@FirstChurchofJerusalem
Today's Early Church Wisdom
“I shall not hesitate also to put into ordered form for you, along with the interpretations, everything I learned carefully in the past from the elders and noted down carefully, for the truth of which I vouch. For unlike most people, I took no pleasure in those who told many different stories, but only in those who taught the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who reported their memory of someone else’s commandments, but only in those who reported their memory of the commandments given by the Lord to the faith and proceeding from the Truth itself. And if by chance anyone who had been in attendance on the elders arrived, I made enquiries about the words of the elders—what Andrew or Peter had said, or Philip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples, and whatever Aristion and John the Elder, the Lord’s disciples, were saying. For I did not think that information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving voice.
~ Papias of Hierapolis (c. 60–130 AD) From the Preface to his lost ‘Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord’
This week's Psalm is Psalm 31 'My Rock, My Shield, My Song'

Touching The Heart

Jesus will change your life

We read in John 1:38 that Jesus asked a couple of John’s disciples, “What do you seek?” Whenever we ask the question, “What does my heart seek?” it touches something deep within us. It evokes a sense of the deep hunger and thirst that lies at the heart of every human soul. It would have stirred the hearts of both men, and their response is to ask Jesus where He is staying. Jesus instantly gives them an invitation: “Come and you will see” (Gk: “Ἔρχεσθε καὶ ὄψεσθε”).  It’s simple, it’s personal, and it’s powerful: “Come and see for yourself.” This is the message of the Gospel. Not a call to religion, but a call to relationship. Jesus invites us to come, to walk with Him, to abide with Him, to see the truth of who He is. Anyone who has a real encounter with Jesus will never be the same again. Have you seen how people change when they become friends with Jesus? No other experience is as transformational as this. Jesus will change your life, not just for the better, but for the best