The Bible in a Year

"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline." In this episode of 'The Bible in a Year,' Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence finish 1 Timothy and work through 2 Timothy 1–3, Paul's charge to a young pastor to stand firm, guard the truth, and fan the gift of God into flame. Paul tells Timothy not to let anyone look down on him because he is...

Is Jesus coming back today? And if not, how should we live while we wait? In today's installment of 'The Bible in a Year,' Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence walk through 2 Thessalonians and the first three chapters of 1 Timothy: Paul's call to stay watchful and faithful, and his instructions to his "true son in the faith" on leading God's church. The believers in Thessalonica were so focus...

Is Jesus really God? Paul's answer in Colossians couldn't be clearer: "The Son is the image of the invisible God… in him all things were created… and in him all things hold together." In today's episode of 'The Bible in a Year,' Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence walk through the Book of Colossians and 1 Thessalonians; two letters about who Jesus is and how to live while we wait for Him to...

Saved by grace, called to stand firm, and filled with a joy no prison could take away: in this episode of 'The Bible in a Year,' Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence walk through two of the Apostle Paul's most loved letters, the Book of Ephesians and the Book of Philippians. Paul spent about three years in Ephesus, a city built around the temple of Artemis, longer than he stayed anywhere else...

What do you do with a "thorn in the flesh" God won't take away? In Episode 450 of The Bible in a Year, Pastor Kevin Cain and Rev. Dr. David Spence finish 2 Corinthians with one of the most comforting promises in Scripture, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," then work through the entire Book of Galatians, Paul's bold letter on grace, faith and freedom in Chr...

How do you hold on to hope when life presses in from every side? In 2 Corinthians 1–11, the Apostle Paul writes his most personal letter, and it all starts with "the God of all comfort." Pastor Kevin Cain and Rev. Dr. David Spence walk through it on this episode of The Bible in a Year. Paul had been beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked three times, and opposed by "false apostles" inside the church, yet...

How does Paul pull a divided church back together? Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence finish 1 Corinthians and find the answer running through every chapter: unity, built on love and anchored in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They start with Paul's call to run the race for a crown that lasts forever and his promise that God always provides a way out of temptation. From there they cover t...

Corinth was a busy, worldly port city, and the church there was split into camps: "I follow Paul," "I follow Apollos," "I follow Cephas." Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence open 1 Corinthians with Paul's question, "Is Christ divided?" and his answer: preach Christ crucified, a message the world calls foolishness and God calls wisdom. They then cover Paul's practical teaching on growing from...

"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me?" Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence take up Paul's most honest question and follow his answer through the rest of Romans. They start with the war between the flesh & the Spirit, then reach the high point of Romans 8: creation groaning like a woman in labor, the Spirit praying for us when we have no words, and the promise that nothing can separa...

"The righteous shall live by faith." Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence open the Book of Romans with that line, calling it Paul's greatest work of theology, and the summary of everything he wrote. In Romans 1–6, they work through why every person is "without excuse," why there is "none righteous, not even one," and how Abraham was justified by faith long before the law. They also cover the...

