Luke #10: Preparing The Way (Luke 3:1-14)

I’m looking forward to getting into the Word together this Sunday – we’ll be continuing our exploration of Luke – reading Luke 3:1-14.

The narrative will skip ahead 18 years, and return to the story of John the Baptist. Luke will locate him in time by listing off all the main leaders of the Mediterranean and Jewish world, but he’ll also be doing that for other reasons which we’ll consider.

Luke also locates John in the context of the larger Biblical story – what his role is in the Messianic advent. We’ll be talking about the implications of his message – and how we gain an understanding of God’s kingdom through it.

His final exhortations drive home the unyielding ethic that permeates both the New Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures – the sacrificial call to treat people well. As you read his instructions to the people, including the government employees (tax collectors and Herod’s soldiers), what strikes you about the nature of God’s kingdom? What do you see as our role in God’s Kingdom activity today?

Click here for the pdf version of the teaching PowerPoint slideshow.

Luke #9: In My Father's House (Luke 2:41-52)

Welcome to a new year! This Sunday we’ll be continuing to study the book of Luke – and we’ll be reading the section of Luke 2:41-52. This is one of the only places in canonized Scripture that gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ childhood.

In this account, Jesus has a “Home Alone” experience – where he gets left behind in Jerusalem after his family had visited to celebrate Passover. There is a lot that this passage reveals, least of which is Jesus’ first recorded words in Luke, and what they reveal about Jesus’ self awareness and specialness of his mission.

In this study we’ll consider who Jesus declares himself to be, and we’ll look at what this story tells us about our own lives as those who follow Jesus.

Click here for a pdf of the teaching’s slideshow.

Luke #8: Hope For A New Year (Luke 2:21-40)

Well – we’re almost done with 2020…and I know that it couldn’t come soon enough for many of us.

What’s interesting is…we really don’t know what 2021 holds for us…but we’re anxious to be rid of the last year because we’re HOPING that the next one will be better…right?

We’re going to continue our study in the Gospel of Luke, reading chapter 2:21-40. In this section Mary and Joseph have two prophetic encounters which speak about hopes maintained and hopes fulfilled. We’ll be considering what we can learn about keeping our hopes alive and well after the year we’ve just had.

We’ll also be celebrating communion, so if you won’t be joining us in person, have some symbol of sustenance handy so that you can join us virtually in this celebration.

Click here for a pdf of the slideshow for this teaching.

Luke #7: The Surprising Power of Christmas (Luke 2:1-10)

Christmas is almost here! We’re really getting excited, preparing for our Christmas Eve service – doing all we can to make it special and safe.

This Sunday, still in our study of Luke, we’ll be reading the most famous Christmas passage of all – Luke 2:1-10!

As you read through the text, take note of the power dynamics, and especially the contrasts that they provide. Who holds the greatest power in this section, according to the world’s standards of power? How seems insignificant and small?

God chose to invade this world, not through a spectacular means – not as a mighty supernatural being, wielding a flaming sword. God entered into the mess of this world through the tears of an infant and a baby’s cry.

What does that tell us about power from a biblical standpoint? What can we learn about God’s methods of revealing Himself and what does that mean to us, the ones through whom He continues to reveal Himself?

I think this is going to be an encouraging, yet challenging, study! Hope you can join us – again, in person or online on Facebook or YouTube at 10am!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

Luke #6: The Great Visitation (Luke 1:67-80)

This Sunday, as we continue our journey through Luke, we’ll be reading The Benedictus of Zechariah. We’ll be covering Luke 1:67-80.

It’s a song that celebrates God’s visitation of the earth. The question is, what kind of visitation is it? Should we be afraid or stoked?

One thing I did when reading this great psalm was to go through and underline all the positive words used in this passage; mercy, save, rescued, etc. When you do that and step back from it, you really get the tone of this song. What feelings are inspired in you as you read this?

What is the covenant God made with Abraham? How does that play into this song? Zechariah starts his song very localized – talking about deliverance from Israel’s enemies. The scope changes in v77-79 – what is talked about in those verses?

How might we embody the characteristics of this Divine Visitation this Christmas?

Click here to view a pdf of the teaching’s slideshow.

Luke #5: Trust Revealed In A Name (Luke 1:57-66)

This Sunday we’ll be reading Luke 1:57-66 as we continue our study in the Gospel of Luke.

The narrative will return its attention to Zechariah and Elizabeth in the birth of John the Baptist. To be fully immersed in the story, it might be a good idea to re-read vs 13-20 of chapter one. We’ll be doing that on Sunday as well. It’s important, because Gabriel proclaimed that his words would come to pass – compare v14 with 58. What is the result of believing that God will be faithful to his promises?

