Sunday Tapes: Recent Episodes
Jeremy Sarber
Jesus said, “One thing is necessary” (Lk 10:42). Like Mary, who sat at his feet and listened to his teaching, we need to learn from him (Lk 10:39). Sunday Tapes is a weekly exposition of his word to help others better know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom God has sent (Jn 17:3). As we learn, may we also be increasingly conformed to his image (Ro 8:29). All glory be to Christ.
God is undeniably great. Therefore, we should stand in reverent awe of him. We should fear him. Our souls should tremble at the very thought of God.
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Without Christmas, there could be no Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, or salvation. And if we miss the identity and purpose of that baby born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, we have missed everything.
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Calvin taught, preached, wrote, and counseled people worldwide. Despite his physical afflictions which increased with age, he never stopped working for the glory of God.
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We often acknowledge that the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. If we want to be more specific, this country was founded on Calvinism.
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We owe both our Bibles and, in large part, our language to William Tyndale. He was God’s instrument in bringing the English-speaking world out of the darkness.
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It’s hardly a stretch to say Martin Luther changed the world. He was God’s instrument for rescuing countless people from the bondage of legalism.
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At the heart of Augustine’s theology is the heart, and he discovers the greatest joy of all is found only in Christ.
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God leads Augustine to a much-needed breaking point, where he finally throws himself at the mercy of God and learns to trust in Christ alone for salvation.
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Athanasius risked his life and spent years in exile for the sake of the truth—for the sake of a single letter, albeit one with absolutely vital theological significance.
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Christ continues to work and teach through his church. He lays on us the responsibility to share his word with the world around us as his ambassadors, his loyal and thankful spokesmen.
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As strange as it may seem at first glance, Revelation 19 is both a funeral and a wedding, but there isn’t the slightest hint of sorrow or grief.
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How many prosperous churches meet together while Christ stands outside the door, too self-satisfied to realize he’s missing?
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Today, my brother in Christ, Roger Cryan, discusses science from a biblical worldview.
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Today, we will consider what the Bible has to say about the environment. Upon hearing that, many of us may immediately think of climate change, global warming, veganism, deforestation, or any one of the many politically charged issues surrounding humanity’s relationship to natural creation. And because these issues are so politicized and, frankly, complicated, many of us probably avoid them. We may not talk about them. We may not even think about them.
The environment, however, is a worldview issue. It may be politicized, but we’re not interested in the conservative worldview or the liberal worldview. As the Lord’s church, our concern is the biblical worldview, and the Bible does have something to say about it. Scripture does have something to offer regarding our relationship with and responsibility to God’s creation.
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Today, my brother in Christ, Charlie Hueni, discusses music from a biblical worldview.
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Social justice is a somewhat nebulous term. You can read a hundred articles on the subject and never find a clear definition of the term itself, which causes a pretty big problem. Lots of people are talking about social justice without necessarily understanding what it is. Naturally, we hear the word justice, especially those of us in the church, and we assume social justice—whatever it is—must be a good thing because justice is a good thing. The truth is, however, social justice has very little to do with justice.
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Education has become an increasingly important issue for people in the church, especially parents. Today, you will hear my brother in Christ, Nate Blair, who happens to be a public educator, address the biblical worldview regarding education.
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Today, we continue our series on developing a biblical worldview. You will once again hear my brother in Christ, Roger Cryan, address the subject of marriage.
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Everyone is created by God and for God. “I am not my own,” says the Heidelberg Catechism. “We belong to the Lord,” says the Bible (Ro 14:8). As our Creator, God determines our identities, and rebellion against our God-given identities is rebellion against God.
Human beings, however, are naturally selfish. We naturally want to follow our desires even if those desires contradict our God-given purpose and design. Then, as our sense of obligation to community deteriorates, especially within an already-individualistic society, and secular philosophies and worldviews creep into popular culture, we have everything we need for moral collapse.
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Chances are, economics is not the first subject that comes to our minds when we think about developing a biblical worldview. But keep in mind, our entire purpose as image-bearers of God is to glorify God. We exist to (1) experience and (2) reflect his goodness, beauty, and majesty. That is why Paul says, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” (1Co 10:31). Our God-ordained purpose is to experience and reflect his glory in every possible way.
This, of course, includes the way we view and use money, property, and possessions. It affects how we think about the role of government and central planners.
