Common Sense Bible Study: Recent Episodes
Jeremiah Sluss
In John 15:5 Jesus makes a statement that when we are in close relationship with Him He produces fruit in and through us. But He also makes a very important statement at the end of the verse, “you can do nothing without Me.” That’s what this podcast will look at today.
In John 15:4 Jesus starts this verse with relationship—remaining/abiding. But there is a purpose for remaining in Him and that’s what this podcast talks about.
As we look at John 15:3, it seems this verse doesn’t go with the rest of this passage. However, it ties right with 15:2 and talking about salvation. This podcast will look at what Jesus is saying about salvation in this verse.
In John 15:2 Jesus talks about what happens to branches that don’t produce fruit. Then He adds that pruning takes places for the branch to produce more fruit. We will look at what both of these mean in our lives today.
As we continue in John 15:1, Jesus shows and models submission to us. This podcast will show through multiple passages of Scripture why submission is a good thing for us as Christ followers.
Jesus declares to His disciples and to us that He is the True Vine. This would have been both familiar and revolutionary to His disciples. So what does it mean for us today when He makes this statement?
In John 15 Jesus tells us that He is the Vine and we are the branches. Today we start this passage and we look at the significance of Jesus stating “I AM”. If you are looking for encouragement in your life, this podcast today is for you.
As we close our study in the Book of James, he will address how we deal with our own sin and how we are to deal with the sin of fellow Christians who are straying in sin.
Prayer, as we see in this passage in James, is more about alignment with God than getting the answers we want. That’s a real hard thing for us to experience sometimes. This podcast will dive into this truth today.
If there is one thing lacking in most worship services and peoples lives today it is prayer. Prayer has become a time of stage transition in most worship services. Prayer is simply asking God for things in our personal lives. But what really is prayer? That’s what we will look at today.
Too often we struggle in our prayer time because we feel that we are supposed to fix things, fix our situation. What we see here in this passage in James is that we aren’t supposed to fix anything, but instead hear from our Father.
Waiting is not something we do well. What does waiting mean in the Christian life? How does the Bible tell us to wait, or be patient? That’s what we will look at in the passage in James chapter 5.
Those with power or status have the ability to use that to help or hurt others. There are too many stories of people who have been hurt by those in power. James is addressing that in this passage today.
This passage in James 5 really hits home with where many people are today. What has people’s hearts? Does things, stuff, materialism, money, status have a grip on people’s hearts? Or does joy, peace, love, the Lord have a grip? This podcast takes on this question.
When we look at our life, who is really in control? Am I or God? One way that we know is looking at our schedule. James is going to talk about this in the passage we are looking at today.
We live in a day and time where everyone seems to have their day, week, and lives planned out. Does the Bible talk about whether this is a good thing or is it something that can be harmful? That’s what we will dive into today.
How you live your life as a Christ follower will show what kind of Father you see God as. Do you live by rules, do’s and don’t’s, failures and defeat? Or do you see Him as a Father full of love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness?
James tells us that in order to resist temptation and our selfish pride, we must learn to submit and surrender to God. But what does that mean and how do I do that?
I think many people today struggle with idolatry and don’t realize it. The problem is we don’t have a clear picture of what idolatry is. One way to know if you struggle is with your prayer life. James will show us that in today’s passage.
When we go to God in prayer, what’s our motives, desires, and intentions behind what we are saying and asking? Do they align more with my wants and desires or with His? Does this really make a difference?
Do you spend more time pursuing things or abiding in Jesus? Satan will make us think we need to pursue things, even pursue Jesus. But what we find in Scripture is that we are to abide. What difference does abiding verses pursuing bring? That’s what this podcast dives into.
Is Jesus really enough for you to be content or do you need Jesus plus something. Do you find yourself saying if I just had more money, more status, more whatever I’d be content? That’s what this podcast talks about.
James is going to make us confront the problem that causes fights and quarrels in our lives. We can often and do often blame other people, but the real problem lies within us.
James gets very detailed describing the difference between earthly wisdom and Godly wisdom. We can look at our lives and be able to see quickly which we are being led by.
There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge. One provides contentment and one can cause boasting, envy, jealousy, and selfish ambition. This podcast will discuss the difference.
