The Restoration Project Podcast

Methods is an online experiment in guided prayer and meditation brought to you by The Restoration Project. *Methods is best experienced with headphones/earbuds. Sources used in this episode: _The Worship Sourcebook_, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2013) ; Peter Rollins, _The Orthodox Heretic: And Other Impossible Tales (Paraclete Press, 2009). Narrator: Meredith Rounsley Backing...

the restoration project. Joshua James. 14 January 2018

the restoration project. Joshua James. 17 December 2017

the restoration project. Joshua James. 10 December 2017

the restoration project. Joshua James. 3 December 2017

the restoration project. Tim Steindl. 19 November 2017

Sometimes it is necessary to take a break from our scheduled sermon series to address issues in our community. Two days prior to this sermon, one of our member families experienced a devastating house fire. In this teaching, Josh talks about the importance of the Doxology, and why we sing it each week as a church family. the restoration project. Joshua James. 12 November 2017 *If you'd like to giv...

As this major section of Galatians comes to a close, Paul has one final, biblical argument for the Galatian church to consider: the story of Sarah and Hagar in Genesis. Some scholars propose that the reason he cites this story is because Jewish-Christian missionaries had used it to prove the Galatian church's need to be circumcised. As you can expect, Paul interprets the story in a very different...

In this week's text, Paul interrupts his very sophisticated (and thoroughly Jewish) re-reading of the Old Testament with a highly emotional and angsty plea to the Galatian churches. Put simply, they have "gone back" and he can't understand why. He even describes his feelings as "labor pains," which will last until Christ is formed in these churches. From this, Josh asks several questions about our...

the restoration project. Joshua James. 22 October 2017

the restoration project. Joshua James. 15 October 2017 Small Group Study Questions: (1) Nerd question: Paul reads the Old Testament very strangely (well, he reads it as a first century, Jewish-Christian, former Pharisee). Do you find the way he has handled it alarming? Or just confusing? (Re-read 3.15-16 for one example.) (2) Paul began the letter (and chapter three) speaking derogatorily to the G...

This week, we are in for another tough passage in the book of Galatians. Luckily, it is part of Paul's larger (sustained) argument concerning the contrast between the Law and Faith/the Faithfulness of Jesus/the Spirit. Unlike last week, Paul begins a defense of his position by producing an interesting (and unique) interpretation of the Bible. His opponents, to be sure, didn't like it. Josh makes t...

the restoration project. Joshua James. 1 October 2017

In this week's teaching, Josh explores Paul's dense theological language in Galatians 2:15-21 in an attempt to get at the heart of his gospel message. Here's a spoiler: it's not about circumcision, it's about trusting in Jesus. the restoration project. Joshua James. 24 September 2017 Small Group Study Questions (1) NT Wright summarizes this passage: “Paul’s head-on clash with Peter in Antioch was...

Last week, we discussed the agreement between Paul and the Jerusalem church leaders over the issue of circumcision. This week, whatever unity was achieved in that meeting has seemingly dissipated. Paul recounts Peter's visit to Antioch, his practice of eating with Gentile Christians, and then his "forcing" them to practice Jewish customs due to external pressures from more conservative Jewish/Jewi...

This week is pretty much all about circumcision. (Fun, right?!) For modern readers, we struggle to grasp the (massive) significance of this discussion in the early church—whether or not Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians needed to be circumcised. Its significance shouldn't be underestimated. In Galatians 2, Paul tells the Galatian church plants of his "private meeting" with the leaders of the Jerusal...

In week two of our sermon series on Galatians, Paul is continuing to build a case that the gospel he preached to the Galatian church was not dependent on human tradition, or the Jerusalem church (the authoritative body of the early church), or Peter or James or any other apostle ... rather, it was revealed to him by God. As a result, he wasn't diminishing or relaxing its standards in order to "ple...

In this week's introductory teaching on the book of Galatians, Josh tries to set the context for Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia—why he was writing, what he was addressing, why he was so ticked, what we learn about the gospel. The teaching concludes with some pointed questions about our (mis)understanding and (mis)application of the gospel. the restoration project. Joshua James. 27 August...

We are in between sermon series at TRP, so we took some time to provide a brief "state of the church" (while also linking it to some past teachings from Ruth). Listen in and be encouraged. the restoration project. Joshua James. 6 July 2017

In this final week of our teaching series on the book of Ruth, Josh discusses the theological depth of genealogies ... you know, those really boring lists of names. Yeah, those. They often have a deep theological significance. And that's how Ruth ends. the restoration project. Joshua James. 30 July 2017

We are coming to the end of our study of this beautiful story. Only one more week! In this teaching, Boaz calls a meeting of the town elders in order to redeem Elimelech's land and Ruth the Moabite. There's only one problem ... someone else is "ahead of him in line." (In this culture, the closer relative has the first right of refusal.) As a result, he calls "Mr. So-and-so" before the elders to as...

The book of Ruth is *not a story of the romance between Ruth and Boaz, but things in chapter three get a little steamy (or at least, a little suggestive). Josh attempts to put the story in its ancient Near Eastern context to help us see, yet again, how God works through Ruth (and Naomi and Boaz). This is a story of commitment, and it is demonstrated here in a beautiful, if risky, way. the restorat...

In this week's teaching, Josh attempts to draw some thematic strands together. Boaz cares for Ruth the Moabite. He gives her special gleaning privileges in his fields. He invites her to the table to eat until she is filled. He gives her grain to share with Naomi. In other words, Boaz models commitment and grace and concern—what the ancient Israelites called hesed. What can we learn from this examp...

In this week's teaching, we talk about two things: (1) gleaning laws in the Pentateuch and how they inform our understanding of Ruth's work in the fields and (2) what Ruth was (really) asking to do in the fields and how that (may) affect our view of Ruth. the restoration project. Joshua James. 25 June 2017

According to Phyllis Trible, Ruth's choice to commit herself to Naomi (an old widow), adopt a people that could have viewed her as a perpetual outsider, and follow a God who she had no real reason to trust, "made no sense." And Trible is right. In this week's teaching, Josh explores some of the things that it *could have cost Ruth when she left her home in Moab to follow Naomi back to Bethlehem an...