When we write letters today, we send our greetings right at the outset in the salutation. Not so in the 1st century world. They held their greetings until the end of their letters. And if the Apostle Paul’s valediction in his Magnum Opus letter to the church in Rome is indicative of all letters penned in his day, then those endings were far less generic and much more personal than any we write today. We’re satisfied with, “Dear Brothers and sisters at Maranatha FCF, we thank you for your shared commitment to the Kingdom.”
If you wish to be convicted by a not-so-simple, 16-verse greeting from a church letter, please join us this Sunday morning as we begin to share Paul’s “Goodbye Greetings.”