James gives some illustrations showing that our fruit will show our roots. Too many people are Christian and not Christ-followers. What does that mean? That’s what this podcast discusses.
Do you know people who seem to bless God one moment then be judgmental of people the next? I think we all do. But have you thought if that describes you? That’s what today’s podcast looks at.
How can something that is considered untamable be tamed? That’s what this podcast will look at when James is talking about the tongue.
James will show how that our tongue does more damage to us than to others. We often think our words do damage to others, and they do, but our tongue through pride can do significant damage to our own lives.
James begins a section that will discuss the power of the tongue. In this podcast we look at how much our words matter when we communicate, especially in teaching and preaching. We look at using the Word as a hammer and also how many use their words to manipulate people to make a spiritual decision.
In James chapter 3, he is now going to move into controlling the tongue. He starts with looking at those put into positions of teaching. Too often we just put in warm bodies to fill positions within the church rather than making sure they are called and qualified.
Is Jesus enough? Or do you need the things Jesus can give? This is the question that we dive into today concerning faith and works from James.
In this passage James gives us an illustration to show the difference between a belief faith [intellectual] and a faith that works. He will even show that demons believe, but they aren’t saved. So the question is this: does the way you live your life daily show you have a saving faith that works?
If you were to go to a court of law and be accused of being a Christ follower, is there enough evidence to find you guilty? As we look in James 2:14, James is going to show that works do not save us, but works show we are saved.
That’s a tough question. Even more important, if showing favoritism is a sin, do I do it in my life and does the church I serve in do it? These are questions that James dealt with in the early church and we are still dealing with today.
Do you have personal preferences that you put off on other people? Do you show favoritism? Does your church? Are we even aware that we show favoritism or make people live up to our personal preferences? Unfortunately this defines too many people in the church and churches overall. Do we realize that we repel people by being this way? That’s what this podcast will dive into today.
James, in the last verse of chapter 1, tells us what it really means to be a biblical Christian. This dispels what we see today in our culture about what people believe to be a Christian. There’s a big difference in claiming to be a Christian and what it means to be a Christ follower. That’s what this podcast will discuss.
We live in a day and time where people think they can claim to be a Christian but still live like the world. Jesus said in Matthew that whatever is in your heart will come out of your mouth. If Jesus lives in your heart, can you consistently have sinful things come out of your mouth? Not according to Jesus and what He said.
We too often are in a hurry in every area of our lives. Our schedules dictate our day and we are always in a rush. This includes our time in the Word. We hurry through reading the Bible, if we even have time to, and wonder why our Christian life is uninspiring and unfruitful. Maybe we need to allow God’s Word to read us. But that takes time and intentionality. That’s what this podcast will focus on.
James challenges us here with a passage asking if we are doer of the Word or hearer only. So what does it mean to be a “doer” of the Word? What does it mean to be only a “hearer”? We will tackle this and so much more in this session.
Do you find that you spend more time rationalizing your sin or being repulsed by your sin? If we aren’t repulsed by our sin, and sin in general, we are probably being led by our emotions and not the Holy Spirit.
In this passage James teaches us about how important it is to speak less and listen more. But we will also see how our mouth, speaking too much can cause anger to build and come out. This podcast will help us look at what it means to speak less to prevent anger from coming into our lives.
James tells us we need to be quick to listen. But what does it mean to listen? What is the difference between hearing and listening? This podcast will show how hearing and listening are different and how it will effect our spiritual and daily lives.
Satan’s goal is to deceive us into giving in to temptation. When trials come, we can be more easily deceived. I share a trial I am currently walking through to in this podcast to show how easy it is to be deceived.
This podcast will look at James 1:13-15 and see that there is a difference in trials and temptation. They both come from different sources and both produce completely different results.
James is going to be talking to young Christ followers that are struggling with their financial situation. Some are poor, some have had to flee because of persecution. James is teaching an important lesson to them that is applicable to us today.
All of us are surrounded by instability. If we aren’t careful, the enemy will use that to not only impact us, but we will allow it to define us. This passage in James will show how to find stability in unstable lives.
We all lack wisdom. But what really is wisdom and where can I find it? This podcast will dive into this and show how it’s related to our trials we go through.
