The way we celebrate Christmas… with lights on trees, sharing gifts, carols with loved ones… is a mix of different traditions, and its present form is surprisingly recent! All traditions go back to Winter Solstice festivals… the hopeful celebration of the power of light in darkness, and the return of life after death and darkness.

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You can access my Lesson Notes here.

Resources
History of Christmas
History of Santa Claus
History of Winter Solstice
Christmas and Consu
Historical Details in the Nativity Video, Book of Mormon Central

Revelation may be the most attention-getting book of the Bible. What could be more dramatic and exciting than the end of the world!! Revelation is also a book easy to misunderstand and misapply… I believe the most important lesson of Revelation is that we can live lives of faith and victory even in the midst of loss and catastrophe. We can feel and be faithful as we cry and wipe away each other’s tears.

Class Reading: Rev. 1-11 (12/15, Sunday School); Rev. 12-22 (under Bishop’s direction)

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You can access my Lesson Notes here.
You can access the Annotated Reading Part I here.
You can access the Annotated Reading Part II here.

Resources and related episodes
171: Revelation I: To Overcome (NT Gospel Doctrine Lesson 45)
172: Revelation II: Wipe away every tear (NT Gospel Doctrine 46)
The Ocean is running out of Oxygen
The government report on Climate

Thanks to Trent Oliphant for postproduction and to Marshall McDonald for the bumper music! Thanks to Lisa Salisbury for donating our beautiful logo.

Hebrews urges us to face the future with faith, not slide into the mistakes of the past, and above all, relationship with the ever-present living God. I hope this eloquent book will inspire us to move beyond “types and shadows” and improve our relationship to God and true principles.

Reading: Hebrews 1-6 (Nov 10); Hebrews 7-13 (Nov 17)

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You can access the Annotated Reading here
You can access the Lesson Notes here

Related Episodes and Resources
163: Jesus, the Great High Priest (Hebrews)

I love gospel paradoxes, which are life paradoxes. What makes a good leader? The same characteristics that make someone a good servant or disciple. What makes us ready to die? The same principles that make us ready to live. How can we be prepared for Jesus to return? By doing the same things that make us ready for Jesus not to return. When we live well, these other questions matter little.

Reading: 1-2 Thessalonians (Oct. 27); Philemon; 1-2 Timothy; Titus (Nov. 3)

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You can access the Lesson Notes here.

You can access the Annotated Reading here.

Related Episodes and Resources
167: The Pastoral Letters (1-2 Timothy; Titus)

How are you liking Church? The answer depends largely on your personality and context. One of the trickiest challenges about being human is that well-being exists beyond preference… Whether it’s going it’s exercising or serving our neighbor, it’s usually those things that we didn’t want to do that we are glad to have done! This lesson’s reading digs into proper relationships… how we should work with each other, and how God works within us.

Reading: Ephesians (Oct. 13); Philippians; Colossians (Oct. 20)

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You can access my Lesson Notes here
You can access the Annotated Reading here (and for Ephesians)

Related Episodes and Resources
166: Anything Praiseworthy (Philippians; Colossians; Philemon)
165: Ephesians
The Next Mormons, by Jana Reiss
Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives, Jonathan Haidt

Thanks to Trent Oliphant for postproduction and to Marshall McDonald for the bumper music! Thanks to Lisa Salisbury for donating our beautiful logo.

When we read the letters of Paul we only hear half the conversation… and even that half not very well sometimes! It is easy to forget who Paul is arguing with. Well in Galatians, he makes his opponents very clear.. surprisingly, they include Peter and Jesus’ other brother James! 2 Corinthians and Galatians invite us to contemplate strength and weakness and how we can minister to those with different perspectives and needs (which is all of us)

Reading: 2 Corinthians 8-13 (Sept. 22); Galatians (Sept. 29)

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You can access the Lesson Notes here
You can access the Annotated Reading here

Related Episodes and Resources
158: Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians)

Thanks to Trent Oliphant for postproduction and to Marshall McDonald for the bumper music! Thanks to Lisa Salisbury for donating our beautiful logo.

Paul had a bit of a tortured relationship with the saints (who often were nothing but) in Corinth. We benefit from his struggles however, as he addresses these problems with gospel living. In these chapters Paul teaches about life in the spirit, sanctification and resurrection, and our daily new life in Christ.

Reading: 1 Cor. 14-16 (9/8); 2 Cor. 1-7 (9/15)

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You can access my Lesson Notes here
Annotated Reading here

Related Episodes
160: Corinthian Crises (1 Corinthians 11-16)
161: Be Reconciled to God (2 Corinthians)

Yes, I’ve had the Beatles’ song going through my head as well. The Corinthian Church has plenty of problems, from the rich gorging on the Lord’s supper, to confusion over meat sacrificed to idols, to Christians suing each other, to the bold man who married his stepmother. Paul’s answer is that a true understanding of Christian love is the only commandment we need.

Reading: 1 Corinthians 1-7 (8/25); 1 Corinthians 8-16 (9/1).

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You can access my Lesson Notes here.
You can access the Annotated Reading here: 1 Cor. 1-10; 1 Cor. 11-16.

Related Episodes
159: Ye Are the Temple of God (1 Corinthians 1-10)
160: Corinthian Crises (1 Corinthians 11-16)

In this bonus portion I complete Adam Miller’s superb paraphrase of Romans, “Grace is not God’s Backup Plan” (Romans 10-16).

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Buy the book here.

In this bonus portion I read Adam Miller’s superb paraphrase of Romans, “Grace is not God’s Backup Plan” (Romans 1-9) .

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Buy the book here.