WORDS TO SAY
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Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:16-20
“At that time you will be given what to say …”
Matthew 10:19
We show in the words we speak that our hearts are in tune with God. Jesus tells his disciples they “will be given what to say.” Sharing Christ is not simply a matter of thinking up the right words to say; we must allow God’s words to flow through us.
Today we have many resources that help us speak with words God has given us. First and most important is God’s Word, the Bible, inspired by the very Spirit of God.
Then there are helpful summaries of God’s Word that are often called creeds. They have this name because they begin with the Latin word credo, meaning, “I believe.” Creeds are trustworthy if they are based entirely on the Bible. Maybe you’ve heard of the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed.
Many churches today also have documents called confessions. These usually discuss important teachings about the Lord and the church and Christian living. They are useful for helping us understand the Bible. Like creeds, confessions must also be based entirely on God’s Word. A couple of examples are the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism.
Through God’s Word and with helpful summaries, the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to give us words to say as we tell others about God’s love for the world in Christ (see John 3:16). Christian confession and living express our peace and joy in him.
Prayer
Thank you, dear God, for giving us words to say about you. Help us to more clearly understand you and to share your message of love. Amen.
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GET TODAY
I would like to comment on the new format of the Today publication. I have been reading or listening to the Today publication for almost 50 years when my parents would read the “Family Altar” at the dinner table. I have seen the publication change a few times. I have to admit, change is always good.
When I first encountered the May publication which was reformatted my first thoughts were that this new version looks like a newspaper! With the title in bold at the top, verse highlighted in gray and the body in two columns, it looks like your daily paper.
We have been reading the new version at dinner for 22 days now. There are a couple of concerns that bother me. With the columns so small in width, I find the there are many words that are split up by hyphens and the hyphen does not always come in a place the one would expect. In addition I find my eyes going back and forth so much that I get confused as I read the columns. I found in the old version that my eyes comfortably floated over the page as I read and did not see as many words with hypens (wrapping to the next line). For these reasons I find the new version very HARD to read and keep ones place as one reads each line. I find my head is spinning after reading the whole page.
So the formatting is very nice to look at but the page is much harder to read than the older version. What do other readers say about the new Today version?
Thank you
Bill Ooms