There is a purpose for the tests and trials that we go through. It is to make us mature in our faith and walk with the Lord. This podcast will dive into what it means to be a mature disciple.
Patience is something most everyone wants, but they don’t want to do what it takes to have patience. This podcast will look at how God intends trials and tests in our lives to produce that patience.
Why do we go through trials? Today we finish the three perspectives of why God brings trials into our lives and the purpose behind them.
Today we will look at trials from Satan’s perspectives and how he lies to make us feel like God is against us. We will also look at perspectives from God’s view and how God is using trials to conform us into the image of Jesus.
We begin a study through the Book of James. Today we look at why we should have joy in trials and what the purpose of trials in our lives are for in the Christian life.
Would you wash the feet of someone you love who hurt you? Would you wash the feet of someone who betrayed you and stabbed you in the back? Are we allowing humility to lead and guide our lives or are we allowing what we deserve to guide us? These are all questions we look at in this podcast.
Are we more like the Priest and Levite or the Samaritan? Jesus teaches us there is one word that separated these men and it was what Jesus had that we should as well: compassion. Compassion for the hurting made the difference.
If you are serving in the local church or serving the Lord and your concern is power, prestige, notoriety, then you are not lining up with God’s Word. So what does that look like, does this describe me and the church I attend, and what do I do about it?
Are we spending our greatest resource, time, trying to build bigger earthly barns? Or are we investing our time on Jesus and serving others? Are we more worried about always having and getting more or are we satisfied with what we have?
Too often churches have an us verses them mentality. The problem is that doesn’t line up with God’s Word. All people are whosoever’s. This episode will look at 3 us verses them mentalities that are detrimental to the church.
When looking at our lives, everyone seems to be so busy. But are we too busy? Are we playing into the enemies plans by being too busy to really serve the Lord?
We can so caught up in emotionalism that we forget that emotions are not the focal point of our life. Faithfulness and growing in the journey is more important than how we feel.
Why don’t we see miracles in our lives and in the Church like we should? Could it be that we have become so focused on moments that we are missing the miracles that God has in store for us daily?
In our churches and lives today we seem to struggle with prayer being the centerpiece. We have too often replaced prayer with programs in order to get results. But is this working?
Is the Great Commission more than just mission trips? Too often it seems people think that going on a mission trip is what the Great Commission is. I believe when we look at the Bible Jesus teaches it is so much more.
Are we letting culture’s version of Jesus influence us more than the Bible? Do we have a clear picture of who Jesus really is?
When it comes to salvation, it seems we are seeing more of a trend or morality being Christianity rather than the biblical message of the Gospel. This leads to a universalistic approach and a changing of the message of the true Gospel we see in the Bible.
In today’s Christian culture and in our churches, understanding the Bible and believing the Bible is not so simple. We have muddied the waters and created so many issues that most people don’t know what to believe and what’s true.
When we look at what obedience is, what Jesus said obedience is, is that what we are doing today? Or have we allowed ourselves to dictate what being obedient is?
In today’s climate of worship within the Church, I believe we have forgotten what real worship is and we have replaced God with ourselves. Because of emotionalism, we have now become the centerpiece of our worship rather than our Father.
This podcast will look at what Christian service in within the context of the Church. Could some of our churches be dying or dead because we aren’t following Jesus’ model of serving others?
I will be using an article that Mark Clifton wrote about the traits of a dying church. I will look at them concerning the church, but also show how they can apply to the Christian life.
If you were to go to a court would there be enough evidence in your life to prove you guilty of being a disciple of Jesus? We will look at the Book of James and talk about works showing we belong to Jesus.
Many people in today’s culture will tell you they are a Christian. But this podcast will ask two questions: Am I really a Christian, and how do I know? What you may find is that many people you know who claim to be a Christian aren’t based on what Jesus said In His Word.
Gideon had good intentions in serving the nation of Israel, but when people lack a relationship with God they will turn to idolatry every time.
God will remember something Gideon said when first called and now is going to show Gideon how powerful He really is. God changes the military scenario in a way that Gideon never would have thought.
Often we see Gideon and the fleece prayers as those of doubt and lack of faith. However, I believe they teach us not about doubt as much as if we want a specific answer from God we need to pray specifically what we need.
