Aftershock Podcast: Recent Episodes
Aftershock Podcast
Nate Washburn uses 1 Peter 1:13-21 to show how the Bible offers a better story on life and death.
Nate Washburn talks about the question of origins and morality through Romans 1:18-27, and how the Bible shows a better story.
This week, Pastor Caleb talks about our call to persevere with our brothers and sisters in Christ through Acts 15:36-41.
Today, he looks at Acts 4:32-37 and how we are to share ourselves within a Christian Community.
Caleb Watson closes out this series on sin with Romans 6:12-14, which commands Christians to kill sin, or have it kill you.
Nate Washburn continues the series on victory over sin by showing how we are dead to sin in Romans 6:1-11.
Pastor Brian Pachinger leads the Youth Group in examining our slavery to sin through Romans 6:15-23.
Nate Washburn continues the series on the many faces of sin with the passage Hosea 13:2-5, involving the downward spiral of idol worship.
Pastor Caleb begins a new series on sin, beginning with self-righteousness in the passage Mark 10:17-27.
Michael Campbell, Pastor of Missions, speaks on how God is our refuge and strength when our life is chaotic through Psalm 46.
John Matthews, Pastor of Young Adult Ministries, comes in to speak on how God's love shapes our love through 1 John 4:7-21.
Nate Washburn discusses how true Christians can't love both the world and God in 1 John 2:15-17.
Today, Pastor Caleb talks about why Christians, born of God, should keep God's commands in the passage 1 John 2:1-6.
Pastor Caleb kicks off the new year with a series in 1 John called Born of God. Today, he describes what type of faith is seen in those born of God through the passage 1 John 5:4-12.
Pastor Caleb concludes his series on the Holy Spirit by looking at how we are to be filled with the Spirit, using the passage Ephesians 5:17-21.
Nate Washburn describes how God calls us to maintain unity as believers through the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 4:1-6.
Caleb Watson continues the series on the Holy Spirit by looking at Romans 8:1-17 and how we are to set our mind on things of the Spirit rather than the flesh.
Caleb wraps up the Prone too Wander series with Matthew 7:7-11, and how recognizing God's disposition toward us changes the way we pray.
Pastor Caleb talks about what keeps us from confessing our sins in the passage 1 John 1:5-2:2.
Pastoral Resident Nate Washburn distinguishes the difference between real faith and fake faith through James 2:14-26
Caleb talks about how we wander from the truth of salvation from the passage Ephesians 2:1-10
Caleb breaks down how we should properly view ourselves as sinners through Romans 1:28-2:5.
Pastor Caleb starts off the school year with a new series titled "Prone to Wander," with the goal of examining certain parts of Scripture and seeing how we are prone to wander from what it says. This week, we look at James 1:22-25 and how we tend to reject God's authority in our lives.
Pastor Caleb wraps up the Bearing Fruit series in Galatians 5:19-23, drawing the line between discipline and self-control.
Summer intern Nate Washburn uses the passage Psalm 23 to demonstrate how true peace is found in the Good Shepherd.
Pastor Caleb talks about gentleness through Matthew 11:28-30, and why it is necessary to come boldly to Jesus and receive His gentleness.
Pastor Caleb begins a new series on the Fruit of the Spirit, starting with love in 1 Corinthians 13.
Apologies, I was on vacation and unable to record the prior sermon. In the last Bible Study Basics sermon, Pastor Caleb uses the passage Nehemiah 1:1-11 to demonstrate how scripture should be thought of as an on-going conversation with our Creator.
C. T. Watson talks about how to properly view what the Bible is telling us through the passage Ephesians 2:1-10.
Caleb Watson begins his new series on the basics for studying and reading the Bible, starting with the passage James 1:19-25.
In the last installment in the "Sinkholes: Sins that Erode Community" franchise, Caleb Watson ends with how we respond to sin in our lives through the passage John 8:2-11.
