Displaying 1 - 20 of 324 in total
Genesis 15 - What good are all your blessings
Setbacks don't only happen when you can't see the big picture. Job is a famous example of hardship accompanied by confusion about what God is doing, but we focus a bit...
Hosea 6 - Slaughter you with my words
In this episode we look at the themes of repentence and forgiveness. God tells us in Exodus 20 that he shows love to a thousand generations to those who love him, but...
Romans 7 - Who can save me from this?
Romans 7 names the experience precisely: the things I want to do, I don't; the things I don't want to do, I end up doing. We explore how sin, gospel, and law fit toget...
Hebrews 11 - Saw it all from a distance and welcomed it
Faith has two sides: the kind that moves mountains, and the kind that endures when the mountain stays put. We explore the idea that faith is a belief held strongly eno...
1 Kings 19 - A still small voice
Unanswered prayer is a genuine part of Christian experience — not a failure of faith. Many of the tidy explanations we reach for turn out to be exactly the arguments J...
Luke 18 - Came to him repeatedly
Prayer is a bit like calling emergency services — in the moment you need it most, technique and philosophy are the last things on your mind. We explore a tension that ...
Luke 24 - Their eyes were opened and they recognized him
Sometimes personal study isn't enough. We explore three stories where genuine biblical insight only emerged in community — the road to Emmaus, Philip and the Ethiopian...
2 Timothy 3 - Prepare and equip his people
The Bible speaks to each of us today — but how does that actually work? We land on 2 Timothy 3:15-17 as a solid summary of Scripture's purpose, but spend most of our t...
Luke 18 - Thank you that I am not
Pride has a support network. Luke 18 gives us two characters whose postures before God could hardly be more different, but we explore the broader ecosystem that pride ...
Job 36 - Something to say on God's behalf
No one person — or tradition — can fully represent God. The lesson this week raises the idea that the Bible is the "truest, clearest, and most consistent" revelation o...
Revelation 3 - I stand at the door and knock
We're starting a new season on the topic of growing in a relationship with God. There's a lot of great questions in the lesson this week, but we notice an interesting ...
Colossians 4 - Remember my chains
We revisit the verses about mutuality in relationships that straddle chapter 3 and 4. Although these were the topic last week, various ensuing conversations have gener...
Colossians 3 - You also have a master
It's not easy for us in the 21st century to read Paul asking slaves to submit to their masters. It is fascinating to realise that his matching remark to slave-owners i...
Colossians 3 - Mortify your members
The main metaphor framework in this chapter seems perhaps surprisingly violent. There are passages about "putting to death our bodies", and we notice that some transla...
Colossians 2 - High-sounding nonsense
This chapter is beautifully passionate about the way that our completeness is in Christ. Everything that really matters about us is best expressed in relation to Jesus...
Colossians 1 - Christ lives in you
This week, we wrap up our look into Colossians 1. From Eugene Peterson’s poetic rendering of scripture to the core idea that "Christ is enough," we explore the life-ch...
Colossians 1 - Firstborn from the dead
After introductory greetings, the book of Colossians launches into a glorious passages of praise to Christ. It is widely considered to be a poem or perhaps even early ...
Philippians 4 - God of peace will be with you
The closing chapter of Philippians seems to oscillate between extremely specific remarks and some thoughts that are truly general. Being separated in time and culture ...
Philippians 3 - Infinite value of knowing Christ
Paul highlights that Christ is our confidence, and makes a vivid contrast with the attitude of confidence in our own human effort. It is remarkable that the contrast i...
Philippians 2 - shining like bright lights
Avoiding "worldly" demands and customs is a long-standing passtime for Adventists and other protestant denominations. The lesson this week assumes this is the same as ...