Bart Byl on ⁠Jonah 3-4⁠.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

The Assyrians were the cruel and bloodthirsty empire of the ancient world. Yet God sends the prophet Jonah on a mission to Nineveh, the capital of this terrorist state. Jonah is angry when God responds mercifully to their repentance. But there's a wideness in God's mercy, and he shows inexplicable compassion to his whole creation — ourselves included.

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⁠Tbilisi International Christian Fellowship⁠ is a Christ-centred family of believers in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Bart Byl on ⁠Obadiah 1-21⁠.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, the Edomites had gloated over Israel's downfall. Now God warns their own judgement is coming—and reminds the exiled Jews he has seen and will respond to their affliction. "Vengeance is mine," God declares, and it's our trust in him as the only one who can bring justice that allows us to drop the sword from our own hands.

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⁠Tbilisi International Christian Fellowship⁠ is a Christ-centred family of believers in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Bart Byl on Obadiah 1-21.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, the Edomites had gloated over Israel's downfall. Now God warns their own judgement is coming—and reminds the exiled Jews he has seen and will respond to their affliction. "Vengeance is mine," God declares, and it's our trust in him as the only one who can bring justice that allows us to drop the sword from our own hands.

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Tbilisi International Christian Fellowship is a Christ-centred family of believers in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Anand Mahadevan on Genesis 16.

Anand Mahadevan is a founding council member of The Gospel Coalition India and an author, pastor and business journalist. He planted and leads New City Church in Mumbai. His book Grace of God and Flaws of Men was published by Lifeway in 2018.

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Tbilisi International Christian Fellowship is a Christ-centred family of believers in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Bart Byl on Amos 5:4-24.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

Through Amos, God denounces the social injustice that supports the decadent lifestyles of the upper class in the the northern kingdom of Israel. God wants his people to hate evil and love good, because they're meant to be a scale model of what his reign looks like. It's the kingdom of righteousness and justice Christ came to inaugurate on earth.

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Tbilisi International Christian Fellowship is a Christ-centred family of believers in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Bart Byl on Joel 2:1-2, 10-11, 18-19, 25-32.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

The 'day of the Lord' is the climax of wrath and judgment that will end history. And since judgement begins with the household of God, this day calls all of us to search our hearts and repent and return to God. For those who have pure hearts before God realize that God's judgement means salvation.

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Tbilisi International Christian Fellowship is a Christ-centred family of believers in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Jeff Hendrix on 1 John 5:6-12.

Series: 1 John—Life in God’s Love

God has given us eternal life in his Son, and offered solid testimony to believe in his name: Christ's baptism in water, his blood shed on the cross, and the witness of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

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Tbilisi International Christian Fellowship is a Christ-centred family of believers in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Bart Byl on Hosea 1.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

God tells the prophet Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman, as a visible enactment of God's tempestuous relationship with faithless Israel. And when Gomer runs off to live with another man, God sends Hosea to find her, pay off her debts, forgive her betrayal, and renew his vows to her. The prophet's marriage (and all of our own marriages) point to the lengths Christ is willing to go to redeem and purify his bride, the church.

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Tbilisi International Christian Fellowship is a Christ-centred family of believers in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Bart Byl on Daniel 2.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

The seer Daniel pulls back the curtain on the cosmic battlefield to show us the supernatural forces of darkness and light battling over the fate of humanity. Empire succeeds empire, all different manifestations of the beast — but in the end every human kingdom will fall and Christ alone will reign in love and justice.

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Tbilisi International Christian Fellowship is a Christ-centred family of believers in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Bart Byl on Ezekiel 47:1-12.

Series: Christ in the Old Testament

No prophet acted more strangely or received more psychedelic visions of God than Ezekiel. In the aftermath of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, Ezekiel is shown the glorious future Israel's God has planned for her — a new temple, and from underneath the temple, a river that flows toward the dead places and turns everything lush with life.

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Tbilisi International Christian Fellowship is a Christ-centred family of believers in Tbilisi, Georgia.