Today, Pastor C. T. Watson talks about the green-eyed monster Envy through the passage Numbers 11:4-6, 18-20, and 32-34. Although envy turns friends and family into rivals and enemies, by recognizing what Jesus has given us, we can slay this monster.
Caleb Watson uses the passages James 3:1-12, Romans 8:38-39, and Ephesians 4:29 to show that the only way for us to tame our tongue is for God to transform our hearts.
Continuing his series on subtle sins in Christian communities, Caleb Watson talks on Judgementalism through Romans 14:1-12. He demonstrates how our significance lies not in our opinions, but in God's opinion of us.
Caleb Watson speaks on Genesis 4, and how anger can destroy relationships in a community.
Caleb Watson starts a news series titled "Sinkholes: Sins that Erode Community". His goal is to identify certain sins that seem acceptable or pass undetected in a "Christoform Community". To begin, Caleb talks through Romans 6:1-14, presenting an overview of the nature of sin.
Jonatan Collazo finishes his series on the pursuit of happiness, talking through what the right pursuit of happiness looks like, seen in Hebrews 12:1-2
Jonatan Collazo begins his two-week series on the pursuit of happiness. He talks through Ruth 1, which demonstrates how we as Christians wrongly pursue happiness.
Pastor Doctor Caleb T. Watson talks through the final way we can pray, for those who are lost, in the passage Romans 10:5-15.
Pastor Doctor Caleb Watson talks through the final way to pray for people, to pray for those who are lost, in Romans 10:5-15.
Today, Pastor Brian Pachinger talks through what to do when we experience anxiety and how to pray for those experiencing it in 1 Peter 5:6-7
In Caleb Watson's third sermon covering prayer, we look at how to pray with and for someone experiencing loss in the passage John 11:28-44.
Pastor Caleb explains how we are to pray for others who are dealing with the burden of sickness through the passage of Matthew 11:1-6.
Caleb Watson talks us through Ephesians 2:1-9, and how we should properly pray for people asking for success.
In this sermon, Caleb Watson goes over Psalm 22, explaining how we know God will answer us in our spiritual dead zones.
Caleb Watson takes us through Psalm 27, answering the question of what we do we do when found in a spiritual dead zone.
Caleb Watson explores the topic of why we as Christians end up in spiritual dead zones using the passage Psalm 44.
The Apostle’s Teaching – Resources for Christian Living by Providence Youth Ministry Podcast
Lost: A Series on God's Will - Money, Money, Money by Providence Youth Ministry Podcast
Lost: A Series on God's Will - Decisions, Decisions, Decisions by Providence Youth Ministry Podcast
In 1 Samuel 26, we have the story of David sparing Saul’s life a second time. At this point in the story, Saul and David are in conflict because Saul wants to get rid of David, pursuing him in the desert. As the story unfolds, not once but twice, David had the opportunity to kill Saul but chooses not to, and in doing so, he is allowing the Lord to bring His plan to the right time. David waits on the Lord and does not try to rush God's plan.
David is trusting in God’s timing and, in doing so, developing a closer relationship with Him. As a musician, David puts his experience into verses and writes Psalm 139. David understands the magnitude of God, the love of God, and the power of God. Understanding God knows his heart and mind intimately, changing it where change is needed.
In this lesson, we conclude our series on sexuality by looking at how Jesus engaged sinners. The goal is to help the students see that Jesus calls us to love sinners into holiness and not condemn them into compliance. Grasping this distinction requires us to see ourselves as sinful as the person we’re engaging. We’ll also pull all the pieces of this series together and try to show how it helps us respond to different questions that come up around the topic of sexuality.
In this lesson, we are exploring what the Bible has to say about same-sex relationships. The Bible talks about this in six places (three in the Old Testament, three in the New Testament). We primarily are looking at Romans 1:24-32 with some glances at 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. A couple of goals for this lesson: 1). Establish that acting on an attraction to someone of the same gender is a sin. 2). Showing that the root problem is not this particular expression of sin but what prompts it. 3). That Jesus really is the solution.
