Basics of Biblical Greek μι verbs

Basics of Biblical Greek. Chapter Overview for Chapter 36.

Why Senior Pastors Should Care About Church Communications

Church communications is everything the church communicates. It involves the announcements, the handouts and signage, but it’s much more than that. It encompasses the overall heart and the big picture message of the church.

That sounds like something that should hit the radar of the senior leader.

From championing the vision to communicating one message, the leader of the organization needs to be involved in church-wide communications.

Three reasons pastors should care about church communications:

1. Your messages communicate your message.

The overall message of the church is really a combination of all the messages people receive. Those messages are heard through sermons, but also through printed pieces, Facebook posts and signs around the facility.

It’s completely possible that your church communications are counteracting the messages you’re preaching.

Big picture themes like gospel, grace, family, quality, hope and the Bible are all communicated through church communications in addition to the sermon. Senior pastors and preachers care a great deal about the message of the sermon, but it’s time to widen our gaze and consider the overall message of the church.

2. Clarity is your friend.

When it comes to theology, the Gospel and preaching the Bible, clarity is important. We don’t want to create confusion about how people begin a relationship with Jesus and what it means to be a Christian.

So when it comes to church communications, pastors and church leaders need to fight for clarity as well.

What do you want people to do? What do you want people to think? Where do you want people to go?

These kind of clarifying questions should influence everything we communicate, whether it’s from the pulpit or the email newsletter. Senior pastors and leaders should care that the message of the church is clear.

3. People will get to know you before they come and visit you.

A massive shift has taken place over the last few years. People conduct informal research before doing just about anything. They collect data from a wide variety of sources before making decision on what kind of car to buy, what soccer program is best and what church to attend.

Potential attenders will visit your website before visiting your church. They will ask their friends and followers for recommendations. They will hear the word on the street.

Everything you communicate makes its way into the psyche of the people. It’s why one sermon doesn’t counteract a reputation.

-Tim Peters

List of Paul's Prayers

1. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. [Romans 1:8–10]
2. Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. [Romans 10:1]
3. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. [Romans 12:12]
4. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. [Romans 15:5–6]
5. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. [Romans 15:13]
6. I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed. The God of peace be with you all. Amen. [Romans 15:30–33]
7. I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way— in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. [1 Corinthians 1:4–9]
8. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. [1 Corinthians 16:23]
9. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. [2 Corinthians 1:3–7]
10. But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? [2 Corinthians 2:14–16]
11. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has give you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! [2 Corinthians 9:12–15]
12. To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” [2 Corinthians 12:7–9a]
13. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection. [2 Corinthians 13:7–9]
14. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. [Galatians 6:18]
15. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  [Ephesians 1:3.]
16. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. [Ephesians 1:15–23]
17. For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. [Ephesians 3:14–21]
18. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. [Ephesians 6:19–20]
19. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. [Philippians 1:3–6]
20. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. [Philippians 1:9–11]
21. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. [Phil. 4:6–7]
22. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. [Philippians 4:23]
23. We always thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. [Colossians 1:3–14]
24. Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. [Colossians 4:2–4]
25. We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. [1 Thessalonians 1:2–3]
26. And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last. [1 Thessalonians 2:13–16]
27. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. [1 Thessalonians 3:9–13]
28. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. [1 Thessalonians 5:23–24]
29. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. [1 Thessalonians 5:28]
30. We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.  [2 Thessalonians 1:3-4]
31. With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. [2 Thessalonians 1:11–12]
32. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. [2 Thessalonians 2:16–17]
33. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. [2 Thessalonians 3:2–5]
34. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. [2 Thessalonians 3:16]
35. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. [1 Timothy 1:12]
36. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. [1 Timothy 2:1-3]
37. I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. [2 Timothy 1:3–7]
38. May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus. [2 Timothy 1:16–18]
39. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. [2 Timothy 4:22]
40. Grace be with you all. [Titus 3:15b]
41. I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. [Philemon 4–7]
42. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. [Philemon 25]

𝗕𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳

The other day I was watching a video lecture of the  New Testament Greek by Bill Mounce. At a point in the lecture, Bill couldn't readily recall the meaning of a particular word as he navigated through the Greek New Testament. Unfazed, he gracefully said something like, "sometimes you forget these things, and you need to keep going back to familiarise yourself with the root words." And then he remembered and continued. 

I was won by his simplicity and sincerity. We are talking about a New Testament Scholar of over 50 years, who has contributed immensely to the development of the study of New Testament Greek and other Bible study tools and resources for ministers and theological educators, globally. He wasn't bothered by the fact that the meaning of the word skipped him in a moment, he didn't feel awkward or embarrassed. He didn't even have that part edited out of the video. He was just his natural self.