Sometimes we are fearful when God asks us to do something. God can still move and use you through your fear, if you’re willing to simply be faithful.
Even when we struggle with fear, doubts and weaknesses, God shows patience with us and grace.
Often times we look at our flaws, our faults, and we don’t think God could use us. We think that we are to weak or damaged for God to do anything with. God teaches us through Gideon that all He needs is an available vessel and He can do anything in and through us.
Many times we have fear and doubts in our Christian walk. We may even be afraid to share them with God. But God is big enough for your doubts and they will not shake Him. They are opportunities for Him to move mightily in your life and situations.
Satan will use fear in our lives to cause us to isolate from God. The nation of Israel was so overwhelmed with fear they went to live in caves and became poverty stricken. Discipleship grows our faith to help overcome this weapon and tool of fear the enemy uses against us.
When our worship is routine, our faith suffers and regresses. This can cause us to struggle with God’s promises like Barak does.
We will see with the nation of Israel that, due to a lack of discipleship, they would fall prey to a repetitious lifestyle of sin and rescue. Discipleship is the foundation needed in order to help develop and grow the mature Christian life.
When we allow ourselves to be around and in sinful situations/people for an extended period of time, we can become numb to sin. We don’t feel conviction, we don’t see anything wrong with the sin, and this can lead to disastrous consequences.
When trials and tests come into our lives, Satan will always put an exit ramp for us to get out to the trial and fulfill our flesh. We will see Israel having this same problem in Judges 2:16-23.
If there is one thing that the Church today and the nation of Israel have in common it is a lack of discipline the following generations. We see the problems caused and look at how we can address these issues.
Israel has fallen into sin and God tells them He is refusing to move on their behalf. It causes Israel to weep, but not repent. Why? Because they weren’t convicted about their sin—they were bothered they got caught.
The nation of Israel neglected to push out the sinful nations from around them because they didn’t see them as a threat. They became comfortable with sin and allowed that sin to entangle them. We have the same problem today in our lives, churches, and culture. We don’t really know what sin is and it is causing many people to not see sin as a threat.
As we begin the Book of Judges, what we find is the nation of Israel, and the tribe of Judah, beginning a downward spiral of accepting less than what God has for them. This will have an effect through the entire Book.
Joshua challenges the people of Israel to stay focused on being surrendered to the Lord. He did this knowing the enemy was going to try to make them comfortable after God allowed them to enter the Promised Land.
Due to a lack of praying to God, Joshua leads the people into a treaty after being deceived. This shows the importance of taking all our decisions to the Lord in prayer.
Too many times we think that certain temptations Satan offers in front of us are blessings from God when they are temptations to lead us to fall into sin. We see this with the story of Achan in Joshua 6-7.
Too often we try to fight the battles and we get overwhelmed by trying to figure out how to fight the battle. God has given us the victory and wants to fight the battle. All our job is to worship Him and watch Him do what only He can do.
What we find before Joshua goes to battle is that He and Jesus will spend a very important time together. What we learn from this is Jesus wants us to spend time time with Him, not distracted, not busy, but with Him to hear His heart for us.
In Joshua chapters 3-4, we see Joshua learning from the mistakes that he saw with Israel and the Red Sea. Joshua is going to lead the Israelites to lay down spiritual markers to teach the following generations of who God is and His promises being fulfilled
Finishing up Joshua chapter 3 we see how Joshua surrenders to God’s leadership and Lordship. By doing this God shows the blessing of living a life surrendered to Him.
Joshua is going to learn from the mistakes of Moses and is going to show the people of Israel that God is their leader. We can apply this to our lives by showing how meditating on God’s Word is that for us today.
Rahab, a Gentile, declares that God is the only God. She also teaches us the importance of patiently waiting for God to move and trusting in God when you can’t see Him working.
Rahab is the most unlikely person we see in Scripture to follow God. But Rahab got in awe of God and what He was doing and that’s what changed her. Are you in awe of God today?
Because Joshua was meditating on the Word, he had confidence in the promises of God. God wants us to be in His Word so we can trust Him more.
There are so many things we can learn from Joshua and how God prepared Him, equipped him, and used him. This session looks at how God wants us available and to let Him do the work in and through us.
