Coppertop Sermons

Philemon

Philemon

The letter to Philemon and the church in his house is the final authentic letter of Paul’s we have in our New Testament. There is strong scholarly agreement that this is, in fact, one of Paul’s genuine letters. What makes the letter unique is that while it begins by being addressed to a group

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Titus

Titus

This is the third of the so-called “pastoral epistles” – letters written in the name of Paul to early spiritual leaders in the emerging Jesus community. Titus was a Gentile co-worker of Paul’s mentioned in Galatians chapter 2, and in Second Corinthians.

Like the other Pastoral Letters… the letter to Titus insists on sound

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II Timothy 3

II Timothy 3

II Timothy 3:1-9: “In the last days” – In the typical apocalyptic scheme, the final victory of God at the end of history is preceded by a period in which evil is intensified. The Pastor shares this worldview, according to which there will be a moral decline and appearance of false teachers

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II Timothy 1

Thought on Reading the Scriptures: The whole purpose of the Bible, it seems to me, is to convince people to set the written word down in order to become living words in the world for God’s sake.
Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church

II Timothy 1

II Timothy 1:1-2: The greeting follows patterns we have

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I Timothy 6

I Timothy 6

I Timothy 6:1-2b: These verses continue the line of thought from the previous chapter. This time, the behavior of slaves is discussed. As already noted, the early church took the institution of slavery for granted, though its theology pointed in a direction inimical to slavery. Even within that acceptance of this social

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