I wonder why it is that we, just like Paul did 2000 years ago, always leave the Self-Control aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit until last. Is it because controlling ourselves always seems to be a difficult task? Maybe it is one of the things that we think we can’t do.

In fact, Self-Control IS always a challenge, but that is why God gives us a special gift – a way to empower our self-control using the Fruit of the Spirit. When we use it, controlling ourselves becomes a bit easier to do.

Do you want to find out how it works? That is what we’re talking about as we wrap up our study of the Fruit of the Spirit during Topics at Ten on Sunday morning, December 20th, starting at 10:00. We will meet in Friendship Hall.

Our assignment this week is to read the section of our materials entitled “Self-Control.” If you already have your materials, please bring them. If not, please contact me, Jim Manchester. I will send you a link to them.

“Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy!” Most of us are afraid that someone will think of us in a way that reminds them of a less-than-strong-enough garbage bag – especially if we seem just too nice.

Yet, we often find ourselves asking God to “create in us clean and pure hearts – to renew a right spirit within us.”

In these two characteristics of the one Fruit of the Spirit, God has given us the ability to change lives. That transformative power is something that we want to cultivate and spread to as many people as we can.

It means that we break some old, tired habits and start practicing some new ones. We will learn how to do that during Topics at Ten on Sunday morning, December 6th at 10:00 am in Friendship Hall as we continue our study of The Fruit of the Spirit.

Our assignment this week is to read two sections of our materials: “Kindness” and “Goodness.” If you already have your materials, please bring them. If not, please contact me, Jim Manchester. I will send you a link to them.

Joy: Foundation for a Positive Life &
Peace: The Hunger of Human Hearts

How do we find “Joy” when there is so much sadness all around us? How do we find “Peace” when everything seems to be in turmoil at home and abroad?

The materials we are studying this week in preparation for our discussion of The Fruit of the Spirit during Topics at Ten help us understand that better. (If you need a copy of our materials, please contact me, Jim Manchester. I will send you a link to them so you can be ready.)

Our assignment this week is to read the two sections of our materials that talk about “Joy” and “Peace.” If you already have your materials, please bring them to Topics at Ten on Sunday morning, November 22nd, beginning at 10:00. If you don’t have them, we will provide them.

We will meet in Friendship Hall this week. Bring your Bible, and we’ll see you there.

Perhaps the greatest gift that the Christ-Child ever gave to us is the Fruit of the Spirit. During the eight weeks leading up to Christmas, we hope you will join the Saints for this intriguing study each Sunday at 10:00 in Friendship Hall. If you have any questions, please see Jim Manchester.

We’ve read St. John the Divine’s letters to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. We can’t help but wonder, “Could John have written any of those letters to us just as well?”

As we continue to look at the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation, we will ask ourselves about the common themes that John communicates to those ancient churches and try to determine if there is any of his advice that could be directed to us at St. John’s MCC.

We will continue this examination on Sunday, October 25th, during Topics at Ten as we wrap up our study of The Gospel of the Revelation according to St. John the Divine in Fellowship Hall. Please read the first three chapters of Revelation in preparation, and then bring your Bible with you. You’ll need it!

If we contend that everything written about in the Book of Revelation occurred in the first century after Jesus’ life, then how can it have anything to do with our everyday life today?

Oh, but it does! Just not in the way that popular, pulp horror fiction would portray it.

Find out all about the Rapture during Topics at Ten this Sunday, October 11th in our study of the Gospel of the Revelation according to St. John the Divine which meets in Fellowship Hall at 10:00. (The Rapture is also the scheduled discussion for Tuesday Night Bible Study on Tuesday, October 13th.) In preparation for this Sunday, please read from Revelation 19:11 through the end of the book.

While we will explore the ending of Revelation this Sunday, our study is not quite over. We will return to the first three chapters after we’ve let the Final Celebration settle into our hearts.

So, as usual, please bring your Bible. You will need it.

The drama comes to its climax in Revelation 18. Those who would use fear and hatred to spread guilt and shame over God’s people meet their ultimate reward. Regretfully, some translations use the name “Babylon” to refer the dwelling place of hate mongers, but that only obscures the truth that such people dwell in a “City of Darkness.” They conduct their lives trying to control others and exercise power over them when Jesus taught us to love and empower others to love each other. The difference in the points of view is startling. The result from changing one’s point of view is amazing.

For this Sunday, September 27th, Topics at Ten will meet at 10:00 am in the Downstairs Classroom so preparations for the Pride Lunch on the Grounds can get an early start. Please read all of Chapter 18 and the first 10 verses of Chapter 19 in preparation for The Gospel of the Revelation according to St. John the Divine. As usual, please bring your Bible. You will need it.

Once more in the Book of Revelation, we hear how God pours out His wrath on the people of the beast in Chapter 16. First, it’s stinking sores, then rivers of blood and blistering heat, followed by darkness, drought, demons, and destruction. We’ve heard about these disasters twice before in Revelation and in several places in Hebrew scripture.

Chapter 16 helps us understand the agony that those who promote and follow self-righteous anger, hatred, and bitterness will feel. It’s no wonder that so many Christian preachers want to believe that someone else, other than them, deserves this kind of treatment.

The Book of Revelation is a study of the “End Times” or the final days. Those who preach intolerance and hatred may find temporary success and increase their accumulation of worldly power, but in the end, God wants us to love each other and live in peace and harmony, and Jesus shows us exactly how to do that.

Our study of “The Gospel of the Revelation of St. John the Divine” will help us understand treasures from Jesus’ teaching about God’s love, and it continues during Topics at Ten this Sunday morning, September 13th, in Friendship Hall. Please bring your Bible. You will need it.

Nothing in the book of Revelation brings out fear and remorse like Chapter 14. Many people I know cringe when they hear, “Then I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and sitting on the white cloud was One who looked like a Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out of the temple and called out in a loud voice to the One who was sitting on the cloud, ‘Take your sickle and harvest from the earth, because the time to harvest has come, and the fruit of the earth is ripe.’ So the One who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.” (Revelation 14:14-16 The Message)

Why? Because our natural inclination is to be afraid that we will die unforgiven.

After we complete our discussion of the Beasts in Chapter 13 this Sunday, we will turn our attention to the Judgment Day.

You will NOT want to miss this study of “The Gospel of the Revelation according to St. John the Divine” as it continues this Sunday, August 30th, at 10:00 am. We will meet in the large classroom downstairs this week for Topics at Ten. Please bring your Bible. You will need it.

As if we didn’t feel the conflict before, the next chapter of Revelation will start the war between “good” and “evil” that haunts our lives. Understanding the characters in the cosmic drama that St. John the Divine describes in Revelation 12 becomes critical to our understanding of it.

But there is a larger conflict going on that gets highlighted in this story, and that is the different points of view of what the new “church” should look like. Constantine embraced the church and Christianity as a way to control the behavior of masses of people efficiently. He got that idea from some of the earliest followers of Christ. There were others, though, who wanted to keep the Gospel pure.

In an effort to identify that Pure Gospel, we will try to answer some questions from Revelation 12 this Sunday, August 16th, during Topics at Ten. “Where was this heaven and who was there?” “Who are the Mother and the Child?” “Who does the Dragon represent and who are the Dragon’s angels?” “What was the role of the Archangel Michael and his angels?” “Who are the rest of the Mother’s children?”

If you don’t know the answers or if what you’ve been taught makes you feel uneasy, bring your Bible. You’ll need it!