A 'big picture' overview of the beginning and rapid outward expansion of the Church into farther reaching geographic regions and the subsequent creation of a radical inward community within that Church. What accounts does Luke give that make this book so pivotal in the New Testament?
Do you ever find yourself frustrated by the prosperity of those the scriptures refer to as wicked? Why are we prone to envy one’s power, position and wealth? What does Ps. 73 say about those who will find ruin and those who will find refuge?
We welcomed John Flores from Westside Christian High School this week! He taught through the book of Luke as we continued our dive into the New Testament and specifically, the gospel writers.
We begin our dive into the New Testament and specifically, the gospel writers. Please welcome Richard Blaylock from Western Seminary as he teaches through the book of Matthew.
We've made it to the New Testament and we can love it all the more - love God and His word all the more - because we have the framework to know how we got here. But what happens during the 400 years of 'blank pages' in your bible between Malachi and Matthew?
We are wrapping up our dive into the Old Testament. So much has happened! Doubt has laid waste to perfection, obedience has devolved into chaos (again and again) and God’s people have continually sought their own good rather than God’s goodness. Sounds like a pretty grim outlook, right? Not so fast…
It’s 70 years after Israel’s exile to Babylon and now that once powerful empire has itself collapsed. Everything is ruined but the hope and determination of a few folks seems to suggest a renewed sense of purpose. But how should the people focus their efforts? What happens when there is, again, a prevailing attitude of discontent among them?
Witnessing continued injustice, violence and idolatry causes the prophet Habakkuk to cry out to God, lamenting evil and wondering if God is indeed good. How can such EVIL be any part of God’s goodness? How can God USE evil to bring about good? How much of ‘Babylon’ do we see in our world today? Believers, take heart! Darkness and chaos are temporal but God’s justice is eternal.
Get up and go’, God said. Jonah was to go and give the residents of Nineveh some pretty bad news. They’d blown it and God was going to pronounce judgement on them and their wickedness. Jonah ran the opposite way and chaos ensued… and finally Jonah obeyed. But would the people decide to repent? Would God have mercy on them?
“O Israel, if you would only listen!” Psalm 81:9 - God has given his people all the assurance in the world that He would take care of them - keep them safe, carry their burdens and provide everything they could ever need. “But no, my people won’t listen.” Instead, they followed their own blind and stubborn way. It bears the question, “How’s that working out for you?”
”The day of the LORD is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can endure it? That is why the LORD says, ‘Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts.’ Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful. He is not easily angered. He is filled with kindness and is eager not to punish you.” After all of Israel’s unfaithfulness, idolatry and evil… THIS. This is our God!
Is a pattern becoming clearer? Israel rebels, God brings some terrible consequences but His love and mercy are more powerful than Israel’s sin. Like Hosea with Gomer, God proves Himself to be a faithful husband to Israel.
The books of Ezekiel and Daniel take us through a series of unfortunate events that lead to the Babylonian captivity of Israel. The faithfulness of a few key people, despite immense persecution, can fill us with hope for the present day. We likely will never face a fiery furnace or be dropped into a cave with a lion, but our world is imperfect and our tenure here will be filled with suffering. But God’s word offers hope - to us as his children and to our fallen world.
Lamentations is the result of Israel’s ‘bad acts’. God’s people have repeatedly broken their covenant with Him and now things are just bad. Awful, in fact. They look around and see sorrow, death and God’s anger at their disobedience. “I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss” they lament, “But the unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.” We can all have hope in the LORD’s faithfulness.
Jeremiah was called by God to be a prophet and warned Israel about their coming judgement. The people and their leaders, kings and priests again had broken the covenant with God - sin and injustice was rampant and idols were abundant. Jeremiah begged them to turn back to God and away from the chaos they had created. Will they ever learn? How will God heal their hearts and convince them to turn away from rebellion?
