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The Puzzle of the Sinful Woman: Why Did She Weep? 1. She knew she needed forgiveness to be whole again. (v. 36-39) Then one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining…

We are all looking for peace ( whole ness, rest , fulfill ment) Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors! The angels claim that peace has been here all along ( Luke 2:14 ) Before COVID, 9/11, Jim Crow laws, two world wars, the holocaust, the great depression, the Spanish…

The Church is a bag of mixed nuts . The church includes all kinds of people. ( Col. 4:10-11 , 15 ; 3:11 ) Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin (concerning whom you have received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him), and so does Jesus who is called…

Context: Paul is calling the Colossians to stay loyal to Jesus and the resurrection way of life . Paul’s Final Instructions: Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Be…

Two Perspectives One advocates for traditional hierarchies and conservative family values . One advocates for complete liberation and independence for each person . Paul’s teachings fit with neither one. Paul teaches less powerful Christians to live within the power structures of their society. Wives,…

Colossians 3:10–17 (CSB) You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on…

Therefore... You died with Christ to the "elements of the world”—you are no longer dominated by your mortal nature . ( Colossians 2:20 ) If you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: You have been raised…

Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. What is Anagnosis? Anagnosis is reading something out loud , usually publically. Anagnosis is different from preaching or teaching . Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. After the…

What does it mean to die in Christ? You are no longer under the power of the physical world . (v. 20, 2 Peter 3:10 ) If you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: Since you died with Christ to the elemental…

How were the Colossians dead already? They were mortal—condemned to death and irrelevance . And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. They were enslaved by the powers that controlled the meaning of their…