The Teaching Series (with Brad Gray and Brad Nelson)

The final song of Christmas included in Luke’s gospel comes forty days after the birth of Jesus on the lips of an elderly man named Simeon. As Simeon holds Jesus in his arms, he begins praising God by joyfully proclaiming, “Lord, now you are dismissing your servant in peace.” Set in its original context, these are some of the most moving and inspiring words for us to consider as we launch into a n...

During the Christmas season, we join the angels in singing “peace on earth.” But earth doesn’t always feel peaceful. In fact, it often feels really chaotic. From personal challenges to family heartaches to friends who are suffering to wars around the world, the idea of “peace” can be confusing and elusive. Which is why we need to understand more fully what the angels were proclaiming, and how to o...

Zechariah’s song (the “Benedictus” in Latin) is a potent reminder that God sees us, cares about us, and faithfully show up to us in our lives. It’s a powerful song, but as you’ll see, powerful songs come from powerful stories – usually painful ones. Despite experiencing the disgrace and disappointment of being barren, Zechariah and Elizabeth remained faithful to God and resolute in their humility....

Christmas songs are powerful! From hymns and carols to drumlines and choirs, few things capture the essence of Christmas like its music. Which is why in this new series, we examine the prophetic songs surrounding the first Christmas recorded in Luke’s Gospel. Beginning with Mary’s song (the “Magnificat” in Latin), we see that she demonstrates a fiery confidence in God’s faithfulness despite centur...

In this final episode of our Flora & Faith series, we meet two biblical characters who come to the end of themselves in the same wilderness south of Beersheba. “Wilderness” is more than just a place on a map. It’s also a territory of the soul where all our safety nets get removed, and our only hope is to depend on God. It’s here that God uses a small desert shrub to deliver a potent message of...

In the book of Judges, we meet an obscure tree that serves as a powerful illustration of what a life of faithfulness looks like. In Judges 9, Gideon’s son, Abimelech, convinces the people of Shechem to appoint him as king and then murders all his brothers, except one: Jotham. Having escaped, Jotham tells a fable about several trees that culminates with the atad. The atad looks strong and vibrant o...

Arguably the most recognizable tree in the land of Israel, the olive tree is known for its legendary longevity and fruitfulness. As such, it’s referenced repeatedly in the Scriptures. Most notably, the Apostle Paul uses it in Romans 11 to navigate a delicate situation between Jewish and Gentile believers in the church in Rome, and to communicate an authoritative point that has lasting implications...

Waiting on God is one of the most difficult things to do in life. In some seasons, we’re forced to wait so long it’s hard to see any redemptive purpose in it. But, in the Scriptures, the blossoming of the almond tree is a hopeful sign of better things to come. It’s also a symbol that God is watching and working in the waiting. By the end of this episode, you’ll discover how the almond tree teaches...

We’ve all read stories in the Bible that leave us wondering, “Wait! What in the world does that mean?” Jesus’s cursing the fig tree is a prime example. As one of the signature features of the landscape of the Bible, the fig tree developed deep symbolic meaning for the people of Israel. Understanding how a fig tree produces fruit clarifies exactly what’s happening when Jesus curses the fig tree. By...

Some of the most powerful lessons on faithfulness in Scripture come from flora illustrations. When we understand the flora behind the illustrations, we grasp the lessons at a deeper and more impactful level. As we launch into this new series, we begin in John 15 with Jesus’s famous words about the “vine and the branches.” As we’ll see, placing Jesus’s words in their viticulture context provides a...

Jesus lived and ministered in a world of competing agendas, ideologies, and theologies. Nowhere was this more apparent than around the Sea of Galilee. Jesus trained his disciples here because it was a microcosm of the world! By modeling how to engage with Herodians, Zealots, Religious Jews, Gospel Patrons, and Decapolis Pagans, Jesus equipped his disciples for a life of faithfulness after his deat...

Before, during, and after the life of Jesus, the land of Israel was a hotbed of Jewish resistance against Rome. Located just northeast of the Sea of Galilee, the city of Gamla was a stronghold for a group called the Zealots. These were religious extremists who believed the kingdom of God came by force, and who were willing to kill Romans, Jewish collaborators, and themselves if needed. Despite the...

