Ancient Anglican

Think about the individuals that Paul mentions in this introduction to his letter and the role that these individuals played in Paul’s ministry and the life of the church in Colossae.

This week try to see the manifestation of the Wisdom of God in Newton’s second law of motion (Force=Mass x Acceleration) or E=mc2; in the most despicable of arachnids or serpents; or simply in the mundane such as the grass growing in a highway median whose purpose is live and to grow upwards towards the light, providing nourishment and protection for a myriad of life.

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus going on before!

In the household codes, notice the simplicity of the instructions and the readical egalitarianism that Paul assets at the end of this section.

The merciful God regards the lives and tempers of men more than their ideas. I believe he respects the goodness of the heart rather than the clearness of the head;

The Lord Himself has pointed out that their punishment lies in themselves—in their extreme agony. Pride, envy, hatred, avarice, covetousness—all are thus punished. Each passion is its own tormentor, and at the same time the executioner of each man possessed with it.

Our unity, therefore, is a reflection of the unity of the Divine, and as we become perfectly united with each other, so too do we become perfectly united with God.    

Paul speaks of the unity of the Body of Christ, echoing Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21 that we all may be one. What are some of the practical means by which unity in the Church is obtained and restored?

‘We are all teachers. We are free to propose ideas which might be wrong or heretical and to consider them and turn them around.  No one will be shocked or frightened. It is a very wonderful time of spiritual relaxation for us.’

As you read through the concluding prayer in Ephesians 3, not only make it your own, but pay close attention to the proper roles and functions of faith, love, and knowledge.

“Paul’s vision was to make his brand of Judaism — with the recognition of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah — a world religion easily accessible to everyone.”

For Paul, membership in God’s covenant family is open to all people who have been chosen, destined, and called by God’s grace, and whose outward sign of justification is faith in Christ.