Today’s a Good Day!

It has been 3 1/2 weeks (I’m 25 days post-op) since I had quadruple heart bypass surgery. Or, as it’s more famously known, CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft). Twenty-five days thus far and yes, it has been a struggle. But today, I seem to have reached a turning point where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today is a good day! The depression that has plagued me throughout this journey has been finally lifted. Before my initial diagnoses back in the early spring of this year, I never would have imagined that heart disease would have been a problem for someone like me. I mean, I was not overweight, kept myself in fairly good shape with exercise, lived on two to three vegetarian meals-per-day, and I did not snack between meals. Though I loved foods like cheese pizzas, french-fries and potato chips a little too much. Did not drink alcohol, nor smoke! And really did not drink sodas too much, practically not at all. However, it seems that for some, or perhaps more of us humans… genetics and stress also has its part to play. For me that meant that I would follow in my father’s footsteps more so than I thought, as he began to have similar heart issues about his mid-to-late 60’s. I’m now 68 years old. First it was little winces and pinches of chest pain, here and there, from time to time. Then an irregular EKG led to more tests. That Nuclear Stress Test, that I thought I had mastered, indicated an ischemia in my LAD (Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery). The next scheduled test was an angiogram where if the doctor found blockages, he was ready to install a stent or two. However, I was only on the operating table for twenty minutes, when the doc called the whole process to a halt. He wanted to talk with me about best options. Which in my case, meant referral to a cardiac surgeon for CABG surgery. Really? Yes, really! I had four serious stenoses. Two in my LAD, one in my right coronary artery, and one in my left circumflex coronary artery. They were each discreet. 90%, 80%, 80%, and 75% in order.

My dad had his first heart attack about this age. He also had an angioplasty with a stent installed due to a 90% blockage. A few years later, age 71 1/2, he died unexpectedly. It was unexpected because he had driven himself to the emergency room of his local hospital for another reason. Early one morning, he had just dropped off my brother at the metro-rail in Riverside, California, and when he arrived home, as he got out of his truck, his dog who always accompanied him on such drives had slipped out of the truck and made a beeline towards another dog who was ready to fight. My dad was alone and had to break up that dog fight, during which he sustained a bruise to his upper arm. Once he put his dog into the house, he told my mom that he was going to drive himself to Kaiser hospital to see about getting some antibiotics or such, due to that wound/bruise to his upper arm. He did so, sort of matter of factly. After being seen by the emergency room doctor, he went to the pharmacy to get his prescribed medication, and while standing in line, he must have started experiencing some chest pain. For, he left the line, walked back into the ER and told the same doctor, “I think I’m having a heart attack.” I suppose they immediately put him in an ER bed, hooked him up with monitors and watched him, perhaps even gave him some meds. I’m not really sure. The report I heard was that he was even lightheartedly joking with the nurses, not unusual for him. But, within five minutes, he was dead from a massive heart attack. They could not save him. You would think, that if you’re going to have a heart attack, the best place to have one is when you’re already at the ER. I remember that day well. It was a Tuesday, December 5, 2006. I was far away, living in Berrien Springs, Michigan and two short weeks from graduating with my Master of Divinity from the Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary. Needless to say, my plans abruptly changed and my graduation was put on hold until the spring. I flew to California, and actually performed my father’s funeral, my first ever, for I was not yet working as a pastor. That was surely a cathartic experience, yet needful for me. I spent six weeks there helping my mom get things in order. Ten years later, almost to the day I also performed her funeral.

We all experience it. Suffering and illness, life and death. We humans cannot avoid it. Only in Jesus Christ is there hope for a better day. Even those of us who believe, I mean really believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, so much so that we read His word, the Bible daily and try our best to do His will. Yes! even those of us who have that kind of faith, we still suffer the same temporal mortal maladies that have afflicted all humanity ever since sin came into the world. The Creator’s original intention for mankind had been thwarted by the devil, who deceived our first human parents into falling away from obedience to God. There has been a controversy between good and evil ever since. Thank God that He has allowed that controversy. Otherwise we would have no choice in the matter. Humans would have ceased to exist forever, because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But it is because of God’s great love for lost man, that He provided mercy and grace to the fallen race. We all have been given this opportunity to choose who will be our master and Lord. Who will be our God? The choice is between the one and only true God or the devil. How the devil became the devil is a story for another blog, but know this. That God the Father sent His One-And-Only-Son… He sent Jesus into the world to become human, the incarnation… to suffer and die for the sins of humanity, because His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). The Father sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John3:17).

