John the Baptist begins his ministry and it's like he was born for this!

We've all heard the story and seen the pageants.   Mary and Joseph, strangers in Bethlehem, are rushing to find a hotel while Mary's in labor but there is no vacancy in any of the inns.  Eventually they end up in a stable outside in the dead of winter somewhere, and this is where the shepherds, three kings and the drummer boy find them that night.  But is that really how it happened?  Join us and find out how Luke and Matthew really describe the events.

Some say you can tell a great piece of writing from its first line.  It's in that first line that an author sets the tone, sometimes even revealing the purpose of his writing.  So as we begin our chronological walk through the Gospels what do the first lines of each of these authors tell us about their agenda and audience?  Quite a lot actually.  Come join us as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John beocme our tour guides through this next leg of the journey.  As we go they will point out the landmarks they think most important for us to know.

Why are there four Gospels and who are these Gospel writers?

What is the deal with the Dead Sea scrolls anyway?

What happened between the old and new testament? Where did the Pharisees and Sadducees come from? Who are the Maccabees? What are the Essenes? What are the dead sea scrolls? What is the Septuagint? Why is the Bible comprised of some books and not others? Who decided? Who is Herod? All these and more will be part of our journey for the next few weeks.

The last two books of the Old Testament in our Chronological Bible although truly difficult to tell chronologically where they go.  Nonetheless, they share similar themes of calling for reformation among the priests in particular.  and they do signal the beginning of a new era for the jews where they recognize their ability to flourish with or without the temple; a shifting of the priesthood role and the emergence in the coming centuries of new groups which we see in the New Testament (pharisees, saccucees, Essenes, Zealots, rabbis...)

Nehemiah guides us almost all the way to the end of the Old Testament as we wrap up his bittersweet narrative. 

Nehemiah is an extremely focused and disciplined leader.  Somehow he knows exactly when to respond to distractions and when not to.  Chapters 4- 6 show us what a great example Nehemiah is and how we can respond in our own lives, whether in leadership or not.