Stonebridge Bible Church Sermons

Some classify the Books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon as “Poetical Books” or “Wisdom Literature.” It is, perhaps more precise to classify Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes as Wisdom Literature. At the most basic level, Proverbs is a book of wisdom. In a way, it’s a book of wit. Much of the collection is in couplets and, as we noticed in the Psalms, parallelism is very easy to see. Beyond parallelism, the literary style is referred to as māšāl or something like a byword, or to be compared to, or we could simplify it to a simile: Proverbs 6:23 – the commandment is a lamp, the teaching is a light. According to Wilkinson and Boa in their book Talk Thru the Bible: Proverbs is perhaps the most practical book in the Old Testament because it teaches wisdom (lit., “skillful living”) in the multiple aspects of everyday life. In short pithy statements, maxims, and stories, Solomon and other contributors set forth about nine hundred proverbs—inspired precepts dealing with wisdom and folly, pride and humility, justice and vengeance, laziness and work, poverty and wealth, friends and neighbors, love and lust, anger and strife, masters and servants, life and death. These maxims are not theoretical but practical; they are easily memorized, timeless truths that touch on every facet of human relationships. Reading a proverb takes only a few seconds; applying a proverb can take a lifetime. Join Michael as he teaches an overview of the book of Proverbs.

Wayne Wolf preaches from Psalms and Romans.

Poetry, as a form of language, was and is a powerful tool to teach without a written form for the masses. Once the lyric was written and put to music, the story, theology, history, work of God, lament of man, praise to YHWH could easily be taught and retained. