Zeal Stoker

Some consider themselves good persons because they haven’t murdered anyone or cheated on their spouse. Yet the Bible teaches us that showing partiality and discrimination amongst believers is to be guilty of all of God’s laws (equal to murder & adultery—deserving of judgment and death penalty). This segment (James 2:1-13) provides a warning against partiality, and the solution to prevent it.

While it may be hip today to be “spiritual”, and many Christians are triggered when recognized by unbelievers as “religious”, there’s a palpable aversion to the word “religion”. This segment (James 1:21-27) discusses the importance of practicing our faith and defines for us the kind of religion that pleases God.

Many times, instead of genuinely listening, we are reloading! Waiting to blast them that we may be “right.“ This segment (James 1:19-20) discusses what it looks like to be God’s special people—Quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. Sometimes our anger is a mask for sadness, scared & hurt. Being angry is not necessarily a sin, but responding in anger seldom makes things better.

We sometimes misunderstand God‘s sovereignty to mean He makes everything happen (temptation, evil, etc.). This segment (James 1:12-18) discusses expectations we might have, both of ourselves and our God. Ultimately, God is good & perfect; what He conceives and delivers is good and perfect. Even so, will we trust and obey Him? We will be held accountable to do just that.

James tells us we are blessed to pass the test! (James 1:12-16) There is a crown of life awaiting those who love Jesus. But how do we know we really love Him vs. being seemingly satisfied with our “fire insurance”? Each trial or temptation represents a test—an opportunity to either prove our love for the Lord or reveal the sinfulness inside us in need of confession, repentance and discipline. This segment discusses the dynamics between desire & temptation; sin and not sinning, as well as the greatest motive for resisting temptation when it comes—LOVE.

The Bible is filled with signs (lit. signals) drawing our attention to something or (better yet) someone in particular. This episode discusses THE sign God has given mankind (controversial as it is) whereby He has revealed Himself—the “fall and rise” (death and resurrection) of Jesus Christ and that of many others who follow His “fall and rise” example. NOTE: Correction to this episode—the Greek word anastasis translated “rise” in Luke 2:34 is used 42 times in the New Testament; all 42X (100%) referring to the resurrection!

Jesus came not just to atone for (cover) our sins, but to wash them away! Born of the virgin Mary, the Son of God would be priest, lamb, and scapegoat, before hailed as King of kings. We needed Jesus to atone for & wash away our sins, and to make us born again free from shame.

Setting the stage for Christmas, this segment discusses the importance of Jesus advent—born of woman, the promised Seed (Jesus) would crush Satan’s head! He came to remove the curse, reconcile us to God, and demonstrate how we too can crush Satan’s head beneath our own feet through obedience to God’s Word.

Advent is the coming or arrival of something or someone important. That said, Christmastime marks the advent of Jesus Christ. It is apparent Jesus was not what many expected. Nicodemus was one of them. This segment considers Nic’s nighttime visit with Jesus—Nic had questions. Jesus had answers! “You must be born again!”

We cannot escape the world and it’s ties, but we should rejoice in the truth that the world cannot escape its ties with Christ and the Church! Regardless of whether or not Christmas has its origins in religion, the world, and or paganism; Christ-followers have been repurposing days, symbols and events for Christ for 2,000+ years (e.g. the cross, Calvary, the symbolism of the fish, the anchor…). This segment considers pre-Christmas declarations of the Savior of the world conceived and born to a virgin (Isaiah 7:1-17 & 9:6-7), and the challenge for believers to find their own sanctified purpose and meaning.