Podcasts about Epistle

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

"Paraphrase Upon the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians" by Thomas Boston is a reflective work crafted during his early ministry, originally intended for personal growth rather than publication. This thoughtful paraphrase offers insights into the Apostle Paul's message to the Galatians, emphasizing themes of faith and the transformative power of grace. The text serves as a valuable resource for contemporary listeners seeking to deepen their understanding of Christian doctrine and its implications for personal and communal life. Its enduring relevance lies in its ability to inspire spiritual edification and encourage the faithful in their walk with Christ, making it a meaningful addition to discussions on faith today.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

"Paraphrase Upon the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians" by Thomas Boston is a reflective work crafted during his early ministry, originally intended for personal growth rather than publication. This thoughtful paraphrase offers insights into the Apostle Paul's message to the Galatians, emphasizing themes of faith and the transformative power of grace. The text serves as a valuable resource for contemporary listeners seeking to deepen their understanding of Christian doctrine and its implications for personal and communal life. Its enduring relevance lies in its ability to inspire spiritual edification and encourage the faithful in their walk with Christ, making it a meaningful addition to discussions on faith today.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Fr Blackburn dives into the Eight Chapter of Saint Paul's Epistle to the Romans.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews. The 58th Book of The Holy Bible, and the 19th Book of The New Testament. Read by Willard Waggoner.00:00:00 Chapter 100:01:58 Chapter 200:04:39 Chapter 300:06:49 Chapter 400:09:02 Chapter 500:10:52 Chapter 600:13:21 Chapter 700:16:57 Chapter 800:19:03 Chapter 900:23:09 Chapter 1000:27:41 Chapter 1100:33:11 Chapter 1200:37:19 Chapter 13Send us an email if you have any questions or comments about the King James Version Audio Bible: kjvaudiobible@fastmail.comThe KJV Bible Preaching Churches Podcast is directly supported by Doss Metrics LLC | Ministry Services based out of Cleveland Texas. If you have any questions regarding this podcast, or the churches hosted on the podcast, please reach out to us directly at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠dossmetrics@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or write to us at: Doss Metrics | KJV Bible Preaching Churches Podcast1451 McBride Rd.Cleveland, TX 77328 God Bless#AudioBible #KJVBible #BibleReading #BiblePodcast #AudioBiblePodcast

