Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

One of the greatest sufferings for the human mind is isolation. While physical torture is certainly great suffering, isolation is the greatest spiritual suffering. Penitentiaries will put the harshest criminals in solitary confinement. Secular psychologists argue that being alone will cause great harm to the individual psyche. From a biblical perspective, the psyche is also argued to be the soul....

“I know who I am. If I just believe in myself, I can accomplish miracles!” This is the message of confidence that sells billions of dollars in self-help books and seminars annually in the United States. The market for this message is big as insecure Americans seek out services and ‘professionals’ to improve their lives. This industry claims to have answers for all spiritual, financial, and health...

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

Certain people are sometimes not welcome at the table during a meal. We often will send a misbehaving child to his room as a lesson that gathering with the family at the table is a privilege, not an entitlement. The previous verses of Matthew 26:20-25 revealed that our LORD, Jesus, challenged his twelve in preparing to partake in the gift of his body and blood for their salvation. Eleven of the tw...

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

Many have just experienced family gatherings these past weeks of the Holiday Season centered around a table, a shared meal. Some have enjoyed the blessing of family. Others have tolerated the presence of family. Regardless, the shared meal during a celebration can bring either great joy or tragic suffering. We continue in our exegesis of Matthew’s gospel through the final few days of Jesus’s life...

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

This fourth Sunday of Advent is the last Sunday morning before we celebrate the birth of our Savior on December 25th. The brokenness of God’s fallen creation at last sees hope in the miraculous incarnation of God’s Son. Today’s text will give us a glimpse into the mysterious yet revealed truth of the Incarnation of God himself as he steps into humanity – resulting in the birth of the Son of God wh...

"Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts." -- Zechariah 1:3

Joy to the World is one of the more popular Christmas songs of the English language tradition. This hymn brings remembrance of the rich theology … biblical theology … of the incarnation to the hearer. All the earth responds in a new song of JOY at the arrival of God in the flesh. In contrast, secular Christmas music that fills our airways and streaming services does not have In contrast, secular C...

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

Today is the second Sunday of Advent, the theme of PEACE. The biblical theme of Christ as peace is much different than the secular adaptations of Christmas peace between men. The biblical theme of peace is instead peace brought about by the atoning sacrifice of Christ, not between men but between fallen man [the created] and God [the Creator]. ___________________ Thus the Peace that is ushered in...

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

"I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our...

The Suffering Passion story of Jesus involves great betrayal but also great adoration and blessing. The first verses of Matthew 26 set the stage for the final days of Jesus’ ministry and life. Jesus himself declared what would happen. Evil men would plot and deliver him over to death. Their actions were seemingly the way to control Jesus and HIS Message because the doctrines that Jesus taught were...

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

The Suffering Story of Jesus is the Church’s Story too because the Church has always suffered most for preaching the gospel and is passionate for doing so. The final lesson from Jesus was his lived out suffering and crucifixion and resurrection. The final three chapters of Matthew’s gospel teach us our final lessons in Christian discipleship. We learn our weakness. We learn of Jesus’ fidelity in d...

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

This parable of Jesus is one of the most profound teachings of our LORD concerning judgment and HIS expectations for the elect and their service in his kingdom. Yet this parable has less parabolic language and more direct language than other parables. Whereas the previous three parables from Matthew 24:45 [Wise & Foolish Servants] and Matthew 25:1 [The Wise & Foolish Virgins] and Matthew 25:14 [Pa...

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

What is the purpose of a gift received? All of us have received something from someone else that we did not expect or did not seek. But this person knew us well enough to know what we needed and offered an undeserved gift. This is grace. Yet what is the purpose of that gift? What is our duty in possessing that gift? Does our spirit and gratitude align with the gift giver's purpose in granting the...

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the...

The time to be prepared for any event is always now. Whether that future event is a blessed thing like marriage and children, or preparing for a career through education and experience, or even preparing for a doomed day like a wartime invasion, the time for preparation is now. Yet so many in our culture live day to day, paycheck to paycheck, maxing out debt, with no stockpile of food or the savin...