That really got me, and it further reinforced my resolve to be my authentic self, wherever, whenever. I know leaders and persons who haven't achieved a pint of Bill's accomplishments, who put on airs, because of their newly assumed status or the label attached to their role. It is more commonplace in church circles. They strut about feeling high and mighty. Everything embarrasses them. They can't afford to concede a mistake. They pretend to know all the answers. Suddenly, they lose their humanity because they seemed to have moved up the social ladder. It's all smokescreen lifestyle, in Fela's parlance, 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘢.

Why put yourself under perpetual pressure, trying to be what you are not? Why live your life trying to prove a point?  Who cares? Don't kid yourself, we can see through you. Your insecurities are glaring. Not even your sanctimonious facade or super-spiritual exterior can do the cover-up for you. We know it when you goof. That's why you are always defensive. You want to explain everything away. It sucks! Even Jesus, who is divine, as he is human, wasn't afraid of being vulnerable when he was here. He wept. He showed tiredness. He expressed hunger. He engaged with unlikely persons. He connected with everyday people. He was real. He was authentic.

To be authentic, you need to acknowledge and embrace your humanity. You act in ways that show your true self and how you feel. Rather than showing people only a particular side of yourself, you express your whole self genuinely. That way you give others the leverage to live out their humanity around you. You also enjoy the empathy of others when you err. More importantly, you benefit from God's immersive grace, because He gives more grace to the humble (James 4:6).

Paul the Apostle, a real example of an authentic person and leader, could confidently say to the Corinthians, " For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you" (2 Cor 1:12).

What does your own authenticity testimonial read?

#sundayhomily

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆

Many Christians today are not only uninformed about basic theology, they are hostile to it. Obviously people fight what they do not understand. 

Misconceptions, stereotypes, myths and false impressions about theology abound- even within Christian circles. We all need theology. Theology seeks to clarify and articulate Christian doctrine. There is more. 

Theological reflection ought to foster godly spirituality and obedient discipleship. Indeed good theology will make believers stronger, better informed and consequently more effective disciples. 

We engage in theology because theological reflection grounds our lives in biblically informed Christian truth. It fosters maturity so that we may become stable believers in the fleeting times we live in. 

Theology is also a check on the hocus-pocus that is being auctioned by many errorists in the body of Christ, who display the  fickleness of their imaginations and concocted experience as standards for what is true. Theology exposes and confounds such folly and futile fancies.

𝗙𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱

Timothy grew up in Lystra, in a small Greek community, nevertheless, a Greek community steeped in idolatry and in a culture that was anti-Christian. 

Despite the prevailing culture, Timothy turned out to be a young man with good character (Acts 16:2), nurtured by his mother and grandmother, from whom he inherited his genuine faith (2 Tim. 1:5). Certainly, he had been equipped (furnished), fully trained with the right values against the fascination of a contrary culture that had profound effect on what young people believe about God, truth and reality.

Today, our young people are growing up in a postmodern culture that propagates the view that "if it works, it's right for you." How equipped are they to engage the sloppy and slippery influences manifest in the culture?

Timothy had role models in Lois, Eunice and Paul. How well are we as adults (parents, guardians, counsellors, pastors) modelling the faith for our young people? Our teenagers appear to be more taken to Hollywood celebrities (icons of popular culture) as their role models. 

Timothy was nurtured with the Scriptures that introduced him to, and instructed him in the way of salvation. Our kids are being fed with the platitudes of legalistic dos and don'ts or at best motivational self-help tips that are inadequate in setting them on the path of life.

Getting our teenagers "Furnished" should not be another fancy trope for a youth ministry event. The process of getting them furnished (equipped, adequate, fully trained) for every good action in an increasingly bad world, should start with us (adults) as facilitators of authentic faith, not 'religion', showing them the way of life. 

We must grill them through the furnace of the inspired Scriptures, in sound teaching, rebuking wrongdoing, correcting faulty notions, and instructing them continuously in the right principles.

It is significant to note that no reformation can be permanent which is not based on the principles of the word of God. This is why in getting our youths furnished for life and living, nothing can substitute the Scriptures. 

Our youths must be made to understand that popular culture will fade away, lofty sounding ideologies will fail, because this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever (1John 2:17).

Like Timothy, they should be open to learning and spiritual formation based on God's word. It is in the place of formation that conviction is birthed and built. Conviction is what gives stability against contrary waves of influences. Conviction is proof of being #furnished.

#sundayhomily #teensweek #foursqaureteens