Today, you’ll hear my brother in Christ, Aaron Schavey, address the biblical worldview regarding economics.
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If we were to survey people, believers and unbelievers alike, and ask them about the nature of man, I suspect the majority of people would say humanity is inherently good. At the very least they would say, “There’s a little good in all of us.” Perhaps we would also find some who would say we are born morally neutral. We’re neither good nor evil until we choose to do either good or evil.This, however, is not what the Bible teaches. Man is not good. We are not even morally neutral. As David says in Psalm 14, “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one” (Ps 14:3).
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Today, we continue our series on developing a biblical worldview. You will hear my brother in Christ, Roger Cryan, speak on gender and sexuality.
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We continue our study of worldview—that is, the way we view the world around us. Now that Roger has provided us a sound introduction, we will begin addressing specific issues related to worldview. Ideally, what we’re striving to accomplish through this study is develop a biblical worldview of the particular subjects we discuss.
According to the Bible, human life is inherently sacred by virtue of our creation, and because it is sacred, protecting human life is imperative. God expresses this point plainly in Genesis 9 when he says, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Ge 9:6). It is wrong to kill an image-bearer of God because he is an image-bearer God.
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We continue our series on developing a biblical worldview. Once again, you’ll hear from my brother in Christ, Roger Cryan, as he continues his introduction of this study.
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When we talk about worldview, we’re simply referring to the way we view the world around us. If we’re talking about marriage, for instance, one person may see marriage as an arbitrary social construct, a philosophically meaningless relationship that may or may not have some practical benefits, while another may see marriage as a covenantal relationship between one man and one woman established by God with a distinct, positively meaningful purpose. One is a secular worldview while the other is the biblical worldview.
The goal of this series, “Developing a biblical worldview,” is to examine some of our culture’s most pressing issues in light of what God’s authoritative word says about them. If God’s word is true, it stands to reason we should never draw any conclusions without filtering these matters through the Bible’s teachings. As Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Ro 12:2).
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Only in confronting the tragedy and horrors of death can we truly see and embrace what God promises. We may not be able to fully imagine the eternal glory Paul speaks of, but we certainly know affliction (2Co 4:17). We may not be able to fully grasp the concept of eternal, but we know all about transient (2Co 4:18). And if we’ve acknowledged and accepted the one as an undesirable problem, what does that make the alternative? It becomes something to hope for.
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Death isn’t like ripping off a bandage with one quick pull, where the sting is sharp but fast. The sting of death is certainly sharp, but there’s nothing quick about it. Death is always taking from us, little by little, until it finally takes everything down to our last breath. Even then, it isn’t finished. As it takes the last from us, it simultaneously takes from our families. It perpetually eats away at everything good, and its appetite is never satisfied.
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Futility is a universal problem. Every people of every generation has faced this same dilemma. How can life or anything we do in life have any meaning if the end is the same for all mankind? (Ecc 7:2). According to Solomon throughout Ecclesiastes, it doesn’t matter whether we are wise or foolish, righteous or wicked, rich or poor, accomplished or not, the same event happens to us all (Ecc 2:14). We all die.
In light of death, who are we? Are we significant? Do we have the value we naturally feel we have? Or, are we merely an insignificant speck in the universe, no better than a goldfish we flush down the toilet? As one author writes, “Man is literally split in two: he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order blindly and dumbly to rot and disappear forever.” Who are we? And what are the implications of our true identities?
A full transcript is available at JeremySarber.com.
“You will die,” the Bible reminds us over and over again. In fact, it’s on nearly every page. Directly or indirectly, from Genesis to Revelation, Scripture confronts us with our mortality on nearly every page. It will not let us forget that we will die. And you can’t unsee it either. Now that I’ve mentioned it, you’ll notice it every time you read your Bible. Why does Scripture confront us with our inevitable deaths so often? “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12).
A full transcript is available at JeremySarber.com.
We can go through many of the motions of Christianity. We can stake our claim on the name, but none of it changes our hearts or our true identities. None of it saves us or guarantees us a place in heaven. Jesus taught, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27). In other words, a genuine conversion to Christ is accompanied by a sincere desire to follow him. If we truly hear the voice of the Savior, we will instinctively want to pursue him. We’ll want to know more about him. We’ll want to study his steps, so we can follow after him.
A full transcript is available at JeremySarber.com.