2024 May

Artemis and the Amazons

Artemis and the Amazons

Everyone has a favorite city. And cities often have favorite fun facts. For instance, here’s my favorite fun fact about the city of Seattle. It not only has the highest percentage of residents with at least a college degree, but it also has more households with pets than households with children. Fun fact: The city of Paris has no stop signs. If you come to an intersection without a traffic light, you’d better look before you leap! Fun fact: The city of Berlin has roughly 170 museums. But that is not as impressive as it sounds. At least one of those museums is for curried sausage; and if one can be profaned, they all can. Fun Fact: Based on population, the third smallest city in England is the city of London. Now, that is weird, but technically, the city of London only constitutes the financial district; and while over 500,000

Slaves in Ephesus

Slaves in Ephesus

This sermon is based on Ephesians 6:5-9. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: ____: If ___ ___ hear ____ ___ the ________, you're going to be ___ ___ ___ ____ . You ___ also ___ ___ feel ___ out. You ____ also ____ ____ aids. I said: “Listen: If you only hear half of the conversation, you’re going to be at a real disadvantage. You are also going to feel left out. You might also need hearing aids.” But that is what happens whenever we read the letters in the New Testament. We are only hearing half the conversation! And that is not good because you can then misread (mishear?) what the author is trying to communicate. Bottom line: Without knowing the background, you are going to be at a real disadvantage. You may even need reading aids! For instance, take the book of

Why Women Loved Artemis

Why Women Loved Artemis

There are a lot of verses in the Bible that are just plain weird. I offer these up for your consideration. Ezekiel 16:45 – “Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.” (That’s a weird insult!) 2 Kings 6:28 -- “Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.” (That’s just weird; and as plans go, it is awful!) 1 Chronicles 26:18 – “As for the Parbar on the west, there were four on the highway and two at the Parbar.” (It’s weird, but it was my favorite verse in college.) Ezekiel 4:15 -- “Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.” (Weird, weird and weird.) 1 Timothy 2:15 – “But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” (That may be the weirdest of the group!) See what I mean? They are all weird,

Husbands and Wives in Ephesus, Part 2

Husbands and Wives in Ephesus, Part 2

This sermon is based on Ephesians 5:21-6:4. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: ____: If ___ ___ hear ____ ___ the ________, you're going to be ___ ___ ___ ____ . You ___ also ___ ___ feel ___ out. You ____ also ____ ____ aids. I said: “Listen: If you only hear half of the conversation, you’re going to be at a real disadvantage. You are also going to feel left out. You might also need hearing aids.” But that is what happens whenever we read the letters in the New Testament. We are only hearing half the conversation! And that is not good because you can then misread (mishear?) what the author is trying to communicate. Bottom line: Without knowing the background, you are going to be at a real disadvantage. You may even need reading aids! For instance, take the book of

What Artemis Was Not

What Artemis Was Not

Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, Europeans feared the tomato because they believed the tomato was a deadly killer. Now, this would make perfectly good sense if they had seen the 1978 movie, “The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,” because there, tomatoes WERE deadly killers (that one line in the theme song said it all: “I’m really going to miss her, a tomato ate my sister.”). However, most people today dismiss the impact of this movie on our European friends since the movie came out 200-plus years after this panic and because it was a really bad movie. Nevertheless, in 1700’s, the tomato was believed to be extremely poisonous and responsible for numerous deaths. You may scoff at this idea, but the evidence was pretty overwhelming. Many aristocrats, after eating a side dish of tomatoes, became very sick and many died. After eliminating all other possible suspects, the authorities

Husbands and Wives in Ephesus

Husbands and Wives in Ephesus

This sermon is based on Ephesians 5:21-33. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: ____: If ___ ___ hear ____ ___ the ________, you're going to be ___ ___ ___ ____ . You ___ also ___ ___ feel ___ out. You ____ also ____ ____ aids. I said: “Listen: If you only hear half of the conversation, you’re going to be at a real disadvantage. You are also going to feel left out. You might also need hearing aids.” But that is what happens whenever we read the letters in the New Testament. We are only hearing half the conversation! And that is not good because you can then misread (mishear?) what the author is trying to communicate. Bottom line: Without knowing the background, you are going to be at a real disadvantage. You may even need reading aids! For instance, take the book of

Who Was Artemis?

Who Was Artemis?

When I was a kid, I was a big fan of The Lone Ranger. It was my favorite show on TV, and I could not wait for the next episode (but back then you had to – not only was there no “On Demand,” but there were also only three channels!). The Lone Ranger had everything–a mysterious masked man, the fast gun, his great friend, Tonto, and a mighty “Hi-oh, Silver Away,” (but I’m still confused -- was it “Hi-oh, Silver,” “Hi-yo, Silver” or “Hi-ho, Silver?). Plus, it had the William Tell Overture as its theme music! But my very favorite part of the show was at the end when whoever was rescued in that particular episode, cries out, “Who was that masked man?” Great memories. By the way, I just rewatched the first episode on Youtube. My memories are faulty. It was really awful. Really, really awful. But as

Relationships in Ephesus

Relationships in Ephesus

This sermon is based on Ephesians 5:21 - 6:9. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: ____: If ___ ___ hear ____ ___ the ________, you're going to be ___ ___ ___ ____ . You ___ also ___ ___ feel ___ out. You ____ also ____ ____ aids. I said: “Listen: If you only hear half of the conversation, you’re going to be at a real disadvantage. You are also going to feel left out. You might also need hearing aids.” But that is what happens whenever we read the letters in the New Testament. We are only hearing half the conversation! And that is not good because you can then misread (mishear?) what the author is trying to communicate. Bottom line: Without knowing the background, you are going to be at a real disadvantage. You may even need reading aids! For instance, take the

You May Not Be Able to See Her, But She Is Definitely There

You May Not Be Able to See Her, But She Is Definitely There

Today, we begin a new series which will look at Sandra Glahn’s exceptional book, Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press, 2023). When it comes to important background information of the New Testament, it seems to me that Artemis is near the top of the list, perhaps right behind the importance of the Old Testament. Now, I know what you are thinking: Isn’t this incredibly similar to our current sermon series? Isn’t this whole post repetitive, redundant and unwarranted? Let me answer that with several quotes from Winston Churchill. Churchill said: “Life is fraught with opportunities to keep your mouth shut.” “If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time—a tremendous whack.” “Never hold