Today as I write this, it is Friday, July 4, 2025. In fact, the sun has set so that the Bible Sabbath has officially begun. And Seventh-day Adventists from around the whole world are gathered together in St. Louis for their General Conference. We have elected a new president. Multiple cultures, multiple ethnic groups, multiple languages of people are assembled together in unity guided by the Holy Spirit to determine our path forward in the work of the Lord. For He has commissioned His people to go into all the world to preach the gospel, to make disciples of them and baptize them “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things” that God the Father and Jesus commanded us to do. And to preach this message especially in the last days of earth’s history, just before the promised and glorious return of Jesus to take His people away from here, to take us to heaven with Him on the Day of His Second Coming. We are to preach the message of the Everlasting Gospel more than it has ever been preached before, to people of “every nation, tribe, tongue and people.” We are to tell them that the Creator God who “made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water,” is worthy of worship. That all peoples who love God and want to be saved to eternal life are to “Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment has come!” (Matthew 28:18-20; Revelation 14:6-7). We are to warn them that false Christianity, “Babylon is fallen.” No one need be deceived any longer. No one need receive the “mark of the beast,” and be eternally lost. For there is a people who are faithful to God because, they are among “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” (Revelation 14:8-12). I will leave you with the very last words of Jesus and the Bible, from Revelation 22:20. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
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My Cry & My Plea…

I was a teacher in Los Angeles for 18 years… I left Los Angeles and my teaching career in November, 2003 to attend seminary, to become a pastor. I left behind many good memories of teaching children in South-Central Los Angeles, as that part of LA was called back then. Among my students over those years (easily over three-thousand total) there were also many immigrant children, some legal, others illegal immigrants (but all hoping for a better life and hoping to become US citizens one day). I taught Caucasian and Asian children and Black and Brown children together, 3 years as a high school and then 15 years as a middle school science and math teacher. I taught in areas surrounded by gang and crime activity. Life was hard in that part of LA. But I will bear witness to the fact that the children of immigrants were among my best and most motivated students. And immigrant parents were hard workers, gainfully employed and generally supportive of their children’s education. I now have been pastoring for over 18 years, but my heart is broken today… to see this now much more broken mess of a thing that the Trump Administration calls immigration reform. From my days as a teacher I can tell you about pain and heartache, suffering and death but also hope and joy… and victories. The LA Riots in 1992. The LA Earthquake in 1994. Just to name two major things we all had to work through. Immigrants and non-immigrants alike. Then there was that day, 9-1-1 as it is now known, when the world changed for all of us. I did my best to help my students cope… and not to hate Islamic peoples because of the evil work of terrorists. Kids who have been subjected to hate because of the color of their skin or their ethnicity tend to understand best, when properly taught, how to have compassion on other groups who are falsely vilified. Oh how I wish I could reach American people today, especially those who are jumping on the hate-band-wagon towards a targeted group of illegal aliens… an easy scapegoat to blame for all of America’s problems. It is a lie, this time not of the political left, but of the political right. And I am so ashamed of many of my fellow “Christians,” the many so called evangelicals who are jumping on this false patriotic bandwagon, who have lost sight of Jesus and His ways, and have replaced that with ideas of “Christian Nationalism.” America certainly is in trouble today. But not because of the immigration problem.

A Future and a Hope

My first 1 minute YouTube short:

Are you feeling hopeless or overwhelmed by life’s challenges? In this message, Pastor Dean Read from Griffin Seventh-day Adventist Church shares a powerful message of hope and peace based on the words of the prophet Jeremiah. God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11—”For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”—reminds us that even in our hardest times, God has a plan for our lives. Centuries later, God sent His Son, Jesus, to bring hope to all who believe.

