Start Here: The New Testament

By Dr. Eric Michael Bryant

The Bible has been the most influential book in history, but it has also been misunderstood, misinterpreted, and even used for the agenda of people who did not have the heart of God or were a product ... more

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FAQs about Start Here: The New Testament:

How many episodes does Start Here: The New Testament have?

The podcast currently has 362 episodes available.

Start Here: The New Testament episodes:

January 06, 2024 Romans 9 - To Whom Do You Have Trouble Showing Mercy?
The apostle Paul addresses the issue of God's sovereignty and human responsibility in the context of salvation. He begins by expressing his deep concern and sorrow for his fellow Israelites, who have not fully embraced the message of Jesus as the Messiah.
Paul explains that the promises and blessings given to the Israelites are significant and that God's faithfulness to His covenant with them remains unchanged. However, he highlights that being physically descended from Abraham does not automatically guarantee salvation. True membership in God's people is based on faith and personal relationship with Him.
God hardens the hearts of those who choose to harden their heart. Paul affirms that God desires the salvation of all people and extends His grace to everyone, but individuals must respond in faith to receive that grace.
Salvation is available to all who believe, regardless of their ethnic background or ancestry. God's chosen people are those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, both from among the Jews and the Gentiles.
God is not exclusive or restrictive but rather expansive. God chooses to give mercy to people who we may not expect or consider deserving.
#newtestament #romans #outreach #bless #mission #jesus #faith #spirituality #christianity #evangelism #discipleship #diversity #earlychurch
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3min
January 06, 2024 Romans 8 - What Can Separate You From the Love of God?
Paul begins by stating that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This means that through faith in Jesus, believers are forgiven of their sins and are no longer under the guilt and judgment that sin brings. Instead, they have been set free.
Paul then introduces the concept of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within believers. He explains that the Spirit helps believers live according to God’s will and enables them to experience true life and peace. The Holy Spirit assures believers of their identity as children of God and heirs of His promises.
Paul contrasts the mindset of living according to the flesh, which represents our sinful nature, with the mindset of living according to the Spirit. He emphasizes that those who are led by the Spirit experience life and peace, while those who live according to the flesh are in conflict with God.
Paul goes on to describe the hope that believers have in the future redemption of their bodies. He explains that the whole creation, including believers, eagerly awaits the future restoration and renewal that God will bring.
In the latter part of Romans 8, Paul reassures believers of God’s unfailing love and His unbreakable commitment to them. He assures them that nothing can separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus. No hardship, persecution, or even death can separate them from His love and His purpose for their lives.
#newtestament #romans #outreach #bless #mission #jesus #faith #spirituality #christianity #evangelism #discipleship #diversity #earlychurch
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2min
January 05, 2024 Romans 7 - Why Do You Do the Things You Don’t Want to Do?
The apostle Paul discusses the struggle between the desires of the flesh and the desires of the spirit. He begins by explaining that the law of Moses, which includes the Ten Commandments, is good and holy, but it reveals the presence of sin within us.
Paul shares his own personal struggle with sin, acknowledging that even though he desires to do what is good, he often finds himself doing what he doesn't want to do. He describes a conflict within himself, where his mind desires to follow God's law, but his flesh or human nature is prone to sin.
Paul emphasizes that this struggle highlights the weakness of human nature and the inability of the law to save or deliver us from sin. The law reveals our need for a Savior and our dependence on God's grace.
Paul concludes by pointing to the ultimate solution found in Jesus. He highlights that it is through Jesus' death and resurrection that believers are set free from the power of sin. By receiving the Holy Spirit, believers can now live a new life empowered by God's grace.
#newtestament #romans #outreach #bless #mission #jesus #faith #spirituality #christianity #evangelism #discipleship #diversity #earlychurch
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2min
January 04, 2024 Romans 6 - Should You Go On Sinning?
The apostle Paul addresses the concept of how believers should understand their relationship with sin and the transformative power of Jesus Christ. Paul begins by asking the question, “Should we continue sinning so that grace may increase?” He emphatically answers, “No!” and explains why.
Paul explains that when a person chooses to follow Jesus and is baptized, they are united with Him in His death and resurrection. This means that their old sinful self is crucified with Christ, and they are no longer enslaved to sin. Just as Christ was raised from the dead, believers are raised to a new life in Him.
Paul emphasizes that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He emphasizes the contrast between the old life of sin and its consequences and the new life of righteousness and the gift of eternal life.
When the Bible uses slavery as a metaphor or analogy, it does so to illustrate spiritual or relational concepts rather than to promote or justify the practice of human slavery.
#newtestament #romans #jesus #faith #spirituality #christianity #outreach #mission #bless #evangelism #discipleship #diversity #earlychurch
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3min
January 03, 2024 Romans 5 - How Does God Demonstrate His Love For You?
Since we’ve been made right with God through faith, we experience peace with God through Jesus who gives us access to God’s unconditional love - His grace.
In a relationship with God, we now see everything differently. For example, our suffering in life helps us learn how to persevere which helps us develop character which helps us grow to have hope.
Everything is different because we now know what it’s like to experience God’s unconditional love which we can feel though His Spirit which lives in us!
When we are powerless, Jesus is there to rescue us.
God demonstrated His love for us in that Jesus willingly died on the cross to rescue us!
#newtestament #romans #outreach #bless #mission #jesus #faith #spirituality #christianity #evangelism #discipleship #diversity #earlychurch
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2min
January 02, 2024 Romans 4 - How Are You Made Right with God?
The apostle Paul writes about Abraham from the Old Testament. Abraham lived a long time ago and is considered an important figure in the Bible. Paul explains that Abraham was justified or made right with God, not because of his good deeds, but because of his faith.
Paul gives an example and explains that if someone works and earns money, their paycheck is not a gift but something they have earned. When it comes to a relationship with God, we can't earn our way into His favor. Instead, it is through faith, like Abraham had, that we are made right with God.
Paul goes on to explain that faith is trusting and believing in God's promises, even when we can't see them yet. He uses Abraham believed in God's promise of having many descendants, even though he and his wife were very old and didn't have any children yet.
Abraham looks up and simply trusts God’s promise. God graciously responds by entering into a covenant with him, promising that Abraham will become a father of many nations, that God’s blessing may come to the whole world.
Abraham's longevity along with others found in Genesis 5-11 can be explained in a helpful article from BioLogos - https://biologos.org/articles/long-li...#newtestament #romans #jesus #faith #spirituality #christianity #mission #outreach #bless #diversity #evangelism #discipleship #earlychurch
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2min
January 01, 2024 Romans 3 - Are You Righteous On Your Own Without Jesus?