The controversy surrounding the naming of the child is somewhat lost on our modern Western society. We mostly pick names based on how they sound to us, but in the ancient word (and in many societies outside our own) choosing a name had profound significance. A name carried on a family legacy – which had an effect on more than just immediate family. Everything goes down according to tradition in the scene, until it comes to the name. Elizabeth usurps the process, at least in everyone’s eyes. What might we glean from this startling break with tradition, as it touches John’s future ministry as well as our own lives lived for God’s purposes?

There will be lot to consider in this short section. I hope you can join us, online via Facebook or YouTube, or join us in person. Please remember to wear a mask.

Click here for a pdf of the PowerPoint teaching slideshow.

Luke #4: Magnificat! (Luke 1:39-56)

I hope everyone had a happy, peaceful and safe Thanksgiving. No matter what, we have much to be thankful for – down to the very breath we breathe.

We’ll be continuing our study in Luke this Sunday, reading Luke 1:39-56.

It is a section traditionally called the Magnificat because that is the word in Latin that Mary exclaims when she breaks out in a song. This whole section, from Mary’s interaction with Elizabeth to the song Mary sings carries the theme of reversals.

Think about all that has been reversed in Luke’s gospel so far. We started the story the story of a man, a priest – but he’s been silenced. Instead, who is now the focus of the narrative? Our first great piece of theology doesn’t come from a priest, but from the mouth of a teenage girl. Think about how that time and culture viewed women. Think about the dynamic between younger and elder people in that time and culture. What reversals are you witnessing in this text?

When Mary sings her song, she is providing the theme of the Good News that Israel had been waiting for. Is this a song about going to heaven when she dies? What is the main theme of this song? What happens to the proud, what awaits the humble? What is anticipated for the rich and for the poor?

Why do you think the theme of reversal is so important to Mary…as she echoes the cry of her ancestors? What implications do these reversals have for us today? In what ways do the trappings of our culture, our politics, even the way we practice our faith run contrary to what Mary sings about here? How would you apply the theme of Mary’s song to your life as a Christian today?

This should prove to be an interesting study.

Also, this Sunday we’ll be celebrating the Communion – if you are joining us online, be sure to have bread or wine or some symbol of sustenance handy – we’ll attend to the ritual at the end of the teaching. If you’re going to be there in person, we are still going to be using the individual pods (longing for the day when we drop the restrictions and celebrate more casually and comfortably). Hope you can join us – in person or online!

Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

Luke #3: Mary, Mary Extraordinary! (Luke 1:26-38)

“I wanna be a lion
Yeah, everybody wants to pass as cats
We all wanna be big, big stars
Yeah, but we got different reasons for that…” ~

Mr. Jones, by Counting Crows

Everyone seems to have an innate desire to be significant somehow. There’s nothing more intriguing, it seems, than following someone’s rise to fame from obscurity (think American Idol or The Voice). One thing that the Biblical narrative does is focus in on people who are usually forgotten or unseen, and put them in a place where they can put on display what God’s grace has done for them. It’s not everyone’s story, but it is for a lot of characters.

Mary is one such person. We’ll be reading about her encounter with the angel Gabriel as he brings the annunciation of Christ’s birth this Sunday, reading Luke 1:26-38.

Our main focus will be on Mary – and specifically, what the text leaves out. What I mean is: based on what she is called to be and do in that time and culture is profound. Imagine an honor/shame culture’s expectations concerning fidelity to betrothal vows and moral purity. Imagine trying to explain to people that a pregnancy has happened but not by the normal process. Imagine how normal, reasonably intelligent people would respond to that and what that might mean to her safety, let alone her reputation.

I think it’s very important that we not sentimentalize nor idealize Mary’s commission and her answer to this calling. Luke is providing a glimpse concerning the nature of God’s work in the gospel and what it means to and for us. There are a lot of challenges inherent in Gabriel’s commission of Mary – and much for us to learn from it as disciples who follow in her footsteps of faith.

Hope you can join us this Sunday, online or in person. If in person, please wear a mask so that we can do our part to minimize the risk to others during these demanding times.

Also – if you want a good primer on the Gospel of Luke as we go through it, you should check out The Bible Project’s videos on it. I cannot recommend them highly enough. You can find them here: The Bible Project, Luke / Acts series

Click here for a pdf of the slideshow for this teaching.

Luke #2: The Sacred Story Resumes (Luke 1:5-25)

When the first Back to the Future movie ended, the words “To Be Continued” popped up on the screen. It was sort of a shock to me back then that a movie was created with the sequel already fully intended. Lord of the Rings was another movie series told in three parts. It felt like such a long time between movies – usually a year or more – but when the story resumed, it was magical.