In 1st Samuel 15 we see how King Saul viewed obedience to God’s command. He took upon himself to change God’s command and do his own thing. The problem is he actually thought that he was being obedient.
Our Christian culture today is struggling because our hearts are unplowed and the Word doesn’t penetrate and affect us as it should. So what do we do about it?
With multiple mass shootings and the sex abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention, what are the answers? What are we to do as Christians?
We have a problem with showing compassion to others as Jesus did. Part of that is we listen to respond rather than listening to relate. That causes us to be unkind to others.
If we are to look within the American Church today, how we define success is not how Jesus shows us what Kingdom advancement is. We have compromised on the Bible in order to lift our own status.
So many of us have weeds, sin, in our hearts that is causing us to miss out on experiencing the fullness of Jesus. When was the last time you allowed God to search your heart and pull the sins out?
Jesus shows in this miracle of healing the lame man how the religious leaders missed the point of what He was doing.
Jesus heals a demon possessed woman on the Sabbath. However the religious leaders show that they don’t see people the way Jesus does.
I’m this miracle Jesus walks on the water during a storm He sent His disciples into. He teaches the lesson that our faith must remain focused on Him.
Jesus feeds the multitude, but I think the passage will show us this miracle is more about the disciples than the crowd being fed.
Jesus heals the man with the withered hand. But also Jesus shows the true heart of the Pharisees.
I believe that we see in this miracle two men who were blind, that sought Jesus out for salvation first then received their physical sight. Rather than letting their physical blindness lead them to Jesus, I believe their desire for salvation led and the physical blindness was a second point.
In this passage from Mark we see Jesus being presented with two different scenarios of healing, but faith is the key that runs through both.
We can learn so much about faith in this story of the friends that carried their paralytic friend to Jesus. But we also see how Jesus used this to declare His status as Messiah.
There is so much in the story and miracle of Jesus casting out the demon named Legion into the pigs. Jesus shows His power, but Jesus also shows the importance of indigenous witness.
Jesus is going to be teaching the disciples a very important lesson when a storm shows up and the disciples think they are going to die.
In this healing miracle, we will see a Roman centurion approach Jesus and intercede for the healing of his servant. But we learn so much more in the story.
We are going to see so many things in Jesus’ healing of the leper about how to walk daily in seeing brokenness and hurting. Jesus is going to show what it means to truly have compassion on the broken.
Today we will look at John 15 and show how this passage sums up what our prayer life is supposed to be, look like, and how and what bring s glory to the Father.
When talking with people the concept of listening and hearing from the Lord in their prayer life is one almost everyone struggles with. Why? That’s what we will dive into in this podcast.
When looking at American Christianity and the churches in America, prayer is what you do in the middle of announcements and songs. It’s a simple “thing” we do in the service to check a box. But that’s not biblical prayer. I share personal experiences from Honduras on how one mission trip changed my life and view of prayer forever.
In this podcast I will be looking at sports analogies to show perspective of our growth as a Christian in prayer and faith.
Often times we find it hard to pray because we don’t know what to pray for. In this podcast we take a look at our present lives and present needs to spend time in prayer.
We cannot have a productive and fruitful prayer life with both faith and obedience. These two feed off each other to provide proper balance in our Christian walk.
Too often we think we have to be strong and that weakness, brokenness, or being vulnerable is not strength. This episode will help us see Jesus doesn’t need you to be strong to validate who He is.
We can’t truly pray properly or powerfully apart from our prayers being centered on Jesus.
Prayer is not asking God for things but connecting and conversing with Him. We should spend as much time listening to the Father as we do talking with the Father.
Jesus doesn’t pray for Peters trial and suffering to be removed. Jesus simply says “I’m praying your faith doesn’t fail.” What did Jesus mean by this?
We need faith for salvation, but we also need our faith daily to grow, to be tested and tried, and to guide our character.
Could the reason that so many struggle with their faith fall to the fault of pastors and leadership and the example they lead by? That’s what this podcast will discuss.
E.M. Bounds states: “How great is the power of faith.” This episode will help us see that our power in faith is only as strong as our belief in God, who our faith is in.
This episode will focus on this statement from E.M. Bounds: “He (the believer) must believe where he cannot see.”
