Today’s episode comes from Alaska where my friend Patrick Swayne preaches. Patrick takes us all the way back to the beginning and focuses on the first lesson the Bible brings to our attention on its very first page. God made everything. While we may accept this reality, the truth of this claim is often questioned and we often turn to the study of Christian Apologetics to defend it. This is vitally important, but let’s not miss the Bible’s claims about our Creator God and his authority over this world and every one of our lives. 

Patrick is also a staff writer with Truth for the World. Check out theirwebsite in the show notes for great biblical material in the form of blog posts, videos, articles, podcasts and other media pointing us back to our Bibles. 

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As mentioned in the intro, check outhttps://thechristianexile.com for articles about how Christians, as exiles and strangers in this world, can best understand Jesus’s kingdom and our role in it.

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Today’s episode comes from Clay Leonard on a tough text from the book of Genesis. Do you remember God’s command to Abraham to kill his son Isaac? If you’re like me and grew up in Sunday School, maybe you’ve never thought much about it. A couple of years ago, however, I was teaching a class full of nonChristians in a secular university and this same story from Genesis 22 came up. The majority of the students in the classroom had never heard of it but they responded with shock and anger towards a God that would demand human sacrifice. How should we understand this story? How does it impact our knowledge of God as our Father? Clay does an excellent job of answering these questions.

After the episode, be sure to check out Clay’s website:gclayleonard.com . It has some great free VBS material that he’s written and designed, a free PDF of Authorized Worship, and a link to his newest bookThe Weekly Wordon Amazon. 

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As mentioned in the intro, check outhttps://thechristianexile.com for articles about how Christians, as exiles and strangers in this world, can best understand Jesus’s kingdom and our role in it.

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After the past two episodes, I’m reminded how much I miss New Zealand church of Christ family camps. This next lesson completes the recent trilogy from last year’s Easter camp and comes from Trevor Major on the challenges of relativism and how we as Christians might use the story of Jesus to show the importance of truth. Again, apologies on the less than perfect audio quality, but the lesson is well worth it.

As mentioned in the intro, check out https://thechristianexile.com for articles about how Christians, as exiles and strangers in this world, can best understand Jesus’s kingdom and our role in it.

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Laughter? Bad audio quality? Heartfelt lessons nonetheless? You’re probably at camp! This lesson is the next in a series from New Zealand. Todd O’Donnell reminds us in a lighthearted way how Christians must deal in Christlike love with the conflicts that inevitably rise up in the church. Scripture is full of reminders of Christ’s love and mercy for us when we don’t deserve it. That’s how we’ve got to treat our brethren.
As mentioned in the intro, check out https://thechristianexile.com for articles about how Christians, as exiles and strangers in this world, can best understand Jesus’s kingdom and our role in it.

Music by Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos

License code: CDWDL49I0B7ZGM6W

The next few episodes are coming all the way from New Zealand and will be a little bit longer than usual. That’s because the members of the churches of Christ over there get together a few times a year for camps that dedicate a lot of time studying the Bible. This particular camp focused on Dealing with the challenges we face from the world.

This first lesson is from Kent O’Donnell encouraging us to live godly lives even though our world is incredibly mixed up. Kent gives special attention to Christian parents and our responsibilities to our families. 

As mentioned in the intro, check out https://thechristianexile.com for articles about how Christians, as exiles and strangers in this world, can best understand Jesus’s kingdom and our role in it.

Music by Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos

License code: CDWDL49I0B7ZGM6W

Gender. It’s a concept we likely took for granted. Men are men and women are women. Right? Our culture has introduced complexity to something that many of us never even thought could be questioned. Whether we’re facing the interrogation of gender roles in the work of the New Testament church or even the nature of a person’s identity, this is a topic that the Christian ought to have an answer for. We hope you’ll be blessed by Robert Hatfield’s lesson on how we can glorify God in our gender.

As mentioned in the intro, check out ⁠⁠https://thechristianexile.com⁠⁠ for articles about how Christians, as exiles and strangers in this world, can best understand Jesus’s kingdom and our role in it.

Music by Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos

License code: CDWDL49I0B7ZGM6W

Have you ever made a New Years Resolution? This is usually the time of year when wives all over the world collectively roll their eyes for some far fetched scheme that their husbands have resolved to do. I know I’ve been guilty of that in the past. In this episode, I want to encourage you to make some practical spiritual resolutions for the sake of your own soul and the sake of the kingdom. Let’s take the opportunity the new year provides to reexamine our hearts and lives from the Lord’s viewpoint.

Here's the Bible reading sheet I mentioned: https://matthewweathers.com/permanent/bible/

Here's the Versify app I mentioned: https://getversify.web.app

As mentioned in the intro, check out ⁠https://thechristianexile.com⁠ for articles about how Christians, as exiles and strangers in this world, can best understand Jesus’s kingdom and our role in it.

Music by Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos

License code: CDWDL49I0B7ZGM6W

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Or at least that’s what the song tells us.

It certainly is a time of year in our culture when people, whether religious or not, seem to be more generous and considerate of the needs of others.

 In this episode Justin Rogers emphasises the nature of God as a gift giver and how we, as His people, can be more like Him in sharing the gifts He’s blessed us with.

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible Gift!

As mentioned in the intro, check out https://thechristianexile.com for articles about how Christians, as exiles and strangers in this world, can best understand Jesus’s kingdom and our role in it.

Music by Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos

License code: CDWDL49I0B7ZGM6W

Biblical characters and people groups have deeply impacted our common vocabulary, even thousands of miles away and thousands of years later. If someone was to call you a “Doubting Thomas,” “A Pharisee,” or a “Good Samaritan” we would understand what they mean.  Sometimes, however, the Bible’s teaching about these ancient people may not impact us as it should because we are so far removed from the original culture where these groups of people lived. When we spend some time understanding the New Testament world, we can clearly see how Jesus’s message was radical but necessary in His time and in ours. 

I hope you’ll benefit as much as I have from this lesson from Doug Burleson about Loving the Samaritan.

As mentioned in the intro, check out https://thechristianexile.com for articles about how Christians, as exiles and strangers in this world, can best understand Jesus’s kingdom and our role in it.

Music by Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos

License code: CDWDL49I0B7ZGM6W

Jesus wants his followers to be connected with one another. What exactly does that look like in my local congregation? Thanks for joining us today as we study how the Lord adds us to His body and what His plan is for our assemblies. We will consider a number of principles and possible objections to congregational autonomy, the leadership of local shepherds, and our commitment to be connected to the blessings and responsibilities of the local church. 

As mentioned in the intro, check out ⁠https://thechristianexile.com⁠ for articles about how Christians, as exiles and strangers in this world, can best understand Jesus’s kingdom and our role in it.

Music by Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos

License code: CDWDL49I0B7ZGM6W