Want to hear the whole sermon?

In God’s Image & the Sabbath

Here is something I have written for you to muse on, as a followup from my sermon, “In God’s Image.”

Tonight at 11:06 PM, the Vernal Equinox will happen. That means that the sun will be directly over the Equator at that precise moment, and the season of Winter will be officially gone, and the season of Spring will officially begin. There are two Equinoxes and two Solstices each year. These four events help us keep track of our year by dividing the year into four parts, or quarters. Would it be more convenient, or more understandable if they coincided with our monthly calendar to fall on the first day of  each month that begins a new quarter? Perhaps. But consider this, for example: If the Winter Solstice was to begin on January 1, instead of December 21, and the Spring Equinox commenced on April 1, the Summer Solstice on July 1, and the Autumn Equinox would begin the final quarter of our year on October 1, could that happen every year? Year after year without a hiccup? Well, the fact is that human calendars have always had inconsistencies to deal with, and following the equinoxes and solstices would not fix that problem, because the yearly elliptical orbit of the earth around the sun is not precise to any monthly calendar. We would have to add or take away “leap days” every third month in order to have the yearly equinoxes and solstices fall on the same four dates every year. However, this is the first time in my memory that the Vernal Equinox has actually fallen on March 19, for it usually falls on either March 20th or 21st. The problem with synchronizing monthly human calendars with an earthly year has always been with us.

So then, I have question for you. How is it possible that the weekly cycle (meaning there are exactly and only seven days in a week, every week) has not been successfully changed or altered?

I say “not been successfully changed,” because at least two non-god-fearing national governments have tried to change the weekly cycle, but could not make it work. For example, the French Republican Calendar was invented by godless politicians in 1793 during the time of the French Revolution, and lasted even into the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was Napoleon who finally abolished it on January 1, 1806, because it was so ridiculously flawed.

Why did they even try to change the weekly cycle? One of their purposes was to remove all religious influence from their calendar, and since the Bible (which they had already outlawed) had the original record of a Seven-day-week put in place by the Creator God… well they thought they could just do whatever they wanted to with the week. So, they invented a ten-day-week, because they were also attempting to make a grand design for decimalization, with 30 days in each month, and twelve months per year. But, then they are going to come up five or six days short each year? Yes, or course that is also true. But, that was an easier fix than messing with the weekly cycle. So, they had to add those missing days (which they called intercalary days) at the end of their calendar to properly balance out the Solar year.

Well, the Solar year may be balanced in that way, just like we add a day to our calendar every four years to balance the year… But, those human beings who lived in France at that time and tried to follow a ten-day-week… found themselves imbalanced, to say the least.

It appears that God knew what He was doing when He designed a seven-day-week. There is much evidence that our bodies and our minds are perfectly adapted to both a daily, 24-hour cycle, and a weekly, seven-day cycle. For, when God ended His work of creating on that first week ever on this planet, He ended it by making man in His own image. And then He made the Seventh Day, the final day of the week, and called it the Sabbath of the LORD. And He made that Seventh Day for man. As Jesus also affirms to us, “The Sabbath was made for man…” And then He called Himself, “The Lord of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28).

Please be reminded that it was Jesus Himself, who also spoke the Ten Commandments from the top of Mount Sinai, and then He wrote them down with His own finger onto two tablets of stone. So then, why does most of the Christian world follow only nine of the Ten Words of God? For, in the Fourth Commandment God said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God… For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Dean

Shabbat Shalom is Real for Me

Shabbat Shalom from Jekyll Island. Tracie and I are ready to open the Sabbath where we can enter into the Lord’s rest (Hebrews 4:9-11). For in the beginning, He ended His work of creation on the seventh day of the week and the Creator Himself rested (Genesis 2:1-3). Therefore, as a memorial of who God is in relationship to human beings, He created this special day of holy rest for mankind, as Jesus also affirmed, “The Sabbath was made for man…” (Mark 2:27-28). Thus we choose to “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy…” (Exodus 20:8-11) as we worship and honor our Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Dean

God’s Word Is a Fire and a Hammer!

“Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

Jeremiah 23:29

Oh how I wish that God’s professed people would pay more attention to the instruction which He gives through His word. To me this scripture is true. His word is like a fire in my soul, and like a hammer that breaks my pride, humbling me to re-shape my character and fashion it after the similitude of Jesus. God’s professed people need to be willing to be put through the necessary trial, where the hammer and chisel of God can work off the rough edges and unpolished surfaces of your character. If that’s not enough to finish the job of purifying your heart and mind, then the fire of God’s word can burn off the dross and impurities.

In the work of metallurgy, when at first the raw material is laid in the forge, the fire softens and melts the steel making the work of the hammer more effective to reshape its hard surfaces. Blow after blow is struck to rework the material. This process is repeated again and again, fire and hammer, fire and hammer… until the metal is remade… into a completely different and new piece of craftsmanship.

Painful processes are these when instead of metal, the material is the human heart. But Jeremiah had to go through this process in order to overcome the corrupt religious influences in his day. For God told him not to be like them, the corrupt prophets and priests. And God kept him pure through trials. And through HIS WORD!

For God’s word is a like a fire, and like a hammer that will purge sin from your soul and re-make your character to become more and more like Jesus.

There are so many people in the world, over seven-billion they tell us. And of those seven billion, the vast majority have yet to hear an unclouded presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why is that so? As I understand the passage in Jeremiah chapter 23, The LORD had much to say about false shepherds and false prophets, as Jeremiah lamented, “My heart within me is broken because of the prophets…” Even the Holy Spirit said, “‘For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,’ says the LORD.”

But God would wake His true people up today, just the same as He did in Jeremiah’s day. The Creator of the Universe would not have the people of this earth remain in ignorance to His plan of salvation. He would have them hear and know something of the magnificence, benevolence and justice revealed in His character. But how will God’s character be revealed to the world? Is it not through His own people, through Jesus’ disciples? Yes, this must be the case. For God works through His own true people to reveal His character of love to the world. So that the people of the world may have a better opportunity to come to know Him.

But how can I truly represent the love of God, when I myself am faulty in character? Simon Peter once felt this same shame. He had been fishing in the Sea of Galilee and had caught nothing. So he had brought his boat to shore and was mending his nets along with the other fishermen. But Jesus needed to preach from Simon Peter’s boat, so that the people crowding on the shore could hear Him well. So, Jesus just stepped into Simon’s boat and asked him to put out a little from land. Simon did as he was told and Jesus was able to sit in the boat, and the Bible says that He “taught the multitudes from the boat” (Luke 5:3).

Now if that was all that God required of His servants, just to use our things like our cars and our boats, or even our houses, and that we would help by lending a hand now and then, well that would be fairly doable for most of us. And we know the point of this story found in Luke chapter 5 is about Simon, and not about what Jesus was preaching that day to those seated on the beach. Otherwise, Luke would have told us what Jesus was preaching about. But he didn’t. So we know the point is about Simon Peter and what was going on in his heart and mind regarding his relationship with Jesus. There is a conversion that must take place.

You see, God wants much more from us. He wants an entire transformation of character. For, the next thing that happened, when Jesus had finished preaching, He told Simon to take his boat out to the deep and let down his nets for a catch. But, Simon protested because he had already fished all night long and had caught absolutely nothing. Yet he did finally agree to take Jesus at His word, and so he “let down the net…” Note the irony here, that Simon is letting down a literal fishing net, while Jesus has cast a spiritual net to draw Simon into a deeper relationship with Himself.

The magnitude of the miracle was unexpected. Yet, magnificent and remarkable. The huge quantity of fish was overloading the net to the point of breaking, and they had to call for help from their partners in the other boat. Now, not just one boat overfilled, but both boats were overfilled with so many fish that they were both beginning to sink. This is not the first time that Jesus had called Simon Peter to “follow Me.” But Jesus wants to make a point to Simon that he will never forget. Because this miracle caused in Simon a transformation. Immediately, Simon Peter understood just Who he was in the presence of. The Holy Son of the Living God! The Bible says, that Simon “fell down at Jesus’ knees.” What more could he do? He confessed, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Simon Peter knew that he could not properly represent the character of such a One as Jesus. He was a sinful man full of wicked thoughts and other extreme character flaws. Yet, Jesus’ reply to Simon is full of assurance and hope. “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” God is willing to use fallen human beings to represent Himself to the world. But, like Simon Peter, we must first be willing to be subject to the discerning and piercing gaze of Him who knows the thoughts and intents of the human heart. Those who will answer the call of God must submit to His will, and His will alone. Like Simon Peter, this begins with confession of sin. And then to take Jesus at His word and not be afraid, but go forward with whatever means and gifts that God shall supply to enable His servants to rightly represent Him.

The Lord is both merciful and just. God is love! Both mercy and justice are aspects of His great love. And it is up to God’s true people to share His message of love, salvation and judgment to a dying world. A world lost in sin, but not without hope, because Jesus became a man, and took the sinners place by dying for the sins of the world on the cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago. Love meets the sinner and provides a judgment of reconciliation with God through Jesus. Hallelujah!

I could say more about that of course. So much more. But today I want to appeal to those of you who profess to be God’s true people. Those who believe in Jesus and keep His commandments because they love Him. Now the book of Daniel testifies that in the last days of earth’s history, just before Jesus comes again, “There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation… and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.” The Holy Spirit is certainly able to use such troubles to shape the character of His people that they might rightly represent His character.

But there is another condition to this character reshaping business. For everyone goes through trials. Yes, even unbelievers go through trials. But, God’s people must also subject themselves to the fire and hammer of His word. If you want your character to change, if you want to become more like Jesus, then you must read and study and meditate upon God”s Holy word. The Bible!

For God’s word is a like a fire, and like a hammer that will purge sin from your soul and re-make your character to become more and more like Jesus.

And, God will deliver His people through the time of trouble. And, that book of the saved ones is “the Lamb’s Book of Life” (Revelation 21:27). Those who are written therein must be the ones Revelation 14:12 refers to as, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

How can we, like Simon Peter, realize our need for an entire transformation of character, that we may truly represent Him to the world, so that more people may come to know Jesus and be saved? How can we, like Jeremiah not shy away from the trials of life that God uses as a fire and a hammer to shape and mold our characters? How can we, God’s commandment keeping people, be more like Simon Peter? who confessing his sins and realizing his own deficiencies, yet he grasped hold of faith in Jesus. He took Jesus at His word and surrendered to His will. Then he said to Jesus, “At Your word I will let down the net.” Yes, the Word of Jesus, God’s Word is a fire and a hammer. From that day on Simon Peter went forward, believing Jesus’ word to Him, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.”

As for me, God’s word is a fire and a hammer. It burns in my soul and shapes my character to flee from sin, and become more and more like my Savior. God’s word is a fire and hammer that compels me, like Simon Peter to surrender my will to His will, and to go forward in faith… to be a messenger to share the Everlasting Gospel with whoever will listen. Help me Lord Jesus, for Your word to me is, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” Amen.

It’s Not Popular, But…

It’s not popular, but it is my hope that people make an effort to become acquainted with the Savior, Jesus Christ and with the laws of God as written in the Bible. Jesus Himself followed God’s laws in order to glorify His Father in heaven. He said,

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Matthew 5:17-18

It was for our salvation and for God’s glory that Jesus lived on earth in obedience to His laws. Then He died for our sins. Without His coming to this earth to live as a man and die for our sins, no one could ever be saved. Sin brings misery and death. Sin is living in rebellion to God’s law. For, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” 1 John 3:4.

It is not popular, but… It is for my own good and for God’s glory that I also choose to live in obedience to God’s laws. That is where my faith in Jesus leads me. Through His grace, and only through His grace I am saved. And through the power of His grace I am enabled to keep His laws. And that is for my good and for His glory. Amen.

