Strangers Made Brothers in Christ

Rev. David Boisclair, interim pastor at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Overland, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 3 John 1-15. St. John writes to beloved Gaius, praying both for his phyiscal and spiritual health. He rejoices to hear that Gaius is walking in the truth and has received those who had come in that truth as brothers, though they had been strangers before. St. John encourages Gaius to support them in their journey to continue to proclaim the Gospel, for in so doing, they will become fellow workers for the truth. Although Diotrephes does not acknowledge the authority of John or the truth, John promises to deal with this wickedness when he comes. Christians must not imitate such evil, but instead must seek only after the good, which commes from God. Demetrius stands as an example of such a Christian. St. John indicates his desire to seek Gaius face-to-face in the joy and peace of Christ. “The Love of God” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through the three epistles written by St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. As St. John rejoiced to be the disciple loved by Jesus, so he writes his epistles to give us the same joy when we know that we are the beloved of God. God’s love for us in Jesus shapes our lives as Christians in all that we believe, say, and do.