We need to have less celebrity, high profile, and high status pastors and more God called God obedient men like John the Baptist.
It is embarrassing to see where the state of the SBC is and many who call themselves pastors. I believe that we can learn much from what the Bible says about John the Baptist and how we can contrast him with the modern pastor.
This mute man was demon possessed and Jesus cast out the demon, but that’s not the real story here.
This is a story with twists, turns, emotional roller coasters and Jesus moving and changing the lives of two individuals.
Jesus heals a paralytic but the story just starts there. Jesus uses this opportunity to reveal His true nature to the scribes and crowd.
Jesus shows up in the country of the Gergesenes and is met by two demon possessed men. Jesus casts out the demons but it’s not the response that one might think.
This story tells us so much about the heart of the centurion and how we should come to Jesus with expectation in our requests
Here God is going to help Abraham see how deep his faith really is. This sacrifice isn’t for God but it’s actually for Abraham
God has continually reaffirmed and reassured His promise to Abraham, but now He will do it as an unlikely visitor to Abraham and Sarah’s home.
After 13 years of silence since Genesis 16, God reaffirms His covenant with Abram. Abram’s name is changed to Abraham. And God encourages Abraham to slow down.
The decision for Abram to father a child through Hagar is going to backfire and bring devastation to this home.
Sarai makes an irrational decision concerning trying to fulfill God’s promise in her own way. However, we must view this as well from the human side and see why she made this decision and what her rational was.
In Genesis 14-15 we see Abram having to go to war to rescue Lot. This shakes Abram and causes him to see he could have lost God’s promise if he had died in battle. God reassures Abram of the covenant in a magnificent way.
Lot chooses Sodom and shows his true character while Abram shows his growth in his relationship with God.
Abram leaves Egypt and repents going back to the altar where he heard from God. However Abram will have to deal with the consequences of the wrong decisions he has made.
Despite Abram’s bad decision and failure to be obedient, God shows how faithful He is by protecting Abram and the promise while blessing Abram abundantly.
God’s purpose is more to deepen you in your faith than resolve your situation. As we look at Abram and this famine, we will see how he was more interested in getting food than knowing God on a deeper level.
Abram will get validation of God’s promise but then Abram takes his own initiative and will do his own thing rather than staying where God told him.
After the command to go and the promises God gave, Abram begins his journey. However what we will see is Abram is not obedient to God’s command and he will face the consequences of these decisions.
Continuing in Genesis 12:1-2 we finish the command that God gives Abram to leave his life to pursue a life of following God.
Abram is “meeting” God for the first time and God is going to challenge Abram to leave the life he knows for a life God is promising.
Noah was a man of faith but he also sinned in Genesis 9. As we look at his sin, what can we glean to help guard our spiritual walk?
The task of the Ark was not the focal point for Noah. If it was, Noah would have failed. So what was Noah’s focal point?
Noah was a man we can learn so much from. He was faithfully obedient to God’s command. In this podcast we will see what made Noah a man that found favor, or grace, with the Lord.
When it comes to spiritual warfare many pastors and church leaders are not relatable to the Christian. There is a lack of vulnerability and openness that prevents the church member from relating to them, the sermon, and their daily walk.
Too many Christians misunderstand their suffering and miss what Hod is doing through suffering. When Christians understand suffering, it changes spiritual warfare.
The Book of Job and the spiritual warfare that takes place teaches us that “American Christianity” is not biblical Christianity. The spiritual warfare that takes place in the life of Job will challenge what we know about true faith.
Satan will constantly put things in our lives to make us question God’s love toward us. This is only successful when we give in to the enemies tactics in spiritual warfare.
Satan is using a misunderstanding of Scripture and God in spiritual warfare to make us question God’s love, Word, and authority. Satan used this against Adam and Eve and he’s still using it today.
We are able to see spiritual warfare taking place in the Garden in Genesis chapter 3 and can learn how it is applicable for us today.
When something happens we want to know why. But Satan can use the desire to know an answer to get us off track in our walk with Jesus.
Satan will do all he can to prevent us from standing in the strength of Jesus. Here are four key areas I believe the enemy uses.
Who is Satan really? What does Scripture say he’s like? How will knowing Truth help me stand against the enemy?