Week Twenty-six
The Final Chapters
We began reading the New Testament on January 1, 2025 and this is the last five days of reading. Our intention was first and foremost to learn to abide in the Spirit of the Living God at a deeper level than when we began. In an effort to help with that, in week three I began to encourage you to keep two lists, one about the character of God and one about who you are in Christ. The final book of Revelation is a great place to dust those lists off and see what you can add. There is much said about who God is and who we are in this incredible book.
Being a disciple that makes disciples has been the second emphasis during these past six months. As we abide deeper in Christ the affect of that is discipleship. We follow Him and He leads us to lead others onto the same path. We are not compelled by law or religion to do that, rather we are compelled to make disciples because of a realization of our great need and the depth of His love to meet that need.
That brings us to the book of Revelation where the pressure to make disciples now has a tremendous sense of urgency. In reality, Jesus began talking about it in Matthew 24 & 25. From the gospels through each letter leading up to Revelation there was increasing intensity about false prophets, lies of the world, and the importance of knowing our identity in Christ. The message, no matter when we live in history, is that tribulation and great difficulties occur. World forces of darkness and spiritual forces of wickedness have been fighting for souls of humanity in every generation. That will only end in the end.
No matter your take on what the events in Revelation mean or if you are a pre, mid, or post tribber, the message for the first Christians and for us is clear:
“This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.” Revelation 13:10, 14:12
Patient endurance and faithfulness is not necessary if we keep our faith to ourselves. It is only needed when we pursue what Jesus asked us to do in making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching all that Jesus has taught us, Matthew 28:19-20.
I don’t know how many of you read the Psalms during the past six months. I did. I find it fitting that the last five Psalms to be read this week match so closely with the bigger picture of the New Testament; really the whole Bible and especially Revelation. We can have patient endurance and faithfulness when we are worshipping God alone and making disciples. Psalm 145 puts it really well.
“I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. . . Psalm 145:1-8
How do we stand firm against the powers of darkness in the world? By making sure the one we worship is the One True Living God, YHWH. By telling every generation of the wonderful things that Jesus and the power of His Spirit are doing. By continually having the memory of His goodness on our lips.
“Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before You, For Your righteous acts have been revealed.” Revelation 15:3-4
It is my prayer that your faith has grown over the past six months and that you have accepted the challenge to make disciples that make disciples. I will be around if you want to chat or if you need some ideas on how to get started. I would love to hear from you anytime.
You can write a comment below, or reach me, Melissa, at mrightmire@crnaz.com . Thank you for traveling with me on this journey through the New Testament.
Below are the readings for week 26:
Week Twenty-five
If I had to sum up the letters of 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude, I would say the consistent message is “contend for the faith”. You read it in the words, “see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you” . . . “remain in Him” . . . “continue in Him” . . . “do not let anyone lead you astray” . . . “do not believe every spirit . . . only those who acknowledge Jesus as God”. . . “do not lose what we have worked for” . . . “do not imitate what is evil”. And directly, “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people”.
How do we do that? The answer is simple but maybe not easy: stay connected to the gospel by the power of the Spirit and love one another. The author of 1 John tells the reader, “love one another” five times! Love one another is a key theme of 2 John, and people are talking about the love they see in the church in 3 John. The writer of Jude knows that the way to steer clear from the ones who are attempting to divide the church with false teaching is to collectively keep yourself connected to God’s love. That speaks to being in the Spirit and loving one another.
Essentially, Revelation 1-3 has the same message. While the specifics for each of the seven churches may be different, the idea is the same. If you don’t contend for the faith, things you didn’t think you were susceptible to could very well happen in your faith community. Love for God and for each other must remain at the center and it is hard work to keep it there!
It really is the essence of abiding in Jesus through discipleship that we have been talking about for 24 weeks now. We stay connected to the Vine and we do that best when we do it together. We were created to thrive in community. That will always be a hallmark of human nature. Communities facilitate connection not only with one another, but with the purpose of that community. A community of Jesus followers with the purpose of being disciples who make disciples who make disciples will be the glue that keeps each other from false teachings and from becoming disconnected. Such communities work hard at staying focused on God’s truth and loving one another. Communities like that are unique!
While I believe Crossroads has this unique characteristic, what we need is to perpetuate that into more small groups. Some of us are connected in small groups but some are not. This week, I challenge you to join a small group, or create one. It only take 3 or more people to begin. It doesn’t have to be large and there are no special requirements to start other than a willingness to stay connected to the vine and love one another well.
If you want help getting a group started or figuring out how to lead, please get in touch with me, pastor Brett, or pastor Tara. We would love to help! The more people are connected in small groups, the stronger our overall fellowship will be. You are part of how we contend for the faith.
You can write a comment below, or reach me, Melissa, at mrightmire@crnaz.com . Thank you for traveling with me on this journey through the New Testament.