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

This Sunday marks a shift in the Gospel. The parables arc that ran through the last three Sundays gives way to a return to Jesus in action. Matthew 14 gives us the feeding of the five thousand — one of the most famous miracles in Christian memory, and the only miracle told in all four Gospels. After weeks of listening to Jesus tell stories about the kingdom, we now watch him embody the kingdom — with a hungry crowd, a deserted place, and five loaves.Photo by nilufar nattaq on UnsplashThe Old Testament tracks lead toward the Gospel in different ways. Track One brings us one of the most famous scenes in Genesis — Jacob's night at the river Jabbok, wrestling with a stranger who turns out to be more than a stranger. Track Two gives us Isaiah's great invitation to the thirsty and hungry to come and eat without money and without price. Both pair naturally with the Gospel's feeding.The Epistle turns a corner as well. Romans 8 has been running under the Sundays since Proper 9, and it culminated last week in the great crescendo: nothing can separate us from the love of God. Today Paul opens Romans 9 in a completely different key — anguish, unceasing sorrow, grief for his own people, Israel. It is a difficult passage and easy to preach badly. The guide handles it with care.For preachers continuing a series: the parables arc has closed. The next several weeks return to Matthew's narrative — the feeding this week, walking on water next week, the Canaanite woman the week after. Jesus is on the move again, and Matthew's pen is following him.The ReadingsGenesis 32:22–31First Reading (Track One) — Jacob at PenielSummaryJacob is returning to face his brother Esau after twenty years away. He has sent his family and possessions across the Jabbok in the night and been left alone. There, in the darkness, a man wrestles with him until daybreak. Neither prevails; the stranger strikes Jacob's hip, and Jacob's hip is put out of joint. As morning is coming, the man asks to be released. Jacob refuses without a blessing. He receives one: a new name — Israel, “one who has striven with God and prevailed.” Jacob names the place Peniel, “the face of God,” because, he says, he has seen God face to face and lived. He limps away into the sunrise.Key Ideas for Preaching* Jacob is at the darkest point of the story so far. He has cheated his brother, been cheated by his uncle, and now must face the brother he wronged. The wrestling comes at exactly this moment. Where in your congregation are people in the darkest stretch of their story, and what might it mean for them to hear that this is exactly where God has been known to show up?* The wrestling is not tidy. Jacob is not blessed for pious cooperation. He is blessed because he held on through a struggle he did not choose. What might it mean for your people that a faithful life includes wrestling — with God, with the questions we cannot resolve, with our own patterns — and not only calm assent?* Jacob asks for a blessing and receives a limp. The blessing is real, and so is the wound. He walks away permanently changed. Where in your congregation have people received both a blessing and a mark from their encounter with God, and how might this text help them make peace with the mark?* The new name — Israel, “one who has striven with God” — becomes the name of a whole people. The identity of God's people is not “one who has agreed with God” but “one who has striven with God.” What does it look like to preach faithful striving, not just faithful agreement?Significant Cautions* Do not romanticize the wrestling into an image of triumphant persistence. Jacob does not defeat God. He simply refuses to let go, and he is wounded in the encounter.* “I have seen God face to face” is Jacob's claim in awe, not a doctrine. Do not build a theological system on the specific language of the encounter.* The wound to the hip is not a moral punishment. It is what encounter with the holy sometimes costs. Preach it gently.Psalm 17:1–7, 15The Psalm (Track One) — I Shall Behold Your FaceSummaryA prayer for help from someone under real pressure. The psalmist asks God to hear his cry, to test his heart, to keep him under God's wing. He is being pursued by enemies who want to bring him down. The closing verse turns to hope: “I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied.”Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalmist is honest about the pressure he is under. He is not pretending to be calm. Where in your congregation are people under real pressure who need permission to name it in prayer without dressing it up?* Paired with Jacob's wrestling, the psalm's closing hope — “I shall behold your face” — takes on unexpected weight. Both texts imagine a face-to-face meeting with God as the goal, however costly the road there. What does it mean to preach a faith where seeing God face to face is worth the wrestle?Significant Cautions* The psalmist's claim of innocence can sound self-righteous. Read in context, it is a plea for a fair hearing, not a boast about moral perfection.Isaiah 55:1–5First Reading (Track Two) — Come to the WatersSummaryOne of the great invitations in the prophets. Everyone who thirsts is called to come to the waters. Everyone without money is called to come, buy, and eat — without money and without price. The prophet asks why we spend our money on what is not bread, our labor on what does not satisfy. God's covenant is renewed as an everlasting one, in the pattern of God's steadfast love for David.Key Ideas for Preaching* The invitation is remarkable. Come, buy, and eat — without money and without price. God's economy runs on a different currency than the market's. Where in your congregation has the culture of transaction crept into people's sense of what they can receive from God?* “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” That is a question worth reading slowly in a culture built on selling us things that will not satisfy. What might your sermon do with that question, alongside the Gospel's picture of a crowd fed for free?* Paired with today's Gospel, the connection is direct. Both texts describe God feeding people freely. What does it mean for your congregation that the free feeding of the multitude is not a departure from the God of Israel but an expression of exactly who this God has been all along?Significant Cautions* The invitation to “come, buy, and eat without money” is easy to spiritualize in ways that let the church off the hook for the actual hungry. Do not use this text to sanitize scarcity in the world.Psalm 145:8–9, 14–21The Psalm (Track Two) — You Open Your HandSummaryAnother section of the great hymn to God's compassion. God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, good to all. God upholds the falling, feeds every living thing in its season, and is near to all who call. The closing verses affirm that God fulfills the desires of those who fear him and preserves those who love him.Key Ideas for Preaching* “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.” This is divine hospitality on a cosmic scale. How might your sermon place today's feeding of the five thousand inside this larger picture — God's steady, ongoing feeding of everything alive?* “The Lord is near to all who call on him.” Not near to some. Not near to the deserving. Near to all. Where has your congregation quietly assumed nearness was on a shorter list?Significant Cautions* “The Lord watches over all who love him, but the wicked he will destroy” appears in this section of the psalm. Handle it carefully. Do not use it to license human judgment against people we have decided are wicked.Romans 9:1–5The Epistle — Paul's Grief for His PeopleSummaryThe tone in Romans changes sharply. After the crescendo of chapter 8, Paul opens chapter 9 in grief. He has, he says, unceasing sorrow in his heart. He would wish himself cut off from Christ if it would somehow bring his own people, the Israelites, into what he has come to know in Jesus. The passage names what belongs to Israel: the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, the patriarchs, and — according to the flesh — the Messiah himself.Key Ideas for Preaching* Paul is anguished about his own people. He is not writing them off. He is not preaching against them. He is grieving because he loves them and because he has come to believe something that separates them from him. What does it look like to preach on grief for people we love who see the world differently — not with contempt, but with the ache Paul is describing?* The list Paul gives — adoption, glory, covenants, law, worship, promises, patriarchs, and the Messiah — is a list of gifts to Israel. Paul is not disparaging his own tradition; he is celebrating it, even in his grief. How might your sermon guard against the anti-Jewish readings that have plagued this passage in Christian history?* Paul's willingness to wish himself cut off from Christ, if it would help his people, is one of the most striking lines in the letter. He is not being noble; he is naming the depth of his love for people he cannot make see what he sees. Where in your congregation has love for someone across a divide taken people to that kind of place?Significant Cautions* This passage has been used to argue that Christianity has replaced Judaism, or that Jewish people have been cut off from God. Paul does not say this. He says the opposite — the covenants, the promises, the patriarchs, and even the Messiah belong to Israel. Preach against the anti-Jewish uses of this passage plainly.* “According to the flesh comes the Christ” should not be pressed into subtle anti-Jewish readings. Paul's point is that the Messiah is Jewish — a claim he is making with pride, not with distance.* Paul's grief for people he loves who do not yet share his faith should not be turned into a permission slip for aggressive evangelism. His posture is anguished, not strategic.Matthew 14:13–21The Gospel — The Feeding of the Five ThousandSummaryJesus has just heard the news of John the Baptist's execution. He withdraws to a deserted place by himself, but the crowds follow him on foot from the towns. When he sees them, he has compassion for them and cures their sick. Evening comes. The disciples want him to send the crowd away so they can buy food in the villages. Jesus tells them: “You give them something to eat.” They protest that they have only five loaves and two fish. He orders the crowds to sit down on the grass. Then he takes the loaves and the fish, looks up to heaven, blesses, breaks, and gives them to the disciples, who give them to the crowd. All eat and are filled. Twelve baskets of leftovers are gathered. Five thousand men were there, besides women and children.Key Ideas for Preaching* Jesus does this in grief. He has just lost John the Baptist — his cousin, his herald, the one who baptized him. He withdrew, we are told, to a deserted place by himself. The crowd follows him anyway. And he has compassion for them. What does it look like for your congregation to hear that the compassion of Christ comes even from within his own grief — not after it, not despite it, but from within it?* “You give them something to eat.” That is what Jesus says to the disciples' request that the crowd be sent away. The disciples want the problem to become someone else's. Jesus places it in their hands. Where has your congregation quietly asked God to send the hungry away, and how might Jesus' instruction reset that?* The math is off. Five loaves, two fish, five thousand men plus women and children. The disciples are not wrong that the numbers do not work. Jesus is not asking them to make the numbers work; he is asking them to bring what they have. What does it look like for your congregation to bring what they have without pretending it will be enough?* Jesus takes, blesses, breaks, and gives. Those four verbs are eucharistic language. Matthew wants us to hear this feeding and the Last Supper together — one continuous action of Christ receiving and blessing and breaking and giving what has been placed in his hands. How might your sermon let your people feel that the meal they celebrate at this table participates in the meal on the grass?* Twelve baskets of leftovers — one for each disciple. The abundance is not only for the crowd; it is also, quite specifically, for the ones who thought there would not be enough. What does it look like to preach the specific reassurance of the leftovers for the ones who serve, who fear running out?Significant Cautions* Two common readings of the miracle circulate. One is that Jesus miraculously multiplied the loaves. The other is that Jesus shamed people out of their hoarded food and everyone shared. Both readings have their defenders. Do not be dogmatic about which is right. Both are ways of taking the story seriously.* “You give them something to eat” has been used to bless a heroic view of Christian service that leaves people burned out. Jesus takes what the disciples bring and multiplies it; he does not ask them to solve the problem alone.* The crowd is not fed as a reward for good behavior. They are fed because they are hungry. Do not preach this text in a way that suggests God's feeding is conditional on our faithfulness.* Do not moralize the miracle into a lesson primarily about our attitudes. The story is fundamentally about what Christ does with what is placed in his hands.Thematic ConnectionsThe Gospel is the natural center for the day and one of the most famous scenes in Christian memory. The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle story that appears in all four Gospels. Matthew tells it here with particular attention to Jesus' grief, the disciples' anxiety about scarcity, and the four eucharistic verbs — take, bless, break, give.On Track One, Jacob's night at the Jabbok pairs with the Gospel in a way that is more thematic than direct. Both scenes describe an encounter with God that changes something. Jacob is renamed and limps away. The disciples are handed a task that seems impossible and end up with twelve baskets of leftovers. Both stories insist that God works through what feels like the wrong scale.On Track Two, the connection to the Gospel is direct. Isaiah's invitation to come to the waters and buy food without money, and Psalm 145's picture of God feeding every living thing in its season, both flow into the Gospel's picture of a crowd being fed on the grass. The God of the Old Testament tracks is the God of the Gospel feeding. This is one story about one God.Romans 9 sits inside the day as its most difficult companion. Paul's grief for his people who do not yet see what he sees is a heavy word to preach, and preachers should handle it with care to avoid the anti-Jewish readings that have plagued this passage. Read alongside the Gospel, one connection is worth noticing: Paul, like Jesus in Matthew 14, is grieving. He is not withdrawn from the world's pain; he is inside it. His anguish is the anguish of a person who loves someone he cannot fix.For preachers continuing the series: the parables arc has closed. Matthew 14 returns us to Jesus in action, with the feeding this week, walking on water next week, and the Canaanite woman the following week. The Matthew narrative is picking back up — and it is picking back up in a scene of extravagant, embodied grace. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lectionarypro.substack.com/subscribe

