Bart Byl on John 14:15-27.

In the days before his arrest, Jesus takes his disciples aside to teach them and give them the encouragement they will soon sorely need. He emphasizes that when he returns to the Father, he will not leave them as orphans: he will send his promised Holy Spirit. For the church ever since then, the Holy Spirit's presence has infused us with new life and great confidence in all the riches we have in Christ Jesus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Psalm 40.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

For thousands of years, the Psalms have shaped the worship of the people of God. These ancient prayers give us the words to lament the brokenness of the world, to cry out to God from the terrible pit, and to praise him for his mighty acts of deliverance. But our reading of this book is transformed when we remember these 150 psalms are the prayer journal of Jesus himself.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Job 19:1-27.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

Job was a good man: the most righteous in the East. But God allows Satan to strip him of everything. Job cries out to God out of is pain and wonders how a good God could inflict such cruelty on his servant. Job’s friends argue that Job must have some secret sin, but Job knows his own integrity. In the end, there’s only one thing Job is after: an encounter with the living God, who shows up in the whirlwind to speak to Job.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Esther 3:1-6, 13-4:5, 12-16.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

A young Jewish woman, Esther, rises through the harem to become Queen of Persia. Five years later, her fellow Jews are in deadly peril of being wiped out by the vengeful Prime Minister. When Esther hesitates to risk her own position, her cousin Mordecai reminds her that God may well have raised her up for such a time as this.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Luke 24:1-12.

If Jesus really has been raised from the dead, that would change everything. It would mean victory over death and a future filled with hope. But why should we trust the witness of the women and the disciples? What if they’re liars, or deluded?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on John 12:20-33.

Jesus has been welcomed to Jerusalem by the cheering crowds. But when a group of God-fearing Greeks ask to see Jesus, he announces his time has come: his time to fall into the ground like a seed and die for the world.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Nehemiah 2.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

December, 446 BC, in the Persian capital city Susa. Nehemiah, King Artaxerxes’s cupbearer, is devastated to hear of the broken-down condition of his native Jerusalem. With the king’s blessing, he heads to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall: a project that is delayed by malevolent neighbours and community corruption. It’s a story in miniature of God’s renovation of this fallen world, and our own broken-down lives.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Ezra 7:1-16, 25-28.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

In 538 BC, the Persian King Cyrus the Great gave the exiled Jews permission to return to their homeland. Zerubbabel led a first wave of 42,360 returnees back to rebuild the temple. Then, sixty years later, sent Ezra the priest-scribe to Jerusalem to instruct the people in the law of God. But there’s only so much even a gifted and godly teacher can do, because the people are still sinful. For God’s people (and the whole world) to return from their more ancient exile from Eden, we need more than a great teacher: we need a second Adam to lead us past the flaming sword and into God’s presence.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on 2 Chronicles 6:12-7:3.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

The highest point of King Solomon’s reign finds him in the centre of a great throng of worshippers, spreading out his hands in prayer to God. It’s as though the most kingly act is to be on your knees interceding for the people God has entrusted to you. Do we realise how much we owe to King Jesus who is continually interceding for us before the Father? At this very moment he is at the centre of the heavenly worship, seated at the right hand of God, making our needs and requests known with power.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on 1 Chronicles 17.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

David is feeling guilty about living in a place of cedar while the ark of God lives in a tent. He wants to build a temple for God, but God turns him down. Instead, God says, “I am going to build you a house—a great dynasty, with a king who will sit on your throne forever.” God’s relationship with human beings will always be asymmetrical. We can never outgive God, and nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the gift of His Son.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.