Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Col.4: 15-16 May 10, 2026

Message: “Appreciating Women who Open Their Homes!”

by Pastor George Gnade

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6:41

Introduction:

1. As most of you know, we just finished our study on II Thessalonians. Before we begin a new series, I would like to share a message that seems fitting for Mother’s Day.

2. It is about a woman whose name was Nympha. Her name in Greek  means “bride.” So I assume she got married and had children. 

3. Paul mentions her in Col. 4: 15 where he sends his greetings to “Nympha and the church in her house.”

A. Let me begin by pointing out that this was quite common in the early church.

1. When Paul went to Philippi, he met a woman named Lydia. She had a business selling purple cloth and owned her own house. She opened her home to Paul so the new Christians would have a place to meet.

2. In I Cor. 16: 19, Paul sent greetings from Aquila and Priscilla who also had opened their home so the Christians would have a place to meet.

3. Actual church buildings like we use today did not come on the scene till much later. So it is no wonder that Paul would have appreciated Nympha who also opened her home to Christians so they would have a place to meet.

a. When I went to high school in Midland Park, N.J., many of us wanted to get together for a Bible study. Since we came from different churches, meeting in each other’s homes was the best way to do this.

b. My parents encouraged us to do this too. Our living room was often full of young people. Not only that, but this was the first way God chose to use me. Since I knew my Bible quite well, even in my teenage years, I was chosen to lead it. But meeting in different homes was very helpful.

4. So I can appreciate why Paul would send his greetings to Nympha and the church meeting in her home.

B. I already mentioned that Nympha’s name had significance. 

1. As I already said, it means “bride.” It is not at all unusual for God to use our names as reminders of how He can use us.

a. Men who have godly wives are truly blessed. So are their children. I like what it says in Prov. 31 about godly wives who seek to please the Lord.

b. In vs. 28-30, it says: “Her children will rise up and call her blessed; her husband also praises her. Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

2. Let us expand this to Christians who get together to praise the Lord. The Bible calls the church “the bride of Christ” and those who believe in Him and worship Him in His churches “the children of God.”

a. Many women can’t have children of their own but they can open up their homes and show hospitality to God’s spiritual children.

b. Clearly this is what Nympha did. As a bride who probably had a family, she wanted to honor the Lord Jesus and opened her home to Jesus’ bride called the church.

3. Just as a Christian woman’s kindness and love is a blessing to her own family, it is often a blessing to God’s family.

C. Nympha’s name also comes from Greek words meaning “water lily.”

1. These are beautiful flowers and come in many beautiful colors. Just as we often name our daughters after beautiful flowers, they liked to do that too.

a. We use names like Rose, Lily, Heather, and Daisy, just to name a few.

b. Nympha meaning “water lily” was one of the favorite names given to women in Paul’s day. 

2. Unfortunately, Nympha also comes from “Nymphs,” demonic creatures worshipped by the Greeks. They were worshipped for their beauty and power.  But when a person becomes a Christian, God can use our names to take on new meanings.

a. All Christians believe the Song of Solomon was written by Solomon to describe two lovers. But we also believe it is used by the Holy Spirit as a picture of Christ and His church.

b. In the Song of Solomon 2:1, it is difficult to know whether Solomon was referring to himself or his bride. 

3. The speaker says: “I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley.”

a. One of the songs that we like to sing describes Jesus as “the Lily of the valley, the bright and morning star, the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.”

b. But the second verse says: “Like a lily among thorns, so is my darling among the maidens.” That would imply verse one was a description of Solomon’s bride, and therefore, could also be used to describe God’s church.

4. Either way, when Nympha became a Christian, her name automatically would take on new meanings for her.

D. One thing is clear, the Greeks considered Nympha to be a common name of a beautiful women.

1. And I like to think that every woman is beautiful in her own way. But Peter gives us a different way to think of beauty. Instead of outward beauty and all the attempts of women to dress and appear beautiful on the outside, Peter encourages women to be more concerned about being beautiful to God by how they think and act.

2. In I Peter 3:1-4, he writes: “Wives, in the same way, be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them does not believe the Word, they may be won over without a word by the behavior of their wives.”

3. Especially when “they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle spirit, which is of great worth in the eyes of God.”

a. In plain words, Christ-like behavior in a woman is not affected by your age. If anything, the longer you know  the Lord, the more Jesus desires to shine through your life.

b. When Nympha became a Christian, I believe that became the desire of her heart. When she asked the Lord what she could do for Him, He encouraged her to offer her home as a place where Christians could come and worship.

c. Of course this also gave her the opportunity to let Christ shine through her own life. That is exactly why Paul asked those reading his letter “to give his greetings to Nympha and the church in her home.”

4. Today is a good day to give thanks for our wives and mothers, especially those who love the Lord.  I pray Christ may be honored in our homes, just as Nympha did. Amen!