What if prayer, fasting, confession, and Holy Communion are not assignments from a strict schoolmaster but the ordinary practices of life in our Father's house? Reflecting on Galatians 3:23–4:5, this homily invites us to see the Christian life as a journey from guardianship to sonship, from preparation to fulfillment, and from obedience to loving communion with God. --- Galatians 3:23-4:5 In today's Epistle, Saint Paul says something that has puzzled Christians for centuries. He tells us that "before faith came, we were kept under guard by the Law." Then he says that "the Law was our tutor"—our guardian—"until Christ came." That naturally raises a question. If Christ had to come, then why did God give the Law in the first place? Was the Law a mistake? Did Christ come to replace what God had already done? Not at all. Saint John Chrysostom says Paul isn't criticizing the Law. He's defending it. The Law accomplished exactly what God intended it to accomplish. The problem wasn't the Law. The problem was thinking that the Law was the destination instead of the journey. Perhaps an example will help. Imagine someone saying, "Elementary school is useless because you can't become a doctor unless you go to medical school." Well, of course you can't. But that doesn't make elementary school a failure. It was never meant to produce physicians. It was meant to teach you to read, to write, to count, to think, so that one day you could become something greater. You don't despise elementary school because you've graduated from it. You honor it because it accomplished exactly what it was designed to do: it prepared you for something greater. That is exactly what Saint Paul is saying. The Law was God's elementary school—or, as Paul says, the guardian who escorted His children until they were ready for Christ. It taught His people who He is. It taught them holiness. It taught them justice. It taught them mercy. It taught them that sin separates us from God. It taught them that sacrifice is necessary. It taught them to long for redemption. Every commandment, every sacrifice, every feast, every priest, every prophet was preparing Israel for Christ. The Law was never the destination. It was preparing God's people for the One who is. That's why Paul calls it a guardian. The Greek word is paidagōgos. It doesn't mean a classroom teacher. It refers to the trusted servant who escorted a child to school, watched over him, corrected him, and protected him until he became an adult. The guardian had an important job. But no loving parent intended for the child to remain under the protection of the guardian forever. The goal was maturity. That is exactly what God was doing with His people. The Law guarded Israel. It preserved them. It protected them from idolatry. It formed them into a people through whom the Messiah would come. And when Christ came, the time of preparation gave way to the time of fulfillment. That is why Paul goes on to say something astonishing. He does not merely say that Christ forgives us. He says that "God sent forth His Son... so that we might receive adoption as sons." Notice how much greater that is. God's purpose was never merely to produce well-behaved servants. His purpose is to raise sons and daughters. He doesn't simply pardon sinners. He adopts us as His children and welcomes us into His household. That is why the Christian life is so much more than rule-keeping. Rules can regulate behavior, but they cannot create love. They can restrain evil, but they cannot heal the heart. Only Christ can do that. Through the Holy Spirit, He writes God's Law upon the heart. Only the life of Christ dwelling within us can make us into the kind of people who naturally love what is good. This is why Orthodoxy speaks so often about salvation – theosis – as a process and a way of life. God's purpose is not simply to forgive sinners. His purpose is to unite us to Christ so completely that we begin to share His life. As Saint Athanasius famously said, "God became man so that man might become god"—not by nature, but by grace. That is what Saint Paul is describing. We are no longer merely subjects obeying a king. We are children living in our Father's house. And that changes how we understand the Christian life. Many people imagine Christianity as an endless list of religious obligations. Pray. Fast. Confess. Attend services. Receive Holy Communion. Read the Scriptures. Give alms. Sometimes it can even feel exhausting. But what if we've misunderstood all of it? What if these are not assignments given by a strict schoolmaster? What if they are the ordinary practices by which children grow into the likeness of their Father? A child becomes part of a family in a single moment. But learning to speak like the family, to think like the family, to love like the family, takes years. So it is with us. The moment we are united to Christ, we truly become God's children. But growing into that reality is the work of a lifetime. As we discussed last week, that is why we return to church week after week. Why we pray the same prayers. Why we fast. Why we confess. Why we receive the Holy Mysteries. Not because we are trying to earn God's love, but because we already have it. These are the ordinary means by which the Holy Spirit forms us into the people God created us to be. Again, little by little, almost without noticing it, our desires begin to change. The sins we once loved begin to lose their attraction. The virtues that once seemed difficult begin to bring joy. We become more patient, more merciful, more truthful, more generous—not simply because we are trying harder or following more rules [even Orthodox rules], but because Christ is living His life within us. But this also comes with a warning. It is possible to remain spiritually immature. It is possible to spend years in the Church and still prefer the security of the guardian to the intimacy of the Father's house; to imagine that God is keeping score instead of raising a family; to measure our faith by checking boxes rather than by growing in love. Saint Paul calls us beyond that. He calls us into maturity. Into sonship. Into freedom—not the freedom to do whatever we please, but the freedom to become what we were created to be. And if we were to keep reading beyond today's Epistle, Paul brings his argument to its beautiful conclusion. He says, "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'" Abba. That is the goal. Not merely that we obey God. Not merely that we fear God. But that, in Christ, we know God as our Father, and by the Holy Spirit we begin to love Him with the very love of the Son Himself. That is the fulfillment toward which the Law was always pointing. That is the life into which Christ has brought us. So let us not become discouraged if the road sometimes seems long or the growth seems slow. No child becomes an adult overnight. Formation takes time. God is patient, and He is faithful. As Saint Paul says elsewhere, "Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, let us press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." For this is the good news of today's Epistle. The Law brought God's people to Christ. Christ brings us to the Father. And the Holy Spirit patiently raises us into the mature sons and daughters we were created to become. That is the Christian life—not merely obeying God's commandments from the outside, but gradually becoming the kind of people in whom those commandments are fulfilled by the life of Christ Himself, until we can truly call upon God with confidence and joy, "Abba, Father."