The Gospels in our Bible are the resumption of the story of redemption which didn’t have a proper ending in the Hebrew Bible (The Old Testament).

Luke picks up very much like an Old Testament writer as he provides us with his thorough account of Christ. We’ll be reading Luke 1:5-25 in our study on Sunday – a section that is traditionally called “The gospel overture”.

What does the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth remind you of from the Old Testament? Why would that be an important connection for Luke to Make?

Read Malachi 3:1 and Malachi 4:5-6 and compare them to what the angel says about John the Baptist’s ministry. What do you think coming in the spirit and power of Elijah might mean? What might the average Israelite have been looking for in the fulfillment of Malachi 4? What can we learn about how God often keeps his promises?

The exchange between Zechariah and Gabriel is intentionally funny. I love how human Zechariah, and all the Bible’s characters for that matter, are.

Zechariah being struck mute served as a sign that Gabriel’s words would come to pass. What else would a sign like that be communicating?

V25 sounds the note which the whole of this Gospel will follow. How would you summarize what v25 is telling us about the nature and purpose of the Good News?

Hope you can join us on Sunday, either in person or online via Facebook or YouTube.

Click here for a pdf of the PowerPoint slideshow for this teaching.

Galatians #14: Freedom for Individuals In Community (Ga 6:1-18)

We have come to the final teaching in our study of Galatians – we’ll be reading ch 6:1-18. Often times it’s a temptation to skim the closing words of one of these letters – but that would be a shame to do in this one. Some scholars believe the key to really understanding this book is found in the closing statements.

In his final remarks, Paul quickly restates many of the points he made earlier, but he does so with an emphasis on how the freedom we enjoy in Christ will work itself out in the context of community. That’s what our focus will be on – how we manage both our personal responsibilities in relationship with God, with the mutual accountability we have as the church together.

In v2 Paul says to share each other’s burdens, but in v5 he reminds us of our personal responsibility for how we conduct ourselves. How would you reword those two challenges? How can we share each other’s burdens?

Paul also mentions “the law of Christ” in v2. That’s weird, isn’t it? After declaring liberty from religious laws all through this letter, he urges us to fulfill the law of Christ. What do you think he means by that? How might his words in ch 5:14 help us to understand his thinking?

In v 6-10 Paul talks about the biblical principle of sowing and reaping. How does this principle help to temper the way we use our freedom?

V15 is so powerful to me. All the expectations that get created mean nothing – do them or don’t do them…the only thing that really matters is that our lives are being transformed by God’s Spirit, made possible by Christ’s work on the cross. As you look at your own life, what transformations have you experienced that prompt you to boast in the cross?

I really love this book. It’s my second time teaching it and I really got so much out of teaching it again. That gets me excited about re-teaching other New Testament books! Hope you can join us Sunday, in person or online via Facebook or YouTube (hopefully we won’t have the connection issues we had last week – and by the way, the audio version of last week’s teaching is available HERE if you missed it).

Click here for a pdf version of this PowerPoint slideshow.

Galatians #13: The Fruits of Freedom (Ga 5:13-26)

Freedom is such an important principle in life, but more important is what we do with the freedom that is granted to us. This is true whether we’re talking about societal freedom or the freedom which is found in Christ.

This Sunday we’ll be reading ch 5:13-26 in our study of the Galatian letter. In this section, Paul will be providing the qualifiers concerning Christian freedom. Freedom, he says, should not become a base of operations for selfish indulgence – which the NLT translates as “sinful nature”, but in the Greek, the word is “flesh”. Flesh means more than just our bodies – it is a word that is signifying entire personhood being lived outside of God’s will or the Spirit’s guidance.

In v14, Paul loosely quotes Jesus in establishing how our freedom is to be lived out. What is the “flesh” action that love is countering, according to v15?

Paul talks about the war that rages in our lives between impulses to do good and impulses to do what’s wrong. The Intruders were teaching the Galatians that the way to win over the yetzer hara, the sinful impulse, was to learn and obey the Torah. In v18, Paul declares a different way – what does he say?

Ancient writers and philosophers seemed to enjoy creating lists of virtues and vices, and Paul falls right in line with that practice through the rest of the chapter. Count how many works of the flesh that he lists. Do you think it’s a comprehensive list or just a few examples? How many of the works are addressing interpersonal relationships? What might that tell us about Paul’s emphasis?

