Encounter with God Together

Join us for this week’s episode of Encounter with God Together, the weekly companion to Scripture Union’s daily Bible reading guide, Encounter with God.A new quarter of readings brings us to the book of Ezra, and Dennis Brice joins us again to open it up. Ezra can look like a book of lists: names, families, temple vessels, even the singers. But Dennis invites us to see something much bigger underneath, the story of a people returning from exile and trying to rebuild their life, their worship, and their identity from the ground up.Along the way we visit Noah under the rainbow, Israel at the foot of Sinai, the exiles who hung their harps on the willows, and the apostle Paul helping new communities find a new way of life. Each one raises the same question: when the world we knew falls apart, what does God give us to make sense of it?Come and discover why this short, often overlooked book matters for our personal devotions and for how we live as God’s people today.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes as we journey through Scripture together.📖 Get the Encounter with God daily reading guide at scriptureunion.org📱 Follow Scripture Union-USA on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter/X
Featured Guest: Dennis Brice, pastor and church planter
Rev. Dennis Brice is an ordained minister from the Church of Scotland who holds degrees from the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh. He has served as a pastor in both Scotland and the United States and has spent his life engaged with church planting efforts. He has served as a campus pastor with InterVarsity, a pastor in Taiwan for 10 years and spent several years equipping others for ministry as Candidate Director of Arab World Ministries. Dennis now lives in Holland, Michigan, and continues to support church-planting efforts in the U.S. He is known for his workshops on Luke and Mark, and his seminar “Tomorrow is Another Culture.”

A new quarter of Encounter with God begins, and Gail welcomes back Whitney Kuniholm, President Emeritus of Scripture Union-USA, for his quarterly look at the big picture of the Bible reading life. This quarter we finish 1 Corinthians and travel through Ezra, Matthew, and Colossians. But before we dive in, Whitney introduces something many Scripture Union readers have never heard of: the SU Bible reading ethos. After more than six decades of listening to the worldwide Scripture Union community, he has put his finger on its heartbeat in one simple phrase. Most of us, he admits, do well with two parts of it. The middle part is where the real challenge lies. Whitney shares what he has been experimenting with over the past year, a practice borrowed from St. Ignatius of Loyola and boiled down to two simple questions you can add to whatever your daily reading process looks like.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

 Featured Guest: Whitney T. Kuniholm, SU President Emeritus
Mr. Kuniholm is President Emeritus of Scripture Union-USA. He is a speaker and the author of several books on personal and group Bible study, including The Essential Series, three church-wide Bible reading programs based on his books. To date, the Essential Series has reached more than 20 million people and has been translated into 25 languages. His newest book, Top 10 Bible Stories, walks readers through five stories from the Old Testament and five from the New, offering a warm and unpressured way into Scripture for the curious and the skeptical alike. You can see previous episodes and read his blog at www.BibleEssentials.org

1 Corinthians 12-15This week on Encounter with God Together, Gail welcomes back Janet Morgan as she continues the journey through 1 Corinthians, this time in chapters 12–15. Janet unpacks what made the coming of the Holy Spirit such a genuine turning point for God’s people, and why the gifts of the Spirit only mean something when they’re grounded in one thing. Along the way, she traces a thread from creation, through the Old Testament prophets, to the promise Jesus made his disciples, showing just how new this “new era” really was. It’s the chapter behind more weddings and funerals than almost any other in Scripture, and Janet explains exactly why it still holds up.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Featured Guest: Janet Morgan, Executive Vice-President, SU-USA

Janet Morgan is Executive Vice President of Scripture Union USA. She previously served as International Director for Scripture Union, as well as Missions Director for SU England and Wales and State Director for SU Victoria, bringing decades of global ministry experience to her regular conversations on Encounter with God Together.
Show Notes:

Primary reading:1 Corinthians 12–15 (gifts of the Spirit, love, and the resurrection)Referenced throughout the discussion:Genesis 1 — the Spirit hovering over the waters at creationPsalm 51:11 — "do not take your Holy Spirit from me"Matthew 3 / Luke 3 — the baptism of Jesus, the Spirit descending like a doveJohn 3 — Nicodemus, born of water and the SpiritJohn 14–16 — the Upper Room discourse, the Helper and Spirit of truthActs 1 — the Great Commission, staying in Jerusalem to be "clothed with power"Acts 2 — Pentecost1 Corinthians 13 — the "love chapter"1 Corinthians 14 — the way of love and edification of the church1 Corinthians 15 — the resurrection of Christ1 John 4 — testing the spirits, "God is love"

1 Corinthians 10:1–12:11; Psalm 57

What is covering you? And where is your glory going? This week on Encounter with God Together, Gail Martin welcomes back Bible teacher Daniel Parmar to preview the readings ahead in Psalm 57 and 1 Corinthians 10 through 12. Two passages, two very different settings. David is hiding in a cave, hunted and bowed down. Paul is writing amid the noise of Corinth, a port city with a god on every corner and a table in every temple. Yet Daniel draws out a single thread running through both: the question of what is over us, and the question of where our glory is aimed.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Featured Guest: Daniel Parmar, Bible Teacher and past Board Member

Daniel Parmar is a gifted Bible teacher with a deep love for God's Word and a rare sensitivity to the Spirit. A former member of the Scripture Union-USA board, now off on rotation, he recently stepped into a new role as Global Director of Marketing and Strategy for Hilton. He is a returning and much-loved guest on Encounter with God Together, known for opening up a week's readings in a way that gives listeners a clear through line and a lens they carry with them.