Soon Jesus will come again in “the Glory of the Father” and there will be a great reaping of the saints who put their faith in Him.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

If Life Was Like a Marathon–A May 9th Pastoral Letter

Dear Saints,

Today is the 9th of May. Can you believe it? It’s May already in 2023. And it’s 2023! I mean, who would have ever thunk it. Time just keeps rolling on, and along the way, every now and then, you might pause for a moment just to catch your breath and take an account of where you have been, where you are now, and where you’re heading. 

For example, did you know that today is the 129th day of the year? If life was like a long distance race, imagine the human life-span as a year-long-marathon, then on the 129th day of said race, you would have completed 35% of your life, with 65% yet to be finished. You would have 236 days left to run. Based on your current estimated pace, and how far you have actually come as of today, by now you could estimate and calculate just how much distance you will be able to cross in the remaining days.

Of course there would be rest stops, where you could also take water and nutrition, and whatever else you might need. Those “needs” would have to be included within your race strategy. What would your needs be for such a race? Would they include love? Family? Friendship? Marriage? Work? Education? Religion? God?

If life was like a year-long-marathon, how would you live during the remaining 236 days? Just some food for thought from Pastor Dean. 

This past Sabbath Thomaston heard the sermon which Griffin had previously heard, “What’s In a Name?,” based on Ephesians 3:14-15, where I preached that, “Jesus died to give you a name, a name that is uniquely your own, a name that reveals who you are, and yet, a name that proves your identity as a child of God.”

Both churches have also heard, “Have You Heard About Colosse?” based on Colossians 1:3-8, and together we saw how the Apostle Paul highlights the faith, the love and the hope of the Colossians, and their need to be rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ. I concluded with a call to a special kind of prayer as even the Colossians were taught to do.

This coming Sabbath if God is willing then Griffin will hear my next sermon (Thomaston the following week) which will be based on Colossians again, this time chapter 2:11-15, for those who would like to study the passage ahead of time. To hear any of these past sermons you can access them on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dn1957rd

Grace & Peace, Pastor Dean

Have You Heard About Colosse?

Early Friday morning at the dawn of first light I heard a male cardinal with his whistle-like cheer. Cheer-cheer-cheer! He was singing good morning to God, and announcing his presence in the trees outside my window. I heard him, but I could not see him. But I knew he was there. And when I heard, I began to whistle just like him. And I gave thanks to God who created all things, and to worship Him who gave this wonderful red bird the voice of cheer.

Pray with me. Dear Father in heaven and our Lord Jesus Christ, hear the voice of your servant and have mercy on me, that I may preach of Your word today, that all who hear may be blessed to receive renewed faith in You, renewed love for our brethren, and renewed hope for that which You have laid up for us in heaven. Amen.

My purpose in this sermon is in my prayer. Read the opening scripture and you’ll see it again.

We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:3-8

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Colossian saints, because he heard about them. What did he hear? He heard about their faith in Jesus. And about their love for the saints. And this faith and this love that he heard about that was in them, well he knew why they had such faith. And why they had such love. The reason was because of hope. Hope in heaven to come. For their hope was in the promises of Jesus which He Himself had taught about thirty or so years earlier. Their hope was in Jesus!

And what did Paul and Timothy do when they heard about Colosse? They prayed and gave thanks for those new saints. I mean, have you heard about Colosse? There are Christians in Colosse! Who evangelized them? Yes, the Apostle was happy about them. Yet, he was also concerned for them because deceptive teachers and deceptive philosophies were threatening to undermine their faith.

And because of that, we Christians today have been blessed with a little four chapter epistle that overflows with some of the highest Christology found in the Bible. Go ahead and watch my sermon on YouTube and join in this Colossian journey. A journey to know Jesus so well that no one can take your crown.

Because Paul imagined a church where the Spirit of Christ was all in all. Where the practice of the people was such that each person, each saint welcomes the Word of Christ to dwell in him/her richly. A church where the people seek wisdom from God so they might teach one another and admonish one another with Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual songs. Even as that red cardinal sings outside my window each morning.

That we may learn to pray like the Colossians were counseled to do, and to pray like Paul and Timothy, and to give thanks to God the Father through Jesus while receiving a daily refreshment of His grace and mercy in our hearts is my prayer also. In Jesus; name, amen.