This Sunday we are beginning a slow, four-week sermon series through one of the shortest books of the Bible: 2 John. It’s a book that is so small (about 245 words and only 13 verses!) that I’ve titled this series, “The Postcard Epistle.”
You may be wondering why we seem to be jumping over 1 John and going straight to 2 John, and the reason for that is really two-fold:
- Unlike other books such as 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, or 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, 1, 2, and 3 John are not necessarily written to the same church or people. They are titled as such because of their author. All throughout history, these three letters have been regarded as being written by John the son of Zebedee, brother of James (note that he is not John the Baptist). Therefore, it is helpful to have an understanding of 1 and 3 John and the Gospel of John. It is not as much a sequential book as some others.
- The second reason is that I have four weeks to preach, and I wanted to walk through a smaller book so as to go deep and experience the richness of some of the parts of scripture that we often skim through. One of the goals of this series is to be able to understand how to read New Testament letters well.
As we begin this series, I want to encourage you to read along with us through our devotionals. This week, if you are signed up for the InnerView, you should have been receiving the daily devotionals through 1 John. These devotionals are meant to prepare us for the series. If you’re not signed up for the InnerView, you can do so by going here.
Starting on Monday, May 17, we will begin a reading plan through the Gospel of John, 2 John, and 3 John, so that by the end of this four-week series, we will have read all four of John’s books, including reading 2 John four times. Again, all you need to do is sign up for the InnerView to receive updates and the reading plan with other helpful resources.
To go along with your reading, we have also created two Spotify playlists for you to listen to as you read:
- One playlist is all instrumental: Songs For Your Quiet Time.
- The other playlist is different worship: Songs for Worship Throughout the Day.
As we begin to prepare ourselves for Sunday, read 1 John and 2 John, listen to some of the worship songs, and watch some of the Bible project videos for an overview of 1, 2, 3 John.
Join us this Sunday morning at 10 a.m. though one of the three doors to LifeWay Church:
- 1: Watch online in your own home
- 2: Join a small group and stream the service together
- 3: Come to church and join us inside the building (remember to register!)
In His Service,
Kevin