Terry Scheuffele

The Collection for God’s People

1 Corinthians 16:1-4 Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in  keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with  your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.

Paul had a grand idea! No doubt it was initiated by the prompting of God, but a grand idea, none-the-less. For almost 25 years he had worked among the Gentiles as an apostle of Jesus Christ. His  unique apostleship had placed him at the heart of God’s plan of uniting the whole world under the authority of Jesus. He had put his blood, sweat and tears into this goal. He had suffered greatly and endured much persecution, but through his efforts, he had witnessed the gospel spread throughout Galatia, Asia Minor, Macedonia and Achaia.

However, there remained a schism in the church between Jewish and Gentile Christians. This division existed due to numerous factors— cultural practices, socio-economic status, understanding of the place of the Torah, and hard feelings regarding all of the above.

At or around the 25 year mark in his ministry Paul was preparing to shift gears in his ministry and preach the gospel in Spain, but he had one last thing to do. This was his grand idea to mend the  schism between the more affluent Gentile churches of his ministry and the much poorer Jewish churches of Judea and Jerusalem: a monetary collection for the poor.

Paul uses cultic language in Romans 15:16 calling it the “offering of the Gentiles” making the collection an act of worship. This is reinforced by his usage of ἐπιτελέω in 2 Corinthians 8:1–12, often translated simply as “to carry out,” but is used in cultic contexts for the fulfillment of religious obligations. Paul believed the Gentiles should be grateful for the grace of God and his blessings in Jesus which originated from within the Jewish people (Romans 15:27). Paul was willing to die to make this a reality (Romans 15:31-32).

Similarly, Paul believed that the collection would not only relieve the needs of the poor Jerusalem saints, but it would also mend much of the suspicion and ill will that might have been held by these Christians resulting in thanksgiving to God for them and their offering (2 Corinthians 9:12-14).

1 Corinthians 16:1-4 consists of instructions on how this contribution was to be taken. Unlike, the acute needs of the church in the early chapters of Acts, this offering would require time to be collected.

Each member was to put aside a portion of the money they earned ever day (proportionate with their income) until the next Sunday, when the church met, and give it to the church to save up  (church treasury?) until Paul returned to collect the entire sum. This model continues to be used today. Paul has to revisit this with the Corinthians in his second letter.

I’ll say more in my lesson. — Joey

How To Behave At Home

Ephesians 5:21 – 6:9   21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church– 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery– but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”– which is the first commandment with a promise– 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. 9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

It was common in ancient literature to relate household codes to guide the members of a household (wives/husbands, children/parents, and slaves/masters) in how they should behave toward one another. It was also common in Greco-Roman culture for the patriarch in the family to exercise absolute, sometimes cruel, authority over family members. Paul’s household code, here at the end of Ephesians, serves as a corrective to the harsh treatment found in contemporary culture. It is founded upon the principle of mutual submission. Ephesians 5:21, Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Remember, this occurs in the context of exhibiting distinctly Christian behaver, over against that of the gentiles.

I’ll say more in my lesson,

Joey

A Primer on Basic Morality,
Part II

Ephesians 5:3-21 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person– such a man is an idolater– has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them. 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Be very careful, then, how you live– not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Paul continues his primer in basic morality in Ephesians 5:3-21. Living worthy of the gospel presupposes changes from our pre-Christian lifestyle. He deals with more mature themes in this second half of the list.

1. Avoid even the hint of sexual immorality.

2. Keep your thoughts pure.

3. Exercise self-control in your desires.

4. Don’t use obscene language.

5. Don’t tell dirty jokes.

6. Replace inappropriate language with thanksgiving to God.

7. Do not partner with the wicked in their immorality.

8. Make the most of every opportunity for good.

9. Don’t get drunk.

10. Sing, praise, & thank God (be filled with the Spirit).

11. Don’t insist on your own way.

Paul urges the Ephesians (and us) to avoid the “fruitless works of darkness” and to live as “children of light.”

I’ll say more in my lesson, Joey

Welcome Trail Life & American Heritage Girls

Sunday, we celebrate two of our ministries—American Heritage Girls and Trail Life. Welcome!

Both organizations are alternatives to traditional scouting that feature a distinctively Christian worldview. You can read more about them on their national websites traillifeusa.com and  americanheritagegirls.org.

This congregation chartered, oversees, and supports both troops. We will recognize both groups before worship this Sunday.