While the flesh has a lot of works, Paul speaks of fruit (singular) of the Spirit. In what ways do the works and the fruit corollate (one countering the other)? What does v25 describe as our part in bearing the fruit of the Spirit? How might we do that in real life examples?

It will be an encouraging albeit challenging study. Hope you can join us, either in person or online via Facebook or YouTube!

Click here for a pdf version of the PowerPoint slideshow for this teaching.

Galatians #12: Staying Free (Ga 5:1-12)

One major fear that gets posed whenever Christian freedom is discussed is the concern that it can lead to an antinomian lifestyle – a life with no constraint, living lawlessly. I’ve heard that fear expressed to me many times over the years. Martin Lloyd Jones, the old Welsh minister, famously said that if we aren’t accused of preaching lawlessness, we aren’t preaching grace the way Paul did. He’s right – Paul got accused of that a lot, and had to qualify his emphasis on grace many times in his letters.

This Sunday we’ll be reading Paul’s great rallying cry that boldly proclaims the main theme of his letter to the Galatians. We’ll be starting chapter 5, reading vs 1-12.

Paul states his main thesis in v1a – We are FREE! That’s a statement that carries a lot with it – first, it assumes that at one point, we were not free. Think back through the letter to the Galatians – what has Paul been emphasizing our freedom concerning? Read ch 1:4 to get one perspective of our rescue. Ch 3:10-13 gives another aspect of what we are freed from.

Freedom is sort of a loaded word. Loaded, I should say, with our pre-determined definitions of what it means. Our country, the United States has freedom as it’s centerpiece. How do we as Americans normally define freedom? How would you characterize freedom based on what Paul says we are free from? What differences, if any, can you identify? Which sort of freedom should take precedence in our lives as Christ Followers?

In v1b, Paul exhorts us in light of the thesis. What does he tell us we must do concerning our freedom?

In vs 2-12 of the chapter, Paul elaborates on how we can go about fulfilling that exhortation. As you read those verses, what jumps out to you as practical advice for living free in Christ? The last part of v6 is terribly important. It’s the way that antinomianism, lawlessness, is counteracted when it comes to our freedom.

What do you believe it means that our faith is expressed in love? Love for whom? What will that look like when lived out in real life situations?

I think this will be a really challenging study – I hope you can join us, either in person or online via Facebook or YouTube. We are no longer requiring pre-registrations – but we are asking that we continue wearing masks during the singing portion of our service.

The danger is still real, as we see in the recent development with our President. Please keep him in prayer for a full recovery.

Click here for a pdf of the PowerPoint slideshow for this teaching.

Galatians #11: Purpose Revealed in the Patterns (Ga 4:21-31)

Hey Eastgate – this Sunday we’ll be celebrating the communion of the bread and cup – so if you are watching online, you’ll want to have some symbol of sustenance ready, like bread or wine or whatever is available to you. I guarantee it will be better than what we’ll be using in the in person meeting – those tiny cup and wafer things that Matt Greene commented were really authentic because they sort of taste like your really drinking blood and eating flesh. I know you’re all excited to join us this Sunday! yay.

We’ll be continuing in our study of the letter to the Galatians, reading ch 4:21-31. Paul is finishing up his argument against Christians being compelled to follow the Law of Moses – and he wraps it all up with a rather strange analogy…or allegory…or maybe a little of both. He points to the story of Hagar and Sarah and the children born to them as images of people of the promise as opposed to people who work things out for themselves. Paul wasn’t trying to insinuate that the story of Hagar and Sarah had it’s real meaning in the end of the Torah age – he simply saw it as a pattern, and he saw God’s purpose revealed in that oft repeated pattern from the Biblical story.

As you read the text and consider the story – you should also become familiar with the source material from Genesis: Genesis 16  and 21.

What was the difference between how Isaac came to be and Ishmael? What do we learn about how God accomplishes his purposes in our lives and in this world?

In what ways will this affect the way we see this world, God’s Kingdom, and our place in it?

I hope you find this study as interesting as I did – hope you can join us, in person or online via Facebook and YouTube.

Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

Galatians #10: Why Return to Servility? (Gal 4:8-20)

This Sunday we’ll continue doing our study of Galatians, reading chapter 4:8-20. Paul will be talking about servitude and freedom, and marking out our clear calling to choose freedom. As you read his very first statement in v8 – what does the natural condition of humanity outside of Christ seem to be? In what ways might we see that principle exampled in our world?

Paul talks about how the Galatians were in bondage to idolatry, then warns them that they are heading right back into the same bondage. They weren’t tempted to adapt paganism again…what were they being compelled to observe? What does that tell us about Paul’s view of adding any sort of religious law or code, no matter how good it is, when it comes to our relationship with God in Christ?

