The Bible in Small Steps

We’ve spent nine chapters watching the author of Hebrews build a case: Jesus is superior to the angels, to Moses, to the temple, to the priesthood, to the entire sacrificial system. Chapter 10 finally tells us what that superiority actually does — not in the abstract, but for real people who are tired, who feel guilty, who are wondering whether the cost of following Jesus is too high. The Shadow a...

Hebrews 9 is the devotional heart of the letter. Everything the author has argued — the superior priesthood, the new covenant, the heavenly tabernacle — now converges in a single, climactic contrast: the old system required repeated ritual, conducted by mortal priests, in a carefully restricted earthly sanctuary. The new system is a single sacrifice, offered by the eternal Son of God, in the perfe...

If Hebrews 7 answered who Jesus is as our high priest, Hebrews 8 answers what he has done — and what kind of covenant he has established in doing it. This chapter marks the pivot point of the entire letter, and it opens by declaring its main point in the very first verse: we have a high priest who sat down at the right hand of God. That single posture — sitting — changes everything. The Seated Pri...

Hebrews 7 is one of the most theologically packed chapters in the entire letter — and also, honestly, one of the most confusing if you don’t know who Melchizedek is or why the author keeps circling back to him. This episode finally answers that question. Who was this mysterious priest-king? Why does Abraham — the patriarch of the entire Jewish faith — give him a tenth of everything? And what does...

Hebrews 6 is one of the most debated passages in all of Scripture, and one of the most misread. It opens with a warning severe enough to have caused genuine distress among believers for two thousand years — and then, almost without transition, it pivots to one of the most tender and rock-solid assurances in the entire New Testament. These are not contradictions. They are two instruments from the s...

What does it mean to have a high priest who actually knows your weakness — not from a distance, but from the inside? Hebrews 5 builds the case that Jesus is not just a symbolic priest, not a self-appointed one, but a divinely called, genuinely human, and perfectly sinless mediator. And then, almost without warning, the chapter turns and delivers a sharp rebuke: you should be much further along in...

Hebrews 4 stopped me in my tracks — and I think it will stop you too. This chapter does something that mirrors the gospel itself: it first undoes us, and then it restores us. It begins with a sharp warning drawn from Israel's failure in the wilderness, a warning the author refuses to let us treat as ancient history. Then it pivots to one of the most tender portraits of Jesus in the entire letter —...

There's no bigger name in Judaism than Moses. The author of Hebrews isn't going to mock that. He honors it — and then makes a claim that would have stopped his readers cold: Jesus is greater. Not as an insult to Moses. As the fulfillment of everything Moses was pointing toward. Holy Brothers and a Heavenly Calling (Hebrews 3:1) The chapter opens with affection. 'Holy brothers' — set apart by God,...

Chapter 1 gave us the throne room. Chapter 2 brings Jesus all the way down — into flesh, into temptation, into suffering, into death. And somehow, that descent makes the whole thing more glorious, not less. The Warning: Don't Drift (Hebrews 2:1–4) The first warning of Hebrews arrives early. Not a dramatic break from faith — a drift. The word is nautical: a ship that was supposed to be docked, slow...

How do you describe someone who holds the entire universe together? The author of Hebrews opens with a seven-part portrait of Jesus — and every line is meant to land with weight. This is chapter 1. Two Eras, One Son God spoke to the prophets in many ways across the Old Testament era — through visions, dreams, burning bushes, temple events. But in these last days, he spoke through his Son. Not anot...

Before we dive into Hebrews chapter by chapter, there's a mystery to solve — and it's been unsolved for nearly two thousand years. We don't know who wrote this book. What we do know is why it was written, who it was written to, and why it still cuts so close to the bone. A Word of Exhortation Hebrews isn't a letter in the usual sense — it reads more like a carefully crafted sermon, written for a s...

Have you ever had to choose between what was legally within your rights and what love would ask instead? That's the situation Paul is writing into in Philemon — the shortest of all his letters, only 25 verses, readable in four minutes. In this episode we walk through the whole letter verse by verse: a prisoner appealing to a friend, a runaway standing between law and grace, and a request that is a...

Titus 3 moves from practical Christian behavior in society to one of the clearest summaries of the gospel in the entire New Testament. Paul tells Titus to remind the Cretan believers how to live as good citizens — gentle, non-quarrelsome, courteous to all. Then he tells them why. And the why is everything. In this episode we walk through this rich chapter: civic behavior, the law mirror, one of th...

