Grasp the Bible

Welcome to episode 73 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we continue our study in the Book of Mark, covering chapter 9:30-50.  The series is called “Get in, buckle up, and hold on!”  Today, we discuss: 

• Jesus predicts his death a second time (vv. 30-32) 
• Jesus speaks concerning humility (vv. 33-37) 
• Jesus speaks concerning harmony (vv. 38-41) 
• Jesus speaks concerning hell (vv. 42-50) 

Key takeaways: 

• Jesus’ primary focus is not on authenticating his public ministry, but on instructing the Twelve. 
• Social status was paramount in Jewish culture at the time, which is why the disciples argued about who would be the greatest in the kingdom. 
• Christian leadership is not about personal accolades or accomplishments, but about equipping God’s people to do the work of the ministry. 
• Welcoming a “little child” means breaking social norms, lowering oneself to accept another of lower status and thereby risking one’s own position of power and prestige.   
• It is temptations from within rather than pressure from others that result in moral failure. 

Quotable: 

• The essence of leadership is servanthood. 

Application: 

• We are all called to radical servanthood.  Are we serving others the world may consider as inferior? 
• True servant leadership flips social hierarchy on its head, lifting up and serving those of lower status in the eyes of the world. 
• Authentic servants don’t jealously guard their own personal authority.  They recognize that the advancement of the kingdom of God is more important than personal ambition. 
• Jesus reminds us that our ministries are not about us; they are about the business of the kingdom of God. 
• Take seriously your actions in life, since these actions have eternal consequences.  Do what is needed now to remove sin before it is too late. 

Connect with us: 

Web site:  https://springbaptist.org 

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https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) 

https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus) 

Need us to pray for you?  Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/ 

If you haven’t already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider. 

Welcome to episode 72 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we continue our study in the Book of Mark, covering chapter 9:2-29.  The series is called “Get in, buckle up, and hold on!”  Today, we discuss: 

• The transfiguration (vv. 2-8) 
• The descent (vv. 9-13) 
• The restoration (vv. 14-29) 

Key takeaways: 

• The transfiguration provides confirmation and reassurance for Jesus’ disciples that he is indeed the Messiah and Son of God, God’s agent of salvation, and that he will be vindicated and glorified after his suffering. 
• At the transfiguration, God wants the three disciples to listen to what Jesus said about suffering and to listen to what he said about being a disciple. 
• Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT and the climax of salvation history.  Jesus is about to accomplish all that Moses and prophets predicted. 
• The path of discipleship is not easy, entailing suffering and even death 
• God has the power to do anything. It is not the amount of faith that is important; it is the object of that faith. 

Quotable: 

• Prayer is more than just communicating with God. It is acknowledging one’s dependence on Him for all of our needs. 

Application: 

• Someone may feel great compassion for those in need but have no power or resources to help. Conversely, someone may have plenty of resources, but not care enough to do anything. Jesus has both the compassion and the authority to heal. 
• When our faith wavers, it is not because we are not striving hard enough to succeed or are not confident enough in our own abilities. It is because we have gotten our eyes off Jesus.  We can accomplish anything when we acknowledge that we can accomplish nothing on our own. 
• Doing great things for God means seeking his guidance, being led by his Spirit, and allowing his power to work through us. 

Connect with us: 

Web site:  https://springbaptist.org 

Facebook:   

https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) 

https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus) 

Need us to pray for you?  Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/ 

If you haven’t already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider. 

Welcome to episode 71 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we continue our study in the Book of Mark, covering chapter 8:27-9:1.  The series is called “Get in, buckle up, and hold on!”  Today, we discuss: 

• The prompting by the savior (vv. 27-30) 
• The prediction by the savior (vv. 31-38) 
• The revelation (v. 31) 
• The rebukes (vv. 32-33) 
• The requirements (v. 34) 
• The rewards (vv. 35-38) 

Key takeaways: 

• Freedom from the things of this world means freedom to become all that God wants us to be. 
• Verses 27-30 form the hinge of Mark’s gospel.  From here on, Jesus’ message will shift from the announcement of the kingdom of God to one of the suffering servant. 
• The Jews during the time of Jesus and people today find it difficult to fathom the world’s savior as a suffering servant, rather than a conquering king. 
• What profit is it to “gain the whole world” yet forfeit your soul, that is, to lose your relationship with the creator God? 

Quotable: 

• The paradox of salvation is that it costs us nothing, yet it costs us everything. 

