The book of Judges recounts the history of Israel between Joshua and Samuel, about 350 years until God chose Saul to be the first king of the nation. During the period prior to Saul and the Davidic monarchy, Israel was governed theocratically, without a human king but with God leading them through the Law and the priesthood, as well as specially chosen people who were called judges. They were deliverers in times of oppression by foreign nations. This oppression was punishment from God for their violation of His law and in fulfillment of His word that He would punish them in this way.

Our study in how the Bible came to us continues with how the simple formatting like spaces and chapters came into being, how canon was formed, and just a bit about translation from original languages into English or other languages.

Verses 14-15 in turn have two consequences, denoted by “therefore” at the beginning of each of verses 16 and 17. The first consequence has to do with to how we regard people. The second consequence concerns anyone who in faith follows Jesus because that person becomes a new creation. I hope this message will encourage you to let these two consequences of the death of Christ sink in and cause you to live in His way: in how you regard people, and in how you live in Christ as a new creation.

We continue the study of Zephaniah with...

Wisdom is skill for living in God's morally ordered world. In this message, Pastor Lorch teaches us how to respond wisely to sexual immorality. First, the author of Proverbs shows us the painful consequences of sexual sin, then later he highlights the joys of marital intimacy. This message addresses the first of those concerns by teaching us to guard ourselves from sinful sensuality. We do this for four reasons: (1) It is enticing. (2) It is ensnaring. (3) It brings regret. (4) It is destructive. We then learn two practical applications. First, remove yourself from situations in which you could be tempted. Do not be careless. Second, discipline yourself to love godly wisdom by being in God's word and loving God's people so you will listen to them when they give good advice.

For our Lord's Table service, we reviewed Paul's teaching to Titus about the grace of God that appeared to all people for salvation, and that teaches us to deny ungodliness, to live righteously, and to look forward to the coming of Christ. God has explained through Paul the basis for living and doing church the way that was commanded in Titus 1 and 2. The basis is the grace of God that brings salvation and sanctification, and teaches us to look forward to the coming of Christ. This is sufficient motivation for us to live the Christian life.

The central focus of this message is that we should fear the Lord, and His love should compel us to live for Him by persuading people to be saved.

Are you willing to live for Jesus despite what other people think of you? We should refocus on persuading people to follow Jesus with us, living like we believe in following Jesus, and telling others that He loved us and gave Himself for us. Why? Because we will see Him at judgment.

We continue our study in the book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah says that the LORD sent a word via Zephaniah, so we looked at what the name of God means about Him, the God who created and gave the Law, as a couple examples of His activity. We look at the "I will" statements of the book, which also connects to the idea of the Christian God as an active God, not passive or afar off. There are 14 verses in this short prophecy that uses "I will." Our teacher also exhorts us to receive the Word of God and to use it carefully, not to misuse it.

Unfortunately, the video started a few minutes late due to technical difficulty with the livestream computer.

Naomi lost her husband and two sons to death while fleeing from famine at home and living in the land of Moab. But she but gained a faithful daughter-in-law named Ruth. They found a kinsman-redeemer named Boaz who redeemed the land of Ruth's deceased husband by taking Ruth as his wife, and caused Naomi to move from bitter to blessed, from full to empty and back to full. Through these events the Lord raised up the Messianic line through righteous Boaz via Obed, Jesse, and then David the king.

We continue our study of how the Bible came to us by looking at the doctrines of inspiration and preservation.