TextLab

This week Jake and David walk through part two of the story of Joseph from Genesis 39. They cover important contextual information that is vital to understanding the meta-narrative of Genesis as well as providing practical implications for our everyday life.

This week Jake and David discuss the beginning story of Joseph found in Genesis 37. They offer you a rapid-fire, detailed conversation so that you can engage deeper with the text this week.

This week David and Jake discuss Roman’s 8:31-39 where we hear that nothing can separate us from the love of God. They discuss the way this truth affects the way we live on mission in our pray-watch community. How does understanding us never being separated from God affect our daily lives? How do these verses build a foundation for our identity in Christ as well as who Christ is? How does this tru...

This week Jake and life group leaders Jenae and Shawn discuss the promise of suffering and how the Holy Spirit comes alongside us, intercedes on our behalf, and helps us to come alongside others as they go through difficult times. In what ways do you personally experience or witness the groaning and longing described in this passage? How does this understanding affect your understanding of the bro...

This week David and Jake discuss life in the Spirit and the identity shift that occurs when the Spirit dwells within us. We encourage Life Group leaders to take their own time with Christ, giving the Spirit space to draw them closer to Him as they lead their groups this week. What does it mean to be led by the Spirit of God? How does this influence our daily lives and decision-making?  What signif...

This week Jake and Adam discuss the post-resurrection position that each believer stands in and the implications of the Holy Spirit living within us. Are there times when you feel it’s hard to believe that there is no condemnation? What does this text tell us about the Holy Spirit? What personally resonates with you in this text?

This week Jake and Hannah discuss the beautiful benefits of the gospel and the joy it produces naturally in our hearts as we grasp its implications. They dive into the breakdown of Romans in order to grasp the entirety of the epistle of Romans seen within these 4 verses. How does our understanding of no longer being condemned affect our workdays, relationships and engaging with the yet-to-believe?...

This week Jake and Jen talk about our desperate and dependent nature through Romans 7:13-25. We discuss the different positions held in the exegesis of the text as well as the implications of our position before and after Christ. How does “Wretched man…” describe our desperate and dependent nature? What do you think Paul hoped would be the application of these verses? Where do you see your spirit...

This week Jake and David discuss Romans 7:7-12 and the misconceptions surrounding the law in their town as well as our town today. They hit on the idea that the law is holy, righteous and a gift to us and how it applies practically today. Why is the law an act of grace (a gift) from God? How does the law point us to Jesus? What perception of the law and God do you think your pray-watch community h...

 This week Jake and Zack discuss Romans 7:1-6 and what being dead to the law looks like and how Christ has perfectly fulfilled the law and given us His righteousness. How do you view the law? What does it mean that Jesus has fulfilled the law? How would you explain this passage to your yet-to-believe friends who had questions?

This week Jake and Hannah discuss Romans 6:20-23 where Paul describes why a life lived to God is better for us and more joyful than a life enslaved to sin. They encourage the Life Group leaders to create space for authenticity and vulnerability in their groups. What is sitting on the throne of your heart? Where have you seen fruit come from actions, good or bad? What does it mean to be set free fr...

This week Jake and Will discuss Romans 6:15-19 and what the relationship between joy and obedience is. They expand on our human nature and how Christ’s crucifixion flips our relationship with the Father. Why would joy in Christ lead us to obedience? Where in your life is it difficult to trust God? What were the green-shoots in your pray-watch community this week?

This week Jake and Gary discuss Romans 6:1-14 and dive into detail on our new identity found in Christ. They talk about the radical shift that occurs when Christ carries our sin to the cross and crucifies it with him so that we are no longer under the control of sin but are new creations in him. How would justification and sanctification have been taken by the Jewish and Gentile audience? How does...

This week Jake and Adam discuss Romans 6:5-11 and dive into detail what being dead to sin looks like in our lives today. Additionally, they discuss how this truth leads us to gratitude, living missionally, and creating opportunities for your joy in Christ to be seen by others. What do you find challenging about what he has stated? Frustrating? Bewildering? Encouraging? What are the ways you practi...

This week Jake and Will discuss Romans 6:1-4 and dive into detail on being new in creation through Christ while still fighting against our fleshly inclination to sin. They expand on the idea that we are saints that struggle against sin and provide practical questions that will help in your Life Group's study this week. When has it been really easy to acknowledge your desperate dependent natur...

This week Jake and Jasen discuss Romans 5:15-21 and dive into detail on God's amazing grace, what the cross and resurrection mean for us now in our day to day lives, and how we can cultivate spiritual rhythms in our lives and the lives of our life group that provide receptivity to God's Spirit, deepening our joy in Him. How do we actually live this text out throughout the week? What is t...

This week David & Jake discuss Romans 5:12-14 and what our position is as humanity prior to Christ’s death and resurrection. We all were guilty because of sharing in Adam’s original sin along with the relationship between sin and death. In what ways is Jesus the greater Adam? What does Paul hope to communicate in 12-14? Why is it important that we have an understanding of our own sin, guilt, a...

This week Will & Jake discuss Romans 5:6-15 and what it looks like to delight in the Trinity. They talk about how we all were once enemies of God, #butGod restores us into right relationship with Him which makes us rejoice! They dive into how justification leads us to reconciliation, which makes us ministers of reconciliation! How would both Jews and Gentiles have understood the term "ung...

This week Will & Jake discuss Romans 5:1-5 and the importance of justification by faith. They dive into the history of the Church, how justification leads us to rejoice and find joy in the midst of suffering. In verses 1-5 what does Paul tell us that we should be rejoicing about?  Why? In what ways do you see the Holy Spirit working in your life? IE v.5: “pouring God’s love into you”. How do w...

This week Will & Jake discuss Romans 4:16-25 and the way that faith plays itself out in the story of Abraham (in Paul's eyes.) We will discuss the story of Abraham, the definition of faith, and how grace plays out in our daily lives. How do you think this text would have been received by the people in Rome? Both Jews and Gentiles? What do you think Paul is doing by telling the story of Ab...

In this episode, David and Jake unpack the Abraham narrative in Romans 4. They discuss the meaning behind Abraham's trust in God being credited to him as righteousness, and the grace that we receive because of what Christ has done. Why was the timing of Abraham's circumcision such a big deal in Paul’s argument? What did circumcision mean to the Jewish people in the first century? What do...

Will and David are BACK for a new season of the Text Lab! On this episode, they take a look at Romans 4:1-8 and its significance as the summit of what chapters 1-3 have been building towards. • In what ways does Romans 4:1-8 pick up where 1-3 left off? • How does this text show the meaning of what desperate dependence is? • What does Paul signify when he looks at Abraham and quotes David?

This week Will & Jake discuss Romans 3:8-20 and how God is right to judge the world because of each person's own sin. The depth of the law points us to look at our sin, and to turn from it towards Jesus in a desperate and dependent way. Why do you think Paul uses the Psalms the way he does in verses 12-18?  What is Paul’s main point of this text?  Why is it important that we have a right...

This week David & Jake discuss Romans 3:1-8 and how God is faithful, even when we are unfaithful. When we recognize our true desperate dependence, we are able to respond in worship and humility while receiving the abundant grace of God’s love towards us. What does Paul mean when he says, “What if some are unfaithful? Will that affect God’s faithfulness?” How does it change our understanding of...

This week David and Jake discuss Romans 2:17-29 and how everyone is in need of the Gospel; nothing saves us except the work of Christ, who desires to bring about a transformation process in our hearts and lives. Reflection Questions: When in your life did you realize that you were guilty before God and were going to be judged by the same standard as everyone else? At what point did you realize you...