This Sunday we’ll be finishing up chapter 10 in our study of 1 Corinthians, reading ch 10:23-11:1 . Much of what Paul will be doing in this passage is a recap of what he’s been encouraging since chapter 8. It all centers around our freedom in Christ and how we manage that in the best way possible. Verse 24 provides the overall ethic that creates guardrails for our freedom. How might an intentional interest in serving others provide parameters for our Christian liberty? Once again, Paul addresses...
Oct 20, 2024•38 min•Season 33Ep. 17
I know we’re all waiting for this hurricane season to conclude…but God alone controls these things, so we’ll put it in His hands. In the meantime, we will be praying for those who suffered loss in the last hurricane, and let’s stay alert as to how we can assist. This Sunday we’ll be continuing on in our study of 1 Corinthians, reading ch 10:1-22 . The overall theme of the last several chapters has been our freedom in Christ and what we do with it. We’ve been encouraged to see to it that our Chri...
Oct 13, 2024•41 min•Season 33Ep. 16
This Sunday we are going to continue our study in the book of 1 Corinthians (Chapter 9:19-27) and we will be reading some fairly famous verses that Paul wrote. The verses start with a statement from Paul where he juxtaposes his freedom , (“with no master”), and his slavery (“to all people”). Those are clearly opposite statements and it leaves us pondering how both can be true. He goes on to say that when he was with the Jews, he lived like a Jewish person. When he was with the Gentiles, he lived...
Oct 07, 2024•26 min•Season 33Ep. 15
I am equal parts grateful that Hurricane Helene did not damage our area and heartbroken for the people who are now suffering the aftermath of this terrible storm. We certainly want to be praying for those east of us, and keep our eyes, ears, hearts and hands ready to assist as we are able. This Sunday we’ll be continuing on in our study of 1 Corinthians, reading chapter 9:1-18 . It seems like it’s almost a monthly occurrence, to hear of some celebrated pastor being removed from his position or s...
Sep 30, 2024•49 min•Season 33Ep. 14
This Sunday we’ll finally be moving past what were arguably the most uncomfortable passages to publicly talk about…so that’s a relief. That being said, the principles that were being set forth in the previous chapters will still be carried over into our text this Sunday. We’ll be reading 1 Cor 8:1-13 in our study of that book. Paul shifts the topic to another question the Corinthians had obviously asked him, concerning eating the leftover meats from animals that had been used in pagan sacrifices...
Sep 22, 2024•30 min•Season 33Ep. 13
This Sunday we’ll be continuing our study in 1 Corinthians, wrapping up our examination of chapter 7. We’ll be reading 1 Cor 7:25-40 . As we’ve stated multiple times, we have to always take care in reading an ancient text like this – ancient Corinth was very different, civilly as well as culturally, from our modern American experience. We’ll do our best to unpack what Paul writes and see how the principles Paul provided can direct us in our modern world. His primary audience is single people. Pa...
Sep 15, 2024•41 min•Season 33Ep. 12
We live in a society that has schooled us from birth to be discontent. That’s what makes a consumerist culture go ’round. You can’t be satisfied with your life if you don’t have the latest phone, and you certainly can’t be complete if you use the wrong air freshener. We are coaxed day and night to want more and not be satisfied. The Bible, however, invites us to follow a different direction. This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Cor 7:17-24 in our study of Paul’s letter. Paul never uses the word direct...
Sep 08, 2024•37 min•Season 33Ep. 11
I heard at least one person had to have the “talk” with their child after last Sunday’s message…so, fair warning: if you’re not prepared to do the same, exercise discretion when it comes to younger children being in the service during the teaching this Sunday (and don’t blame me, it’s Paul who won’t change the subject!). We’ll be reading 1 Cor 7:1-16 in our study of that book this Sunday. The whole section feels odd to us because it’s written to people in an entirely different culture, time and ...
Sep 01, 2024•40 min•Season 33Ep. 10
This Sunday we’ll be continuing our study in 1 Corinthians, and once again, (actually, this warning will hold true until we get to chapter 8), we will be considering topics that are for mature ears – so plan accordingly with your kids. We’ll be reading 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 . Paul continues his corrections of the way the Corinthian Christians are carrying on, and in the section we’ll be reading, he talks about the importance of our physical bodies. He starts out by qualifying (what obviously is)...
Aug 25, 2024•49 min•Season 33Ep. 9
So, I again want to let you know that we’ll be dealing with some mature content in our teaching this Sunday – for the next few Sundays, actually. That’s just a heads up so you can plan accordingly. This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Cor 6:1-11 in our continued study in that book. The first 8 verses of this chapter almost feel like an abrupt change of subject from the last chapter – but we’ll see that it really stays in suit with the idea of selfish behavior at other people’s expense. We’re going to ...