Genesis 24-25 & 1 Corinthians 9

Jonny Radcliff joins Gail Martin this week as Encounter with God Together guest and he brings the kind of curiosity that makes familiar chapters feel brand new.

We are at the far end of Abraham’s story now, where a man near the close of his life starts thinking hard about what comes after it. Jonny opens with a question about promises, the schoolyard kind and the ancient kind, and from there walks into one of the strangest oaths in Scripture. Then he pulls out a family tree most readers pass over without a second glance and traces a thread from a little-noticed name in Genesis 25 all the way to a moment you will recognize immediately.

From there we turn to 1 Corinthians 9, where Paul makes a careful case about how those who serve the gospel should be supported, and then does something unexpected with his own conclusion.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Featured Guest: Jonny Radcliff is a youth minister and speaker who serves as Philly Area Coordinator for the National Network of Youth Ministries and Program Director of the Union Network, a model for a multi-church, community-wide youth group. He invests in youth leaders across the Greater Philadelphia area, creates and facilitates trainings, and preaches at retreats, camps, chapels, and conferences. A Philly native, he felt called to youth ministry while at Liberty University.

 Featured Guest: Jonny Radcliff, youth minister
Jonny Radcliff is a youth minister and speaker who serves as Philly Area Coordinator for the National Network of Youth Ministries and Program Director of the Union Network, a model for a multi-church, community-wide youth group. He invests in youth leaders across the Greater Philadelphia area, creates and facilitates trainings, and preaches at retreats, camps, chapels, and conferences. A Philly native, he felt called to youth ministry while at Liberty University.

Genesis 19-24

This week on Encounter with God Together, Gail welcomes back Whitney Kuniholm, President Emeritus of Scripture Union-USA, as we move into Genesis 19 to 23 in our daily reading guide. Whitney opens with a warning. These chapters hold some of the most difficult material in all of Genesis, and rather than skip past it, he invites us to face into it. He offers three questions to carry through the week: what we are meant to do with the unsavory parts of Scripture, what a hundred years of Abraham’s life teaches us about the slow work of spiritual formation, and whether Abraham finished well. Along the way there is a bit of Bible trivia, a word from Flannery O’Connor on why the darkness makes the light easier to see, and a closing phrase from the baptismal covenant that Whitney suggests we hold onto all week long.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org

Featured Guest: Whitney T. Kuniholm, SU-USA President Emeritus
Mr. Kuniholm is President Emeritus of Scripture Union-USA. He is a speaker and the author of several books on personal and group Bible study, including The Essential Series, three church-wide Bible reading programs based on his books. To date, the Essential Series has reached more than 20 million people and has been translated into 25 languages. His newest book, Top 10 Bible Stories, walks readers through five stories from the Old Testament and five from the New, offering a warm and unpressured way into Scripture for the curious and the skeptical alike. You can see previous episodes and read his blog at www.BibleEssentials.org

Genesis 12-16SU-USA President Gail Martin is joined this week by Dennis Brice, pastor and church planter, as they discuss readings in the book of Genesis. This week's readings take us into Genesis 12 through 16, the chapters where the story of faith begins. We have seasons set aside for Advent and for Easter, but very little that turns our attention to foundations.

Dennis makes the case that these few chapters are exactly that: the ground everything else stands on. Along the way we meet a man who is asked to leave everything familiar, a household straining under waiting and disappointment, quarreling kings, and a mysterious priest who brings out bread and wine. We also meet a servant woman in the wilderness who gives God a name no one else in Scripture gives him. Come and see how a four-thousand-year-old promise still reaches us, and what it means to be blessed so that we can be a blessing to others.

A note on this recording: our guest's video froze early on and stayed that way for most of the conversation. The audio is clear throughout, so settle in and listen. 

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Featured Guest: Dennis Brice, pastor and church planter
Rev. Dennis Brice is an ordained minister from the Church of Scotland who has spent his life engaged with church planting efforts. He has served as a campus pastor with InterVarsity, a pastor in Taiwan for 10 years and spent several years equipping others for ministry as Candidate Director of Arab World Ministries. Most recently, Dennis has served as a seasonal pastor in Portugal while continuing to support church-planting efforts in the U.S. He is known for his workshops on Luke and Mark, and his seminar "Tomorrow is Another Culture."

