Epistle to the Ephesians - Reece's Peace's

Epistle to the Ephesians

               We are midway through our sermon series on the Epistle to the Ephesians. We have discussed many of the theological points of the letter in our topics during the previous weeks. We covered family and foreigners, and we will discuss how we are bound together, our peace, and being filled. However, during this break, I wanted to take a moment and discuss some of the overall background of the letter.

The Epistle to the Ephesians is a letter that Paul uses to lay out his basic outline for salvation and the theology of Christ. The first thing of note is how early this letter was written. Like all of Paul's letters, Ephesians was written before any of the gospels. The early Christians who formed the churches like the one in Ephesus could not read about Jesus’s life in the gospel narratives. The only way they had to learn about God was through traveling apostles telling stories and letters that were sent to them like the one Paul wrote to the Ephesians.

               As you read through the letters from Paul, you will find that they are not nearly as easy to understand as the gospels. They were not written in a narrative format. There is no story. While the gospels follow a natural progression, from Jesus’ birth or the start of his ministry to the cross and resurrection, the letters do not. They may start with a theological statement based on the resurrection then move on to a statement about Christ’s place in heaven before Adam and Eve’s creation. They have no problem jumping through time to make their theological point. The reason for this is that the letters are not designed to inform the reader about Jesus’s life, like the gospels, but instead to inform the reader about correct theology. They are not about what Christ did, but instead, they care about what Christ's actions mean.

               The letter to the Ephesians does just that. It makes claims of what Christ means in our lives. It spends a particularly long time talking about the connections we have as a community in light of Christ's sacrifice and resurrection. It explains how in Jesus we can come together as one in a way that we couldn’t without him, and how we can accept one another as Christ accepted us. It is a deep letter with many different turns.

The depth of this letter is why it takes us five weeks to cover the topic “No Longer Strangers.”

               At the end of this month, we will begin another series. The next series will discuss the Epistle of James. The letter from James is a fitting follow up to the Epistle to the Ephesians because of how different it is.  Often James’ theology has been seen as a counter to the theology present in Paul’s letters. Scholars have discussed in detail the differences that these two early Christians may have had. Yet, in all the ways they might seem different they both deal with the same God and the same salvation. Listen to all of our current sermon series and our following sermon series online to learn more about these two letters.

Who wrote the Bible? -Reece's Peace's

Recently I had a friend ask me, “Who wrote the Bible? Jesus made it appear or something, right?”

He didn't have much of a religious background and was having a debate with one of his co-workers. Both of these men were confused because no author was listed on the title page.

I'm sure he thought the answer would be short and succinct, but the answer I gave was not. There is no “author” of the Bible because the Bible is not really one book.

The word “Bible” comes from the Greek word “ta biblia” which means “the books”. The Bible is more like a library than it is a singular book. It is a collection of religious texts that for many years were considered individual works on their own. The Bible as we know it today was the product of editors combining many religious texts together years after the final book of the Bible was written.

It can also be difficult to find out who authored each individual book contained in the Bible. Several books make no mention of who their author is. The first five books of the Bible have been traditionally thought to be authored by Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Numbers. However, nowhere in those books does it say that Moses wrote them and many scholars doubt that he did. This makes it hard to ascribe an author to them.

Likewise, in the New Testament, the Book of Hebrews was traditionally ascribed to Paul. However, the book itself makes no mention of Paul being the author. Additionally, it is written in a completely different style compared to Paul’s other books. This makes finding a true author almost impossible.

The idea that we could put anyone's name or even a complete list of names as the true authors of the Bible is impossible. My friend at this point asked me, “So, is God the author?”

Even that is a bit of a stretch. The Bible is about God and inspired by God, but God doesn’t always direct the written words of the Bible. Occasionally God does dictate words that are written in the Bible. The clearest example of this is the Ten Commandments. They are God’s words told exactly from God’s mouth to Moses to us.

However, in many other places, we are told God’s words in summary through the interpretation of the prophets. An example of this would be in the messages from Isaiah.