Below are the readings for week 25:
June 19, 2025 1 John 1:1–3:10 NIV, Ps 138 NIV
June 20, 2025 1 John 3:11–5:21 NIV, Ps 139:title–9 NIV
June 21, 2025 2 John NIV, 3 John NIV, Jude NIV, Ps 139:10–24 NIV
June 23, 2025 Rev 3–4 NIV, Ps 141–142 NIV
Week Twenty-four
A friend of mine and I were talking about how hard it is to learn to take every thought captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). All of humanity is up against arguments and pretensions from this world that set themselves up against us knowing God. People who don’t yet know God don’t understand that this is the case. But once we know then we have to learn to live in the light of His Presence and His upside down kingdom way of living.
We are told in the scripture that our weapons are not of this world. Our weapons are “truthful speech . . . the power of God . . .and righteousness in the right hand and in the left” (2 Corinthians 6:7). It takes a lot to learn this way of fighting for our thoughts. How are we to know what truth is? How do we live in the power of God? How do we hold onto righteousness with both our hands and all of our strength?
The answer is simple but not necessarily easy. Yet, if you are reading this and have been following along as we read the New Testament in six months, you are well into your course of training in spiritual warfare and learning what it means to take your thoughts captive. You are in the Word of God regularly — most likely daily.
It’s not that reading the Bible in and of itself is the answer. But reading the Bible is how we learn what real truth is. It’s how we know what the power of God looks and feels like. It is how we learn what righteousness is in the sight of God. It is how we know what God thinks, what He loves, what He hates, and the length that He was willing to go to redeem everyone.
When we read the Bible with a heart ready to abide in the Word and it in us, then it will shape us. Over time we begin to be molded and fashioned to look and live like Jesus. We understand truth, and because of that we recognize lies earlier and earlier and can stand against them. We know the power of God when He is upon us or someone else and we know how to respond. We know what is right in the eyes of God and our relationships are built on the foundation of the love of Christ.
Yet, it takes more than reading the Bible and abiding in His Word. It’s also important to recognize that there are now millions who have gone before us and who have shown us the way. And if we do our part as disciples and disciple makers in this massive Jesus movement there will be others who look to us to show them the way.
This week’s reading has a keen understanding of the importance of the prophets and apostles of old, their place and ours in history. Every letter references those who by faith pioneered the path forward and yet never saw the Messiah they eagerly awaited. Imagine the battle of the mind when the promises you personally received from God are not seen by you, yet somehow you realize that generations from now that promise will be manifested in the flesh. They knew, and we must know, every step forward taken in faith lays the path for people not yet born.
According to scripture, our faith journey is important because it is part of a much larger story. Each one of us plays an essential part. That’s why, as hard as it is, we must learn to take captive every thought to Christ. Because every thought becomes an action, and every action has the opportunity to reveal who Jesus is to someone who is fighting a battle not only in their mind but for their life. Eternal life. Whether that is recognized or not.
As you read this week, consider that you are joining . . .
. . . a great cloud of witnesses . . .thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly . . . those whose names are written in heaven. . . the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. . . the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come. Those to whom it was revealed — that they were not serving themselves but you.
Theirs is the prophetic message that is “completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
This week, may you “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18
You can write a comment below, or reach me, Melissa, at mrightmire@crnaz.com . Thank you for traveling with me on this journey through the New Testament.
Below are the readings for week 24:
June 12, 2025 Hebrews 12:4–13:25 NIV, Psalm 129–130 NIV
June 13, 2025 James 1–2 NIV, Psalm 131–132 NIV
June 14, 2025 James 3–5 NIV, Psalm 133–134 NIV
June 15, 2025 1 Peter 1:1–2:3 NIV, Psalm 135 NIV
June 16, 2025 1 Peter 2:4–3:22 NIV, Psalm 136:1–9 NIV
June 17, 2025 1 Peter 4–5 NIV, Psalm 136:10–26 NIV
June 18, 2025 2 Peter 1–3NIV, Psalm 137 NIV
Week Twenty-three
Why?
It’s been almost six months that our small group has been meeting. We had never been together in this way before and so it has taken time to get to know one another, build relationships, and to trust each other with our questions and the reality that faith is not always easy. We have come a long way in six months!
Last night questions about who Paul was arose. Why do people put so much emphasis on him and what he wrote? Shouldn’t we just care about what Jesus said and did? Basically, the question was ‘why do all these letters after the gospels and Acts matter?’
If Paul were alive today, I think he would be appalled at the attention he gets. He always pointed to Jesus. He lived and died to make sure that everyone he ever came into contact with knew about Jesus. Although he suffered more than we can imagine, his biggest concern was not his suffering. It was whether or not God would be glorified and Jesus known somehow, even if he suffered. The fate worse than death was living a life that would not profess Jesus in everything. Re-read Philippians 3:7-14 to get a sense for how he felt about his own life.
