Discover the Word Podcast

In the Bible, there are quite a few good things that come out of dark places. We often end up “in the dark” in our lives, but God is a God who does his best work “out of the darkness.” Let’s look at darkness in the Bible this week, and discover how God not only brought good things out of darkness in the Bible, but can and will bring good things out of the shadowy places in your life too.   LOOKING...

Jesus made it clear that he wants us – you and me – to go into the world and make disciples. We take such a directive seriously because after all, we know the difference knowing Jesus has made in our lives. We desperately want others to find the help and the hope in him that we have. We want our parents, our children, our coworkers and friends to have what we have. In Luke 5, we find a certain “fi...

Consider, in these conversations with the Discover the Word group, a song that are the reflections of a person who has lived life, learned, and now shares the experiences that taught him about his God. To that end, we turn to Psalm 18, which takes us to a song that David wrote in his old age as he looked back over the years of God’s faithfulness to him.   LOOKING FOR MORE EPISODES of the Discover...

Psalm 131 presents an important profile that should characterize the worshipper—whether going up to Jerusalem or down onto their knees. It is, at its heart, a wisdom psalm that sings of the value and wisdom of childlike humility before God and contentment and confidence in Him.   LOOKING FOR MORE EPISODES of the Discover the Word Podcast ? Listen and subscribe wherever you listen to your favorite...

Love. It’s an essential attribute of God and the central theme of the gospel. From Genesis to Revelation God’s unconditional love is the impetus for creation, redemption, and restoration. God’s love is a foundational principle and practice for those who would follow Him. Unfortunately, we can allow other things to distract us from the main thing. In fact, many people don’t think of love at all whe...

Daniel Ryan Day leads the conversations with Mart and Elisa and Bill about the surprising story of the Old Testament prophet Jonah. Jonah’s primary fear was that a loving God would be gracious to the Ninevites and show them mercy. He did everything he could—including offering to die a few times—to keep from preaching to them. In the middle of 39 Old Testament books that seem almost solely focused...

Daniel Ryan Day leads the conversations with Mart and Elisa and Bill about the surprising story of the Old Testament prophet Jonah. Jonah’s primary fear was that a loving God would be gracious to the Ninevites and show them mercy. He did everything he could—including offering to die a few times—to keep from preaching to them. In the middle of 39 Old Testament books that seem almost solely focused...

In this series of conversations, we want to explore together a moment when Moses was allowed to meet with God in a way that was both overwhelming and instructive. It was overwhelming because God is God. It was instructive because in this meeting God chose to reveal the essence of His nature and character to Moses. We want to try and see all of this together by considering a critical passage in Exo...

Four times in the first two chapters of Matthew the evangelist uses the citation formula, “This happened to fulfill what had been spoken (by the Lord) through the prophet” (Matthew 1:22; 2:14, 17, 23). What is the purpose of these citations? What does Matthew mean by “fulfilled”? What we will discover is that Matthew is not in search of mere messianic “proof texts,” but rather that he engages his...

Four times in the first two chapters of Matthew the evangelist uses the citation formula, “This happened to fulfill what had been spoken (by the Lord) through the prophet” (Matthew 1:22; 2:14, 17, 23). What is the purpose of these citations? What does Matthew mean by “fulfilled”? What we will discover is that Matthew is not in search of mere messianic “proof texts,” but rather that he engages his...

In the life of a church – from the first century’s to today’s – growing pains are inevitable. We may not embrace this at first – who likes pain of any kind? But in reality, we often grow best through pain, don’t we? Financial pains teach us to manage our money with an eye to God’s directives. Relational pains shape our character. Physical pains develop dependency on God’s provision. And church pai...

The Jewish celebration of Rosh Hashanah (the feast of trumpets) celebrates the launching of a new year, and the blowing of the trumpets signals that fresh start for the calendar. In that celebration, Psalm 47 is read seven times before the trumpets are blown, making it an integral part of anticipating the new year. As we approach our own new year, we will consider Psalm 47 and how it might help us...