Genesis 12-14

Join us for this week’s episode of Encounter with God Together, the weekly companion to Scripture Union’s daily Bible reading guide, Encounter with God.

This week’s readings take us through Genesis 12–14, tracing Abraham’s call to leave everything familiar and step out in trust. Along the way we watch his faith tested, his family stretched, and a mysterious encounter unfold — one that points forward across the whole of Scripture to something far greater than Abraham could have known.

Our guest, Yvonne Vitale, brings a wealth of insight to these chapters, drawing connections from Genesis all the way through the Psalms and the book of Hebrews. Come explore what it means to walk with God through uncertainty, conflict, and unexpected grace.

Follow along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Featured Guest: Yvonne Vitale,
Yvonne Vitale has been serving with SU for many years, is a frequent guest on EWGT and shares Scripture on our social media channels. Yvonne works at East Christian School in NY, teaching performing arts to younger students. She was trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and has worked as a teaching actor.

Show Notes — Scripture ReferencesGenesis 12–14Genesis 12 — God's call to Abram to leave Haran for CanaanJoshua 24:2 — background on Abram's family serving other gods before the callGenesis 12 — Abram and Sarai in EgyptGenesis 13 — Abram and Lot separate; Abram settles near the trees of Mamre at HebronGenesis 14 — the war of the kings, Lot's capture and rescue, and Abram's meeting with MelchizedekGenesis 14:18–20 — Melchizedek blesses Abram and receives a titheMelchizedek in the rest of ScripturePsalm 110:4 — David speaks of a priest forever in the order of MelchizedekHebrews 4:14 — Jesus as our great high priestHebrews 5 — Jesus exalted as high priest in the order of MelchizedekHebrews 6:19 — Jesus entered the Most Holy Place on our behalfHebrews 7:1–2 — Melchizedek as both king and priestHebrews 7:3 — a priesthood without recorded beginning or endHebrews 7:11 — Christ's priesthood surpasses the Levitical priesthoodHebrews 7:14 — Jesus, from Judah, greater than the Levitical lineHebrews 7:18 — a better covenant than the old oneHebrews 7:23 — Jesus saves completely and foreverAlso referencedPsalm 52 — David's rebuke of Doeg the Edomite (referred to as Psalm 53 in the discussion — worth a quick check before publishing, as Doeg's story is usually tied to Psalm 52)A brief mention of Lot's eventual return to Sodom, previewed for a future week's reading in Genesis 18–19

1 Corinthians 4–7

This week on Encounter with God Together, Gail welcomes back Janet Morgan. Janet walks through 1 Corinthians 4–7, exploring the contrast Paul draws between the Corinthians’ old, status-driven culture and their new life in Christ. Janet unpacks why intellect isn’t the same thing as wisdom, works through some of the harder material in these chapters, and shares a fascinating insight from a N.T. Wright podcast tracing the church’s story back to Acts 18 — including why a church free from persecution can be more vulnerable to certain temptations than one un

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Featured Guest: Janet Morgan, Executive Vice-President, SU-USA
Janet Morgan is Executive Vice-President of Scripture Union-USA, overseeing Curriculum Development. She previously served as International Director for Scripture Union, as well as Missions Director for SU England and Wales and State Director for SU Victoria, bringing decades of global ministry experience to her regular conversations on Encounter with God Together.

I Corinthians 1-4:5

This week on Encounter with God Together, Gail sits down with Rev. Dr. Peter Morden, author of this week’s 1 Corinthians notes in our Encounter with God Bible guide. Dr. Morden explores Paul’s letter to a church wrestling with contrasts — called holy, yet struggling toward it; weak, yet strengthened by God’s power made perfect in that very weakness. Peter unpacks the cross-shaped pattern of discipleship at the heart of 1 Corinthians, the surprising wisdom of humility in everyday life and leadership, and Paul’s unwavering commitment to church community even amid real conflict and disunity. Join us as we dig into the week’s readings and discover fresh encouragement for walking faithfully — in our workplaces, our churches, and our daily walk with Jesus.

Following along with the Encounter with God daily Bible reading guide? Find it at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ scriptureunion.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

 Featured Guest: Rev. Dr. Peter Morden, Principal of Bristol Baptist College
Rev Dr Peter Morden is Principal of Bristol Baptist College, a role he took up in 2023. He previously served as Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Leeds, and spent a decade at Spurgeon's College, London, in roles including Acting Principal, Vice Principal, and Tutor. He has published widely, particularly in the fields of Baptist identity and spirituality, and is known internationally in Baptist and evangelical circles through his speaking engagements and writing. The Baptist Union of Great Britain Peter is the author of The Message of Discipleship: Authentic Followers of Jesus in Today's World in the Bible Speaks Today Themes series, along with several works on Baptist history, including books on Charles Spurgeon and Andrew Fuller. He has contributed a number of studies to the Encounter with God Bible reading guide over the years, including this issue's notes on 1 Corinthians.