What he, and the other apostles wrote is critical to how we follow God as believers in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, and giving of the Holy Spirit. It was necessary for these apostles to instruct Jesus believing Jews as well as the Gentiles in what Jesus’ life and death means to us as people. If we did not have the instructions from Romans through Revelation, we would either be living as Jews who don’t believe Jesus died, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven or we would be living like those who believe in other gods. Either way, we would be captive to endless sacrificial systems that demand distortions to our bodies, our minds, and our relationships. We would bow down to created things instead of to the Creator of all things. We would constantly be attempting to be good enough for today’s portion and provision instead of relying on the God who has endless abundance and resources for us. Who knows how we would behave when life does not go our way?
Perhaps we get more than a glimpse of that answer when we see those around us who do not yet know Jesus. We understand all to well when our lives collide with theirs and sin invades between the two - when evil rises up and steals dignity leaving injustice behind to rot lives, families, communities, and even nations. But is that really only those who do not yet believe that make such marks on humanity? Are not-yet-believers the only ones who live that way? Perhaps we too quickly and easily separate into categories of us and them without thinking of our own frailties and propensity to sin.
We need these letters in the New Testament (Testament means covenant) to guide us in how to live as people in a new covenant; to guide us in a completely different way of living than anyone else. A covenant that relies on the most generous gift of love that anyone could ever imagine. We need these letters so we have a model of what it means to be in communities of people who live in Christ together, not to harm one another, but to do good for each other’s sake. We need these letters to see what life in the one and only resurrected God truly means. It changes everything! And everything is a lot to change! We need these letters. They are “God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
You can write a comment below, or reach me, Melissa, at mrightmire@crnaz.com . Thank you for traveling with me on this journey through the New Testament.
Below are the readings for week 23:
June 5, 2025 Philem NIV, Ps 119:145–160 NIV
June 6, 2025 Heb 1–3 NIV, Ps 119:161–176 NIV
June 7, 2025 Heb 4:1–7:10 NIV, Ps 120–121 NIV
June 8, 2025 Heb 7:11–8:13 NIV, Ps 122 NIV
June 9, 2025 Heb 9:1–10:18 NIV, Ps 123–124 NIV
June 10, 2025 Heb 10:19–39 NIV, Ps 125–126 NIV
June 11, 2025 Heb 11:1–12:3 NIV, Ps 127–128 NIV
Week Twenty-two
This week, as we journey through Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, Timothy, and Titus, we are reminded of the steadfastness required of God’s people in uncertain and often hostile times. In 2 Thessalonians, we see that God’s judgment is always right and just. Paul encourages the church to pray earnestly for those enduring persecution, and to remain grounded in the truth of God, not swayed by fear or deception regarding the end times. Even when Satan uses signs and wonders to mislead, we are called to stand firm in the power of God and pray for the spread of the gospel and the deliverance of those who carry it.
In 1 Timothy, Paul offers guidance to a young pastor learning to shepherd God’s people. He urges Timothy to be a man of prayer and teach his congregation to be the same. He urges him to pray for all people, including leaders and authorities—so they may live peaceful, holy lives that testify to God’s character. Church leaders, especially elders and deacons, must be marked by integrity and holiness. Paul charges Timothy to train in godliness, teach truth boldly, and faithfully steward the gifts God has given. As believers two centuries later, we too are all called to be examples of holiness and peace.
In 2 Timothy, Paul, facing the end of his earthly ministry, writes with urgency and deep love. His words to Timothy are a call to endure suffering, guard the gospel, and remain faithful to the truth in a world filled with compromise. Though Paul anticipates his death, his heart is anchored in the mission of spreading the good news. His passion for the gospel and his trust in Timothy to carry the torch forward are moving reminders of spiritual legacy and discipleship.
In his letter to Titus, Paul reminds him and us that the grace of God not only saves but transforms. He says in Titus 2:11-13, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” While the Holy Spirit gives us the power to say no to the world and YES to Jesus, we will always need a body of believers to walk with us and encourage us through out the journey!
I pray you are encouraged by these letters to live prayerful, faithful, lives filled with the truth of the love of Jesus with all your heart.
You can write a comment below, or reach me, Melissa, at mrightmire@crnaz.com . Thank you for traveling with me on this journey through the New Testament.
Below are the readings for week 22:
May 29, 2025 2 Thess 1–3 NIV, Ps 119:49–64 NIV
May 30, 2025 1 Tim 1–2 NIV, Ps 119:65–80 NIV
May 31, 2025 1 Tim 3–4 NIV, Ps 119:81–88 NIV
June 1, 2025 1 Tim 5–6 NIV, Ps 119:89–104 NIV
June 2, 2025 2 Tim 1:1–3:9 NIV, Ps 119:105–120 NIV
June 3, 2025 2 Tim 3:10–4:22 NIV, Ps 119:121–128 NIV
June 4, 2025 Titus 1–3 NIV, Ps 119:129–144 NIV