In this lesson, we look at how viewing sexuality as a means to reflect God’s holiness impacts the way we view the opposite gender. While Genesis 1 & 2 make the case that male and female together image God, we generally struggle with this while we’re single. There is often gender segregation that takes place between guys and girls that is fueled by the assumption of romantic interest. This lesson will push for a new paradigm, that of being brothers and sisters in the family of God.
In this lesson, we set out to clarify the point of marriage. It’s safe to say that we have an obsession with marriage. It’s a dominant fixation for teens and young adults. But with this fixation comes a distortion of what marriage is ultimately for. In this lesson, we’re seeking to clarify what marriage is for by looking at what marriage is not and what marriage is. The ultimate goal of marriage is to be a reflection of God’s faithfulness to his people.
In this lesson, we look at God’s ideal for sexuality. The world says that the ideal is “love” while others (including some Christians) say that the ideal is heterosexuality. But from our text, 1 Peter 1:14-19, we see that God’s ideal for our sexuality is holiness: That we are chaste while single and faithful in marriage. This is a hard ideal to live up to, which is why understanding God’s value and care of us is so important.
In this lesson, we lay the groundwork for the following weeks by establishing what our identity is. The reason this is so important is that our essence (who we are) influences and shapes our ethics (what we do). So we return to Genesis 1:26-28 to explore the image of God. We’ll be focusing on what being made in God’s image means and how it effects what we do, how sin impacted that image, and how Jesus fixes things.
In this lesson, we’re kicking off our series on the seven deadly sins. This will be our series leading up to Easter and the hope is that be seeing the gravity and severity of our sin, it gives us a greater affection for our Savior and what he did for us. Tonight we’ll be looking at Genesis 3 to help us understand exactly what sin is.
In this lesson, we are looking at one of the great gifts that the King of kings bestowed upon us: grace. We’ll be in Ephesians 2:1-10 exploring our need for grace as well as how God lavishes it upon us and why.
In this lesson, we are looking, what I believe, is one of the greatest arguments against Christianity: the seeming incompatibility of suffering and a good, all-powerful God. And while there are several ways that this objection can be addressed, the reality is that most of the time we encounter it, it’s not a question of philosophy but one of pain and loss. This lesson will focus on what answer the cross of Jesus gives us about why (fill in the blank) bad thing happened and how we can respond when others (and we ourselves) are left asking why a good God would allow this to happen.
Though technology has made some things easier, it has definitely made parenting harder. Join pastor Caleb for a one-week seminar that will explore Scripture’s mandate to parents and how to embody this in a tech-filled world.
In the last lesson in this series, we look at the final phrase of the Lord’s prayer, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” Jesus here is instructing us on how we should pray in the midst of a test, not a math test, but a hardship or difficulty that presents us with a choice: be a reflection of your Father in heaven, or don’t. Jesus wants us to pray that we would resist temptation and the evil that we can choose amid a test and take the opportunity to grow. But this will only happen if we have a correct view of our Father in heaven.
In this lesson, we look at the fourth phrase of the Lord’s prayer, “Give us our daily bread.” Though this is in the middle of the Lord’s prayer, it’s typically where our desire to pray starts. We have a need and we bring it to God. This lesson will unpack the principle behind petitionary prayer, our problem with it, and how we can actually practice it.
The Lord’s Prayer Learning from the Master - Hallowed Be Thy Name by Aftershock Podcast
This week we’re continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be surveying this book to better know Jesus, his message, and his works. This Wednesday, we’re focusing in on Mark 4:35-5:43. This larger chunk contains three accounts that are all tied together by one thing: Jesus’s demonstration of power over all things. But is this a good thing? Power has a lot of negative connotations to it. It creates apathy, it corrupts and so we limit it, which creates problems of its own. But Scripture is clear: Jesus is the all-powerful king and that’s a good thing for us.
