Imagine you are writing a note to a friend. Could be an email, a text message, a social media post, or a handwritten letter. How do you add emphasis to different sections of the letter? Well, it depends on the medium.
If you are writing an email, you might bold face the font. If you are sending a text, you might add an emoji. If it is a social media post, you might go ALL CAPS in a section. If you are handwriting a letter, you might underline sections, or add arrows pointing to it in the margin. All these different mechanisms are there to help the reader really focus in on what you say in the highlighted portion.
This phenomena is not new to humanity. It has been around as long as people have been writing notes to one another … at least as far back as 2,000 years ago, when the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to his friends in Galatia. In Galatians 6:11, Paul says this:
“See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand …”
What was Paul doing? Well, since the original “autograph” copy of Galatians has been lost in history, we don’t know for sure. Maybe Paul switched to ALL CAPS in this section, or maybe he increased the font size, or maybe he grabbed the pen out of the hand of his secretary to write this last section in his own penmanship (of a different style than the secretary’s) … we are not sure. Though we don’t know exactly how he did it, there is a general consensus around WHY he did it. Paul changed the visual look of the last 8 verses of this letter to add emphasis. It is as if he leans in and says to them … DO. NOT. MISS. THIS.
So, the Galatians leaned in to read the last paragraph of this long letter. And this Sunday at Wildwood Community Church, we will do the same. During 2021, we have walked through every verse of Paul’s letter to the Galatians in some depth. This Sunday will be the 21st sermon from Galatians that we have had over the past 8.5 months. You may have been present for all 20 of the previous sermons … if so, come Sunday to hear the haymaker Paul throws at the end of the letter. You may have heard zero of the messages on Galatians from this past year … if so, come Sunday to hear Paul recap the BIGGEST IDEA from this book – a truth we all need to hear.
Join us for part 3 (in the “New Love” sermon series) as we look at Galatians 6:11-18 together in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 worship service (or online in the stream, beginning at 9:45 CDT at this link). See you September 19 … and bring friends!
Keep preaching the good news!
Praise God! Thanks Roger … will continue to do so