Congratulations to Hunter S. in Receiving the

Trail Life Freedom Award

The Freedom Award is Trail Life USA’s highest and most prestigious award. The trail that one takes to earn this award is one that will stretch and grow the Trailman as a man. It will help them  hone their skills and practice servant leadership. Their faith will be tested and grown along this trail. These experiences will prepare them to head out into the open rangelands of Freedom.

Among the other tasks completed for this award, Hunter worked hard to gather funds and build the welcoming gazebo on the east side of our building. He is only the second youth in the state of Idaho to receive this award.

A special ceremony was held at the building last Tuesday night to honor him. Congratulations, Hunter!

A Primer on Basic Morality

Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may  have something to share with those in need. 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may  benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along  with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

There is behavior that is worthy of the gospel and behavior that is not. Paul divides this letter into two parts:  Chapters 1-3, God’s salvation in Christ and Chapters 4-6, our response to his grace. He has already urged the Ephesians to maintain the unity he created and warned them not to live like the other Gentiles do. Now, he gives them a primer in moral behavior. We may find his list obvious, as would the average Jewish Christian. However, they are converted pagans, not long removed from their immoral lifestyle and Paul wants to make sure they understand. Sometimes, we need a  refresher as well!

1. Always tell the truth.

2. Deal with your anger before you sin.

3. Don’t take what doesn’t belong to you

4. Work hard, be useful.

5. Share with others.

6. Say helpful, not hurtful things.

7. Get rid of all destructive behavior.

8. Be kind and forgiving to one another.

9. Imitate God in his love, forgiveness, compassion and sacrifice.

Paul doesn’t stop there with his moral primer. In fact, he begins his PG-13 list in Ephesians 5:3, but we’ll get into that next time.

I’ll say more in my lesson,

Joey

Life Group Kick-Off is this Sunday!

This Sunday, September 8, is the kick-off for our 2024-2025 Life Group Ministry! We will have a potluck meal following AM worship for those who are in our Life Groups or who want to know more about Life Groups. You will have opportunity to sign up for a Life Group or start your own! Please plan on coming and participating in our Life Groups this year.

This is Life Group Potluck, but is not restricted to new groups or group members. It is for our current life groups and those who are thinking about joining a group. Please bring a full meal to share with others.

Life Groups are a vital part of our discipleship strategy at the Boise Church! We believe in the “three-legged stool” approach to discipleship :

1) large groups (worship assemblies);

2) medium size groups (Bible classes and fellowships); and

3) small groups (1:1 mentoring, Evangelistic Bible studies, and Life Groups). All three are vital because of their goals, function, and group dynamics.

Life Groups are a powerful way to grow! The assemblies of the early church (Acts 2:42-47), public and private, produced three kinds of growth:

1) Spiritual – “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship,”

2) Relational – “All the believers were together and had everything in common,” and

3) Numerical – “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Life Groups are a way we can S.H.A.R.E. our Christian walk together. Life groups allow us to:

S – Serve One Another (Galatians 5:13 Serve one another in love);

H – Heal Life’s Hurts (2 Corinthians 1:7 Because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort);

A – Apply God’s Word (Luke 11:28 Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it);

R – Relate to Others (Acts 2:44 All the believers were together and had everything in common); and

E– Evangelize (Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey  everything I have commanded you).

I’ll say more in my lesson Sunday.

We are always on the lookout for Life Group leaders and hosts to open their homes to a group. The latter requires no training at all – only a willingness to fellowship with other Christians. Life  group leader training is available. I can arrange this with you and schedule a time for you to participate in a small group Bible study where you can see firsthand the Serendipity method of group  dynamics.

Please plan on staying for our fellowship Sunday and learning more about our Life Group program.

God Bless! Joey

What Team Are You On?

Monday, August 26th, Danny Jansen made major league baseball history when he became the only player ever to start a baseball game as a member of one team and finish it as a member of the  opposing team. How is that possible? The game actually started on June 26th. The Toronto Blue Jays, his previous team, was playing the Boston Red Sox. Janson was up to bat with a 0-1 count  when the game was called for rain. It was rescheduled for August 26th, but not before Jansen was traded to the Red Sox on July 27th. When the game resumed, Jansen was behind the plate for the  Red Sox as catcher making him the only player to play for both teams during the same game.