This week we’re continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be surveying this book to better know Jesus, his message, land his works. This Wednesday, we’re focusing in on Mark chapter 2 and Jesus as the great healer as seen in the healing of the paralytic man. There is a tension when we talk about Jesus’s healings though: why didn’t he heal more people? The answer is because their sickness was symptomatic of a greater problem: sin. This lesson will seek to show not only what our great sickness is but how Jesus is the cure for it.
This week we’re starting a new series in the Gospel of Mark. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be surveying this book to better know Jesus, his message, land his works. This Wednesday, we’re focusing in on Mark chapter 1 and the gospel that Jesus proclaimed from the beginning of his ministry.
We are conditioned to think of the gospel as “God loves you and sent Jesus to die for your sins”. But the gospel that Jesus proclaims doesn’t sound quite like that (vv.14-15). Instead, he’s talking about the kingdom of God. We’ll spend some time looking at what Jesus meant by this and why a change in rulers is actually a good thing.
In part two of this three-part series, we’re looking at the characteristic of hope. Hope is a universal characteristic of anticipating a future better than the present. What makes it a distinguishing mark for the Christian is that our hope is not rooted in circumstances but in God’s past faithfulness. But the reality is, like with faith, our functional hope is not built on God but on current or potential circumstances. As a result, we are more often characterized by anxiety or despondency rather than hope. In order to grow in hope then, we must rehearse God’s past faithfulness to us until we are assured of our future. Christ, of course, is the ultimate demonstration of God’s past faithfulness and therefore our ultimate assurance of our future.
In this two part series, we’ll be looking at Isaiah 9:6-7 at the promised king and his reign. This week we’ll be looking at the promised king himself, focusing on how Isaiah describes him in verse 6. There is no doubt that this coming king will be a welcomed contrast from the current inept ones that Israel was experiencing. The thing that we often don’t realize is that we also need this king. We like to think of ourselves as autonomous and yet this has just created the most anxious people group in the world. The reality is, we need a king and our problem is that we keep picking the wrong ones. We’ll land the plane by looking at why Jesus is the promised (and needed) king and how that confronts our anxiety.
In this chapter of the middle school survival guide, we’re looking at relating to our parents from Ephesians 6:1-3 and Hebrews 12:7-11. Here’s the balance we’re going to try and strike: We want to say what the Bible says, that children are to honor and obey their parents. But we also want to acknowledge that parents are flawed humans that parent imperfectly. And so we’ll try and land the plane encouraging the students to get a different angle on their feuds and relationship with their parents. That their parents are in fact acting out of love for them and have a strong desire for their good. And that ultimately, we submit to our parents “in the Lord” because He loves us and always acts for our good and he has declared that honoring our parents is in fact good for our flourishing.
In this chapter of the middle school survival guide, we’re looking at influence, which is a broad term for someone or something that has the ability to shape you. We’ll establish that influence in itself isn’t a bad thing. All of us have blind spots and areas of growth and we need influences to bring these to light. However influence can go horribly wrong when we listen to and seek out “bad company”. We do this because they accept us and make us acceptable. The key then is to find influences that love you just as your are but love you enough that they won’t let you stay there.
In this first lesson, we’ll be looking at what is potentially the biggest struggle in middle school: determining who you are and working out your identity. We’ll be looking at what our identity is both as created being and in Christ and how we are tempted to set that all aside.
In this final lesson in our series Christian Community: Lines in the Sand, we’ll be looking at 1 Peter 2:11-2, 4:3-4, and 3:15-16 to think through what it means to be awkward. Awkward simply means that someone or something is different than the cultural norms, which is exactly what Christians are called to be. This lesson seeks to explore how we can be faithfully awkward by looking at what makes us awkward, how the world responds, and what awkwardness in real life looks like.
In this lesson we are continuing the series Christian Community: Lines in the Sand. We’ll be looking at James 2:1-5 which grapples with the problem of partiality. Which is actually caused by adopting the world’s value system rather than Jesus’. The solution is for Jesus to be the lord of glory in our lives.