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

A sermon on the Epistle of Jude

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

This episode Dr. Jenkins continues with listener questions, addressing the subject of God's Providence in the history of redemption, especially as it appears in the Epistle to the Romans. Doxamoot signup: https://www.ancientfaith.com/events/Doxamoot/

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

The Roman world couldn't figure Christians out. They weren't pagans, they weren't exactly Jews, and although they lived ordinary lives, there was something remarkably different about them. So, who were these early Christians, and what did they actually believe? In this episode, Tiffany Coker and Pastor Jeff Cranston discuss the Letter to Diognetus, one of the earliest Christian writings addressed to a nonbeliever. They discuss how the letter defended Christianity in the Roman world, challenged pagan idolatry, distinguished Christianity from Judaism, and described believers as ordinary people whose lives were transformed by their heavenly citizenship. Chapters:00:00 Introduction: Who Were the Early Christians?The Roman world struggled to categorize Christians because they weren't pagans or simply another Jewish group, yet their lives were noticeably different.03:00 Christianity in the Roman WorldBy approximately AD 130, Christianity had become distinct enough within Roman society that people were asking who Christians were and what they believed.04:15 What Is the Letter to Diognetus?This anonymous early Christian document was written to explain and defend Christianity to a pagan audience unfamiliar with the Bible.07:05 Three Questions About the Christian FaithThe writer addresses who Christians worship, why they demonstrate remarkable love, and why the Christian way of life appeared when it did.08:00 Defending Christianity Without Quoting ScriptureBecause Scripture held no authority for his pagan audience, the apologist appealed to reason, observation, and the lives of Christians.09:35 The Letter's Challenge to Pagan IdolatryThe writer exposes the irrationality of creating an idol with human hands and then worshiping it as a source of meaning and direction.13:35 How Christianity Differs From Jewish RitualismThe writer explains that Israel's sacrifices and covenant markers find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the ultimate sacrifice for sin.16:05 Christians as the Soul of the WorldThe writer compares Christians to the soul within the body, describing how faithful believers can serve as a conscience to the surrounding world.17:35 How Christian Living Challenges CultureGenerosity confronts greed, forgiveness challenges revenge, humility confronts pride, and love demonstrates that another way of life is possible.18:35 Final Thoughts and a Challenge to Read DiognetusTiffany and Pastor Jeff encourage listeners to read the Letter to Diognetus before returning for the second part of their discussion.“ Here's the question the letter to Diognetus forces us to consider: what are we becoming because of what we worship? Because worship always shapes the worshiper.”  – Pastor Jeff CranstonSources: Read the Letter to Diognetus: http://public-library.uk/ebooks/61/61.pdfBackground on the Letter to Diognetus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_to_Diognetus

