| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 8 secs | 0 Comments
There was a lot of numptiness in Paul’s day just as ours. Paul warns his readers not to get taken captive by them. Then he lists what some of the numptiness is… Docetic Jesus, v.9 – Some people believed that Jesus wasn’t fully in the flesh, he just looked like a person; Jesus not God, […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 46 secs | 0 Comments
Paul’s two-fold mission is to: Make the word of God fully known. Present everyone mature in Christ. He is rejoicing in the pain of ministry because people are grasping the gospel – “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. The gospel means that we don’t need to strive to be acceptable to God anymore – the […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 11 secs | 0 Comments
Here’s that thankful man again – Paul is giving thanks for the churches he is writing to in Colossae. He is the most thankful writer in all antiquity, so there’s our first challenge. Be thankful! God is good. Paul thanks God for their: Faith in Jesus; Love for the saints, i.e. each other; Hope stored […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 4 secs | 0 Comments
Naming Euodia and Syntyche is not because they are the bad ones, who need singling out above others who are not getting on. Naming them (strangely to us), is evidence of their friendship with Paul, because as Gordon Fee writes, one of the marks of enmity in these kinds of ancient letters is that enemies […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 22 secs | 0 Comments
Some days there is so much in the text it is hard to know what to emphasise. In a sermon, one thing is best, but online, people like lists! Blog posts that do well have “7 steps to…”, “5 keys for…” as their title. I’ve picked out 5 ways we can grow in the Lord. […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 40 secs | 0 Comments
Priceless Visits Because of Jesus and all he is and has done for us, Paul urges his readers to work out the grace within us – to live like we now are – as saints! And as we do that we find actually that it is God who is working in us. Just as Jane […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 6 secs | 0 Comments
What Paul wants to hear about the Philippians is that they are Standing firm in one spirit – Philippi was a Roman colony and fiercely loyal to the Caesar. It was beginning to be expected for citizens to say ‘Caesar is Lord’ – something no Christian will do, so this passage ends with the declaration […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 14 secs | 0 Comments
The letter to the Philippians is a popular one – there are no major doctrinal issues tackled and it is a thank you letter for a gift, that strangely doesn’t include thanks! Three things jump out at me as I read the introductory paragraphs of the book. Saints, Deacons and Elders The letter is addressed […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 19 secs | 0 Comments
It’s a big passage today! Paul starts off with two more calls to submission that demonstrate that we are filled with the Spirit. Children to parents Children are called to submit to parents in the Lord. “In the Lord” is the get out clause for not obeying them when it is sinful. Paul uses one […]