Several years ago, I had a church member with a smile and a twinkle in his eye say to me, “Pastor we’re probably the only church that’s ever had a sermon series on Philemon.”  I can’t remember if it was a two- or three-week sermon series, but the reason why the remark was humorous is because Philemon is a very small book of the Bible.  It’s only 25 verses long and yet somehow, I managed to create a sermon series out of those twenty-five verses.

I share this story because this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. members of our Christ and Cultural Humility Team will be leading a Bible study on Philemon, which originally was a letter from the Apostle Paul to his dear friend Philemon.  If you are wondering what “Christ and Cultural Humility” is, I invite you to attend the study on Sunday.  Through the Bible study, participants will have an opportunity to be introduced to the Christ and Cultural Humility program, which a small group from our church has been participating in for the past 18 months with other Philadelphia Baptist Association Churches.  More information and a zoom link can be found in this week’s news and notes.

I also shared the opening story because the series on Philemon because the focus of the sermon series was how to read, interpret and apply the Bible.  I used Philemon as the biblical basis for that series because Philemon had historically been misinterpreted to justify the enslavement of other human beings.  That history is an example of how not to read, interpret, and apply the Bible.

For this week’s sermon we’re going to return to one of my favorite Biblical passages, Jesus’ encounter with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27).  As one commentator wrote there’s so much wonderful material in this story the temptation is to deal with too much at one time. This week I want to focus on the insight related to the disciples being surprised by God only once they have spent time with the Living (Jesus) and Written (The Scripture) Word.  There’s a connection between the two.  This Sunday, we’ll explore that connection and consider some ways practical ways we can receive the Word in our lives.

See you on Sunday,

Pastor David