Why is it that God sometimes rescued his people in obvious and miraculous ways, but at other times God had them take part in battles and conflict? In this episode of Sermon B-Sides, Pastor Jon and Pastor Rusten look at Psalm 44. They consider how God often doesn't deliver us in miraculous ways so he can mature our faith in him. They also consider that, even when God is silent or seems distant, we should bring him our frustrations and cries for help.

After Jesus teaches his disciples to pray for forgiveness, he teaches them to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten looks at the last petition of the Lord's prayer and considers what temptation is and why Jesus teaches us to pray for God to deliver us from it.

Big Ideas

1. Jesus changes us
Paul’s story is a dramatic example of what is true about everyone Jesus saves. Paul experienced a radical transformation so extreme that other believers were reluctant to trust it. How could the man who persecuted Christians now be preaching the Gospel? There is only one explanation: When Jesus saves us, he also changes us. Through faith in Jesus, we are saved from the consequences of sin and its power over us. This freedom from sin is found only in Jesus and always results in a radically different lifestyle.

2. Faithful ministry often brings fierce opposition
Paul’s testimony and conversion served as a compelling example of the power of Jesus and his Gospel. He was also a vigorous Gospel teacher and preacher, which resulted in many people coming to faith in Jesus. None of this was welcomed by the Jewish leaders. In fact, as with Jesus, they sought to kill Paul in order to shut down the Church and its ministry. Though this type of extreme opposition is foreign to most of us, persecution is increasingly becoming a more normal reality for many Christians in our country. This is because faithful ministry is often met head-on with opposition from the world. Nobody is indifferent to the claims of Jesus.

3. Conflict outside the Church, peace within the Church
Twice in this text, Luke refers to murderous threats and attempts made against Paul. These threats were also intended to intimidate anyone who would support or agree with Paul and his ministry. Consequently, these threats, which were aimed at Paul, also hit the Church. However, the Church continued to experience peace and growth.

Study Questions

1. How did the Church initially receive Paul? What changed their position?
2. How has Jesus freed you from enslaving sins? What areas currently need growth in terms of obedience?
3. What, if any, opposition have you faced as a Christian? What elements of the Christian faith currently bring the fiercest opposition from the world?
4. How can the Church simultaneously face opposition and experience peace and growth?

Sometimes, circumstances and conflict reveal that we've founded our hope on something that isn't solid. In this episode of Sermon B-Sides, Pastor Jon and Pastor Rusten look at Psalms 42 and 43. They discuss how in our trials, conflict, and inner turmoil, we often need to fight for our faith and joy in God rather than fall into a distorted version of lament. These Psalms show us two weapons we have in this fight: God's Word and worshiping with his people.

When Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, he also teaches them to pray for forgiveness. Did Jesus intend for us to pray this every day? What does Jesus mean by "debts"? Why does this petition comes with a qualification ("As we have forgiven our debtors")? In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten picks up the series on the Lord's Prayer to consider the petition "Forgive us our debts" and what it means for us today.

In our lives, we will inevitably suffer. What do you do with your suffering? What do you learn from it? In this episode of Sermon B-Sides, Pastor Jon and Pastor Rusten consider how Psalm 41 teaches us to bring our sufferings to the Lord and how our sufferings teach us to consider and care for the poor and needy.

In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten takes a break from the Lord's Prayer to consider an observation from the book of Job and its similarities to the life of Jesus. The suffering of Job and Jesus are both preceded by God's delight in each of them.