So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new. - 2 Corinthians 5:17
The Greek word Paul chose for new in this verse is kainos referencing a new creation that has not existed previously. This has greater implications than if Paul had instead used neos, meaning new in an already established category.
This biblical concept of kainos new is a pillar of Christian doctrine. Since God is about the work of making us new every day, we are transformed throughout our lives into a new creation, continuously growing in our resemblance to the one we follow, Jesus Christ. Evidence of this transformation can be found in our words, attitudes, actions and lifestyle.
One way that we open ourselves to experience kainos new is by practicing the spiritual discipline of reading Scripture. This is because we encounter God in the pages of Scripture. And each time we meet the living God, we are changed.
With that in mind, I invite you, the Holston Conference, to join me in reading through the Bible together individually and collectively in 2022. As we participate in “Read Together” in community, we open ourselves to experience God's presence and kainos on an individual basis and as a conference.
- Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett
January 15, 2022 Romans 3-4 (CEB) Romanos 3-4 (RVR1960) Romans 3 God’s faithfulness and justice So what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Or what’s the benefit of circumcision? 2 Plenty in every way. First of all, the Jews were trusted with God’s ...
January 14, 2022 Isaiah 7-11 (CEB) Isaías 7-11 (RVR1960) Isaiah 7 Reassurance to King Ahaz In the days of Ahaz (Jotham’s son and grandson of Judah’s King Uzziah), Aram’s King Rezin and Israel’s King Pekah (Remaliah’s son) came up to attack ...
January 13, 2022 Job 3-4 (CEB) Job 3-4 (RVR1960) Job 3 Job responds differently Afterward, Job spoke up and cursed the day he was born. 2 Job said: 3 Perish the day I was born, the night someone said, “A boy has been conceived.” 4 That day...
January 12, 2022 Psalms 3-5 (CEB) Salmos 3-5 (RVR1960) Psalm 3 A psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom. 3 Lord, I have so many enemies! So many are standing against me. 2 So many are talking about me: “Even God won’t help him.” ...
January 11, 2022 Joshua 6-10 (CEB) Josué 6-10 (RVR1960) Joshua 6 Instructions about Jericho Now Jericho was closed up tightly because of the Israelites. No one went out or came in. 2 The Lord said to Joshua, “Look. I have given Jericho and its king ...
January 10, 2022 Genisis 4-7 (CEB) Génesis 4-7 (RVR1960) Genisis 4 Cain and Abel The man Adam knew his wife Eve intimately. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have given life to a man with the Lord’s help.” 2 She gave birth a ...
January 9, 2022 Matthew 3-4 (CEB) Mateo 3-4 (RVR1960) Matthew 3 Ministry of John the Baptist In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, 2 “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” 3 He was ...
January 8, 2022 Romans 1-2(CEB) Romanos 1-2(RVR1960) Romans 1 Greeting From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for God’s good news. 2-3 God promised this good news about his Son ahead of time through his prophets in ...
January 7, 2022 Isaiah 1-6(CEB) Isaías 1-6(RVR1960) Isaiah 1 The vision about Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah, Amoz’s son, saw in the days of Judah’s kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Rebels condemned 2 Hear you heavens, and listen earth, ...
January 6, 2022 Job 1-2(CEB) Job 1-2(RVR1960) Job 1 Job’s piety and life of bliss A man in the land of Uz was named Job. That man was honest, a person of absolute integrity; he feared God and avoided evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3...
January 5, 2022 Psalms 1-2 (CEB) Salmos 1-2 (RVR1960) Psalms 1 The truly happy person doesn’t follow wicked advice, doesn’t stand on the road of sinners, and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful. 2 Instead of doing those things, these ...
January 4, 2022 Joshua 1-5 (CEB) Josué 1-5 (RVR1960) Joshua 1 Orders from the Lord After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord spoke to Joshua, Nun’s son. He had been Moses’ helper. 2 “My servant Moses is dead. Now get ready to cross over the ...
January 3, 2022 Genisis 1-3(CEB) Génesis 1-3(RVR1960) World’s creation in seven days Genisis 1 When God began to create the heavens and the earth— 2 the earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the deep sea, and God’s wind swept over ...
January 2, 2022 Matthew 1-2 (CEB) Mateo 1-2 (RVR1960) Matthew 1 Genealogy of Jesus A record of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of ...
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January 1, 2022 Norman D. Holcomb, Jr., PhD CAPT, CHC, USN (Ret) Clergy Smoky Mountain District To God Be The Glory! Psalm 115 (RSV) The Impotence of Idols and the Greatness of God 115 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory, for...