Want to dive deeper into Scripture? Every Thursday, Chris Christensen investigates a passage of Scripture and helps us see how to apply it to our lives.
Philippians 4 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
Faith and Deeds 14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[e] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
Would God ask you to marry a prostitute? That probably seems like a strange question but that is exactly what he asked the prophet Hosea. He was trying to make a point. Hosea 1 1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash [a] king of Israel:Hosea's Wife and Children 2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD." 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel." 6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, [b] for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God." 8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, [c] for you are not my people, and I am not your God. 10 "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.' 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel. Footnotes: Hosea 1:1 Hebrew Joash , a variant of JehoashHosea 1:6 Lo-Ruhamah means not loved .Hosea 1:9 Lo-Ammi means not my people . Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
John 8 deals with the story of a woman brought before Jesus because she was caught in the act of adultery. How would he respond? Could the religous leaders trap him into getting in trouble? John 8 1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
The third of a seres of podcasts on the Christmas story. This part is on Luke 2 where we learn about the coming of the shepherds and the familiar story of laying the baby Jesus in a manager because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke focuses on Mary' story and should be particularly familiar to fans of the Charlie Brown Christmas special. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
The second of a seres of podcasts on the Christmas story. This part is on Matthew 2 where we learn about the coming of the wisemen and about Herod the Great who is threatened by the news that a king has been born. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
This episode starts a multi-week look at the Christmas story. This first part starts in Matthew 1. Matthew's account focuses on the role of Joseph. Imagine this from his perspective. Your fiancee us pregnant but says she has not been with another man. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
Once again the podcast returns to the topic of prayer. It looks at Jesus teaching on prayer as well as his example of praying. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened - Luke 11:9-10 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
This episode looks at the context around Matthew 6 version of the Lord's prayer. What is Jesus teaching about how we should pray and how is the Lord's prayer a template for prayer? Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
The Lord's Prayer dramatic presentation: Our Father who art in Heaven.... Yes? Don't interrupt me. I'm praying.... But you called Me. Called you? I didn't call you. I'm praying. Our Father who art in Heaven.... There, you did it again.... Did what? Called Me. You said, "Our Father who art in Heaven.." Here I am. What's on your mind? But I didn't mean anything by it. I was, you know, just saying my prayers for the day. I always say the Lord's Prayer. It makes me feel good, kind of like getting my duty done. All right. Go on.... Hallowed be thy name. Hold it. What do you mean by that? By what? By "Hallowed be thy name."..... It means....it means....good grief, I don't know what it means. How should I know? It's just part of the prayer. By the way, what does it mean? It means "Honored, Holy! Wonderful." Hey, that makes sense. I never thought about what "Hallowed" meant before... Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Do you really mean that? Sure, why not? What are you going to do about it? Doing? Nothing, I guess. I just think it would be neat if you got control of everything down here like you have up there. Have I got control of you? Well, I go to church. That isn't what I asked you. What about that habit of lust you have? And your bad temper? You've really got a problem there, you know. And then there's the way you spend your money ...... all on yourself. And what about the kinds of books you read? Stop picking on me! I'm just as good as some of the rest of those phonies at the church. Excuse me .... I thought you were praying for my will to be done. If that is to happen, it will have to start with the ones who are praying for it. Like you, for example. Oh, all right! I guess I do have some hang-ups. Now that you mention it, I could probably name some others. So could I. I haven't thought about it until now, but I really would like to cut out some of those things. I'd like to, you know, be really free. Good, now we're getting somewhere. We'll work together .... you and I. Some victories can truly be won. I'm proud of you. Look Lord, I need to finish up here. This is taking a lot longer than it usually does.... Give us this day our daily bread. You need to cut down on the bread too ... You're overweight as it is. Hey, wait a minute! What is this, "Criticize Me Day?" Here I was doing my religious duty, and all of a sudden you break in and remind me of all my hangups. Praying is a dangerous thing. You could wind up changed you know. That's what I'm trying to get across to you. You called me, and here I am. It's too late to stop now. Keep on praying. I'm interested in the next part of your prayer .................... Well, go on. I'm scared to. Scared? Of what? I know what you'll say. Try me and see. Forgive us our offenses as we forgive those who offend us. What about Mark? See I knew it! I knew you would bring him up! Why, he's told lies about me, cheated me out of money .... He never paid back that debt he owes me. I've sworn to get even. But your prayer ...... What about your prayer? I didn't mean it. Well, at least you're honest. But it's not much fun carrying the load of bitterness around inside is it? No, but I'll feel better as soon as I get even. Boy, have I made some plans for ol' Mark! He'll wish he never did me any harm. You won't feel any better. You'll feel worse. Revenge isn't sweet. Think of how unhappy you are already. But I can change all that. You can? How? Forgive Mark. Then I'll forgive you. Then the hate and sin will be Mark's problem and not yours... You may lose the money, but it will be settled in your heart. But Lord, I can't forgive Mark. Then I can't forgive you. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
Chris Christensen is the creator of The Bible Study Podcast as well as the long-running travel podcast Amateur Traveler. He has been teaching bible studies since he was in high school. He is a lay leader and occasional preacher at Bethel Lutheran Church in Cupertino California.
