Luke 1:39-80; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-40 Before Jesus is born we learn much about his identity. Elizabeth recognizes that Jesus is Lord. He is her long awaited king. If you follow the word for Lord in her statement in Luke 1, she uses it for Jesus and then seemingly for God the Father in verse 45. Prior to Jesus having done anything other than exist in Mary's womb, Elizabeth seems to understand ...  Read More

Mark 1:1; Luke 1:1-4; John 1:1-18; Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38, 1:5-38 What is the most beautiful bridge you have seen? The Golden Gate Bridge? The Sydney Harbor Bridge? The Brooklyn Bridge? There are many beautiful bridges around the world, but ultimately, they exist to connect two land masses that are separated by water. As we move from the Old to the New Testament, we may wonder how to connect...  Read More

Malachi 2:10-4:6; Joel 1:1-3:21 How would you summarize the Bible in a sentence? We are about to finish up the Old Testament, but how would you explain the Bible succinctly to someone who did not know what it says?Malachi and Joel help us to summarize the contents of the whole Bible. They express God’s desire for us to find life in him, but our continual pursuit of things outside of him (idols). T...  Read More

Nehemiah 12:27-13:6, 5:14-19, 13:7-31; Malachi 1:1-2:9 What was the best party you ever attended? Maybe your wedding, a surprise birthday party, or a 50th wedding anniversary? When the walls of Jerusalem were completed, Israel threw a massive party. The purpose of the celebration was not about their own accomplishment but to celebrate the greatness and faithfulness of God. The description of the p...  Read More

Nehemiah 11:1-12:26; 1 Chronicles 9:1-34 Today it is common to move from where you grew up to pursue education, a job, or even a relationship. This would have been nearly unheard of at this time in history when generation after generation remained in the same locale. As the Jewish exiles slowly trickled back into Israel, they would have returned to their cities of origin, but there was a need for ...  Read More

Nehemiah 8:13-10:39 It was time to celebrate. A Jewish remnant had returned and the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. As Ezra read the Book of the Law, they realized it was time to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. They prepared their tents with branches to recall how their ancestors lived in tents when God brought them from Egypt to the promised land. The peoples’ “joy was great” at this celebrati...  Read More

Nehemiah 7:4-8:12 We can read the Bible and not understand it. We often need people to come alongside us to make the Scriptures clear. Ezra read the law to the people, but it needed to be explained. We are told the Levites "instructed the people in the Law" (Nehemiah 8:7). They made it clear and gave the meaning of what was read. This is hopefully what every church does on Sunday mornings. We are ...  Read More

Nehemiah 3:1-5:13, 6:1-7:3 We often divide our lives into the secular and sacred. We think certain parts of our lives do not matter to God (leisure, work etc.) while others are important to him (Bible reading, prayer, evangelism, etc.). As we read about the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, it may seem on the surface this work is far less significant than the work of Ezra, who was teaching the...  Read More

Ezra 9:1-10:44; Nehemiah 1:1-2:20 There is no place for racism in the church or in our hearts. This is clear from Scripture and from God's heart for all nations. Christians have tried to find rationalization for racism and prejudice in the Bible. Perhaps a passage offered up as support for these racist attitudes is the end of Ezra. Ezra condemns the Israelites for intermarrying with neighboring pe...  Read More

Ezra 4:7-23, 7:1-8:36 What do you pay attention to more in life, the good stuff or the bad stuff ? The fun stuff or the hard stuff ? Since most of life is filled with a mixture of all these things, we need to intentionally watch what we give our attention. The Israelites had been continually pestered by those already in the land and were commanded to stop rebuilding the city. This would have been ...  Read More

Esther 5:1-10:3 My daughters love the story of Esther. When they were young, Esther was in the pantheon of Disney princesses alongside Ariel, Belle, Rapunzel, and others. Yet the story of Esther is about far more than a princess. Ultimately, it is a story that points us to Jesus. There was a death sentence over the Jewish people, and only when Esther stepped forward as a righteous mediator/petitio...  Read More

Ezra 6:14-22, 4:6; Esther 1:1-4:17 Some of us may feel like our lives are just one trial after another. We may feel like we are playing whack-a-mole or trying to plug holes in a dam with our fingers, as we experience hardship after hardship. If you feel like this, then you should feel right at home in the Bible. The Israelites had experienced exile and now faced what would have seemed like certain...  Read More