A kingdom for all Luke documents how Jesus expands God’s kingdom and covenant by creating a new Israel that includes the poor, outcasts and others to whom Jesus brings restoration and reverses their life circumstances as He gives them freedom and release from the tyranny of evil and sin. Throughout the book, we see that Jesus …
Category Archives: Discipleship
38709 Overview: Acts Ch. 1-12
Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to empower his disciples as they carry the good news of his kingdom to the nations of the world. Before Jesus was taken into heaven where He was enthroned to share God’s rule over the world, He instructed His followers to be a witness for Him. The book of Acts details their …
38710 Overview: Acts Ch. 13-28
Holy Spirit Power Jesus’ followers received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and became filled and equipped to spread the good news that would restore God’s kingdom over the world. Through persecution, the believers were scattered. They continued to preach, and the church at Antioch was born. It grew into the first multiethnic, international church from …
38711 Overview: Romans Ch. 1-4
Paul shows how Jesus created the new covenant family of Abraham through his death and resurrection and the sending of the Spirit. The Book of Romans is a four-part explanation of the Gospel message written by Paul to the Church in Rome. Since Adam, humans chose to live sinful and selfish lives.
38712 Overview: Romans Ch. 5-16
Paul’s Magnus Opus The people of Israel tried to obey God and follow the Law, but they didn’t succeed. Only faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection can justify humanity and fulfill God’s promise to create a covenant relationship with His people, the descendants of Abraham. Through Jesus, God creates a new covenant family that includes …
38713 Overview: 1 Corinthians
Paul shows the new Christians in Corinth that all of life’s most complex problems can be seen through the lens of the gospel. 1 Corinthians challenges believers to examine every area of life through the lens of the gospel. Specifically, Paul addresses divisions, food, sex, worship gatherings, and the resurrection. Not about being popular He reminds …
38714 Overview: 2 Corinthians
Paul resolves his conflict with the Corinthians by showing how the scandal of the crucifixion turns our value systems upside-down. Paul addressed problems in the Corinth church in 1 Corinthians, but many rejected his advice. This grieved Paul as he had spent a great deal of time with the Corinthian church. Life through The Cross He …
38715 Overview: Galatians
Paul challenges the Galatian Christians to stop allowing controversial Torah observances to divide their church’s congregation. The Book of Galatians reminds the Church to embrace and follow the gospel message of the crucified Messiah. The requirement for non-Jewish Christians to become Torah observers and be circumcised or eat kosher misses the point. Jesus alone fulfills the laws …
38716 Overview: Ephesians
Paul shows how the good news should create ethnically diverse communities that are unified by devotion to Jesus and to each other. In the book of Ephesians, we see how the gospel story affects believers’ everyday lives. God the Father planned throughout history for Jesus to create a multi-ethnic community of followers. Comprised of Jews and …
38717 Overview: Philippians
Paul thanks the Philippian Christians for their generosity and shares how they are all called to imitate Jesus’ self-giving love. In the book of Philippians, we read a series of short vignettes revolving around the Messiah Poem in Chapter 2. The poem retells the gospel story and references Adam’s rebellion from Genesis and the suffering servant in Isaiah. The gospel …