We’re beginning Love This Book Part 3: The Prophets . Once again, the nation of Israel is declining at a rapid pace and turmoil abounds… even the best of the best leaders cannot pull the brake lever on this speeding train. The plea is for the people to STOP! Just stop, because judgement is coming… but so might future blessing?
Ps. 49, a wisdom psalm, begins by grabbing us by the collar and demanding our undivided attention. God has got something great and wonderful for us and choosing to live apart from God’s wisdom and boast in worldly things will be our death, unceremonious and with no eternal destination.
During our lifetime, we can invent, build, discover and achieve many things but it is highly likely that in 100 years, no one will remember you or anything you did. Sounds more than a little depressing, right? But a life spent on those pursuits still ends - time devours everyone and no one escapes death. Might we be better off living life as we actually experience it and not chasing what we think life should be? Trusting God for everything because most things in life are ultimately totally out o...
The book of Proverbs offers the accumulated wisdom, passed down through many generations of God’s people, so that we may live well is God’s good world. Is it a bunch of promises or a formula for success? Not at all. Proverbs does, however teach us that God’s justice and goodness are objective realities that we ignore at our own peril. Are we open to follow and apply God’s wisdom - the road to success and peace - or do we ignore it and go down the road to ruin and folly?
Why do bad things happen to good people? This is a tough one for a lot of us. We live in an amazing but complex world that, for now, is not designed to prevent suffering. We want to make sense of it all but our understanding is too simplistic - we need to trust in God’s wisdom, sovereignty and His character. We need to come before Him in honesty and prayer to help process the world and its faults, our pain and our grief.
We’ve been going through each book of the Bible this year, and we land in the book of Esther this Easter Sunday. It might seem odd, but consider a couple of things: Are we willing to trust God’s providence even when we cannot see Him working? Do we believe that God uses the mess and moral ambiguity of people to accomplish His purposes? YES! We know He is ALIVE and always working behind the scenes, no matter how bad things get, committed to redeeming this world.
“We are Your people, the sheep of your pasture; we will thank you forever and ever, praising your greatness from generation to generation.” Psalm 79:13 What makes someone worthy of such adoration? Trust, confidence and honesty - tell Him ‘all the things’ …the good and bad. He made you. He loves you. He already knows.
The Israelites are returning to their homeland after exile to Babylon. They desperately desire to rebuild the temple and set right their relationship with God - their hopes are high, but opposition causes some low morale. Again, they are disobedient and therefore, disappointed. What will God need to do to transform their hearts so they will follow and obey Him?
The people of Israel got their king - several of them, in fact. It’s what they asked for, right? But what did having a king actually achieve? Not much… Sin again rears its destructive head and all of the kings, one right after the other, run Israel into the ground. So, what now? Is there anyone who can get things back on the right path?
When the people of Israel ask for a king, they are asking for someone who would provide a sense of security and safety in a scary world. How do we, today, learn to look to Jesus and trust God in the areas where we feel insecure?
This is our God. This is who He is - He loves us. This is our God. This is what He does - He saves us. As worshippers of Yahweh, there are no truer words! We come to the LORD in worship and in celebration of what He's done in our lives... HALLELUJAH!
The book of Ruth is a beautiful example of how God works behind the scenes and how His will is so connected to our daily lives. But why? Might He have had a grander purpose for Ruth? How about now? Is God working in the “day to day” of our own lives?
The book of Judges is the tragic story of Israel’s moral corruption and bad leadership - basically, they were a total failure. They had become no different than the Canaanites that had just been destroyed. Here’s an interesting question: What kind of impression would the book of Judges make on someone who was reading it for the first time? Yikes…
The book of Joshua is the story of Yahweh fulfilling His promise to give Isreal the land. We know their journey to get there was, well, an extended one because of their disobedience. But God… He is always faithful to keep His promises.
“Oh, what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven and whose sin is put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin, and whose lives are lived in complete honesty!” Psalm 32:1-2
