Let Me Introduce Myself

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

1st Corinthians 1:1-3: Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

With the advent of text messages, Facebook and other "Social Media" sites, email, and much of the modern forms of communication, the art of introduction, salutation, and "formal" greeting have been forgotten and unused. At the same time, we have turned into a society of "emojis" and acronims like LOL and BRB. Shorthand communication has replaced letter writing, composition of thought, and, in some cases, human conversation.

So let's step back in time when people hand wrote letters, introduced themselves, and shared a formal yet loving greeting. St. Paul is introducing himself again and Sosthenes, to the congregation, saying a small bit of who he is. He is saying, "Hello Corinthian Church" as we as saying something loving and nice about them all at the same time. Then he greets them in a loving way in a formal phrase. This is the way you introduce yourself.

How does this relate to worship and celebration? Easy. God has a way of introducing Himself to us. He says, "In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit." It's God's way of introducing Himself at the beginning of the letter that is our worship service. Then the rest of the letter is the worship service.

Some come and join us and here the letter that God is writing for us. Dear God, thank You for the letter that is Your service to us, Amen.