Episodes

  • A New Heart

    A New Heart
    Jan 27 2025
    So far, Ezekiel’s focus on God’s work of restoration has been externally focused (i.e., new shepherd, new covenant). In Ezekiel 36, God’s work of making “all things new” encompasses the internal too. What God’s people in Babylon really need is a new heart! True transformation happens only by divine intervention from the inside-out. Through His Spirit, God promises His people heart surgery – removing their hard, unbelieving stone-like hearts and implanting a soft, pliable believing heart. Not only will His Spirit complete the procedure, but He will indwell God’s people and lead them to walk in obedience to His words and ways. Jesus connects this divine procedure to baptism in John 3.
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    Less than 1 minute
  • A New Covenant

    A New Covenant
    Jan 21 2025
    God says, “I will cut with them a covenant of peace.” (Ezekiel 34:25) What does that mean? A covenant in the OT was not an impersonal contract, informal agreement, or word-of-mouth handshake; rather, covenants were cut and binded two sides via animal blood. With His persistently rebellious people, God promises a covenant of peace (shalom). Peace is not simply an absence of conflict; peace means wholeness, safety, and security. In Jesus, God cut a covenant of peace with Him via Jesus’ blood. In Him we are whole, safe, and secure.
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    Less than 1 minute
  • A New Shepherd

    A New Shepherd
    Jan 13 2025
    After the fall of Jerusalem, God chastises the unfaithful religious leaders (i.e., shepherds) of His sheep. At the hands of their gross, spiritual negligence, His people have become prey, malnourished, scattered, lost, and injured. Therefore, God promises that He Himself will be their Shepherd. He will search for His sheep and rescue them. He will gather and feed them. He will bind up and strengthen them. He will help them lie down in rich pastures. We see God’s promise realized most fully in Jesus, our Good Shepherd.!
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    Less than 1 minute
  • I Am His Story: Diana

    I Am His Story: Diana
    Jan 6 2025
    God’s power works best in our weakness, but no one relishes feeling weak or powerless! By learning to rely entirely on God’s grace, however, we discover that He has been at work in us, even when we thought we were in charge of our lives.
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Holiday Wardrobe ... What's in Your Closet?

    Holiday Wardrobe ... What's in Your Closet?
    Dec 30 2024
    Less than 1 minute
  • The Many Scents of Christmas

    The Many Scents of Christmas
    Dec 25 2024
    This year we are going to look at Bethlehem from a different vantage point and consider the many aromas of Christmas.
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    Less than 1 minute
  • O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

    O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
    Dec 23 2024
    We don’t build bears, as in a “Build a Bear Workshop”—rather we build false gods, just like Israelites did while captive in Babylon. Isaiah describes the tools and the trade in Isaiah 44:13­–17, methods that we replicate to this day. That’s why Isaiah invites us to “Behold your God” (Isaiah 40:9). Our God – THE GOD – is not an inanimate object; rather, He is a loving and merciful Savior who was crucified for the sins of the world, who lives and reigns to all eternity!
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Hark the Glad Sound

    Hark the Glad Sound
    Dec 16 2024
    Isaiah anticipates that the people in Babylonian exile will miss his Gospel message in Isaiah 40:1–5. He signals his disappointment through the sudden shift from the divine glory, witnessed by all flesh (Isaiah 40:5), to the pathos of human transience in Isaiah 40:6–8a where “grass” is used to describe people four times. In our transient lives and world, the only sure source of joy and life is God’s Word which endures forever (Isaiah 40:8b).
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    Less than 1 minute