RUF @ Western Carolina

Day 2 explores the reality of evil in Narnia and Middle Earth, as well as the unseen but ever-active hand of providence. We also look at Repentance and Justification, what happens when the intervention of God begins to work in our own lives.

I got to teach this seminar at SuCo, and wanted to share it here for any who want to give it a listen! This first day we talk about the goal of the seminar, as well as Christ-figures in Middle Earth. Thanks to Fleming Ruteledge, Peter Kreeft, Mike Kruger, Louis Markos, and many others whose insights and teaching on these works has been so helpful!

Finishing up our series on the ordinary means of grace, we take a look this week at the NT sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Where do they come from? What are they? What do they mean? And how do we use them as means of grace despite our tendency to make them about ourselves?

Continuing our short series on the ordinary means of grace, how can we enjoy prayer in a fuller way? How does it sustain us in the Christian life?

What does it take to grow as a Christian? What are we supposed to do? In this mini-series, we're working through the "ordinary means of grace," looking at the common, easily available things that God uses to grow us and mature us by his grace. This week, we look at the Word: why is it a means of grace, and how can we actually enjoy it?

How does David respond after being exposed for his sin? How should we?

This week we look at the story of David and Bathsheba, asking how David could have gone so far astray. What does this reveal about sin in our own lives?

What does a right response to the grace of God in our lives look like? Where does the power to respond in that way come from?

Last time we looked at the Ark coming into Jerusalem, asking what happens when God comes into the center of our lives? This week we're looking at David's desire to build a "house" for God, and asking the question "how do we relate to God? If he's at the center, what is that relationship like?"

This week we skip ahead to the time when David is king over Israel. One of his first acts is to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to the center of the nation. But what happens to us when we invite God into the center of our lives?

About half of the psalms contain an element of lament, but what does it mean to lament? Why do we struggle to do it? What might it sound like in our personal prayer life and corporate worship?

What is friendship? What stands in the way of our friendships? How can we be freed to be committed, present, and vulnerable as we build friendships with others?

This week we look at the familiar story of David and Goliath, asking how it fits into the bigger story of Scripture and points to Jesus' victory before it points to our own personal struggle against the giants of our lives.

This week we start out our new sermon series looking at the life of David. Listen in as we meet him for the first time when Samuel anoints him as the next king of Israel.

This week we look at the empty tomb, taking a brief detour into the field of textual criticism.

How are Christians to navigate the political realities of the era they find themselves in? What are some of the complications, and what does it mean to "render unto Caesar that which is his, and to God that which is God's?"

This week we look at the common ways that we can miss who Jesus is when we're too focused on what we want him to do for us.

This week we look at Peter's confession and the Transfiguration. What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ? What does it mean that he is God? And why does he keep telling people not to tell anyone about him?!?

Jesus' conflict with the Pharisees is escalating: why does Jesus call them "hypocrites?"

What do you do when the way God works doesn't make sense? When he seems "late" in giving you what you need?

This week we look at two encounters Jesus had with the Pharisees on the Sabbath.

Continuing in Mark, we look at the surprising things that Jesus says in the healing of the paralytic.

What does it mean to follow Jesus? This week we look at the call of the first disciples, and consider what it means for us when Jesus calls us to follow Him.

Fall '24 - This semester we're looking at the Gospel of Mark, learning what it means to follow the servant king. Listen in to the first large group of the year!

What are we to do about suffering in the Christian life? What encouragement is there in suffering?