23-0917: God, who is sovereign to save, calls His people to be a faithful witness so the nations can hear and believe. Jonah goes to Nineveh to preach the message God gave him, but he is not thrilled about it. The text seems to show that he gave no extra effort, only the bare...
“The tension of Jonah’s life, however, is that he loves Yahweh but has taken serious action against God’s intention to offer forgiveness to the violent (as he and Yahweh discuss in ch. 4). The tension between his “temple piety” and his attitudes toward the unjust world are true to life. The tensions represents the...
23-0903: God calls people for His glory and pursues us in our rebellion to save us by His relentless grace. Jonah is an interesting story with a maximum amount of drama compressed into only a few shorts chapters. Like watching a father and his son, Jonah shows us how big, how REALLY big, God’s...
23-0827: Jesus gave baptism and the Lord’s Supper as a testimony to remember and declare the gospel. The two ordinances of the church are important because of their central role in our witness. These are not religious ritual, and should never be reduced to this. Rather, they are essential practices that center our faith...
And we do this, WE do this, not just you or me, but together WE do this to grow up and become like Jesus. You can grow individually, but you cannot grow up alone. No person grows to maturity to become like Jesus without others. There is no individual process to maturity that excludes...
23-0813: Relationship with God produces a life of authenticity together to be known in Christian community. The Bible teaches that in salvation we not only know, but are known by God. The living God knows His people. And as His people He calls us to live together in community that displays the excellency of...
23-0618: Jesus is Lord; the life lived by this faith confession is surrendered to glorify Him in every way. Against the backdrop of religious unbelief and worldly idolatry, Jesus teaches his disciples the true power of God to overcome the world. He teaches them of His death and resurrection, and what a life lived...
23-0528: Glorifying God flows from a heart that trusts in Jesus Christ to honor Him with one’s whole life. When Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees over the practice of his disciples, he wastes no time to reveal the hypocrisy of their teaching. He tells them that they are the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy...
23-0521: The grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ produces a people united in His fellowship and mission in the world. Luke’s record of Jesus’ followers after Pentecost provide insight for every Christian today. We glean the values of the early community that shaped the church, and understand how those values formed...
23-0514: Jesus is King who is coming again soon, and by His gospel every Christ-follower is called to live ready. At the end of Revelation the author returns to a writing style of a letter, to conclude in the way he started. His words summarize the message to exhort the reader to remain faithful...