Even further removed from the direct word of God, you have writings that are only inspired by God. The books of Psalms and Proverbs are an instance of this time of revelation. The authors of these sections did not hear the word of God but were instead inspired by God’s Spirit.  

God is the driving force for the Bible but, in many cases, God is not the direct author.

In summary, we don't know who many of the people are that authored the books of the Bible and scholars spend a lot of time debating who the authors might be. What we do know is that the Bible itself is the inspired word of God. It is a wonderful book for us as Christians to find meaning in our lives and guidance when we need it. The more you know about the Bible, the more it reveals God’s Spirit.

Hopefully now if a friend asks you who authored the Bible you can give them a much longer answer than they expected too!

Caprese Salad- Cheryl’s Favorite Food Memories…

 I remember walking through my Daddy’s garden and him handing me a tomato fresh off the vine. I would bite into it like an apple. It was the yummiest and messiest snack. Oh so good.  Grandma Grace had this small herb patch that she would send me out to snip fresh herbs for whatever was being cooked that day. I adored the smell of the basil and rosemary. Many years later my father-in-love, Richard, loved to cook and he brought these two memories together. It’s one of the simplest things he ever taught me to make, Caprese salad.  It seemed that two of my favorite childhood memories burst to life when he taught me how this oh-my-goodness-so-easy salad was made. He also created yet another food memory when he introduced me to balsamic vinegar. I am not quite sure how I survive before knowing about this wonderful flavor in my food. I hope you get to enjoy this summer along with me and get an opportunity to take a walk in the garden and enjoy a red ripe tomato.

Caprese Salad (pronounced “cah-preh-zseh”)

Ingredients

3 vine-ripe tomatoes cut into 1/4-inch thick slices (I prefer Roma or Caprini),

1 pound fresh buffalo mozzarella, 1/4-inch thick slices

15- 20 leaves (About 1 bunch) fresh basil

Balsamic Vinegar for drizzling

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Coarse salt and pepper

Assemble your salad.

On a large shallow platter or on individual plates.

Layer alternating slices of tomatoes and mozzarella, adding a basil leaf between each.

Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic and season with salt and pepper, to taste

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee - Marc's Music Notables

The words for this hymn were written by one great man and the music by another.  The words were written by Henry van Dyke, a great 19th Century clergyman, poet, and educator.  A graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, van Dyke later taught English literature at Princeton University.  It must have been in that setting that he came to know Woodrow Wilson, the university president, who appointed van Dyke to be Ambassador to the Netherlands when Wilson became President of the United States in 1913.

The music for this hymn comes from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.  While Beethoven never wrote hymns, a number of people adapted portions of his music to serve as hymn tunes.  “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” is the best known of those.

Van Dyke was quite taken by the joyful sound of Beethoven’s Ninth, and thought that it should be used as a hymn tune.  Others had tried without great success.  Then, while van Dyke was serving as guest preacher at Williams College in Massachusetts, he was seized by inspiration — perhaps because of the beauty of the surrounding mountains.  He presented it to the college president to be sung in the chapel.

Van Dyke was the author of the Christmas story, “The Other Wise Man,” and wrote several books of poetry.  He was known for his devotional writings as well.  But this hymn, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” is his more enduring work.

It is Beginning to look a lot like Summer - Kayla's Korner

Many of us are excited for summer. Summer means: warmer weather, bonfires and marshmallows, vacation time, and swimming.

All these's things are great, but we can get so caught up in camping and amusement parks that we forget about it being a time of rest. A time we can rest from the work we have completed from winter. Psalm 4:8 "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety." I love summer and also get so wrapped up in camping and other fun activities that I sometimes forget that summer can be a restful season. With summer approaching I encourage you to continue to read your Bibles, study God's Word, and rest. Because God will use you to build His kingdom and you will need to rest in His word to gain the knowledge needed to grow yourself. I hope you all have a wonderful summer.

Blessings,

Kayla Marie Beeler

Jeremiah 29:11

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.