As an itinerant rabbi with disciples, Jesus was dependent on the hospitality and generosity of others. So, who funded Jesus’s ministry? The answer will make you chuckle and marvel at who God uses to advance His purposes in the world. But in order to find out who funded Jesus, we need to learn about the wealthy city of Magdala. By the end of this episode, you’ll be inspired to be more intentional a...

Jesus interacted with all kinds of people. And when he crossed the Sea of the Galilee to “the other side,” it was to be with the pagans of the Decapolis. This league of Hellenistic cities was created to showcase Greco-Roman thought and culture in the region. But the cultural crusading of the Decapolis masked a spiritual starvation for something more. Like Jesus, we’re called to be salt and light i...

Jesus spent an enormous amount of time in a tiny area of the Galilee we call today the “Evangelical Triangle.” Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida were home to a religious Jewish population that was passionate about following the Scriptures. And yet they proved to be some of the most resistant people to Jesus’s message and ministry. How can the very people who are so fiercely devoted to the Text mi...

The city of Tiberias looms large over the life and ministry of Jesus because of the powerful group of Jews it represented: The Herodians. These were wealthy, influential people who supported the pro-Roman Herodian regime. When we understand the background and origin of the city of Tiberias alongside the strategic ambition of the Herodian family, it makes perfect sense why the Herodians saw Jesus a...

Jesus spent 90% of his time ministering around the Sea of Galilee. Why not in Jerusalem? Why not in another part of the country? The answer is simple: Location. Location. Location. Following the arrest of John the Baptist, Matthew’s gospel tells us that Jesus “withdrew to Galilee.” But Jesus wasn’t retreating. He was advancing. He was taking his message into the heart of the crossroads of the worl...

Holy Week invites us to hold death and life in creative tension. We pause to consider Jesus’s death on the cross, but then we celebrate the new life bursting out of the empty tomb. In a similar way, the book of Ecclesiastes makes a helpful connection between our deathday and our birthday. In this special Easter Episode, we’ll explore what it means that our deathday is better than our birthday, and...

Most stories build to a climactic moment (Boaz redeeming Naomi & Ruth at the city gate) and then conclude with falling action. Not Ruth. Instead, the book of Ruth ends with a genealogy loaded with surprises that reverberate with implications not just for Naomi and Ruth, but for the people of Israel and the whole world. In the final episode of our series on Ruth, you’ll see how trusting God’s c...

The climactic scene in the book of Ruth takes place in the city gate. Two kinsmen are poised to provide the rescue Naomi and Ruth desperately seek. The first steps in and says, “I’ll do it,” but immediately changes his mind when Boaz mentions Ruth. It’s a confusing moment without the cultural context. But once we have that, it unlocks the story in a powerful way to see why the first one declines,...

More ink has been spilled over what happens between Ruth and Boaz at the threshing floor than any other scene in the book of Ruth. That’s because Ruth 3 is loaded with sexually suggestive language. But the Bible is actually doing something incredibly beautiful and redemptive by inviting us to see Boaz and Ruth as models of integrity who don’t just pray with their lips, but also with action. By the...

Despite having arrived in Bethlehem, Naomi, and Ruth are still vulnerable widows dependent upon the generosity of others to meet their needs. And in a time when everyone is doing what’s right in their own eyes, that doesn’t bode well for them. But as we’ll see, Ruth’s humility and work ethic caught the attention of a man whose empathy and integrity will change the course of her and Naomi’s life. B...

In the face of overwhelming loss, Naomi does what many of us do when we’re hurting: she isolates and cuts herself off from those around her. But Ruth embodies a dramatically different response. As we’ll see, Ruth’s response to the experience of loss becomes the core theme of the entire book and solidifies her place as one of the most inspiring characters of the Hebrew Scriptures. By the end of thi...

One of the most beautiful and moving stories in the Bible is found in the book of Ruth. But it doesn’t start that way. Set in the dark and precarious times of the Judges, the story of Ruth begins in a place of famine and death. As we’ll see, the first five verses are loaded with contextual information that lay a foundation for the rest of the book. Before we can appreciate the beauty of the story,...

In this final episode of Characters of Christmas, we explore a subtle, yet powerful distinction Matthew makes between Jesus and Herod that many people completely miss. Despite being appointed “king of the Jews,” Herod was religiously Jewish, culturally Greek, politically Roman, racially Arab, and ancestrally Edomite. Talk about an identity crisis! As we’ll see, Herod may have possessed the title “...