The Lord’s Prayer – #4 – The Life and Love of Father: 'Monday Morning Musing - August 29, 2022'

Familiarity dilutes meaning. When something is so familiar, so common, so presumed upon its significance and depth of meaning is often over-looked. Jesus’s instruction to directly address God as Father/Abba and to include/invite the disciples to also do so, would have been a cosmically altering, paradigm-shattering instruction for any first-century Jew.

 

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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.

 

The Lord’s Prayer – Part 3 – Thankfulness: 'Monday Morning Musing - August 22, 22022'

In a Jewish worldview, thankfulness was considered an activity that would last for eternity. Sacrifices and offerings would cease, but thankfulness would be a perpetual kingdom phenomenon. When Jesus exhorts his followers to pray for the “kingdom to come” they would have associated thankfulness as an actualization of the future. The practice of thankfulness is a kingdom establishing phenomenon. “Thy kingdom come” is not a passive plea for God’s future activity. We have a part to play in the present in the realization of that prayer. 

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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.

 

 

The Lord’s Prayer – Part 1 – Introduction: 'Monday Morning Musings - August 7, 2022'

 

The profound and provocative essence of this prayer is lost by the insipid familiarity in which it is so often encrusted. Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing some cultural background and translational nuggets regarding this familiar prayer. I hope to make it “pop” in ways that perhaps you may have never heard before. The essence of Jesus’s message and mission are contained in this brief but potent prayer.

 

Photo by Jamie Haughton on Unsplash

 

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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.

The Lord’s Prayer – Part 2 – Jesus Our Rabbi: 'Monday Morning Musing - August 15, 2022'

 

The disciples asked Jesus: “Teach us to pray.” Every Rabbi had his own prayer convention. The point of the prayer was to differentiate that Rabbi’s “disciples” (followers) from other Rabbis and their followers. The prayer was a summation, in prayer form, of the essence of the Rabbi’s distinctive teaching. This is exactly what was occurring when Jesus gave the “Lord’s prayer” to his disciples. It was a summation of the essence of His message to differentiate His followers, from others. That is why the disciples asked Him for one. A rabbi’s prayer “labelled” the one praying it. In that sense, it is indeed the Lord’s (their Rabbi’s prayer). On the other hand, it was the disciple’s prayer as it was expected that they would pray it.

 

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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.