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
October 17, 2022 Deuteronomy 1-3 (CEB) Deuteronomio 1-3 (RVR1960) Deuteronomy 1 The first heading: Introducing Deuteronomy These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan River, in the desert, on the plain across from Suph, ...
October 16, 2022 Acts 7-8 (CEB) Hechos 7-8 (RVR1960) Acts 7 The high priest asked, “Are these accusations true?” 2 Stephen responded, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was still in ...
October 15, 2022 Hebrews 8-10 (CEB) Herbreos 8-10 (RVR1960) Hebrews 8 Meeting tents, sacrifices, and covenants Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We have this kind of high priest. He sat down at the right side of the throne of the ...
October 14, 2022 Micah (CEB) Miqueas (RVR1960) Micah The Lord is coming! The Lord’s word that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Judah’s Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem: 2 Listen, all you ...
October 13, 2022 Proverbs 29-30 (CEB) Proverbios 29-30 (RVR1960) Proverbs 29 One who stays stubborn after many corrections will be suddenly broken, beyond healing. 2 When the righteous become numerous, the people rejoice, but when the wicked...
October 12, 2022 Psalm 119 (CEB) Salmos 119 (RVR1960) Psalm 119 א alef Those whose way is blameless— who walk in the Lord’s Instruction—are truly happy! 2 Those who guard God’s laws are truly happy! They seek God with all their hearts. 3 ...
October 11, 2022 2 Chronicles 16-20 (CEB) 2 Crónicas 16-20 (RVR1960) 2 Chronicles 16 Aram invades Judah In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s rule, Israel’s King Baasha attacked Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent Judah’s King Asa from moving into that...
October 10, 2022 Numbers 33-36 (CEB) Números 33-36 (RVR1960) Numbers 33 March out of Egypt and through the sea These were the stages by which the Israelites marched when they left the land of Egypt, according to their military units under the ...
October 9, 2022 Acts 5-6 (CEB) Hechos 5-6 (RVR1960) Acts 5 Pretenders of sharing However, a man named Ananias, along with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s knowledge, he withheld some of the proceeds from the sale. He ...
October 8, 2022 Hebrews 5-7 (CEB) Hebreos 5-7 (RVR1960) Hebrews 5 Introduction to a deeper teaching Every high priest is taken from the people and put in charge of things that relate to God for their sake, in order to offer gifts and sacrifices for ...
October 7, 2022 Jonah (CEB) Jonás (RVR1960) Jonah Commissioning of a reluctant prophet The Lord’s word came to Jonah, Amittai’s son: 2 “Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their evil has come to my attention.” 3 So...
October 6, 2022 Proverbs 28 (CEB) Proverbios 28 (RVR1960) Proverbs 28 The wicked run away even though no one pursues them, but the righteous are as confident as a lion. 2 When a land rebels, there are many leaders; but a person with ...
October 5, 2022 Psalms 117-118 (CEB) Salmos 117-118 (RVR1960) Psalm 117 Praise the Lord, all you nations! Worship him, all you peoples! 2 Because God’s faithful love toward us is strong, the Lord’s faithfulness lasts forever! Praise the ...
October 4, 2022 2 Chronicles 11-15 (CEB) 2 Crónicas 11-15 (RVR1960) 2 Chronicles 11 When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand select warriors, to fight against Israel and to restore...
October 3, 2022 Numbers 29-32 (CEB) Números 29-32 (RVR1960) Numbers 29 Blowing of the trumpet The first day of the seventh month will be a holy occasion for you. You will not do any job-related work. It will be for you a day of the trumpet’s sound. ...
October 2, 2022 Acts 3-4 (CEB) Hechos 3-4 (RVR1960) Acts 3 Healing of a crippled man Peter and John were going up to the temple at three o’clock in the afternoon, the established prayer time. 2 Meanwhile, a man crippled since birth was being carried...
October 1, 2022 Hebrews 1-4 (CEB) Hebreos 1-4 (RVR1960) Hebrews 1 The Son is God’s ultimate messenger In the past, God spoke through the prophets to our ancestors in many times and many ways. 2 In these final days, though, he spoke to us through a ...
September 30, 2022 Obadiah (CEB) Abdías (RVR1960) Obadiah Edom falls 1 The vision of Obadiah. The Lord God proclaims concerning Edom: We have heard a message from the Lord— a messenger has been sent among the nations: ...
September 29, 2022 Proverbs 26-27 (CEB) Proverbios 26-27 (RVR1960) Proverbs 26 Like snow in the summer or rain at harvest, so honor isn’t appropriate for a fool. 2 Like a darting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so an undeserved curse never ...
September 28, 2022 Psalms 114-116 (CEB) Salmos 114-116 (RVR1960) Psalm 114 When Israel came out of Egypt— when the house of Jacob came out from a people who spoke a different language— 2 Judah was God’s sanctuary; Israel was God’s ...
September 27, 2022 2 Chronicles 6-10 (CEB) 2 Crónicas 6-10 (RVR1960) 2 Chronicles 6 Then Solomon said, “The Lord said that he would live in a dark cloud; 2 but God, I have built you a lofty temple—a place where you can live forever.” 3 The king ...
September 26, 2022 Numbers 25-28 (CEB) Números 25-28 (RVR1960) Numbers 25 Israelites and Moabites intermarry When the Israelites lived at Shittim, the people made themselves impure by having illicit sex with Moabite women. 2 The Moabite women ...
September 25, 2022 Acts 1-2 (CEB) Hechos 1-2 (RVR1960) Acts 1 The risen Jesus with his disciples Theophilus, the first scroll I wrote concerned everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, 2 right up to the day when he was taken up into ...
September 24, 2022 Philemon (CEB) Filemón (RVR1960) Philemon Greeting 1 From Paul, who is a prisoner for the cause of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy. To Philemon our dearly loved coworker, 2 Apphia our sister, Archippus our fellow soldier, ...
September 23, 2022 Amos 5-9 (CEB) Amós 5-9 (RVR1960) Amos 5 A song of lament Hear this word—a funeral song—that I am lifting up against you, house of Israel: 2 Fallen, no more to rise, is virgin Israel, deserted on her land, ...