Part 2: Hades The last article discussed the use of sheol in the Old Testament. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Septuagint) translates sheol with the Greek word Hades. Obviously, the intended meaning of the word doesn’t change with the translation, so whatever particular meaning we derived in the last article regarding sheol…
Part 1: Sheol Sheol is the Old Testament Hebrew word for death or the underworld. The word sheol appears 63 times, with the vast majority of those being in Psalms, Isaiah, Proverbs, and Job. Trying to figure out what the various Old Testament writers believed about sheol is complicated to say the least. How sheol…
The following article was written by Philip Kosloski and published on https://aleteia.org on 17 December 2017: Each color has a unique meaning that points beyond itself. Throughout the Church’s liturgical year, priests wear several different color vestments. The colors are not arbitrary, but reflect a deeper meaning that is meant to point us to a…
We recite the Ten Commandments every Sunday at Epworth, so we clearly think they are important, but how do we apply them to our lives today? For example, do we keep the Sabbath holy in a different way today because part of Sabbath restrictions were cultural for Israel, or do we not keep the Sabbath…
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA On occasion, some may wonder why the sermons at Epworth are always based on one (or more) of the assigned readings from the lectionary. Why not let the Minister choose the texts for preaching? Or why not preach sequentially through the Bible or various books…
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA Here we are at the end of Pride Month, which the Church as a whole largely ignores, but because it is something the rest of society acknowledges, it seems appropriate to address it here. Dealing with the issue of homosexuality in a biblically accurate…
Epworth recently laid to rest one of its faithful saints: Sally Reid. Her ashes were placed in the Epworth Memorial Garden, alongside the remains of others who have gone before us. They are the Church Victorious; we are the Church Militant. One day we will all be reunited. Occasions like this cannot help but raise…
The following was produced by Ask The UMC, a ministry of United Methodist Communications: Aldersgate Day is celebrated on May 24 (or the Sunday closest) to commemorate the day in 1738 when John Wesley experienced assurance of his salvation. Wesley reluctantly attended a group meeting that evening on Aldersgate Street in London. As he heard…
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). When reading this verse, some people conjure up images of soldiers in a foxhole. A hero who jumps on a grenade to save his squad exemplifies the literal sense of this verse. To no lesser an extent, so…
“God wants me to be happy, right?” We’ve probably all heard this question asked. The assumed answer is “yes,” but in reality, it’s more complicated than that. God doesn’t want us to be unhappy, but our happiness is somewhat low on the list. What He wants is for us to be holy, meaning like Him…