In this episode of The Blitz, Pastor Jon explores the simple wisdom and truth that Genesis 1 provides for a world gone mad.

In this episode of Doxological, Pastor Ryan James and Brynn James discuss the idea of covenant renewal worship. God established this pattern of worship in the Old Testament before fulfilling it in Christ.

Jesus commands his disciples to love their enemies because he wants them to reflect the kindness and love of God expressed in the Gospel. In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten looks at this section of Jesus' "Sermon on the Plain" in Luke 6 and considers what it means to love our enemies.

On the evening of November 2, 2021 at Hale's Ales Barrelhouse in Bremerton, Washington, Dr. Glenn Sunshine delivered a lecture on the history of the Christian theology of resistance to tyranny. He concluded the lecture with a brief time of Q&A.

Big Ideas

1. Prayer and fasting
In this text, the Holy Spirit calls out Paul and Barnabas for a particular missionary venture. This call, however, came in the context of worship, devotion, prayer, and fasting. As the Church pursued God through worship and devotion, God spoke to the Church. How did the Holy Spirit speak to the Church? Well, we don’t exactly know. But we do know that this encounter occurred in the context of worship. As we meet God in worship, he directs our steps.

2. A real and present darkness
In our last text, we were confronted with angels who are sent by God to help his people. In this text, we see that there are also very real dark realities at work in this world seeking to deceive people. Elymas was a Jewish magician and false prophet. He was an evil man and an enemy of God who sought to distract others from the truth of God. Paul called him a “son of the devil” (Acts 13:10). Christians need to understand that these enemies exist and that there are dark spiritual realities behind these people who seek to undermine the truth and work of God.

3. Jesus wins
Elymas sought to distract and deceive the proconsul, that he might eternally suffer. But Jesus saved the proconsul. Ironically, Elymas, a man who claimed to be able to see, was stricken with blindness, while the proconsul was given sight to see the truth and glory of God in Christ. Jesus always wins.

Study Questions

1. The Church encountered God in the context of worship, prayer, and fasting. How are you doing in personal spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible reading, and fasting?

2. Have you ever personally encountered a uniquely evil person like Elymas who intentionally sought to distract and deceive people? How did you respond?

3. Sergius Paulus was the proconsul of Cyprus. He served in an official political office much like that of a governor. Paul taught him the Gospel and Sergius became a Christian. How might this text challenge the assumptions we make regarding the separation of Church and state?

Big Ideas

1. Angels and Peter’s great escape
Once again in our text, we find angels doing God’s work and providing aid and rescue to God’s people. Christians often don’t know what to do when it comes to angels. Some obsess over angels while others try to avoid the topic altogether. What’s clear throughout the Bible is that angels do exist and God does use them to help his people in times of great need. Angels should not be worshipped, for only God deserves our worship. On the other hand, angels should not be avoided or feared. They are God’s servants and our helpers. The author of Hebrews goes as far as to say that some of us have encountered angels without even knowing it (Hebrews 13:2)!

2. Our enemies fall into their own pit
In the imprecatory Psalms, David prays that his enemies would fall into the pit they have dug for him (Psalm 35:8). This text in Acts is a perfect example of God doing just that. The leaders that killed James and imprisoned Peter, presumably with plans to kill him also, had their evil turned back on them. The guards were put to death and King Herod died in the most public and humiliating way. God will not be mocked and his enemies will not escape his justice and judgment.

3. The gates of hell shall not prevail
This text ends with the most incredible contrast. Those who seek to destroy the Church will themselves be destroyed by God. Meanwhile, the Church, which is hated by the world, continues to grow and multiply, especially in the face of opposition. Psalm 2 speaks plainly of this reality. When the world conspires against Jesus, God laughs and mocks them. Jesus promised us that the gates of hell will not prevail (Matthew 16:18). We ought to expect nothing else.

Study Questions

1. What do you think about angels? Do you tend to ignore or obsess over them? What does this text teach us about angels?

2. Opposition and suffering were ordinary experiences in the early Church, and yet the Church was not discouraged. How do you think the Church was able to endure these experiences without losing heart?

3. How can this text encourage you when you face opposition or endure suffering because of your faith in Jesus?

Soon after meeting Jesus and beginning to preach that he was the Christ, Saul was on a hit-list. In Acts 9 we read of two separate conspiracies to kill Saul. Saul could've avoided this by being silent or by pursuing a life of private piety. But that wasn't an option for Saul. Instead, God used him to stir up holy controversy. In this episode of Sermon B-Sides, Pastor Jon and Pastor Rusten discuss the dynamics of Saul's 'lightning rod status' and how this was actually a gift to the Church.

The letter of Jude is a letter of warning. It seeks to convict, equip, and strengthen its readers to stand against the temptations of unbelief, sexual immorality, and rebellion against God's authority. It encourages God's people to persevere in the faith once for all delivered to the saints. But the power that makes all this encouragement possible is found in the last two verses of the letter. In this Episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten finishes the letter of Jude by looking at its concluding doxology, where we learn that Christ holds us and keeps us from stumbling.

In this episode of Doxological, Pastor Ryan James and Brynn James kick off a series of episodes on Coram Deo's worship liturgy. But before diving into the specifics of our liturgy, they address the basic question: "What is liturgy?"