V 19 tells us the reason God has set us free to begin with. Paul compares himself to a pregnant woman in labor (he’s clearly one confident dude) – what is it he wants to see birthed – what does he want for their lives? How can we see this become a reality in our own lives? In what ways might we see Christ developed in the way we live?

Click here to view the pdf of this teaching’s slideshow.

Galatians #9: The Purpose of the Promise (Ga 3:26-4:7)

This Sunday we’ll be continuing our study in the letter to the Galatians. We’ll also take some time to pray for the people out west who are suffering through those fires, pray for the people of Louisiana who are recovering from and facing another storm. And we’ll pray for our own county since we are on the bad side of this coming storm if it drifts Eastward.

In our Bible study, we’ll be reading Galatians 3:26-4:7. Last week we considered what Paul described as the purpose of the law – as a diagnostic for the human condition, but not the cure. In this next section, Paul will be outlining the purpose of the promise God made to Abraham. He does this by describing the new way in which God’s communities form around his values. Not by coercion, but as mature humans, united with God.

V 28 is a powerful verse, and many scholars believe Paul is quoting from a hymn or liturgy from the early church. The words, and how Paul interprets them are profound. Paul has expanded what the issue was at Galatia, the demand that gentiles live as Jews, to include the radical way in which the Gospel transforms human community. He is undercutting the whole world’s social, cultural and sexual boundary markers. How do the words of v28 affect you? How would you apply this declaration of equality to your own life, or to the church, or to the world around us?

As we get to chapter 4, Paul places a big emphasis on maturation as the fulfillment of the promise. How would you describe the difference between a child who lives under restrictions mean to keep them safe and a mature adult who knows to make good choices? Which would you rather be? That is the essence of Paul’s point.

Hope to see you Sunday, and if you can’t join us in person, tune in on Facebook or YouTube.

Click here for a pdf version of this slideshow.

Galatians #8: The Purpose of the Law (Ga 3:19-25)

This Sunday we’ll be continuing our study in the letter to the Galatians, reading chapter 3:19-25. Paul has been making his adamant point that the Law of Moses was a parenthesis, not the main emphasis of God’s plan. The question that would naturally come up then, would be: why institute the law in the first place? This will be the focus of this section of the text.

When Paul says, in v19, that the law was meant to show people their sins, what does that mean to you? How does the law accomplish that? How would you describe the difference between a diagnosis and a cure for some disease?

Paul also uses an analogy of a guardian (or tutor or trainer depending on the translation). In the ancient world, a family servant would be assigned the task of educating and corralling a child until he came of age to take his place in the family. The analogy is highlighting the restrictive nature of this time in a child’s life. What analogies from our modern setting can you think of that highlight a temporary restriction until it is safe to lift it?

This section is probably one of the most important passages from Paul’s letters, helping us decipher his thinking throughout all of his letters. It should be an interesting study.

Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

Galatians #7: A New Way To Read An Old Story (Ga 3:15-18)

There are a lot of things happening in our world – natural disasters as well as the crisis of racism and its resultant disasters, all wrapped in the arms of a global pandemic. I know it’s difficult to navigate these troubled waters, but I know that time spent reading The Book will not be wasted and can bring redemption as we learn to live what we read. So, this Sunday, we’ll keep reading The Book – studying the letter to the Galatians. We’ll be continuing in chapter 3, reading vs 15-18.

In this section, Paul continues to drive home the importance of the promise made to Abraham. It might do some good to become familiarized with that part of the story, since Paul certainly gives it a central place in the meaning of the Gospel. You can read Abraham’s story in Genesis, starting with chapter 12 and continuing on through chapter 24. It doesn’t take that long to read it. The most pressing part of that promise has to do with God blessing the nations of the earth through him, by making them his people. That gives us a clue as to the central import of the Good News.

Paul’s insistence on reading with an emphasis on Abraham and not Moses tells us a lot about the Apostolic approach to reading the Bible. Which begs a question: How do you read the Bible? What do you understand the story of the Bible to be about, and how do the stories of the Hebrew Bible synthesize with the letters of the New Testament? Knowing these things go a long way towards getting in step with the message and values of the Bible. I’m someone who is concerned that average church-goers have drifted quit far from the flow of the Divine Revelation – and a robust (and proper) reading of Scriptures could do a great deal of good for our present day, American Church.

I hope we’ll be encouraged and challenged to start reading the Bible well this Sunday. We’ll be celebrating communion, and if you aren’t joining us in person, be sure to have bread and wine or some other symbols of sustenance handy as we observe this ritual together.

Click here for a pdf of the slideshow.