Ephesians 3

Ephesians 3 

God’s Mysterious Plan Revealed

1 When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles^[a] . . . ² assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles. ³ As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. ⁴ As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. ⁵ God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.

⁶ And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.^[b] 7 By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.

⁸ Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.⁹ I was chosen to explain to everyone^[c] this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.

¹⁰ God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. ¹¹ This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹² Because of Christ and our faith in him,^[d] we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. ¹³ So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.

Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth

¹⁴ When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,^[e] 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.^[f] 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ²¹ Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Philippians 4

Philippians 4

1 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters,^[a] stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.

Words of Encouragement

² Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. ³ And I ask you, my true partner,^[b] to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

⁴ Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ⁵ Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.^[c]

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

⁸ And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ⁹ Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Paul’s Thanks for Their Gifts

¹⁰ How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. ¹¹ Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. ¹² I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.¹³ For I can do everything through Christ,^[d] who gives me strength. ¹⁴ Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.

¹⁵ As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. ¹⁶ Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. ¹⁷ I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.

¹⁸ At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

²⁰ Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.

Paul’s Final Greetings

²¹ Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. ²² And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household.

²³ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.^[e]

Yom Teruah (The Feast of Trumpets)

Yom Teruah (The Feast of Trumpets)

Colossians 4

Colossians 4 

1 Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master—in heaven.

An Encouragement for Prayer

² Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. ³ Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. ⁴ Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.

⁵ Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. ⁶ Let your conversation be gracious and attractive^[a] so that you will have the right response for everyone.

Paul’s Final Instructions and Greetings

⁷ Tychicus will give you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work. ⁸ I have sent him to you for this very purpose—to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. ⁹ I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.

¹⁰ Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. ¹¹ Jesus (the one we call Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my co-workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been!

¹² Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. ¹³ I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

¹⁴ Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings, and so does Demas. ¹⁵ Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters^[b] at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.

¹⁶ After you have read this letter, pass it on to the church at Laodicea so they can read it, too. And you should read the letter I wrote to them.

¹⁷ And say to Archippus, “Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you.”

¹⁸ HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING—PAUL.

Remember my chains.

May God’s grace be with you.

Colossians 3

Colossians 3Complete
Jewish Bible (CJB)

3 So if you were raised along with the Messiah, then seek the things above, where the Messiah is sitting at the right hand of God.^[a] 2 Focus your minds on the things above, not on things here on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. ⁴ When the Messiah, who is our life, appears, then you too will appear with him in glory!

⁵ Therefore, put to death the earthly parts of your nature — sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed (which is a form of idolatry); ⁶ for it is because of these things that God’s anger is coming on those who disobey him. ⁷ True enough, you used to practice these things in the life you once lived; ⁸ but now, put them all away — anger, exasperation, meanness, slander and obscene talk. ⁹ Never lie to one another; because you have stripped away the old self, with its ways, ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its Creator. ¹¹ The new self allows no room for discriminating between Gentile and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, foreigner, savage, slave, free man; on the contrary, in all, the Messiah is everything.

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with one another; if anyone has a complaint against someone else, forgive him. Indeed, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.

¹⁴ Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly; ¹⁵ and let the shalom which comes from the Messiah be your heart’s decision-maker, for this is why you were called to be part of a single Body.

And be thankful — ¹⁶ let the Word of the Messiah, in all its richness, live in you, as you teach and counsel each other in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude to God in your hearts. ¹⁷ That is, everything you do or say, do in the name of the Lord Yeshua, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

¹⁸ Wives, subject yourselves to your husbands, as is appropriate in the Lord.

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and don’t treat them harshly.

²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything; for this pleases the Lord.

²¹ Fathers, don’t irritate your children and make them resentful, or they will become discouraged.

²² Slaves, obey your human masters in everything, not serving only when they are watching you, to win their favor, but single-heartedly, fearing the Lord. ²³ Whatever work you do, put yourself into it, as those who are serving not merely other people, but the Lord. ²⁴ Remember that as your reward, you will receive the inheritance from the Lord. You are slaving for the Lord, for the Messiah. ²⁵ Don’t worry — whoever is doing wrong will be paid in kind for his wrong, and there is no favoritism shown.