In this lesson we are continuing the series Christian Community: Lines in the Sand. We’ll be looking at the type of relationship that can and should spring forth from Christian community: friendship. We’ll look at different levels to friendship (in terms of proximity, not in terms of value), the necessity of friendships for Christian living (via Ecclesiastes 4:9-12), and how to find friends (which is to be the type of friend the Bible describes, which is only possible in Jesus).
In this lesson we are continuing the series Christian Community: Lines in the Sand. We’ll be looking at Matthew 5:21-26 (as well as Matthew 18:15 and 2 Corinthians 5:17-21) to discover how Jesus would have his people respond whenever they have been wronged or wronged someone. The key point is that we are to embody Christ’s reconciliation toward us in our spheres of influence.
In this lesson we’re looking at how the use of our tongues can be damaging. We will read through James 3:1-12 and uncover how it’s impossible for us to both praise our God and tear down our peers.
In this lesson, we’re looking at the 6th of the seven churches addressed in Revelation 1-3: Philadelphia. The church in Philadelphia receives a glowing accommodation from Jesus and he encourages them to press on. We’ll be looking at how Jesus encourages them to stand firm and how we can be encouraged to do the same!
In this lesson, we’re looking at the 4th of the seven churches addressed in Revelation 1-3: Thyatira. Thyatira was a smaller city than the other ones addressed so far. And yet they receive a glowing review from Jesus, well, most of them. And within Jesus’s examination of Thyatira, we find what Jesus finds truly commendable.
In this lesson, we’re looking at the 2nd of the seven churches address in Revelation 1-3: Smryna. Unlike Ephesus, Smyrna receives no real critique from Jesus. Rather as you read this mini-letter it seems like Jesus is responding to a negative review from Smyrna. We’ll be looking at how Jesus acknowledges their situation and offers them assurances for the future and what that all means for us.
In this lesson, we’re looking at the first of the seven churches address in Revelation 1-3: Ephesus. Ephesus was the “mother” church in Asia minor. They were the ones who were on guard against false teaching and did so well. The problem was that their love for truth was elevated above their love for God. Jesus calls them to humble themselves and remember their first love.
In this lesson, we’re beginning a new series on Revelation 1-3. This lesson seeks to accomplish two things: 1. Discuss how to approach apocalyptic literature in Scripture (there are two basic things to understand: 1. The goal, which is to “pull back the curtain” and show what is really going on from God’s perspective; and 2. The method, which is imagery that seems to belong in a fantasy novel but is really rooted in the rest of the biblical story). The other thing this lesson will do is establish who is doing the reviewing of the seven churches (found chapters 2-3) and why.
In this lesson, we are looking at the story of Jonah. I think everyone is familiar with most of this story (ch.1-3). The issue is that the story keeps going into chapter 4, which really has the heart of the story of Jonah. That you and are do not like that God is merciful and gracious to our enemies. The book of Jonah invites us to realize that this is in fact a good thing because we are his enemies.
In this lesson, we are looking at 1 Samuel 17, which is the account of David and Goliath. This may be the most well-known story in the Bible and it has created a whole category of story (the “underdog” stories, such as U.S. colonies v. Britain, U.S. hockey team v. Russia, etc). In this lesson, we’ll see that although the story is well known, it is often misunderstood. This is not a story to motivate us to fight our personal giants but rather a story showing us that we need someone to fight our giant for us.
In this lesson, we are looking at Joshua 6 and the “battle” of Jericho. The ironic thing about this text is that the “battle” is only two verses long, whereas the instructions take up most of the chapter. It seems like the writer was using slow-motion to capture the wrong points. But actually he’s simply emphasizing obedience over action. I’m going to propose that we often revolt against God’s plan due to fear or because we have a better plan. Both of which are caused by the same belief: that we know better than God. The point of this story is to show that God is capable of single-handedly carrying out his plan of deliverance. We, like the Israelites, are called to die to our natural reactions and be obedient to his plan, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.