My lesson Sunday morning deals with another change of allegiance, but on a significantly larger scale and certainly more serious than a ball game. Consider Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:17-24.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of  impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22  You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put  on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

The Ephesians had changed teams. Formerly, they were owned by the Gentile Old-Selves, but their contracts were bought out by the Christian New-Selves. They had changed owners and thereby  their allegiance. That’s why Paul said they should not live any longer as the Gentiles do – futile thinking, darkened understanding, separated from God, ignorance, hardened hearts, given over to sensuality, impure, and with a continued lust for more.

Once under contract to their new owner, Christ, they learned they should put off their old selves and deceitful desires and put on their new selves – new in their attitude, created to be like God in  true righteousness and holiness. That’s quite the change.

It would have been traitorous and disloyal for Jansen to return to his at bat for the Blue Jays or step behind the plate again as their catcher. He is on a new team now with a new allegiance.  Similarly, for a Christian to return to his or her old ways or return to the opposing team would be a betrayal of Christ and an affront to the price paid for them.

What team are you on? I’ll say more in my lesson.

Joey

To Bring Unity To All Things

Ephesians 1:8b-10 (NIV 2011) With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into  effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

It was the purpose of God from the beginning to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. This is a major theme in both Ephesians and Colossians. Sunday, my lesson will ask the questions, “What does this mean?” and “What does it matter to us?”

What does this mean? These verses presuppose a fractured cosmos — a universe that has been broken by sin and disobedience to God. This brokenness has separated God from human beings and human beings from one another. However, the brokenness does not end there. The very cosmos itself has been affected and has been diverted from God’s original purpose and subverted by evil. This brokenness has affected the heavenly realm as well—fallen angels, demons, principalities, and powers of evil. Even God’s heavenly family has been fractured as these beings have worked to thwart his plan.

Unity in this text is a dynamic equivalence translation of a complex theological concept. The word in Greek is avnakefalaio,w (anakephalai ah o). It means to sum up like adding a column of numbers or summarize in the sense of getting to the point of an argument. Paul is affirming that Jesus is the answer, the focal point, and goal of God’s eternal purpose. In Jesus, God is bringing everything to its resolution. God and humanity will be reconciled.  Humans with be united with one another. The righteous will be saved and the wicked subjugated and vanquished. The entire cosmos will be renewed and released from its bondage to corruption.

What does this matter to us? Well obviously a fractured cosmos affects us—especially in our relationships with God, one another, and our subjection to death and disease in this present world. However, we can be reconciled to God and one another through Christ and inherit a renewed heaven and earth. I’ll say more in my lesson.

Joey

Before & After Pictures

I really love before and after pictures. Social media seems to really love them, too. I suppose it is an expression of nostalgia for the “good ole days.” I have a particular interest in photographs of old places, cities, movie locations, etc. It is fun comparing what has changed or what is still the same over 10, 20, 50, or even 100+ years ago. The same is true for people; its fun to see how young, thin, and beautiful people looked so many years ago.

My text Sunday is from Ephesians 2:1-10 and it regards the before and after pics of the church in Ephesus.

Ephesians 2:1-10 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we  were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions– it is by grace you have  been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his  grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9 not by works, so that no one can  boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Notice, the before shot: dead in transgressions and sin, following the ways of the world, following the rulers of the kingdom of the air, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature, and objects of  wrath.

The after shot is much better: made alive with Christ, saved by grace, raised up with Christ, seated with him in the heavenly realms, God’s workmanship, and created in Christ to do good works.

Their story is our story as well. Because of Jesus, we are very different people than we were! I’ll say more in my lesson.

Joey

The Enthronement of Christ

Ephesians 1:19-23  That power is like the working of his mighty strength,  ²⁰ which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,  ²¹ 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.  ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,  ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

As we discussed last week, Paul prays the Ephesians will understand the power that is at work in them (1:19a). In the second half of that verse he describes the nature of that power; it is like what God exercised in Jesus when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand. He then expands upon the Enthronement of Christ in terms of its scope and what it means “for the church.” 

The Enthronement of Christ was a popular messianic theme. Psalm 110:1  The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” Jesus applied this Scripture to himself (Matthew 26:64) and Peter uses it at the climax of his sermon on Pentecost to conclude Jesus is Lord and Christ (Acts 2;34-36).

The Enthronement of Christ is significant “for the church” because it points to the defeat of the “rulers, …authorities, …the powers of this dark world and …the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) and their subjugation under the feet of Christ (1:22).

Paul makes it clear that his victory over evil spiritual beings is our victory because we have been “seated with him.” Ephesians 2:6  God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.  The powers of evil have been subjected “for the church.” Our victory is assured!

Joey