This Sunday we’ll be returning to Paul’s letter, reading Ch 3:1-21.

The chapter is broken into two parts – in v 1 Paul starts a train of thought…but in v 2 he interrupts himself to give a bit of backstory on his own calling and relationship to the gospel. What he reveals in that digression is fascinating stuff.

V 2-13 show us a picture of what Paul saw the Gospel doing in this present world. He uses the word “both” multiple times, in connection with equality and unification – that is, he saw the division between the Jewish people and all the other nations as nullified in the gospel. For him, that was a demonstration of God’s wisdom at work in this world.

How much does that square with your own understanding of how the Gospel is to be impacting this world? Followers of Jesus come from all sorts of backgrounds, economic situations, cultural perspectives, political affiliations – the list goes on and on. Those things divide us pretty intensely in our modern world – how can we prioritize unity amidst the great diversity of our fellow believers? After reading what Paul writes – how important is unity in the midst of diversity to you?

The next section of chapter 3, v 14-21 has Paul picking back up on his train of thought. There is a word that gets repeated a lot in this section as well – love. Specifically, the divine love showed to us as a community of Christ followers. How might our love for each other help expand our understanding of God’s love for us? How is love demonstrated in a community setting like the church? How can we improve on this aspect of church community?

Our study will be quick but in depth – I hope you can join us!

Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.