Biblical Breadcrumbs

Jesus has given us a lot to think about, and we've seen Him push us for an answer as to who He is. Here, we have a similar thing: be ready! You don't know when you'll run out of time...

Taken from portions of Luke 12.

Jesus is very clear about what He wants: absolute transparency. Most religions seek to hide their faults, but Jesus wants a clear recognition: no one deserves grace. And God wants to be gracious regardless.

Taken from portions of Luke 12.

Unfortunately, many people have issues with how Jesus operates. Maybe it's His actions (or inactions), maybe His teachings, all sorts of possibilities! But many people reject Jesus without basing it on anything substantial. We have to be better than that in our evaluation of Him!

Covering portions of Luke 11.

Sooner or later, we've got to make a decision with the evidence that Jesus has provided. He pushes a bit here, but will continue to provide evidence for the rest of the book.

Covering portions of Luke 10.

Luke's been asking us to seriously evaluate who Jesus is, so here's another instance of a miracle, verifying Jesus' identity. Luke 9.28-36.

We've covered a lot of Jesus' teachings and miracles, and the time has come to start answering this question. Who is Jesus? Is he who he claims to be, or an absolute fraud? That's a decision we have to start making.

We've seen a lot about what Jesus has said recently, so let's switch back: what does He do? Here are some stories about His actions.

Jesus: the greatest teacher who ever was, respected by His opponents, and impervious to contradiction. Even His enemies couldn't deny the force of His teachings, and here we have a primary example of just that.

As Jesus continues to grow in popularity, word of him reaches all kinds of ears, even those of the traditionally non-faithful.

Jesus is most well-known for the wisdom He shares. Here, we get one of the most concentrated batches of His teaching, and we'll examine it briefly.

We've established that Jesus is a cool, faithful guy (who also happens to be the Son of God). And that's great! For Him, at least. But is He able to do anything to help anyone else? More than that, would He even want to? Those are questions that need answering, so join me as we overview a couple of paragraphs in Luke 5.

Before Jesus can enact His plan to preach to the world, we have to know if He's trustworthy. Thus, He's tempted by the Devil to try and destroy Him before He even starts the work. Will it succeed? Join me this week as we explore in Luke 4...

Here's our first introduction to Jesus. Many things are starting to happen around Him, but this is the first time we get to see Him--albeit, in brief. What does this initial hype tell us about His character, and who he is? Join me as we go through part of Luke 3 and lay out some simple observations.

Before we quite get to Jesus Himself, we have to talk a bit about where He came from. His story happens to have an interesting (and unusual) start, which we'll summarize in this episode.

What exactly is Luke about? If we're going to read it, we need to know what it's written for. Here's a brief introduction...

What is a Bible? What is it about? Why do Christians hold to it, and what does it mean? All great questions! Have a listen to this, and hopefully a few things will start making sense.

Where are we going to go in 2024? Here's a bit of an announcement to try and clarify which direction we're heading.

Is divorce good? No. Encouraged? In no way. Allowed? Maybe technically, but that's dangerous ground to tread.

What about exceptions: are there extenuating circumstances which might push people towards divorce? Well, you probably know my answer to that...

Can Christians divorce? It's heavily discouraged. But, are there any modifiers on that?

What does God say or imply about divorce?

Picking up the discussion... how do we know what to do with the head coverings, exactly? My wife and I finish working through the second half of this section.

In between the main books we've been covering, here's the first of a duology of episodes that deals with the head covering question. Hopefully it gives you some thoughts to consider on the topic!

A short, personal letter, but a good set of ideas nonetheless. Let's wrap up the letters of John!

Second John: kind of a summary of First John, really. Good to go through regardless, as we're wrapping up the trilogy.

Here's the resolution of the book, and it's the same as the rest: work towards God, and do so faithfully.

Do we believe in God? Do we love God? Do we love our brethren? These are inextricably linked.

Well, back to love it is. Is love important for a Christian? Why? And how are we supposed to enact it?

A brief interruption on the merits of love to talk about making sure that an individual is one of faith. What is the Spirit? How do we know it's working with us? Is there any way we can actually measure these things?

Love your brethren. Why? Because God loved you, of course!

Well, here we go: perfection. Is it attainable? Does God expect it? Am I really held to that level of responsibility? Well, yes, you are. Let's talk about that.

Remaining in what you know. Not being stubborn and close-minded, but remembering to consider every possibility. John does this, and he hopes that we will as well...

Antichrist! Who is he? Is it a he? And so much more, as we go deeper on into John...

John wants his readers to succeed and reach God. How do they start? By having a proper attitude.

Three groups are addressed, with two exhortations for each. What does John mean by this? And could it tell us the purpose behind his writing?

What's John's ultimate goal? Here, he tries to distill his teaching into one simple point.

Continuing the ideas of last week, John points to another example of his paradigm, before summarizing the whole section.

John wants us to know how to respond to God's invitation: here's where you get started.

We're introducing First John today, to set us up for a study through the Johannine epistles.

Paul's varying admonitions are summed up, to some degree of success. Remember: God's coming back.

The Antichrist! Not that important.

Do you know what is?

Jesus.

Getting into the Second book this week, we see Paul addressing Thessalonica after a little time has passed. What's gone well? What's gone wrong? And why does he feel the need to write again?

Paul said we're supposed to encourage each other. How, precisely, should we do that? Here are a few tips, as we finish our study of First Thessalonians.

If the dead are indeed coming back, when is that going to happen? Paul explains a little more here regarding God's timing & humanity's response.

Purity, love... what else could Paul want to tell the Thessalonian church about? Well, the End Times, of course!

What's the second thing Paul has for them to keep doing?

Sorry this is late: I forgot to upload it.

Paul addresses staying pure in a city full of degeneracy.

A review of Thessalonians thus far, and a brief anticipation of what's ahead.

Paul encourages Thessalonica to love and care.

Paul was incredibly worried about Thessalonica when he left them: he sends help back, to see how they're doing.

Paul cared about Thessalonica when he was there with them; he cared in their trials after he left; he cares as he's trying to get back to them! But does he even need to be there?