At Christmas time we often turn to Matthew 1 or Luke 1-2 to think about the story of the birth of the Savior, and those are wonderful records of Jesus’ coming. This Christmas, however, we invite you to explore with us a different telling of the Christmas story—the Christmas story as Paul told it to the Galatians—for it gives us a portrait of the heart of our heavenly Father and His great love for...

At Christmastime, we often focus on the first half of Luke 2, and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Later in that same chapter, however, Luke introduces us to two other characters who also have a story to tell. This week on the Discover the Word Podcast , we consider one of them—Simeon—and the sense of fulfillment and contentment he discovered upon encountering the infant Jesus.   LOOKING FOR MORE...

How does the church respond to times of pain and hardship? Author and professor Soong-Chan Rah explains how Scripture models lament as an appropriate response to the reality of suffering in the world. He then explores why we see an absence of lament in Western Christianity and the dangers of wanting to quicken a time of grieving to return to a happier place.  Join Discover the Word and special gue...

The word advent means “coming” or “arrival.” For centuries, different churches have created various practices to help prepare hearts, minds, calendars, congregations, families, and individuals to celebrate the coming/arrival of Christ. Through the practice of observing advent and lighting the candles of an advent wreath in the weeks before Christmas, we can look back at how God was faithful to ful...

In the Old Testament era, Israel had three offices: prophet, priest, and king. Of those, the priest had the unique role of representing the people before God. He did this through sacrifices, prayers, care, and more.  If this was what human priests were responsible for in Judah, what does it mean for Jesus—the Lord, Savior, Creator, Son, and Lamb—to be our high priest? We want to explore that idea...

Author Leslie Leyland Fields joins the Discover the Word group from her home on Kodiak Island, Alaska, and shares “Insights from a Fisherwoman about Following Jesus.” In a time when so many are “unfollowing” Jesus and leaving the church, Leslie’s experience in her family’s commercial fishing business provides a helpful perspective about what it meant for those first fishermen disciples to follow J...

Shame and honor formed some of the biggest issues in the cultural context of the Bible. So, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that language popping up in the Scriptures.  This week on Discover the Word , we want to consider together the surprising ways in which God is not ashamed of us, and how we are called to be unashamed of Him.   LOOKING FOR MORE EPISODES of Discover the Word Podcast ? Listen...

What comes to your mind when you hear the word "worship?" Worship is a word we throw around a lot, but it's actually a pretty abstract idea. It's difficult to get our minds around what it is. That's probably why we tend to use the word to simply define a style of music--that's easier than engaging with the mystery that is worship. But the word "worship" shows up in nearly every book of the Bible--...

This week on Discover the Word , get to know best-selling children's author Sally Lloyd-Jones. Discover how in her book The Jesus Storybook Bible, she helps us understand that it takes the whole Bible to tell the story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. And how at the center of the Story, there is a baby, and every story in the Bible whispers his name. Don't be surprised if, a...

Oh, how lonely we are in this world! At some point in our lives, and often throughout our lives, we struggle with the set apart, isolated, rejected and unwanted feeling that is loneliness. What can we do about loneliness? Scripture tells the tale of why loneliness first appeared on our planet and in our lives and how we can find help and actually become unlonely. Join us for this Discover the Word...

One of the more abstract concepts in the life of faith is that through salvation our identity is now in Christ . Yet when we talk of our identity in Christ, we’re referring to an actual reality—just not a tangible one. We’re talking about a spiritual reality, which may be why it’s so difficult to get our minds around this subject.  This week on Discover the Word , we want to consider together what...

God created the wild beasts as an important part of His very good creation. But when humans took things into their own hands and the world was broken by their fall, the wild beasts became something they were not intended to become—a symbol of the brokenness of creation.  But God never stopped caring about them. In fact, Jesus even emphasized that if God cares about the animals, how much more does...

Dr. Jeannine K. Brown, a popular writer, teacher, and expert on the Gospels, joins the Discover the Word group to show us how reading the Gospels piecemeal, one story at a time, may miss the point the gospel writer was trying to convey. Be part of the conversations as she takes us to Matthew's gospel and shows us how to interpret the Gospels as whole stories about Jesus of Nazareth. Join the discu...