We are starting this series that I am calling Becoming Peter. Now the point of this series is not that you would become like Peter, though that is a worthy goal. The apostle Paul proclaimed to the Philippians to imitate him in Philippians 3:17. We would certainly do well to imitate the apostle Peter and we will consider doing so in this series. But the point of this series will be more focused on how Peter became Peter. Remember that Peter is not his original name. His parents gave him the name, Simon. When he first encountered Jesus, his name was Simon. All of his life everyone who knew him called him, Simon, until he met Jesus…

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What was the whole point of the Hebrew Scriptures? Why the Old Testament? Why have the patriarchs? Why have Israel? Why have the promises? What was the value? What was the point? Have you ever wondered these things? Why not just start in the Gospel of Matthew and go from there? This is where Romans 3 begins. What was the point of Israel, what advantage was there in being a Jew, and what was the benefit of circumcision if those who belong to God are those who have the law written on their hearts leading them to do God’s will (cf. Romans 2:25-29; 2:15)? Paul appears to begin to answer this in chapter 3 but a fuller answer is given in chapter 9. What Paul lays out in this section of Romans 3 are two key teachings. Two of the purposes for Israel, the patriarchs, and the promises were to teach us something about God and something about ourselves…

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We are spending this month looking at James’ teachings on how to have authentic faith especially during trying times. James 1 tells us that God is using trials to make us mature and complete so that we lack nothing. Therefore, we must let steadfastness have its full effect. Further, James tells us that we need to pray for wisdom while we are in our trials because God will gives us the wisdom we need generously. James also taught us how to look at temptations. No one should think that God is tempting them or that God is trying to destroy their faith. God is for us, gives us every good and perfect gift, and has given us new birth by the word of truth. Rather, what is separating us from God are the evil desires that are in us. Our desires give birth to sin which leads us to spiritual death. Now James is bringing us to a fourth consideration for our times in trials. Another problem that arises during trials is anger…

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We are starting a short series for our Sunday evenings in January called Authentic. The purpose of this series is to see how the scriptures picture how we can have a real faith and be real disciples. Now if you think about books in God’s word that give pictures of what faith looks like, James is one of the books that rises to the top. We can sometimes oversimplify the book of James so that the point is missed. We talk about how James tells us that true faith does work. We see this point made in James 2. This is a very important truth. But the point of the book is not to convince us that true faith has action. I believe the point of the book is to show us what faith does. What does true faith look like? To be a little more precise, what does true faith do during times of hardship and suffering? What does faith do when suffering? So what I would like to do is spend five lessons looking at first chapter of James and look carefully at what faith does when encountering trials and suffering…

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Up to this point we have been reading about various prophecies of hope in what is often called “the book of consolation” in Jeremiah 30-33. But as we come to Jeremiah 33 God will do something different with Jeremiah. Rather than giving another prophetic message, God is going to have Jeremiah act out this particular message. Now you may remember that Jeremiah has been told to act out some of God’s messages. We have seen the potter and the clay prophecy acted out, followed by breaking the clay pot (cf. Jeremiah 18-19). We have seen the ruined loincloth representing the ruin of the nation (cf. Jeremiah 13). But now the Lord is going to give Jeremiah an inexplicable prophetic command in Jeremiah 32 and through this action show our hope in Christ…

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We have been looking at the book of consolation which is contained in Jeremiah 30-33 in which God is proclaiming to the people the future hope that will come when Christ comes. You can see throughout this section of Jeremiah that repeated promise that “the days are coming.” Messianic hope still exists for God’s people. Even though the people are being judged for their sins and being taken into Babylonian exile, God is will remain faithful to his covenant promises. So we have been spending these lessons looking at what Christ would accomplish when he came to the earth and what would be the result for the people of God. This helps us appreciate what the New Testament is teaching us about what we have in Christ now as it sheds further light on the meaning of these prophecies. It is important that we see our hope in Christ that we have now so that we can strengthen our faith and be encourage to not give up or lose heart. Open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 31 and we are going to look at the second half of this chapter…

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How do you know if you belong to God or not? How do you know if you are in a relationship with the Lord? One of Paul’s purposes in the book of Romans is to teach the answer to these questions. Since the wrath of God has been revealed from heaven and the gospel is the power of God for salvation (cf. Romans 1:16-18), then who are the people of God? So I would like for us to take a moment to think about these questions. How are you supposed to know if you are in a relationship with God? How do you know that you belong to God? The apostle Paul is going to challenge the traditional measurements that were used to know if they were children of God. Paul is going to take us to the heart of the gospel…

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This paragraph begins with a jarring truth declaration: God will repay each person according to their works (Romans 2:6). This is a repeated declaration that is made throughout the scriptures. The psalmist states that this is true.

Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work. (Psalm 62:11-12 ESV)

In our study of Jeremiah’s prophecy, he also taught this truth:

I, the LORD, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve. (Jeremiah 17:10 CSB)…

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When we look at the prophets we are often able to find sections when God turns his attention to speaking about a future hope for his people. For example, in the book of Isaiah we see a shift in chapter 40 when God through Isaiah starts proclaiming what the future will look like for his people when Christ comes. Even a prophet like Amos, in which so much of the prophecy contains judgment, ends which the future hope of restoration at the very end of chapter 9. We are coming to the section in Jeremiah that is often called “the book of encouragement” or “the book of consolation.” The reason is that in Jeremiah 30:2 we see the Lord instruct Jeremiah to write a book of all the words that he is speaking to him. Jeremiah 30-33 contain words of encouragement through prophecy and lived out pictures that describe what will happen when Christ comes. In fact, Jeremiah 30:3 gives a summary for the contents of this encouraging word…

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In 2 Samuel 12 the prophet Nathan comes to King David after David had sexually sinned with Bathsheba and attempted to cover up the pregnancy by killing Bathsheba’s husband and marrying her. So Nathan must come to David with a story about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had a very large flock of sheep while the poor man had only one small ewe lamb that he bought. The poor man raised this small sheep with the family and fed the sheep from the meager food the family had. He loved this sheep and cared for it like a family member. The rich man had a guest come to his house and rather than killing one of his many sheep, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it for his guest. At hearing this, David’s anger burned and he passes righteous judgment. This rich man deserves to die for what he has done. He owes this poor man four lambs for the one he has taken from this poor man because of what he did and because he had no pity. Nathan then responds to David’s indignation by telling David that you are that rich man. God gave you everything but that was not enough for you. What is important to consider is how we can so easily see the sins and unrighteous acts in other people but are blinded by our own sins. When we do something, we do not see what is wrong with it but we are outraged when we see others do the very same thing. This is where Paul opens in Romans 2…

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