Paul turns his face toward Jerusalem, knowing chains are waiting for him. Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence follow him the rest of the way in Acts 20–28: Eutychus falling from the window at Troas, the tearful goodbye to the Ephesian elders, Agabus binding himself with Paul's belt, the uproar in the Sanhedrin, and Paul's trials before Felix, Festus & King Agrippa. Then comes the storm, the...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence trace the Gospel's explosive outward push in Acts 9–19, from Saul's conversion on the Damascus road through Peter's vision at Simon the Tanner's house, the Jerusalem Council, and Paul's first & second missionary journeys. The hosts linger on Ananias — the man who heard "go to Saul of Tarsus" and still walked in saying "brother Saul" — and on the humor & hu...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence open the Book of Acts, tracing the birth of the church from the ascension, the 10 days of prayer through Pentecost, Peter's first sermon, and the explosive growth that followed. The hosts unpack the tongues of Pentecost as a reversal of Babel — the confusion of language undone as the Gospel is proclaimed in every tongue gathered in Jerusalem — and lay out...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence bring the Gospel of John to a close, covering the upper room, the farewell discourse, the high priestly prayer, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. The hosts open with a striking observation about the foot washing — that at a U-shaped table, Judas occupied the position of honor beside Jesus, meaning the Savior washed His betrayer's feet no less thorough...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence work through the heart of John's Gospel, tracing the "I AM" statements that anchor the book — the bread of life, the light of the world, the good shepherd — and the stunning encounters that surround them. The episode opens with the Samaritan woman at the well, where the hosts unpack the cultural walls Jesus deliberately crossed and the moment she left her...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence bring the Gospel of Luke to a close and step into the Gospel of John — covering Holy Week, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the road to Emmaus, and then one of the most theologically breathtaking prologues in all of Scripture. The hosts linger on Luke's distinctive eye for human detail: the disciples in Gethsemane found "exhausted from sorrow" rather tha...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence move through the heart of Luke's Gospel, opening with a look at Luke himself — the Gentile physician, meticulous observer, and gifted writer whose care for the marginalized & for women runs through every chapter. The episode works through some of the most beloved parables in all of Scripture: the Good Samaritan, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodi...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence open the Gospel of Luke — the orderly, meticulously researched account written so that Theophilus might know the certainty of what he'd been taught — and work through the birth narratives, John the Baptist's ministry, the temptation in the wilderness, and Jesus' earliest ministry. The hosts build a stunning through-line around the glory of God: absent from...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence bring the Gospel of Mark to a close, covering the triumphal entry, the cleansing of the temple, the Olivet Discourse, and the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The hosts draw out an intricacy unique to Mark — that Jesus entered the temple courts, looked around at everything, and left for Bethany before returning the next day — making clear that the...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence open the Gospel of Mark — the shortest of all four Gospels — and cover the first 10 chapters in a single episode, tracing Mark's signature theme of Jesus' authority: over demons, sickness, sin, the Sabbath, and even nature itself. The hosts highlight how Mark bookends the entire Gospel with the declaration of Jesus as the Son of God — from the opening vers...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence journey through the final nine chapters of Matthew — from the parable of the workers in the vineyard, to the triumphal entry, the cleansing of the temple, the Olivet Discourse on the end times, and ultimately the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The hosts unpack the beautiful truth that it is never too late to come to Jesus, pairing it with...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence work through Matthew 13–19, opening with the beloved Parable of the Sower and Rev. Spence's simple but profound wisdom on the sower's only job: "sow seed." The hosts dig especially into the rocky-soil hearer, drawing on Pastor Kevin's counseling background to unpack how a thin veneer of "I'm fine" often hides the rock beneath, and how real growth requires...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence dig into the largest chunk of teaching Jesus ever delivered — the Sermon on the Mount — unpacking the Beatitudes, the call to be salt and light, and Jesus' repeated pattern of "you have heard it said... but I tell you," where He raises the Mosaic law to its true Edenic standard rather than abolishing it. The hosts trace that same standard of righteousness...

This episode closes out the entire Old Testament and opens the New — as Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence finish Zechariah's most explicitly messianic chapters, move through Malachi's forerunner prophecy of a coming Elijah, and then step into Matthew 1–4; where Jesus' genealogy, birth, and early ministry unfold. The hosts spend real time on Matthew's account of Jesus' family tree — includi...

Pastor Kevin Cain & Rev. Dr. David Spence dig into the visionary second half of Zechariah's early chapters — the flying scroll, the woman in the basket representing wickedness, and the four chariots of judgment — before arriving at one of the most stunning, messianic prophecies in the entire Old Testament: Zechariah 9:9's declaration that Jerusalem's king would come "righteous and victorious, lowl...