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The women in Christ’s family tree
Jesus often startled people with unexpected and controversial actions. So it’s no wonder that even His heritage, listed in the book of Matthew, holds some surprises as well. Today, former “Discover the Word” hosts Haddon Robinson and Alice Mathews conclude a week-long dialogue with Dr. Kenneth Bailey about the women in Christ’s family tree. It’s from a classic “Discover the Word” episode that you won’t want to miss.
This Could Be the Year
My dad was a pastor, and on the first Sunday of each new year he preached about the return of Christ, often quoting from 1 Thessalonians 4. His point was always the same: “This could be the year that Jesus will return. Are you ready to meet Him?” I’ll never forget hearing that sermon at age 6, thinking, If that’s true, I’m not sure I will be among those He’s coming for. I felt certain that my parents would be going to heaven, and I wanted to go too. So, when my dad came home after church, I asked how I could be…
What Does Jesus Mean to You?
One Tuesday night at Bible Study class, our teacher—after pacing back and forth in his usual manner, with one finger over his lips—looked at us and asked: “What is Jesus to you?”
His only Son
Today on “Discover the Word,” we celebrate Christmas and wind up the series “For God So Loved.” The chapter with the Bible’s most familiar verse has provided the context for our conversations for Christmas this year. John 3:16 of course gives us the reason why Jesus came, but you’ll discover the surprising way John chapter 3 concludes when you join us today on “Discover the Word”!
Christmas Mystery
As Charles Dickens’ story A Christmas Carol begins, there is mystery surrounding Ebenezer Scrooge. Why is he so mean-spirited? How did he become so selfish? Then, slowly, as the Christmas spirits marched Scrooge through his own story, things become clearer. We see the influences that changed him from a happy youth into a selfish miser. We observe his isolation and his brokenness. As the mystery is solved, we also glimpse the path to restoration. Concern for others pulls Scrooge from his self-absorbed darkness into a new joy.
A far more important mystery, and one much harder to explain, is that which Paul…
His atoning work on the cross
In John chapter 3 we read that Jesus said He didn’t come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it. Today on “Discover the Word,” we talk about how Christians often condemn the very people that Jesus included through His atoning work on the cross. Continue to study the context of one of the Bible’s most familiar statements: “For God so loved the world.”
One Size Fits All
Like most children, I thoroughly enjoyed Christmas. With great anticipation, I would snoop under the tree to see what toys and games awaited my eager grasp. So I felt deflated when I started getting things like shirts and pants. Grownup gifts were no fun! Then last Christmas, my kids gave me some cool socks with bright colors and designs. I almost felt young again! Even grownups could wear these socks, as the label reassured me: “One size fits all.”
That welcome phrase “one size fits all” reminds me of the best gift of Christmas—the good news that Jesus is for everyone.…
Expectations for the coming Messiah
If Jesus had used the word rescue with Nicodemus as the reason for His coming, how would a first-century religious leader like him have interpreted that? Today on “Discover the Word,” we’ll discuss what the expectation of the Jewish people was for the coming Messiah. Was it the reason Jesus said He came?
For God So Loved
In ancient Jewish culture, the first-born son held a very special place in family dynamics. So it got Nicodemus’ attention when Jesus told him that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. Join the group today on “Discover the Word” as they begin Week 2 of their series on the chapter of the Bible that contains its most familiar verse, “For God So Loved.”
Pax Romana
No one can afford the price of war. One website reports 64 nations are currently involved in armed conflicts. When and how will they end? We want peace, but not at the expense of justice.
Jesus was born during a time of “peace,” but it came at the cost of heavy-handed oppression. The Pax Romana (“Roman Peace”) existed only because Rome squashed all dissent.
Seven centuries before that time of relative peace, hostile armies prepared to invade Jerusalem. From the shadow of war, God made a remarkable pronouncement. “On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned,” the prophet…
The Seventh Stanza
In the summer of 1861, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s wife, Frances, died tragically in a fire. That first Christmas without her, he wrote in his diary, “How inexpressibly sad are the holidays.” The next year was no better, as he recorded, “ ‘A merry Christmas,’ say the children, but that is no more for me.”
In 1863, as the American Civil War was dragging on, Longfellow’s son joined the army against his father’s wishes and was critically injured. On Christmas Day that year, as church bells announced the arrival of another painful Christmas, Longfellow picked up his pen and began to write,…
Embracing the Messiah
Today on “Discover the Word,” we end the first week of the special series for Christmas titled, “For God So Loved,” by revealing how Jesus challenged a prominent leader of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus, to embrace the Messiah he wasn’t expecting. It poses a question for all of us. And the answer is wrapped up in a simple two-letter word that reveals the intensity of Jesus’ love for all humanity. Find out what that word is, on “Discover the Word”!
How Jesus came to rescue people
Do you like snakes? Well, today on “Discover the Word,” we will talk about how Jesus referenced the story of Moses “lifting up the serpent” in the wilderness. Are you familiar with that story? See an amazing connection that points to how Jesus came to rescue people “snake bitten” by sin.
How would you answer the question, “where are you from”?
“Where are you from?” It’s an icebreaker question we often ask people to get an idea of who they are. Today on “Discover the Word,” we will discuss the contrast between how Nicodemus, a respected religious leader from Jerusalem would answer that question and how Jesus would answer it. Where did Jesus say He was from? Listen today on “Discover the Word”!
