Philemon

Summer Study on Colossians and Philemon: An Interview with Sarah Ivill

CHRISTINA FOX|EDITOR The 2025 recommended summer Bible study for PCA Women’s Ministries is Colossians and Philemon: That in Everything Christ Might be Preeminent by Sarah Ivill, Below you’ll find an interview Christina Fox did with Sarah about the study and her writing process. Christina: When you work on developing a Bible study, what is your study process like? Do you have a particular pattern you follow? Favorite commentaries? Sarah: I do have a particular pattern that I follow. First, I read the book of the Bible I'm studying in its entirety to get the big idea of the book. Second, I make an outline of the book so that I know which chapters I will cover for each lesson. Third, I study the specific passage of Scripture for the lesson and then read commentaries on it. If I have to choose a favorite series of commentaries, I like the Reformed Expository Commentary series published by P&R Publishing. Fourth, I write study questions for the women to answer and notes for the women to read. Finally, I go back through the lesson with an editorial eye. Christina: You have written a study on every book of the Bible. Was that a goal you had that you worked toward? How did that develop? What does it mean to you to have completed it? Sarah: To write a study on every book of the Bible was a desire that grew out of my love for studying God's Word. I wanted to learn God's Word and then share what I had learned with others. As I was nearing completion of the project, I felt grateful that God had given me the opportunity to do it, but I also felt sad that it was coming to a close. Spending those years writing studies on each book of the Bible was immensely satisfying, as God's Word pointed me repeatedly to Christ in the midst of my own sin, suffering, and service. There is no other book that I would rather be reading. The Holy Scriptures are majestic and pure. They comfort and convict. The Bible is "no empty word for you, but your very life" (Deut. 32:47). Christina: As someone who has studied and taught on the Bible for many years, what is something new that you learned while working on this study for Philemon and Colossians?...

Christian Love in Times of Political Division

AMANDA DUVALL | GUEST Among the cute photos of babies, puppies, and family vacations on social media— you see it. A friend from church posts a political message, and you cannot believe they vote for that person. Or support that cause. Or believe that news story. Maybe you reach for the quick “unfollow” button so you don’t have to see their posts anymore. Now, what happens when we walk into church and run into that person? We want to do the real world equivalent of an “unfollow.” Remove that person from our lives— if not entirely, at least put some distance between us. On the outside, everything probably looks the same, but the communion once shared has shifted, maybe even broken. This is not to downplay the real hurt we can experience in our relationships as the world becomes more politicized. It’s not just the election—there is almost no part of our society, public or private, untouched by politics. Maybe because of this, we tend to think our divisiveness today is so uniquely difficult for the Church to navigate. But then we read the New Testament. The first Christians hailed from every walk of life, and so, it was not uncommon to find a rich and educated individual, who just last month was participating in pagan rituals, right alongside a poor Jew, who had no power or property and adhered to some very strict personal ethics. Imagine for a second with me, then, what these relationships might have looked like— so easily laced with misunderstanding and awkwardness, offense, hurt, and downright rudeness. There was no earthly reason for these people to share anything in common. But in telling the Colossians about their new community, Paul says this, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” (3:11)...