Aug 18, 2024•40 min•Season 33Ep. 8
At the opening of some TV shows or movies, you’ll often see a warning that the subject matter of that particular program isn’t suitable for younger audiences. I need to make that same disclaimer for our study on Sunday. It’s not that we’ll be covering anything graphic by any means, but there’s the possibility of a child raising questions about what is said that you may not want to answer in the moment – so I’m just wanting to warn us all that sexuality will be in view in the passage we’ll be rea...
Aug 11, 2024•42 min•Season 33Ep. 7
This Sunday we’ll be covering 1 Corinthians 4:1-21 in our ongoing study of Paul’s letter. The theme of the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians deals with division in the church, and Paul’s challenge to unify. Chapter 4, in many ways, serves as a recap of all that’s gone before it. As you read the chapter, how does Paul’s description of leaders in the church (Paul, Apollos, Cephas) compare with our modern view of church leadership? What differences would you describe between Paul’s experiences s...
Aug 04, 2024•40 min•Season 33Ep. 6
“You’re acting like a baby!” If someone were to direct that statement to us, we’d know that it’s not a compliment. I mean, most people like babies – they’re cute and sweet and vulnerable and we instinctively want to protect them. There is, however, a threshold where humans are expected to move beyond the helpless, selfish and demanding behavior of an infant. Humans without mental or physical obstacles are meant to mature . That same expectation is present in our spiritual lives as well. In the p...
Jul 28, 2024•35 min•Season 33Ep. 5
My grandson lost one of his water shoes at our house the other day. We looked everywhere for it – outside, inside, in drawers, under couches…no place left unturned. It appeared to have a yearning to be free because it never showed up. Until a few weeks later, when we weren’t looking for it, it was resting in plain view in our toy room. Had it been there all along? It seems impossible, and yet there it was on the floor for everyone to see. I’ve had numerous experiences like that in life, predomin...
Jul 21, 2024•31 min•Season 33Ep. 4
“Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square. She calls to the crowds along the main street, to those gathered in front of the city gate.” ~Proverbs 1:20-21 I don’t know about you, but when I think of wisdom, I don’t often imagine it calling out to us in the streets and the busy places we find ourselves. However, from the beginning, the Bible paints a consistent picture of wisdom that is in sharp contrast with the world around us. We see this thought continued in the New Tes...
Jul 14, 2024•39 min•Season 33Ep. 3
Has anyone ever had a job that would require regular inspections from outside sources? When I (Janelle) worked in the children’s program at the navy base we were regularly inspected by government officials to make sure our practices complied with their standards. Sometimes the inspections were planned and sometimes they were surprises. The planned inspections involved a great deal of preparation on our side. We would review the areas that would be inspected, we would re-train staff, and we would...
Jul 07, 2024•36 min•Season 33Ep. 2
So, we finished up Genesis last week, and this Sunday we’ll begin a new series, working our way chapter by chapter, verse by verse, through another book of the Bible. However, instead of just telling you what we’re going to be studying, I’m inviting you to figure it out for yourself. Follow this LINK , and read the chapter it points to. From that background you should be able to figure out what we’ll be studying. When you are confident that you know, look that book up in your bible or bible app,...
Jul 01, 2024•45 min•Season 33Ep. 1
Join Janelle Greene and Rob Woodrum as the bring the Genesis series to a close with a great teaching/discussion that covers the main themes from our studies in the first 5 books of Genesis. Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.
Jun 23, 2024•37 min•Season 32Ep. 13
There is no way around it, the Bible presents us with a dualistic worldview. We are continually presented with two paths, two choices, two loves. Middle ground is hard to come by in Scripture. As the Didache says in it’s opening: “There are only two paths; one leads to life and the other to death and there is a world of difference between the two.” This Sunday we’ll be starting to wrap up our study in Genesis, reading the fallout from Cain’s murder of Abel and the consequences that befell him be...
Jun 16, 2024•42 min•Season 32Ep. 12
One of the intriguing puzzles of the Biblical narrative is the amount of detail that is afforded some elements of the story, and the shocking lack of detail given to others that feel like they deserve more. Part of that, I believe, is intentional. There is no better way to draw your readers in than to push their minds to fill in the gaps. Much like an impressionist painting, the story of the Bible has many moments that virtually demand our participation. One such section is what we’ll be reading...
