Acts 25-28 Today we come to the end of the book of Acts, with Paul held under house arrest in Rome, continuing to await judgment from the emperor (i.e., Nero) and continuing to proclaim the Gospel. As we proceed through the rest of Paul’s Epistles, let’s remember his situation, his imprisonment, and his hardships. Let’s …
Author Archives: John S.
December 16 / Philippians
Philippians 1-4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Philippians 4:4 I expect that this verse is quite familiar to most of us. We probably even have it memorized (whether on purpose or not) just from hearing it repeated often enough. This verse captures a major theme woven throughout this letter: joy …
December 15 / Acts 21:17-24:27
Acts 21:17-24:27 On his way to Jerusalem, Paul does not know exactly what is to befall him there, but he knows it is not to be pleasant. (Acts 20:22-23) He presses forward in obedience anyway. He is warned that the Jews in Jerusalem are to deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. (Acts 21:10-11) …
December 14 / Romans 15:14-16:27; Acts 20:3b-21:16
Romans 15:14-16:27;Acts 20:3b-21:16 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. Romans 15:14 That’s what Paul writes to the first-century church in Rome. Would he write the same thing to us today? Why? Or why not? Or look …
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December 13 / Romans 12:1-15:13
Romans 12:1-15:13 I appeal to you therefore… Romans 12:1a So, what is the “therefore” there for? It strikes me that Romans 12:1 is often quoted all by itself. Or sometimes one hears Romans 12:2 all by itself. Now and then one hears both verses quoted together. But rarely (i.e., almost never) does one hear them …
December 12 / Romans 9-11
Romans 9-11 So what about Israel? What about the Jews? In light of the Gospel of faith in Jesus Christ, what about all those promises to “God’s people?” These are a few of the questions that Paul addresses in today’s reading. Unfortunately, it seems that many Christians widely ignore these chapters altogether. For example, many …
December 11 / Romans 5-8
Romans 5-8 Most of us, I think, are missing out. Most of us read these chapters of Romans and nod our heads in agreement but do not really believe what we read. Or, rather, we’ve been conditioned to interpret Paul’s words narrowly as applying only after we physically die. We read “saved,” and we think …
December 10 / Romans 1-4
Romans 1-4 What is your standard? What rules or guidelines do you think people should follow? What’s the bare minimum for acceptable conduct? It does not matter what the standard is. The standard could be God-given, like the Ten Commandments or the rest of the Torah, or it could be societal norms, or it could …
December 9 / II Corinthians 8-13; Acts 20:2-3a
II Corinthians 8-13;Acts 20:2-3a But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, …
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December 8 / II Corinthians 1-7
II Corinthians 1-7 Today we are racing through several chapters that I find to be some of the most difficult to understand in all of Scripture. Part of the problem that we have is that the context is very unclear. In Acts, Luke does not tell us absolutely everything about Paul’s comings and goings, so …