark of Jerusalem sometime between 60-68 A.D. Tradition states that John Mark recorded the words of Peter, who recounted the teachings and events of Jesus Christ to Mark and then organized them into the second gospel account.
Continue reading “An introduction to Mark.”One of the first things I want you to notice about Matthew’s gospel is the fact that it’s anonymous. Nowhere in the text does it clearly say who wrote it, but there is no need to worry about the authorship of the first gospel since the early church and scholars all agree that it was Matthew, the apostle.
Continue reading “The Gospel of Matthew.”I read a story about a young girl who loved playing skeet-ball at the local arcade. The story talks about how the little girl loved the arcade and an exciting trip to the arcade. Once they arrived, the little girl asked her dad for some money. Not having anything smaller, dad hands her a twenty-dollar bill with instructions to get change in the amount of two fives and a ten. It wasn’t long before dad went searching for her, and as you can imagine, found her playing the skeet-ball game and having the time of her life.
Continue reading “Keeping it clear“Good morning Church. I hope that, like me, you are excited about this new day we’ve been given. Not only has the Lord blessed us with a whole new day He has allowed us to move past all of the struggles and hardships of the past two years. I know this has been hard on all of us but Praise the Lord; we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Continue reading “A New Day“
Central Haywood Church of Christ 