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
November 6, 2024 Acts 27-28, Proverbs 3 (NRSV) Hechos 27-28, Proverbios 3 (RVR1960) Paul Sails for Rome 27 When it was decided that we were to sail for Italy, they transferred Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort, ...
November 5, 2024 Acts 25-26, Proverbs 2 (NRSV) Hechos 25-26, Proverbios 2 (RVR1960) Paul Appeals to the Emperor 25 Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2 where the chief priests and the ...
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November 4, 2024 Acts 22-24 (NRSV) Hechos 22-24 (RVR1960) 22 “Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense that I now make before you.” 2 When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then he said: 3 “I am a Jew born in ...
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November 3, 2024 Acts 19-21 (NRSV) Hechos 19-21 (RVR1960) Paul in Ephesus 19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy ...
November 2, 2024 Acts 16-18 (NRSV) Hechos 16-18 (RVR1960) Timothy Joins Paul and Silas 16 Paul went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2...
November 1, 2024 Acts 13-15, Proverbs 1 (NRSV) Hechos 13-15, Proverbios 1 (RVR1960) Barnabas and Saul Commissioned 13 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a ...
October 31, 2024 Acts 11-12, Psalm 150 (NRSV) Hechos 11-12, Salmos 150 (RVR1960) Peter’s Report to the Church at Jerusalem 11 Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. ...
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October 30, 2024 Acts 8-10 (NRSV) Hechos 8-10 (RVR1960) 8 1 And Saul approved of their killing him. Saul Persecutes the Church That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout...
October 29, 2024 Acts 6-7, Psalm 149 (NRSV) Hechos 6-7, Salmos 149 (RVR1960) Seven Chosen to Serve 6 Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being ...
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October 28, 2024 Acts 4-5, Psalm 148 (NRSV) Hechos 4-5, Salmos 148 (RVR1960) Peter and John before the Council 4 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, 2 much annoyed...
October 27, 2024 Acts 1-3 (NRSV) Hechos 1-3 (RVR1960) The Promise of the Holy Spirit 1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions ...
October 26, 2024 John 20-21, Psalm 147 (NRSV) Juan 20-21, Salmos 147 (RVR1960) The Resurrection of Jesus 20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the...
October 25, 2024 John 18-20, Psalms 145-146 (NRSV) Juan 18-20, Salmos 145-146 (RVR1960) The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus 18 After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley to a place where there was a ...
October 24, 2024 John 14-17 (NRSV) Juan 14-17 (RVR1960) Jesus the Way to the Father 14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have ...
October 23, 2024 John 12-13, Psalm 144 (NRSV) Juan 12-13, Salmos 144 (RVR1960) Mary Anoints Jesus 12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. ...
October 22, 2024 John 10-11, Psalm 143 (NRSV) Juan 10-11, Salmos 143 (RVR1960) Jesus the Good Shepherd 10 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one ...
October 21, 2024 John 8-9, Psalm 142 (NRSV) Juan 8-9, Salmos 142 (RVR1960) 8 1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The ...
October 20, 2024 John 6-7, Psalm 141 (NRSV) Juan 6-7, Salmos 141 (RVR1960) Feeding the Five Thousand 6 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him because they ...
October 19, 2024 John 4-5, Psalm 140 (NRSV) Juan 4-5, Salmos 140 (RVR1960) Jesus and the Woman of Samaria 4 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” 2 (although it was not Jesus ...
October 18, 2024 John 1-3, Psalm 139 (NRSV) Juan 1-3, Salmos 139 (RVR1960) The Word Became Flesh 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being ...
October 17, 2024 Luke 22-24 (NRSV) Lucas 22-24 (RVR1960) The Plot to Kill Jesus 22 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. 2 The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for ...
October 16, 2024 Luke 20-21, Psalm 138 (NRSV) Lucas 20-21, Salmos 138 (RVR1960) The Authority of Jesus Questioned 20 One day as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the ...
October 15, 2024 Luke 17-19, Psalm 137 (NRSV) Lucas 17-19, Salmos 137 (RVR1960) Some Sayings of Jesus 17 Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for sin are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come! 2 It would be better for you if a ...
October 14, 2024 Luke 15-16 Psalm 136 (NRSV) Lucas 15-16, Salmos 136 (RVR1960) The Parable of the Lost Sheep 15 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ...
October 13, 2024 Luke 12-14 (NRSV) Lucas 12-14 (RVR1960) A Warning against Hypocrisy 12 Meanwhile, when the crowd had gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of ...