Meet Me in the Word: Bible Study with Pastor Tim

Send Tim a note What do you do after a failure that leaves you feeling discouraged or even disillusioned?  How do you move forward, back into mission and maybe more importantly, back into health?  I think we all want reassurance that we’ll be okay; that we’re not abandoned. This is the part of the story that comes after defeat and a brutal reckoning because of sin.  It's all picking up after...

Send Tim a note What if I told you you could have peace, not just for the thing you’re going through right now but for the span of your life.  If that interests you, you should check this episode out! Paul talks about the kind of peace that doesn’t take away life’s difficulties and chaos but it gives us an entirely different way to go through them.  Support the show For a reading plan and to learn...

Send Tim a note Do you ever look at someone else’s spiritual life and think, “why isn’t mine like theirs?” If that’s you, I want you to hang in there with me until the end - I have some words of encouragement specifically for you. Genesis 15 holds a story of promises, patience, and faith.  We see how Abram not only believes God but brings his questions and doubts to the LORD as well.  We don’t typ...

Send Tim a note What motivates you to do the right thing?  And does it matter?  The truth is we all can be prompted into action by things like rewards, the fear of punishment or negative consequences for bad behavior or even bribes. The Jesus way challenges all of those things and calls us to develop the habit of simply living rightly. Jesus teaches about giving to the needy in Matthew 6:1-4, inst...

Send Tim a note If I gave you 5 minutes to put pen to paper, how would you describe someone who is holy?  Now, if you just jumped straight to “someone saved by Jesus” - I want you to flesh that out a little more: what are their traits?  How do they conduct themselves? Can we discern if someone is living a holy life through observation? While I’m sure he took more than 5 minutes, David does that ve...

Send Tim a note Why is it that the hidden things in our lives cause the most trouble?  One of the big lies we tell ourselves is that if no one else knows, it isn’t causing harm to us. Deep down we all know that isn’t true but it feels easier at the time to try and bury the problem rather than hauling it out into the light. The story of Achan is not an easy read but it can serve as a good reminder...

Send Tim a note What if I told you that your faith doesn’t need to be perfect but it does need to be honest?  What if I also told you that this is one of those things that wasn’t meant for your head so it needs to travel down to your heart?  What if we truly came to accept it?  We explore these things as well as what it means to be children of Abraham in a very real sense. Support the show For a r...

Send Tim a note What would you do with your 15 minutes of fame?  If (and when) you got them, the platform would be suddenly yours and with it comes the  opportunity for influence and the chance to improve your situation.  We see quite a bit of that in our world today, some handle it well and others not so much.  I wonder if any of us is particularly prepared to handle those big successes. Abram ex...

Send Tim a note If you’ve ever read a passage and thought, “that isn’t fair at all!” You’re one of the good ones!  Someone who reads with an honest heart. Today we’re reading some teaching from Jesus that isn’t hard to grasp for our minds but it is for our hearts.  Loving people in general can be enough of a challenge but Jesus calls us to much more than that. What does it mean for us to pray for...

Send Tim a note I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of anxiety in the world lately. I’ll bet you’ve noticed the same thing.  Politically, in so many countries, things feel tense.  I grew up in the late stages of the Cold War and there was plenty to be worried about back then too. Even in their personal lives people face economic uncertainty, strife in families and marriages and at times it just seems...

Send Tim a note I'm excited to share this special episode with you!  While we spend our time on this podcast moving into Scripture, what happens when it moves into our lives?  What kinds of change can it bring about? Muriel Rose is someone who has endured a variety of challenges throughout her life including health challenges, discrimination (for being left-handed), abusive situations and the...

Send Tim a note What do you do when life hands you a set back that makes you question everything you’re doing?  Where do you find answers when that happens? Our text today deals with deep discouragement and the severe realities of sin.  Both of those things can be a major wrecking ball in our lives and compel us to consider the substance of our faith when things are down.  Support the show For a r...

