Watts in the Word

A basic apologetic consideration of the historical reliability of the Gospels (and indeed the broader New Testament) breaks down into two main lines of reasoning: arguments based on history and how we know things, and arguments based on psychology and human nature. This is a very brief overview of a defense of the Gospel accounts, … Continue reading Are the Gospels Reliable?

Mark’s Gospel is a good one to use as a base for digging down to the core Gospel story; the part of the good news of Jesus’s life that all four Gospel writers included in their accounts. The list is surprisingly short, and while everything each writer wrote is essential for all Christians, considering the … Continue reading The Common Gospel

The “kingdom” is an especially important theme in Matthew’s version of the Gospel story. Jesus’s work was not disconnected from the story of Israel in the Old Testament; it was a fulfillment and continuation of God’s plan to establish his eternal kingdom, promised to David and Daniel. How does Matthew explore the importance of the … Continue reading The Kingdom...

Matthew’s gospel is the most closely connected to the Israelite story in the Old Testament. He connects these stories in two main ways: the fulfillment of prophecy, and the continuation of the kingdom. First, we will consider how Matthew addresses prophecy in the life of Jesus. How does Jesus fulfill all the promises of God … Continue reading The Culmination of Prophecy

We begin our foray into the New Testament with the Gospel of John; not the first gospel in most English Bibles, but the one that most closely parallels the beginning of the Bible in Genesis. What is different about John’s version of Jesus’s story, and what does he emphasize more than the other authors? Click … Continue reading God With Us

For a word that carries such importance in modern Christianity, the word “Messiah” appears astonishingly little in the Bible. Why is that? Aside from the quirks of translations and transliterations, why is this such an important prophetic title, and how did the intertestamental Israelites begin to think about it, leading to the arrival of Jesus? … Continue reading The Coming Mess...

While there are no narrative parts of the Bible that describe the 400 years between Nehemiah and Jesus, the Bible is not silent about that era of history; Daniel had a string of visions describing that time. How do Daniel’s visions guide us through this era and bring us to the arrival of the “Son … Continue reading Intertestamental Prophecy

As we wrap up our reading through the Old Testament with 2 Chronicles, it is important to consider if God still interacts with the world, nations, and geopolitics today in the same way that the Chronicler emphasizes. Even though God isn’t as explicit or clear with us today in how he is working, how can … Continue reading God is in Control!

The turn from 1 to 2 Chronicles focuses on David’s and Solomon’s efforts in building the temple, but during this process both David and Solomon recognize a puzzling aspect to their work; God doesn’t actually need a temple, everything that they used to build it came from him, and a temple can’t contain him anyway. … Continue reading The Purpose of Existence

A simple way to study a book of the Bible is to make note of repeated words or phrases; this is often the easiest way to identify the theme of a book! In Malachi, that phrase is “but you say”, which appears frequently in just four chapters. Why does the prophet use this phrase so … Continue reading “But You Say”

The return from exile involved a lot of rebuilding; the temple in the book of Ezra, the wall in the book of Nehemiah, and generally they would have had to rebuild homes, farms, roads, etc. But perhaps the most important rebuilding was the people’s relationship with God’s word. How did Nehemiah help restore Israel’s knowledge … Continue reading Valuing God’s Word

Zechariah, like most of the post-exilic prophets, urged Israel to return and repent by reminding them exactly why they had been sent into exile in the first place. What can we learn about God’s desire for repentance by considering how God dealt with people in times past? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching on the return … Continue reading A Call to Repent

Israel’s return from exile was a long process of rebuilding and restoring what had been lost, starting with the temple in the book of Ezra. But beyond rebuilding the physical buildings and towns, Israel needed to restore their relationship and obedience to God, a task that Ezra was well suited for. What can we learn … Continue reading Returning, Rebuilding, Restoring

This post contains a sermon, but the subject of artificial intelligence deserves more than can be said in one 35 minute sermon. And, honestly, the sermon came across a bit more pessimistic and a bit less nuanced than I would have liked. I have included below some much longer thoughts on the nature of artificial … Continue reading Christianity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

The vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 epitomizes one of the main themes of the Bible: God’s power to bring life from death, through his Spirit. Using Ezekiel 37 as a launching point, how does this power of God manifest in his promises through Jesus and his apostles? Click Here to … Continue reading From Death to Life

This sermon is only tangentially related to our journey through the story of the Bible together this year, but it is a topic I get asked about a lot. How should Christians think about Israel today? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching on the promises made to Israel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church … Continue reading A New Israel

The book of Ezekiel has a lot to say about how the failure of Israel’s leaders led Israel into destruction. The book still has much to teach modern readers about the importance of righteous leadership today. Click Here to Listen. (Preaching on the exile of Israel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of … Continue reading Failed Leadership, Failed Nation

The stories of Daniel and Esther take place outside of Israel, a hundred years apart. What can we learn from God’s people as they continued to live faithfully in the midst of ungodly people? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching on the exile of Israel. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on … Continue reading Stories of Exile (Sermon)

The Babylonian exile is one of the most complicated narrative backdrops in the Old Testament, spanning many prophetic and historical books in Scripture. Understanding the scope of the exile and the return will inform our reading of dozens of Old Testament books, and help us gain a better understanding of the story of God’s people … Continue reading Overview of the Exile (Sermon)

Lamentations might be the hardest book to read in the Bible; not because it’s obscure or overly intellectual, or because it is simply a compilation of census data, but because it’s extremely heavy and emotional. Why was it written, and why is still just as valuable for modern readers? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through … Continue reading A Lament for the Lost

Jeremiah is a hard book for modern readers to understand (like many of the Israelite prophetic books). What are some of the factors that contribute to this difficulty, and how can modern readers understand the book in its own context while also making application for ourselves? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through the prophets of … Continue reading Overview of Jeremiah (Sermon)

The book of Jeremiah is not arranged chronologically, so in our reading through the Bible our text for this week comes a little out of historical order. Jeremiah 29 is addressed to people living in exile after Babylon had come against Israel and carried many of them away. What did Jeremiah have to say to … Continue reading Letter to the Exiles

Most of the prophetic books of Israel simply record the oracles of the prophets, without revealing much about the prophets themselves. However, the books of Jeremiah and Isaiah begin with the call of the prophet and God’s intent for their ministries. What can we learn from the call of these two men, their responses, and … Continue reading The Prophet’s Call

Where the first half of Isaiah is mostly judgment punctuated by promises of restoration, the second half is primarily hopeful promises with occasional reminders of judgment. What kind of hope does Isaiah offer to Israel, and how does he expect the hope to be accomplished for God’s people? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through the … Continue reading Hope in Isaiah

The first half of Isaiah primarily consists of God’s judgment on Israel and the nations. Why did Isaiah prophesy so much judgment, and how might we be in danger of the same denunciations today? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through the prophets. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church of Christ on June 22, … Continue reading Judgment in Isaiah