West Pines Community Church

All the time in our culture we greet each other by saying, “how are you?” We mostly respond saying simply: “fine.” It is simply a polite exchange. We rarely actually respond with what is going on. It’s instinct and reflex. Interestingly there is a common greeting in the first generation of the church that was very common. In almost every letter recorded in the New Testament we find these words “grace and peace to you.” Was this spoken all over the world in the first generation of the Christian church because it sounded nice? Was this just empty pleasantries? Or perhaps it is because it encapsulated a truth so explosive that it turned the world upside down. And it can turn our lives upside down too.