Morning Praise & Traditions (3)

In one paragraph

This Sunday's service included two messages. Pastor Ray delivered a history of the English Bible, tracing how ordinary people fought and died to put Scripture in the hands of ordinary readers. A guest speaker then preached on 1 Corinthians 13, walking through Paul's case that love is not optional but the very foundation of everything a Christian does. Pastor Ray opened by explaining why this...

Read together

1. 2 Timothy 3:16 all scripture is God-breathed, profitable for doctrine and reproof
2. 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 the necessity and definition of love, read aloud as the core text of the second sermon
3. Ephesians 5:22 husbands love your wives, cited in the context of a husband's duty to protect his family
4. Romans 8:28 all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose
5. Romans 8:1 there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus
6. Jeremiah 29:11 plans not to harm you, plans to prosper you and give you a hope
7. Luke 9:14-16 the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus takes, gives thanks, breaks and gives the bread
8. John 13:3-15 Jesus washes the disciples feet to demonstrate the full extent of his love

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray spent a good portion of the sermon tracing how people were killed, excommunicated, or had their bodies dug up simply for putting the Bible into the language of ordinary people. What does that history stir up in you about how you treat your own access to Scripture?
2. A recurring theme in the history Pastor Ray walked through was the danger of adding to what Scripture actually says, whether through marginal notes, church tradition, or personal bias. Where do you think that temptation shows up most in your own reading of the Bible?
3. Pastor Ray said the mission trip he was leaving for that day involved Bible translation, and he pointed out that there are still places on earth where people do not have the Bible in their own heart language. How does that fact change the way you think about your own Bible sitting on a shelf or a phone?
4. The second speaker described the word agape as a concept Jesus himself introduced into the world, meaning total giving without ever expecting anything in return. He said it appears over 300 times in the New Testament but barely three times in all other Greek literature of that era. What does that contrast tell you about what the Christian community is supposed to look like compared to the world around it?
5. The second speaker closed with the image of Jesus washing the disciples' feet and said our lives are to be lived at the feet of those we love. He also described the rhythm of Jesus feeding people: taking, giving thanks, breaking, then giving out. Where in your own life do you sense God is in the process of breaking something so it can be given to others?