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Here in the middle of summer (and, perhaps, one of our sparser crowds of the season) we have a very busy parable section in Matthew 13: five short parables packed into a dozen verses. That's a lot of focus to to try to hold in one sermon — so we likely have some choices to make heading into sermon prep this week.This is the third Sunday inside Matthew's parables chapter, and it is the busiest of them. The Gospel gives us five short parables — mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure, pearl, and net — each doing its own quick work. A single sermon can barely do justice to one of them. The preacher's honest choice this week is whether to preach one image well or gesture at all five superficially (and, most likely, ineffectively). This guide covers each parable but assumes the preacher will pick.The Old Testament tracks head in very different directions. * Track One continues with Jacob — now at his uncle Laban's house, working seven years for Rachel and being deceived at the wedding. It is a painful text, and its painfulness is part of what it has to say. * Track Two brings us to Solomon at Gibeon, offered anything in a dream and asking for wisdom to lead God's people well. * The Epistle continues in Romans 8 and gives us some of the most beloved verses Paul ever wrote — the Spirit interceding with sighs too deep for words, all things working together for good, nothing able to separate us from the love of God in Christ.For preachers continuing the series: this is week three of the parables arc. The Sower (Proper 10) named God's lavish scattering. The Wheat and the Weeds (Proper 11) named God's patient sorting. This week the parables come in a burst, each offering a different angle on what the kingdom of heaven is actually like.The ReadingsGenesis 29:15–28First Reading (Track One) — Jacob, Leah, and RachelSummaryJacob has fled his own family and arrived at his uncle Laban's household. He falls in love with his younger cousin Rachel and agrees to work seven years for her. Seven years pass; the wedding feast is held; and Jacob wakes in the morning to discover he has been given Leah, the older sister, instead. He confronts Laban. Laban answers, without apology, that the younger cannot be given before the elder in that country. Jacob agrees to serve another seven years for Rachel. The deceiver from earlier chapters has been deceived himself, and the family that will grow out of these two marriages will carry the weight of the wedding-night trick for generations.Key Ideas for Preaching* This is Jacob's first taste of being on the receiving end of the kind of scheming he has been practicing. In earlier chapters, he tricked his brother and his father; now his uncle tricks him. The narrator does not moralize — the pattern is simply allowed to sit there. What does it look like for your congregation to notice the patterns they have set in motion, without either shame or excuse?* Laban's “the younger cannot be given before the elder” is a pointed line. Jacob, the younger, took what belonged to Esau, the elder. Now he is told he cannot take the younger before the elder. The text is doing quiet, painful work. Where in your congregation might God be doing similarly quiet work — through consequences, not lectures?* The story does not pretend Leah is loved. It does not pretend Rachel is safe from her sister's grief. It refuses to give us the reassuring resolution we might want. What does it look like to preach honestly on a text that leaves this much untidy?Significant Cautions* Do not romanticize the line about seven years feeling like a few days. Read in context, it opens a story that will produce enormous grief for at least three of the four people involved.* The women in this story — Leah and Rachel — pay the highest price for the men's schemes. Be honest about that, without turning them into abstractions or setting one against the other.* Do not use this text to comment on modern marriage practices in ways it cannot bear. It is a story about deception and consequences, not a template for how marriages should work.Psalm 105:1–11, 45bThe Psalm (Track One, primary option) — Remember the CovenantSummaryA hymn of thanksgiving for God's faithfulness across the long history of Israel. The opening verses call the people to praise and to remember. The middle rehearses the covenant with Abraham — the promise of the land, the seed, the everlasting covenant — which the lectionary selects to keep the focus tight. The closing line is a single word of praise.Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalm is essentially a call to remember. What God did for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not distant history but the reason today's community has cause to sing. What does it mean for your people to keep the long memory of what God has done, in a culture that keeps them focused on the immediate?* Read alongside today's Genesis reading, the psalm's serene retelling sits in some tension with the messy reality Jacob is living through in Genesis 29. The psalm knows the story ends well; Jacob does not. Where in your people's lives is God's long faithfulness working through a story that does not yet feel serene?Significant Cautions* The “land I have promised” language has a long and painful history when misused to justify the taking of land from other people. Handle it with care.* The psalm's cheerfulness can mask real complexity in the underlying history. Do not erase Leah's grief with a hymn about Jacob's story.Psalm 128The Psalm (Track One, alternative option) — Blessed Is EveryoneSummaryA short psalm of blessing for the person who fears the Lord. Their labor is fruitful; their household flourishes; they live to see their children's children. The psalm assumes a stable, agricultural, patriarchal household and pronounces blessing over it.Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalm's picture of blessing is domestic, ordinary, and generational — not heroic, not dramatic. Just a table set, a family gathered, a life lived faithfully across time. Where in your congregation has the ordinary been undervalued, and how might this psalm give it its due?* Paired with the Genesis reading, this psalm offers a striking contrast — Jacob's marriage is not the picture of blessing this psalm describes. What might it look like to preach both — the ideal the psalm names and the reality the Jacob story exposes — without pretending they can be neatly resolved?Significant Cautions* The psalm's vision of a blessed household is culturally specific. Do not preach it in a way that suggests those without spouses or children are outside God's blessing.1 Kings 3:5–12First Reading (Track Two) — Solomon Asks for WisdomSummaryEarly in his reign, Solomon has a dream at Gibeon. God appears and asks him what he wants. Solomon does not ask for wealth, or long life, or victory over his enemies. He asks for an understanding heart — the wisdom to lead God's people well. He is a young king, he says, and does not know how to govern. God is pleased and gives him what he asked for, along with the things he did not ask for.Key Ideas for Preaching* Solomon's request is startling for its self-awareness. He knows he does not know. Where in your congregation has the honest admission of what we do not know been avoided in favor of confident-sounding leadership, and what might this text invite instead?* The wisdom Solomon asks for is specifically for the sake of others — to govern God's people well. This is not personal enlightenment; it is a request for the equipment to serve. How might your people hear this as a model for the kind of wisdom their vocations actually need?Significant Cautions* The wider story of Solomon complicates this scene. He will not, over the long run, live up to the wisdom he receives here. Do not preach the dream as if it were the whole of Solomon's reign.* “Ask for whatever you want” language can be misused. God is not a wish-granter; the text is showing us what a rightly ordered heart asks for, not licensing bargain-hunting prayer.Psalm 119:129–136The Psalm (Track Two) — The Unfolding of Your WordsSummaryAnother short section of the great acrostic psalm on God's word and law. The chosen verses celebrate God's decrees as wonderful, ask for God's face to shine on the psalmist, and end with a line of surprising grief: “my eyes shed streams of tears, because your law is not kept.”Key Ideas for Preaching* The psalmist's tears are the grief of someone who loves what God intended and sees the world falling short of it. What in your congregation's life would break their hearts if they let it — and what does the psalm suggest we do with that grief?* “The unfolding of your words gives light.” The word does not give light all at once; it unfolds. How might your sermon honor the slow way God's word actually opens itself to us?Significant Cautions* The psalmist's love for God's law can be misread as legalism. It is not. It is a love for what God has revealed as good.Romans 8:26–39The Epistle — Nothing Can Separate UsSummaryThe climax of Romans 8, and some of the most beloved verses Paul ever wrote. The Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. All things work together for good for those who love God. And then the closing crescendo, one of the great passages of the New Testament: nothing — not hardship, persecution, famine, sword, powers, principalities, or anything else in all creation — can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.Key Ideas for Preaching* The Spirit intercedes for us when we do not know how to pray. That is one of the most comforting sentences in the New Testament for people in seasons when prayer has stopped working. Where in your congregation are people quietly convinced they are failing at prayer, and how might Paul steady them?* “All things work together for good” has become a widely repeated line and is often misused. Paul is not saying every bad thing that happens is secretly good, or that suffering will always be visibly redeemed. He is naming something more specific — that God is at work within all things toward good. How might your sermon preserve the comfort of the verse while defending it from its worst uses?* The closing crescendo names actual sufferings by name — hardship, persecution, famine, sword. Paul is not offering an abstract promise. He is naming the very things his readers were facing and insisting that none of them can separate them from the love of God. Where in your congregation are people quietly assuming they might have been separated already, and what would it mean for them to hear this list read aloud with their own name in it?Significant Cautions* “All things work together for good” is one of the most misused verses in the Bible — especially at funerals and in hospital rooms, where it has been used to justify or minimize real suffering. Preach against that misuse plainly.* “Those God foreknew he also predestined” opens onto centuries of debate. Faithful readers come down differently. Do not preach as if the question has been settled.* The comfort of the closing verses is only meaningful when the sufferings named are taken seriously. Do not skip lightly over famine and sword; they are what Paul's hearers were living, and they are what many of ours are living too.Matthew 13:31–33, 44–52The Gospel — Five Parables of the KingdomSummaryFive short parables in quick succession. The kingdom is like a mustard seed — tiny at first but growing into something birds nest in. Like yeast a woman works into flour until the whole batch is leavened. Like treasure hidden in a field that someone finds and joyfully sells everything to buy. Like a merchant finding one pearl worth all he has. Like a net cast into the sea that catches everything and is only sorted after being pulled in. Jesus asks the disciples if they have understood, and closes with one more image: the scribe trained for the kingdom, bringing out of his storeroom what is new and what is old.Key Ideas for Preaching* The mustard seed is a strange choice. Mustard was considered an invasive weed in first-century Palestine, not a tree. Jesus is comparing the kingdom to what is often unwanted, wild, and hard to contain. Where in your congregation has the kingdom been imagined as tidy, and what would it look like to hear it named as invasive?