Send Tim a note When was the last time you did something to earn God’s favor?  Some of you raised an eyebrow just now and set your theological sensor up to 500%.  Living a life that’s pleasing to God is a good thing but how does that work itself out in real life? You know, our faith actually isn’t all that complicated but it is deep, with layers to work through.  Today we look at the significance...

Send Tim a note Hear me out… following Jesus is worth more than any amount of wealth or ease life can offer. Also hear me out… Most of us don’t know where our conviction truly lies until we’re faced with a meaningful, substantial choice. That’s not to say we don’t mean it when we say it, it is to say that core beliefs are refined in the context of real life much more than in a mental exercise.  Th...

Send Tim a note Jesus continues to speak to the very center of His listeners in the Sermon on the Mount. He’s calling people out of technical observation and into genuine life change. Today’s reading is challenging, not so much because it’s hard to understand but because it pushes us to evaluate our own integrity and then to make appropriate changes where it is lacking. Support the show For a read...

Send Tim a note This one’s for the over-thinkers, the ones who just can’t help but come up with 17 worst case scenarios.  If there were trophies handed out for overthinking, you’d have a room full of them but somehow, you’d convince yourself that you didn’t deserve them and that your friends have all abandoned you. You're definitely not alone!  In fact, this experience is so common that many...

Send Tim a note Today we get to look at one of the famed battles in all of Scripture. Songs have been written and Veggie Tales have offered their unique telling of this story. Joshua chapter 6 gives us the battle of Jericho and our task is to understand it well in order that we can also grow and develop as followers of Jesus, especially as it's one of those stories that is familiar to many of...

Send Tim a note "How are you doing today?"  We ask each other that kind of question often, presumably because we care about each other and we hope that the people in our lives will feel safe enough with us to just be themselves. Here’s the thing, though, Jesus will meet us in whatever state or emotion we find ourselves and meet us exactly how we need.  He certainly met the Jews in their...

Send Tim a note We get to dive into two distinct moments in our Scripture reading today. The first is one of the most influential and important promises made in the O.T. and the second could be the basis of some sort of soap opera.  All in a day’s reading :)   My prayer is that our time today will help us appreciate God’s faithfulness even when we sometimes behave badly.  Apparently, God has facto...

Send Tim a note Following Jesus would be so much easier without all these other people! I think we’ve all felt that way at different times.  We want the harmony and unity of what the church ought to be but people (including me and you) make it difficult.   That's part of the spiritual formation and refining we go through, though.  Following Jesus was never about safety but it IS about healing...

Send Tim a note If you’ve ever thought that someone had your back and then found out that they didn’t.  That betrayal can really sting.  Unfortunately, that’s a pretty common thing, not just today but throughout human history.  We don’t know what, exactly, prompted David to write Psalm 12 but it certainly reads like he was exasperated; wondering who he could actually trust. We’ll explore the impor...

Send Tim a note “Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith.” ~ Hudson Taylor That’s one of those quotes that really makes you stop and think about who is actually shaping your life.  Another way of saying that might be: Am I settling for the best that I can do or am I actively pursuing God’s plan? Joshua encounters the man with a drawn sword and quickly...

Send Tim a note Have you ever had one of those conversations?  The kind where someone is critiquing you… maybe even in the context of your job but it could happen in any context.  And the worst part is… they’re right?  That is a pretty rough experience and it reminds me about most of Romans up through 3:20.  Paul has been taking everyone to task But now the tone shifts into hope, into a new thing...

Send Tim a note I’ll bet you don’t have to go too far back in your family’s history… or even your own life to find some really difficult and challenging, perhaps tragic things that have happened. The last part of Genesis 11 talks about some of these challenges that happened in the life of the family that would ultimately become the people of Israel. And yes, I talk a little about the Tower of Babe...

Send Tim a note Hear me out… What if I told you that you’ll never be good enough to get into God’s good graces on your own.  The requirements are too rigid, too high, too long, too much. But Jesus did meet them… completely… and He’s invited you to enter into that abundant life through him.  What would you think about that? Many of you have already worked through that idea to a certain level and ye...