Jun 09, 2024•47 min•Season 32Ep. 11
We’re coming to the most tragic part of the Biblical narrative this Sunday – we’ll be reading Genesis 3:8-24 in our continued study in that book. It’s a tragedy that sets up a pattern that gets set on repeat throughout the whole Hebrew Scriptures, leading right up to the Gospel. As you read about God’s response to human failure, what are some of the images that your mind conjures up? Imagine (and it shouldn’t be too hard) that you’ve messed up royally – how do you imagine God responding to that ...
Jun 02, 2024•47 min•Season 32Ep. 10
Have you ever done a diet, say restricting carbs or something? I don’t know if it’s your experience as well, but the moment I decide to cut out carbs the only food I ever think about is full of carbs. “Just don’t think about it, Rob.” – Heh….for me, the moment I’m told not to think about something the only thing I can think about is whatever I’m not supposed to think about. Can I get an “amen”? I wonder about that forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden – the one tree the first humans were told not...
May 26, 2024•46 min•Season 32Ep. 9
This Sunday is Mother’s Day and coincidentally enough, in our study we’ll be reading about the very first mother, the creation of Eve. We’ll be continuing our study in Genesis, reading ch 2:18-25 . Once again, I want to remind us to manage our expectations when we come to a study like this. Remember, Genesis isn’t a modern science text-book – it is sacred spiritual literature – and we are approaching it to discover its theological truths. We’ll be reading about the creation of a counterpart for ...
May 12, 2024
Do you remember the old Mad Magazines, how the inside back page was an Al Jaffe cartoon that had an image on it which, if you folded it in, created another image which was a commentary on the first. I used to love those things. In many ways, the book of Genesis, if we metaphorically folded it to touch the book of Revelation, operates similarly. We begin and end in a Garden…and everything in between functions to elaborate on that hope. The imagery of the first few chapters of Genesis unlock the m...
May 05, 2024•36 min•Season 32Ep. 6
Robbie and I were watching a movie some time ago. It was a popular film based on an equally popular novel called “Water for Elephants”. When it was over, Robbie quietly said, “I didn’t like that movie. They never gave that elephant water even once !” “So you felt misled?” I asked between chortles. “Yes!” she said, “I waited through that whole movie for them to give that elephant water and they never did, they only gave it whiskey !” “Hmmm, you have a point. Maybe they should’ve titled it ‘Whiske...
Apr 21, 2024•37 min•Season 32Ep. 6
I have a daughter who is 11 now and one of her jobs when she gets home from school is to take her lunchbox and put it by the sink. Then later that night, I’ll wash it and it will be clean and ready to go for school the next day. It’s a pretty simple system, that is I thought it was simple until I realized it was never ever happening. It was like pulling teeth to get this girl to remember the simple job of putting the lunchbox by the sink. One afternoon, Sammy had a particularly busy day out of t...
Apr 15, 2024•35 min•Season 32Ep. 5
One of the things we as human beings struggle with is a sense of value and worth. In our highly technological and celebrity obsessed society, it is very easy to begin feeling unimportant and deservedly marginalized. I firmly believe that if we truly believed in a Creator God, and the story of human origin we find in Scripture, we would encounter a whole new way of understanding who we are as human beings. This Sunday we’ll be returning to our study in the first four chapters of Genesis – we’ll b...
Apr 08, 2024•43 min•Season 32Ep. 4
We’ll be continuing our journey back to the beginning this Sunday, as we read Genesis 1:3-13 . Last week we looked at the start of the narrative in v2 – that while the story begins after there is already stuff – that stuff was chaotic and uninhabited…or formless and void. Over this chaotic stuff, the Spirit of God was circulating as the agent of this new creation in process. As we read through the first three days of creation, we will have to puzzle through some things. In v3, God declares that ...
Mar 17, 2024•38 min•Season 32Ep. 3
This Sunday we’ll be continuing in our study of the first chapters of Genesis. John Walton shares an illustration that I find very helpful in changing my frame of view when it comes to deciphering the first book of the Bible. He imagines a person coming into a play that’s already begun, and when he sits down he asks the person next to him “How did it begin?” He’s not expecting the person to explain the process of playwriting or casting or how the set was built and from what materials – he wants ...
Mar 10, 2024•35 min•Season 32Ep. 2
This Sunday we’ll begin a new series, tackling the first 3 or 4 chapters of the book of Genesis. Genesis has long been considered a dense forest to traverse, and certainly, during the 20th Century it has become a battleground between competing worldviews. I’ve been really drawn to the chronicle of Biblical origins. I’m recognizing more and more how the Genesis story affects the entire narrative of the Scriptures. The threads of Genesis run straight to the Gospel and the New Testament and provide...
Mar 03, 2024•49 min•Season 15Ep. 1