* The yeast image is done by a woman — quiet, hidden, domestic work. The kingdom is often like that: invisible until the whole batch has risen. Where in your congregation has the visible been overvalued, and what would it mean to honor the yeast?* The hidden treasure parable turns on joy. The person sells everything not out of duty but out of gladness. When has your congregation known that kind of joy — a joy that made the giving up easy? How might your sermon call it forth again?* The pearl merchant is not a lucky farmer stumbling on treasure. He is searching. Some people come to the kingdom by accident; some by long looking. Which of your people are the seekers, and what might they need to hear this morning?* The net catches everything — good and bad — and is only sorted at the end. This is the wheat and weeds again, in miniature. What does it mean that the same kingdom-shape shows up in five different images? Where might your congregation be tempted to prefer one image and dismiss the others?* The closing line about the scribe bringing out what is new and what is old is one of the most graceful sentences in Matthew. What does it look like for your congregation to hold both — the ancient wisdom of the tradition and the new thing God is doing among them — without pitting one against the other?Significant Cautions* The mustard-seed-as-invasive-weed reading is worth naming, but do not turn the whole parable into a horticulture lecture. Let the image do its work.* The “sold all he had” imagery has been used to bless coercive giving. Jesus is describing joy, not running a stewardship campaign.* The net parable closes with fierce judgment language — furnace, weeping, gnashing of teeth. Handle it with the same care as last week's wheat and weeds. The point is that the sorting is not ours.A single sermon cannot honestly cover all five parables. Do not try. Pick one — or a pair — and let it breathe.Thematic ConnectionsThis is week three of the parables arc, and the pattern is coming into focus. Two weeks ago the Parable of the Sower named God's lavish scattering. Last week the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds named God's patient sorting. This week we get five different angles on what the kingdom is actually like. Small and invasive (the mustard seed). Hidden and pervasive (the yeast). Discovered by accident and worth everything (the treasure). Discovered by long searching and worth everything (the pearl). Mixed and eventually sorted (the net).Preachers have a real choice this week. The mustard seed and yeast pair naturally, both about small things producing outsized results. The treasure and pearl pair naturally, both about joyfully giving up everything for something worth more. The net stands alone and pulls the arc back toward last week's parable. Almost any one of these will preach; trying to do all five will not.On Track One, the Genesis reading offers a striking counterpoint to the Gospel's celebration of the kingdom. Jacob thinks he is buying joy for seven years of labor. He discovers he has bought Leah, and must labor seven more years for Rachel. The parables of the treasure and the pearl both assume that what is bought is truly worth what it costs. Jacob's story shows what happens when we buy the wrong thing. A preacher can hold both — the joy the parables assume and the ache the Genesis story exposes — without pretending they resolve neatly.On Track Two, Solomon at Gibeon asks for the very wisdom the parables describe. The scribe trained for the kingdom, the one Jesus names at the close of the Gospel, could just as well be Solomon at the dream — a young leader who knows he does not know, asking for what only God can give.Romans 8 sits under the day as the great steadying word. The Spirit intercedes for us in our confusion. All things are held together in God's purpose. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Whether we are seeking the kingdom or stumbling into it this week, God's love is prior to our finding it. This is a public episode. 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Join us as we study through the Epistle to the Galatians in our sermon series, "The Gospel at Work."In today's podcast, we will be focusing on Galatians 5:22-23.If you have any questions or would like to leave a comment, please feel free to email us at info@ravenswoodbaptist.org

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

Textual study of the daily section of Tanya, the foundational text of Chassidic philosophy.

Chabad Chassidus is an all-embracing world outlook and way of life which sees the Jew's central purpose as a unifying link between the Creator and His world. Written by the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Chabad, Tanya is the central text of Chabad Chassidus. It shows the reader a path to realizing their purpose and developing a deeper relationship with G-d. Choose from one of the two formats available: through Lessons in Tanya - a profound and clear explanation of the Alter Rebbe's writings, or through an audio class.

He, along with his wife Priscilla, is mentioned in the book of Acts and in St Paul's Epistle to the Romans. He and his wife were Jews who moved to Corinth when the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Italy. They were working as tentmakers in Corinth when they met and worked with St Paul, also a tentmaker by trade, who brought them to faith in Christ. From that time onward they worked diligently to spread the Gospel of Christ. The Prologue says that they died at the hands of pagans, the Great Horologion that the circumstances of their repose are unknown.