Week Two, 2025
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).
Recently, we lit a fire in the fireplace and looked for a movie to watch. We discovered “The Boys in the Boat,” the true story of a nine-man crew team from the University of Washington that, despite long odds, made it all the way to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and became the improbable winners of the gold medal, beating out Italy and Germany in a close race. It was a great movie with all kinds of suggestions for better living and how competition in life ought to be. This crew transformed the sport of rowing, overcame enormous odds and grabbed the attention and hearts of their nation.
The movie ends more than forty years later with one of the team telling his grandson of his adventure. His grandson asks if he enjoyed rowing an eight-man crew, to which Joe replies, “We were never eight. We were one.” This shows just how unified they were back then, embodying what it means to be a team. It’s the film’s final line, and it perfectly captures their journey.
The Bible verse Galatians 3:28 states, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This verse is central to the Gospel and conveys the idea that in Christ, everyone is equal and the same.
The verse is interpreted to mean that people should look beyond the differences of race, color, abilities, and other external factors to build fellowship on the essentials of their new birth. The unity that Christ prayed for is a spiritual unity based on faith in Christ and the glory of God within. Relational unity in the church is the best witness to the reality of Jesus Christ and God to the world.
As Christians, we are called to be one, one in Christ. I have a gift of writing and teaching, but the church should pay me not to come near the choir. I can’t carry a tune. All have separate gifts, but all are one. It was so obvious in the movie. Each in the boat had a different role in the boat, but all together they were one.
It’s the same way in all team sports. Putting the quarterback on the offensive line would be a disaster, as would be the reverse. All have separate gifts, but together we are one in Christ.
What are your gifts and how committed to use in ministry so that your church is one?
Sometimes True Stories
”Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and suffering, such as happened to me….” II Timothy 3:10-11
The Apostle Paul was teaching Timothy how to live his life as a Christian and pastoral leader. He didn’t say read Aristotle or Plato. He said, “Look at me”. What you see in me, do yourself.
Often times the most effective learning in our lives is the modeling of someone we respect. What model are you following? Parents? Coach? Grandparents? Pastor? Teacher? Jesus? Be sure you look to the one who has positive, Biblical qualities to emulate.
What about you? Are you that person who displays Biblical attributes; that person that others want to emulate? You never know who is watching you, and who will be influenced by the way you live your life.
Be a Paul. Rich Jensen
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Bible sales are up 22 percent in the US through the end of October compared with the same period last year. By contrast, total US print book sales were up less than 1 percent in the same period. What accounts for the rising popularity of God’s word?
According to Jeff Crosby, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, “People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren. It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles … and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”
Cely Vasquez, a twenty-eight-year-old artist and influencer, recently bought her first Bible, explaining: “I felt something was missing. It’s a combination of where we are in the world, general anxiety, and the sense that meaning and comfort can be found in the Bible.”
Much of what worries us in the world hasn’t changed. As Paul Powell observed, “It’s not that people are worse—the news coverage is just better.”
At the same time, a world facing the threats of nuclear annihilation, global war, and runaway artificial intelligence is objectively more dangerous. And American society possesses fewer tools for dealing with such crises than ever before.
Quotes You Can Use
The most beautiful gift of nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see. Albert Einstein
Just having a desire to live a godly life is not enough. Dan Shock
Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. Samuel Johnson
The Lord is near—and He is willing and able to take my burdens and carry them for me. Dan Shock
I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
John Locke
I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well. Alexander the Great
Hard to tell at this point, but the fundamentals are in place for a massive change in American politics. What happens next is up to us.
If the Lord should come today, would you be ready to meet Him? Dan Shock
Common sense without education, is better than education without common sense. Benjamin Franklin
God wants you to overcome the temptations of Satan. Dan Shock
The dominant characteristic of an authentic spiritual life is the gratitude that flows from trust—not only for all the gifts that I receive from God, but gratitude for all the suffering. Because in that purifying experience, suffering has often been the shortest path to intimacy with God. – Brennan Manning
The kind of experience of humility and happiness that comes with gratitude tends to crowd out whatever is coarse, or ugly or mean. – Kevin DeYoung
I think the key to passion, to zeal, is gratitude. Or to put it another way, the fuel to motivate is gratitude, and gratitude comes by just backing up a little and realizing how much you’ve sinned against God. – Ray Comfort
Gratitude’s not a natural posture. The prince of darkness is ultimately a spoiled ingrate, and I’ve spent most of my life as kin to the fist-shaker. – Ann Voskamp
To come to terms with our beginning requires a truthful story to acquire the skills to live in gratitude rather than resentment for the gift of life. – Stanley Hauerwas
For three things I thank God every day of my life: thanks that He has vouchsafed me knowledge of His Works; deep thanks that He has set in my darkness the lamp of faith; deep, deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to—a life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song. – Helen Keller
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