Colossians 2

Colossians 2
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

2 For I want you to know how hard I work for you, for those in Laodicea, and for the rest of those who have not met me personally. ² My purpose is that they may be encouraged, that they may be joined together in love, and that they may have all the riches derived from being assured of understanding and fully knowing God’s secret truth, which is — the Messiah! ³ It is in him that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

⁴ I say this so that no one will fool you with plausible but specious arguments. ⁵ For although I am away from you physically, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing as I see the disciplined and resolute firmness of your trust in the Messiah. ⁶ Therefore, just as you received the Messiah Yeshua as Lord, keep living your life united with him. ⁷ Remain deeply rooted in him; continue being built up in him and confirmed in your trust, the way you were taught, so that you overflow in thanksgiving.

⁸ Watch out, so that no one will take you captive by means of philosophy and empty deceit, following human tradition which accords with the elemental spirits of the world but does not accord with the Messiah. ⁹ For in him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is. ¹⁰ And it is in union with him that you have been made full — he is the head of every rule and authority.

¹¹ Also it was in union with him that you were circumcised with a circumcision not done by human hands, but accomplished by stripping away the old nature’s control over the body. In this circumcision done by the Messiah, ¹² you were buried along with him by being immersed; and in union with him, you were also raised up along with him by God’s faithfulness that worked when he raised Yeshua from the dead. ¹³ You were dead because of your sins, that is, because of your “foreskin,” your old nature. But God made you alive along with the Messiah by forgiving you all your sins. ¹⁴ He wiped away the bill of charges against us. Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us; but he removed it by nailing it to the execution-stake. ¹⁵ Stripping the rulers and authorities of their power, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by means of the stake.

¹⁶ So don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in connection with eating and drinking, or in regard to a Jewish festival or Rosh-Hodesh or Shabbat. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of things that are coming, but the body is of the Messiah.

¹⁸ Don’t let anyone deny you the prize by insisting that you engage in self-mortification or angel-worship. Such people are always going on about some vision they have had, and they vainly puff themselves up by their worldly outlook. ¹⁹ They fail to hold to the Head, from whom the whole Body, receiving supply and being held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God makes it grow. ²⁰ If, along with the Messiah, you died to the elemental spirits of the world, then why, as if you still belonged to the world, are you letting yourselves be bothered by its rules? — ²¹ “Don’t touch this!” “Don’t eat that!” “Don’t handle the other!” ²² Such prohibitions are concerned with things meant to perish by being used [not by being avoided!], and they are based on man-made rules and teachings.^[a] 23 They do indeed have the outward appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed religious observances, false humility and asceticism; but they have no value at all in restraining people from indulging their old nature.

Colossians 1

Colossians 1 

Greetings from Paul

1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.

² We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters^[a] in Christ.

May God our Father give you grace and peace.

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer

³ We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, ⁵ which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.

⁶ This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

⁷ You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.^[b] 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.

⁹ So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰ Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

¹¹ We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,^[c] 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, ¹⁴ who purchased our freedom^[d] and forgave our sins.

Christ Is Supreme

²¹ This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. ²² Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

²³ But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

Paul’s Work for the Church

²⁴ I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. ²⁵ God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. ²⁶ This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. ²⁷ For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

²⁸ So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect^[g] in their relationship to Christ. ²⁹ That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

Romans 16

Romans 16
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

16 I am introducing to you our sister Phoebe, shammash of the congregation at Cenchrea, ² so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as God’s people should, and give her whatever assistance she may need from you; for she has been a big help to many people — including myself.

³ Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers for the Messiah Yeshua. ⁴ They risked their necks to save my life; not only I thank them, but also all the Messianic communities among the Gentiles. ⁵ And give my greetings to the congregation that meets in their house.

Give my greetings to my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first person in the province of Asia to put his trust in the Messiah.

⁶ Give my greetings to Miryam, who has worked very hard for you.

⁷ Greetings to Andronicus and Junia, relatives of mine who were in prison with me. They are well known among the emissaries; also they came to trust in the Messiah before I did.

⁸ Greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

⁹ Greetings to Urbanus, our fellow worker for the Messiah, and to my dear friend Stachys.

