A brief prayer is offered that you can add to your daily prayers this week. The scripture is from our Sunday Service Bulletin. We continue our sermon series on receiving something special or profound. Today’s topic is “The Letter”.

10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work

Letters can get things done. Letters convinced President Woodrow Wilson to sign a proclamation in 1914 to make an official Mother’s Day holiday, the second Sunday in May.  Anna Jarvis launched that letter writing campaign to honor her mother Ann Jarvis, who nursed Civil War wounded from both sides. When Ann Jarvis died in 1905, Anna started her campaign which was initially rejected by Congress but letters finally got it done with President Wilson. Most of us don’t write many letters these days in favor of texting or email—it is so quick and convenient. In the days of Paul, our Epistle author today, writing a letter was a big deal. There was no “postal service” for delivery and there was no convenient stationery store. If you got a letter back in the 1^st century it was an event. Today’s Epistle is Paul’s last letter before his death and he must have known his time was growing short. Paul is telling Timothy to continue to follow Paul’s example. As for us, with the possible exception of our own children, you never know when someone is watching our behavior as a Christian example to follow.