Acts 9:1-22 Summary: Acts 9 tells a story that is beloved for its magnificence but that might leave some Christians (particularly those raised in the church) wondering about the legitimacy of their own faith. Why hasn’t the work of God’s Spirit been as powerful and as evident in my life as it was in Saul’s? […]
Psalm 47 Summary: There must have been days in Israel’s history when they found this an awfully difficult song to sing. “Our God is the great King of all the Earth?” Imagine trying to sing those words while sitting in exile by the rivers of Babylon knowing that God’s temple had been leveled to the […]
1 John 5:1-5 Summary: Twice in this text John makes the claim that we who believe in Christ ‘conquer the world.’ For John, ‘the world’ is a place of temptation that lures us into sin (see 2:15-17), and so the conquering he’s talking about is our obedience to the commands of God. Most, if not […]
1 John 4:7-21 Summary: For the Apostle John, there is no trade-off between a God who judges and a God who is love. In fact, the truest and deepest expression of love is the lengths God went to in order to set us free from the claims of his justice (v. 10). The love that […]
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Summary: When Paul first came to Thessalonica, one of the things he taught was that they were living with a false sense of security, and that unbeknownst to them a day of judgment was coming…for which they needed the Lord Jesus Christ. Now months later, it seems that some of these Christians […]
Psalm 4; Luke 24:36-49 Summary: Luke 24:44 spells out that Jesus is fulfillment of Law, Prophets, and the Psalms. Faith in the resurrected Jesus helps us process our doubt leading to peace in the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Psalm 119:105 Summary: As we reflect on what it means that God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, we’ll consider four major questions, the answers to which can have a tremendous impact on our lives. We’ll consider the unique way that the Bible answers each question in contrast […]
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Summary: In this passage, the apostle Paul is addressing a deeply pastoral concern related to the timing of events at the second coming of Christ. As members of this brand-new church in Thessalonica began to die, those remaining became worried that their deceased loved ones would miss out on some of the […]
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Summary: When Paul first came to Thessalonica, one of the things he taught was that they were living with a false sense of security, and that unbeknownst to them a day of judgment was coming…for which they needed the Lord Jesus Christ. Now months later, it seems that some of these Christians […]
Mark 15:1-15 Summary: Though it can easily be mistaken for weakness or passivity, it’s also true that there can be tremendous power in silence. Pilate had probably heard every possible defense from defendants in danger of flogging and/or execution, but one response he’d like not heard before was silence. There are all sorts of things […]