¹⁰ Greetings to Appeles, whose trust in the Messiah has been tested and proved.

Greet those in the household of Aristobulus.

¹¹ Greet my relative, Herodion.

¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, women who are working hard for the Lord.

Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has done a lot of hard work for the Lord.

¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen by the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me too.

¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers who are with them.

¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all of God’s people who are with them.

¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the Messiah’s congregations send their greetings to you.

¹⁷ I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put snares alongside the teaching in which you have been trained — keep away from them. ¹⁸ For men like these are not serving our Lord the Messiah but their own belly; by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the innocent. ¹⁹ For everyone has heard about your obedience; therefore I rejoice over you. However, I want you to be wise concerning good, but innocent concerning evil. ²⁰ And God, the source of shalom, will soon crush the Adversary under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Yeshua be with you.

²¹ Timothy, my fellow-worker, sends greetings to you; so do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives.

²² I, Tertius, the one writing down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

²³ My host Gaius, in whose home the whole congregation meets, greets you. Erastus the city treasurer and brother Quartus greet you. ^24 [a]

Bible Sabbath Fellowship Friday September 15th 2017 @ 10pm est

Paul Nison and 9 guest fellowship and discuss Bible related topics.

Romans 15

Romans 15

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

1 So we who are strong have a duty to bear the weaknesses of those who are not strong, rather than please ourselves. ² Each of us should please his neighbor and act for his good, thus building him up. ³ For even the Messiah did not please himself; rather, as the Tanakh says, ‘The insults of those insulting you fell on me.’^[a] 4 For everything written in the past was written to teach us, so that with the encouragement of the Tanakh we might patiently hold on to our hope. ⁵ And may God, the source of encouragement and patience, give you the same attitude among yourselves as the Messiah Yeshua had, ⁶ so that with one accord and with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

⁷ So welcome each other, just as the Messiah has welcomed you into God’s glory. ⁸ For I say that the Messiah became a servant of the Jewish people in order to show God’s truthfulness by making good his promises to the Patriarchs, ⁹ and in order to show his mercy by causing the Gentiles to glorify God — as it is written in the Tanakh,

¹³ May God, the source of hope, fill you completely with joy and shalom as you continue trusting, so that by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh you may overflow with hope.

¹⁴ Now I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and well able to counsel each other. ¹⁵ But on some points I have written you quite boldly by way of reminding you about them, because of the grace God has given me ¹⁶ to be a servant of the Messiah Yeshua for the Gentiles, with the priestly duty of presenting the Good News of God, so that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, made holy by the Ruach HaKodesh.

¹⁷ In union with the Messiah Yeshua, then, I have reason to be proud of my service to God; ¹⁸ for I will not dare speak of anything except what the Messiah has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by my words and deeds, ¹⁹ through the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Yerushalayim all the way to Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the Good News of the Messiah. ²⁰ I have always made it my ambition to proclaim the Good News where the Messiah was not yet known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation, ²¹ but rather, as the Tanakh puts it,

²² This is also why I have so often been prevented from visiting you. ²³ But now, since there is no longer a place in these regions that needs me, and since I have wanted for many years to come to you, ²⁴ I hope to see you as I pass through on my way to Spain, and to have you help me travel there after I have enjoyed your company awhile.

²⁵ But now I am going to Yerushalayim with aid for God’s people there. ²⁶ For Macedonia and Achaia thought it would be good to make some contribution to the poor among God’s people in Yerushalayim. ²⁷ They were pleased to do it, but the fact is that they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared with the Jews in spiritual matters, then the Gentiles clearly have a duty to help the Jews in material matters. ²⁸ So when I have finished this task and made certain that they have received this fruit, I will leave for Spain and visit you on my way there; ²⁹ and I know that when I come to you, it will be with the full measure of the Messiah’s blessings. ³⁰ And now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God on my behalf ³¹ that I will be rescued from the unbelievers in Y’hudah, and that my service for Yerushalayim will be acceptable to God’s people there. ³² Then, if it is God’s will, I will come to you with joy and have a time of rest among you. ³³ Now may the God of shalom be with you all. Amen.