Application: 

• The disciples misunderstand the Messiah’s role. They cannot conceive of a Messiah who will suffer and die.  The tendency to create Jesus in our own image is a danger still with us. Our perceptions of Jesus are inevitably shaped by our felt needs. 
• One of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith is that to lose one’s life for Jesus and for the gospel means to gain true life. 
• Jesus makes it clear that one who would be counted as a “follower” (i.e., a disciple) must actually take action.  We cannot simply self-identify as a Christian. 
• To “deny oneself” does not mean to live a life of self-denial or self-discipline. It is to renounce your claim to yourself—desires, ambitions, personal goals—and to submit to Christ as his slave. It is a denial of autonomy and self-sufficiency. 

Connect with us: 

Web site:  https://springbaptist.org 

Facebook:   

https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) 

https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus) 

Need us to pray for you?  Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/ 

If you haven’t already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider. 

Welcome to episode 70 of Grasp the Bible.  As we resume our Fall series, we return to the Book of Mark.  We kick off the series with a review of chapters 1-8 in preparation for our next episode that picks up in Mark 8:27.

Connect with us: 

Web site:  https://springbaptist.org 

Facebook:   

https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) 

https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus) 

Need us to pray for you?  Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/ 

If you haven’t already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider. 

Welcome to episode 69 of Grasp the Bible.  We wrap up our 5-part interview about the Bible with Dr. Matthew McKellar of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Today, we discuss Bible translations.

We continue in our 5-part series on the Bible.  Today, Dr. McKellar and Pastor Darrell talk about how Bible study tools can help you better understand God's Word.

Welcome to episode 67 of the Grasp the Bible podcast.  In this third episode of a five-part series, we are introducing the New Testament.  Dr. Matthew McKellar, professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is our guest throughout this series.

We continue our 5-week series on the Bible with Dr. Matthew McKellar, professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

This week, we are looking at the Old Testament.

Welcome to episode 65 of Grasp the Bible.  This is the first of five interviews with Dr. Matthew McKellar of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  In each episode, we take a deep dive into the Bible and discuss the Old Testament, New Testament, study tools, and translations.  We will be providing links to resources along the way.

Welcome to episode 64 of Grasp the Bible.  Today, we are going to be looking at Romans 3:21-26 which contains a lot of big words that are foreign to most of us.  

One thing we encounter when we read the Bible is some difficult words that we don’t understand.

I remember when I was a newer Christian, I was told that when I come across a difficult name or a long word that I did not understand, to just skip over it and keep reading.  Fine…but is it really helpful?  And at some point in our Christian walk, we need to understand what these words mean.

So today, I want to talk about some words used in the Bible that pertain to our salvation.

·      Justification is a Christian’s judicial acceptance by God as not guilty because his sins are not counted against him. We encounter this word a lot in Paul’s writings, especially in the Book of Romans.  Justification is a one-time event.  Once God saves us, we are justified.

 But we all have sinned, so how is this possible?  That brings us to our next word, which is “righteous.”

·      Righteous is conformity to a certain set of expectations, which vary from role to role. Righteousness is the fulfillment of the expectations in any relationship, whether with God or other people. 

·      Propitiation is turning away of anger by the offering of a gift.   Jesus was offered as a propitiation for our sins.  Sin is a crime against God and deserves punishment.  Sin draws God’s wrath and that wrath must be satisfied.  The shed blood of Jesus was the offering that appeased God.

·      Sanctification - For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification (1 Thes. 4:7).  This is the process whereby God transforms us, through the work of the Holy Spirit, to look more like Jesus.  

·      Glorification – In Romans 8:18, Paul talks about the glory that awaits us in heaven.  Glorification is God’s final removal of sin from the life of the saints so that they stand faultless before Him in glory in eternity.  

Here is how these all fit together.

Because we have all sinned and cannot save ourselves, God made a way back to Him (through Jesus) as a means of propitiation.  For those who repent of their sins and place their trust in Jesus as savior and lord, God justifies them at the moment of salvation.  At the same time, He also sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in us to make the process of sanctification possible.  As long as God has us here on this earth, His desire is that we become more and more holy until we die.  At that point, we are perfected and enter into a state of glorification, where we dwell for all of eternity with God in the presence of His glory.

I hope this discussion has brought understanding and clarity to these words and to how they relate to one another.  Let me encourage our listeners to look up the words you don’t know.  Find several different reliable, biblical sources online and read how they define the words.  Once we know the meaning, we can understand what God wants us to understand about Himself.