In this lesson, we are looking at the Exodus narrative (technically the first 15 chapters of Exodus). We’re going to see three things: 1. God is the triumphant king, 2. God is justly responding to Pharaoh’s wickedness, and 3. God is merciful (we see this most clearly in the Passover lamb). The point I’m going to stress at the end is that this was THE event for the Old Testament; it impacted everything from their calendar to the way they lived their life. How much more should the cross impact our lives?
In this lesson, we are looking at Genesis 22 (but really chapters 12-22), which tell the story of Abraham and culminate in the sacrifice of Isaac. Throughout Abraham’s story we see two repeating themes: 1. Abraham is disobedient whenever the possibility of an heir is on the line (examples: saying that Sarah is his sister so he’ll be alive to propagate; sleeping with Hagar to get an heir) and 2. God’s reaffirmation of his promises to Abraham. All of this comes together when God calls Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He pits the two things Abraham values most in an epic showdown to see who will be the MVT (Most Valuable Thing) in Abraham’s life. We’ll conclude looking at why Jesus deserves to be the MVT in the lives of the students.
In this lesson, we are looking at Genesis 6-9, which tells the story of Noah and the flood. This is the most genocidal passage in all of the Old Testament that is often hidden behind cute storybook imagery. And at first glance it should be a troubling account because God has promised to redeem humanity, and now that things have gotten worse, he’s destroying it. So in this lesson we look at the emotion of God in this passage (he is sadden because he cares about his creation, not angry and vindictive), the character of God (that he is not fair but he is faithful) and our response to God (faith).
CREDIT: Awakening by Rexlambo https://soundcloud.com/rexlambo Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/31V1vqd Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/VZEBTeNLD_E
In this lesson, we talk about a somewhat taboo subject: suicide. One of the goals is to demystify suicide and we’re going to do that by seeking to understand what’s happening with suicide (root cause is normally prolonged hopelessness); How the Bible speaks about suicide (bluntly, people committed suicide in the Bible. We’ll be looking at 1 Kings 19 at someone who wanted to commit suicide but God intervened); And practically speaking, what’s our response to suicide (we “front love” by listening and not freaking out).
In this lesson, we are looking at Lamentations chapter 5. In this closing lament, the writer shows us how to handle our hardships, which is actually to lament. Lamenting is bringing our pain, suffering, anger over hardships, etc to God. In this lesson we’ll explore why we’d do this as well as how we can lament.
In this lesson, we are looking at Lamentations chapter 4 and examine how the survivors of the fall of Jerusalem processed their loss and what the reveals about our own processing.
In this lesson, we are looking at Lamentations chapter 3. This poem is all about God’s steadfast love or his Hesed (a word that combines love, loyalty and generosity into one word). We’ll look more in depth on what this word means, how God’s loyal love should impact the way we conduct ourselves in hardships and how it can impact us.
In this lesson, we are looking at Lamentations chapter 2. This poem is all about God’s nose (anger is literally translated as hot nose in Hebrew). We’re going to explore what at first seems like an unwelcome character trait, anger but actually serves as a testament to God’s nature. Specifically, we’ll see that God’s anger displays his patience, his justness and his compassion.
In this lesson, we are looking at Lamentations chapter 1. This poem grapples with the gracious presence of God in the midst of hardship. The writer personifies the city of Jerusalem as a grieving widow, desperate for someone to notice her suffering and comfort her. But whether she looks to allies or enemies, no one is available for her. And so she turns to God (v. 9,11,20) to hear her cries. But because of sin, God shouldn’t listen to our cries (Psalm 66:18). It’s only because Jesus was forsaken and his cries went unanswered that we can take comfort in God’s presence and attention in our hardships.
In this lesson, Senior Pastor Austin Shaw looks at Acts 17:16-34. We look at 4 big questions How do we satisfy our spiritual longings? What is our answer for life's origins? Why should we care about distant people? and Who is in a position to honestly judge? We want to show people that Christ offers not only “good answers” to life’s big questions, but He also leads to a more meaningful existence.
