Church Family Update - July 24, 2020

A Devotional Thought:

“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” 2 Peter 3:15-16

Ever since I’ve had the privilege of preaching on Sundays my pattern has been to write the sermon on Friday and finish it on Saturday. That way it’s fresh in my mind and on my heart on Sunday. The only problem with that pattern is that it doesn’t give me a lot of margin if I get stuck.

This morning as I sit down to write the sermon I find my mind drifting to those verses above from the book of Second Peter. Really Peter? You think that some of the things that Paul wrote were difficult to understand? Did you ever try reading your own letters? What in the world did you mean when you said Jesus “went and preached to the spirits in prison”? Where did He go and to whom was He preaching? Why didn’t you take just a little more time and explain what that means? Were you in a hurry to get somewhere? Were you running out of parchment? 

I think it’s funny that Peter thought Paul’s letters were hard to understand (maybe that’s just my pastoral sense of humour). I expect Paul thought Peter’s letters were hard to understand. Isn’t that always the way? We think we’re the ones communicating clearly and everyone else is being unclear. 

Communication is hard. It’s hard because we all bring our unique perspective, opinions and personality to the table. This passage in which Peter reminds us that some of the things Paul wrote were hard to understand is a reminder to all of us to be gracious in our communication with one another. Assume the best and ask clarifying questions instead of jumping to conclusions. And be gracious and understanding when someone else’s interpretation of Scripture differs from yours. The Bible is the infallible Word of God. But our interpretations of it are not infallible. 

A number of people took me up on my appeal for help regarding the passage for this Sunday (1 Peter 3:18-22). I thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone’s ideas about what this difficult passage means. It makes me think that once things get back to normal and we’re able to meet freely whenever we want (it’ll happen!), we should have a mid-week Bible study focusing on the passage I’ll be preaching from so that I can learn from everyone’s insights before writing the sermon. 

May you find encouragement, instruction and insight in God’s Word today.

Pastor Jason

Remember: If you intend to join us for the Sunday service please register today by 2:00 PM at the following link:    Google Registration for July 26   I look forward to seeing some of you there.