Author Like the other Gospels, Mark is technically anonymous; however, as the title declares, tradition has long held John Mark to be the author. Theme Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Background John Mark is first spoken of in Acts 13. When Paul set out on his first missionary journey with Barnabas, we …
The ESV Study Bible appropriately introduces the book of Exodus, saying: Exodus is an adventure story par excellence. It features a cruel villain (Pharaoh), an unlikely hero (Moses), overwhelming disasters (the plagues), a spectacular deliverance (crossing the Red Sea), a long journey (through the wilderness), a mountaintop experience (where Moses received the Ten Commandments), and …
Continue reading Out of Egypt, Through Wilderness, Into Covenant: Introducing Exodus
Welcome to our next Reading Together series! This time we will be reading through the book The Mortification of Sin by John Owen. Below is an audio introduction to Owen and the book. Beginning in May, we will read and discuss this short book chapter by chapter, as you will find in the reading plan …
Continue reading Let’s Read The Mortification of Sin Together
The book of Daniel is in an odd predicament. It contains at least two of the most well-known stories within the Bible (the fiery furnace and the lion’s den), but it also contains some of the most confusing apocalyptic imagery, only rivaled by Revelation. Thus, if you grew up in church, you are certainly familiar …
The Epistle of Jude is a rather neglected book. Likely due to an assortment of factors (such as its brevity and citation of apocryphal sources), this poetic letter has often been under-utilized within the church. Though I do not claim this to always have been so throughout church history, personal experience has largely left me …
These sermons were originally preached in 2015. We could assign many titles to a study through the book of Jonah. The Reluctant Prophet would be fitting since Jonah was just that. Perhaps The Compassion of God would be more suited, considering the fact that the great love of God is on full display throughout the …
The first five books of the Bible, commonly called the Pentateuch or Torah, are not merely the opening act of God’s revelation to humanity nor should we read them simply as a historical account of our faith’s roots. Instead, alongside the rest of the Old Testament, we affirm these writings to be the presently applicable …
Being the kind of person that assigns subtitles to my sermon notes through portions of the Bible, I wrestled a great deal with what to call this study through Colossians. At first glance, Colossians can appear to be a lesser imitation of Ephesians. Of course, Paul’s letter to Colossae has its own magnificent merits (such …
Of the Lord’s Prayer, Tertullian wrote that it “is comprised of the whole Gospel” (I). Cyprian called it “a loving and friendly prayer to beseech God with His own word, to come up to His ears in the prayer of Christ” (3). Augustine said that “the words our Lord Jesus Christ has taught us in …
The Songs of Ascents are a collection of psalms within the overall Psalter. In order, therefore, to understand these fifteen psalms, we must first come to a basic knowledge of the Psalms as a whole. The book of Psalms is a collection of poems within the Bible. Although the book’s arrangement may appear quite random …
Continue reading Of the Psalms & Songs of Ascents: understanding the songs & prayers of God’s people
B. C. Newton 