In this lesson, Aftershock leader Kyle Birch covers the question, what does it mean to fear the Lord? We expand on three ways we relate wrongfully relate to God when fear him and what it really means when we are commanded to fear God.
In this lesson, we look at what Galatians 5 tells us Christ died for: our freedom! However, the Bible’s understanding of freedom is different than ours. Freedom is normally taken to mean, “I can do whatever I want with no restrictions” but freedom in the Bible is finding the correct, liberating restrictions. Our text (Galatians 5:16-23) proposes that these liberating restrictions are found in submitting to the Spirit. The key to doing this is not trying harder but grasping God’s love and sacrifice in Jesus. Then and only then will we believe that his way is best and that in him we are truly free.
In this lesson, we want students to understand that for them to grow in Christ, they have to die. We’re in Romans 6 as we look at three things from our old, sinful (rebellious) lifestyle that tries to linger after we accept Jesus as our savior and king: 1. Identity (way of thinking), 2. Habits, 3. Masters (idols/loves). The only way that we can overcome and die to these things is to grasp Jesus and his death for us.
In this lesson, we’re looking at two essential disciplines for growing into our identity with Christ: Scripture reading and prayer. This will be a 30,000 ft. view of these disciplines by looking at the principle (why we do it), the practice (how we can do it), and the provision (how the gospel removes the barriers to practicing these disciplines).
In this lesson, we’re looking at two important questions regarding sanctification: what is it and who makes it happen? Sanctification is both definitive (something we are immediately in Christ) and progressive (something we become in Christ). Sanctification is not exclusively our efforts (moralism) or God’s effort (fatalism) but rather a partnership between God and us.
We make a huge deal about coming to trust in Jesus as your savior and king and rightfully so, but what exactly are we supposed to do after that? And we’re going to spend a few weeks talking about this but before we can do that, we really need to make sure that we’re on the same page when we use the word “believe”. What we’re describing is our conversion where we acknowledge that we’re sinners, that Jesus took our punishment and died in our place, and accept him as our savior and king
In this lesson we look at the question: can we trust the Bible? Are we sure that the Bible we have is the inspired word of God? Wed do this by looking at what the Bible is, how it came together, and what the implications for us are.
In this lesson, we conclude our series by looking at the Christian's hope: the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Though the Bible is insistent that this is our hope, it is actually vague assurance that these things will happen because they already have.
In this lesson, we look at the community that the Holy Spirit is building, which the Apostle’s Creed refers to as the holy catholic church. This refers to the one universal church that includes all believers. We’ll also touch on what the Holy Spirit is trying to accomplish (our sanctification) and one of the primary tools that he uses to bring this about (the communion of saints).
In this lesson, we are looking at the works of Jesus. While his whole life and ministry could be included in his saving work, we’re primarily focusing on his suffering. We’ll spend some time discussing why Jesus needed to suffer, which ties into animal sacrifices and the need for a “clean space” to be in God’s presence.
We’ll also spend some time looking at the results of his suffering: 1) Death no longer has power over us. 2) Jesus is enthroned as king and universally available. 3) Jesus is coming to judge and set all things right.
In this lesson, we focus on the person of Jesus as emphasized by the Apostle’s creed. This gets into some very difficult doctrines (the dual nature of Christ, the trinity, virgin birth, etc). But all of these seemingly incomprehensible things make the point that Jesus is Lord, supreme over all things. And this makes him uniquely and exclusively qualified to solve the cosmic problem: how can heaven and earth be reunited?
In this lesson, we hold up our perception of God to how the Apostle's creed describes him. That he is both Father, intimately involved and concerned with us and our needs; and Almighty, the all-powerful, holy God of the universe.
We tend to gravitate toward one of these or the other but the creed invites us to live in the tension of these two descriptors and not stray too far down either end of the spectrum. Of course, the only way that we can live in this tension is being in Christ.