It's only 25 verses. You can read it in four minutes. But Philemon may be the most concentrated picture of the gospel in the entire New Testament — and one of the most overlooked books in the Bible. In this episode, we take a flyover of the whole story: a runaway slave, a wealthy believer, an imprisoned apostle, and a letter that reshapes how grace works between people. 🔑 The Setup: Paul, Philemo...

It's only 25 verses. You can read it in four minutes. But Philemon may be the most concentrated picture of the gospel in the entire New Testament — and one of the most overlooked books in the Bible. In this episode, we take a flyover of the whole story: a runaway slave, a wealthy believer, an imprisoned apostle, and a letter that reshapes how grace works between people. 🔑 The Setup: Paul, Philemo...

Grace doesn't just forgive you — it trains you. That's the argument Paul makes in Titus 2, and it's one of the most carefully structured chapters in all of his letters. In this episode we walk through Paul's instructions to every group in the Cretan church — older men, older women, younger women, younger men, bond servants, and Titus himself — and discover why self-control is the most repeated qua...

Titus 1 is dense, practical, and urgent. Paul wastes no time getting to what matters: who should lead this church, why false teachers are a serious threat, and what real godliness looks like versus the counterfeit version. The chapter begins with a carefully constructed theological foundation and ends with one of Paul's sharpest warnings. The Theological Opening Paul's greeting to Titus is three l...

If you knew these were your final words, written from a cold prison pit while awaiting execution, what would you say? Paul knew. And what he wrote is one of the most personal, theologically rich, and quietly moving passages in the entire New Testament. Preach the Word — Always, Not Just When It's Welcome Paul opens chapter 4 with a charge to Timothy that sounds almost like a courtroom oath: I char...

Some letters in the New Testament feel written for a specific ancient crisis. Titus doesn't feel that way — it feels written for right now. A young, unstructured church, false teachers already at work, a surrounding culture known for instability and self-indulgence, and one trusted person left to sort it all out. That's not just first-century Crete. That's familiar territory. Who Was Titus? Titus...

What does it look like when a culture comes apart? Paul gives us an 18-point answer in 2 Timothy 3, and it's unsettlingly familiar. But the chapter doesn't end with a diagnosis — it ends with the most important statement about Scripture in the entire Bible. There is a path through, and Paul names it clearly. The Last Days and What They Look Like Paul opens chapter 3 by telling Timothy to understan...

Download blank templates, schedules here: https://schmern2.notion.site/Downloads-Template-Word-and-Excel-Schedule-67439d14449d4c20bfe00efe069f78b8 Logos RAMPS Workflow - RAMPS Bible Study - The Bible in Small Steps in Logos Workflows Jill’s Links https://jillfromthenorthwoods.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@smallstepswithgod https://www.buymeacoffee.com/smallstepspod https://twitter.com/schmern Emai...

How do you stay faithful when things get hard — not just for a moment, but over time, when progress is invisible and the work is completely unglamorous? In 2 Timothy 2, Paul answers with three images so practical they feel almost industrial: a soldier, an athlete, a farmer. Writing from a death-row prison cell, he gives Timothy the most durable guidance he can find. Strengthened by Grace — and a C...

Paul writes 2 Timothy from the worst prison in Rome — an underground pit, chained to a wall, facing execution. His closest companions have walked away. He knows this is his last letter. And he uses it to reach across the distance to Timothy, his beloved son in faith, and say: don't shrink back. The spirit you were given is not cowardice. It is power, love, and a sound mind. The Scene: Mamertine Pr...

What if the biggest threat to your spiritual life isn't physical danger — it's comfort? Paul's final chapter in 1 Timothy doesn't wrap things up gently. It searches you. It asks about motives, about what you've decided you need in order to feel okay. And it leaves you with a question that doesn't stop echoing: will being enough ever be enough? Bondservants: Faithfulness Wherever You Are Paul opens...

How do you care for people fairly when their needs are very different? In 1 Timothy 5, Paul lays out a relational map for the church family—how to address older men, younger men, older women, and younger women, how to support widows without enabling dependence, how to pay and protect church elders, and how to hold leaders accountable. It's one of the most practically demanding chapters in the past...