In light of the controversy in the Roman church, what’s the advantage in being Jewish?
The Jewish people were entrusted with the words of God through which we are all made aware of our sin and our need for God!
Paul emphasizes that both Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin and stand guilty before God. Paul quotes several Old Testament passages to emphasize the universality of human sinfulness, declaring that "there is no one righteous, not even one."
The human heart is so broken we all need God.
But the good news is that because of Jesus’ death on the cross, He became the sacrifice of atonement so that all people may be made right before God.
#newtestament #acts #jesus #outreach #faith #spirituality #christianity #mission #bless #earlychurch
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2min
December 31, 2023Through the New Testament for Skeptics, Seekers, and Those Who Love Them
Have an open mind about faith and spiritual things?
Whether you have walked with God for a long time or you are not event sure if there is a God, I want to invite you into an adventure!
Let’s read 1 chapter a day and 5 chapters a week.
Pray: "God, if you are real, show me who you are" OR "God, help me grow to understand you more."

Read one chapter of the Bible.

Watch or listen to the podcast about that episode.

Journal what God reveals to you.
I think we will be amazed at what we find!
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1min
December 31, 2023 Romans 2 - Do You Judge Others?
Just after the list Paul writes describing the ways we have fallen short in our thoughts and our actions, he writes in Romans 2 about not judging others.
He points out that it was God’s kindness in our lives that led us to turn to him. In other words, when we understood God loves us in spite of our sins, we willingly repented. We asked him for forgiveness.
As followers of Jesus it should be our kindness towards others that leads towards their repentance to God.
One of the biggest challenges in the early church was the ethnic and cultural challenge of creating a new community made up of Jews and Gentiles.
Paul points out that through Jesus now all need a circumcision of the heart by the Spirit. In other words, knowing the law is not what makes us right with God, it’s obeying the law. We have all fallen short of that, but fortunately as J.I Packer wrote in Knowing God:
“Jesus lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died in our place, to reconcile us to God and to give us eternal life.”
#newtestament #acts #jesus #faith #spirituality #christianity #mission #bless #outreach
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3min
December 30, 2023 Romans 1 - Do You Worship Created Things Rather Than the Creator?
Paul writes to the Romans about his desire to come and visit and his calling as an apostle to the Gentiles, a messenger and witness that Jesus is the Son of God as demonstrated by his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.
This “gospel” or “good news” is that we can be made “right with God” by faith. In other words, when we try to follow all the rules in order to get to God, we will always fall short.
And just in case we think we are righteous on our own not needing Jesus’ sacrifice, he reminds us how we are all without excuse and able to see the beauty of creation which points to God but instead we worship what God created rather than the Creator.
For example, God created sex as a gift in the context of marriage, but instead lust has so affected our minds we see men and women as objects for our own pleasure.
Sometimes the “wrath of God” is demonstrated when God gives us what we want allowing us to experience the consequences of our evil choices.
#newtestament #acts #jesus #faith #spirituality #christianity #mission #bless #outreach
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3min

FAQs about Start Here: The New Testament:

How many episodes does Start Here: The New Testament have?

The podcast currently has 362 episodes available.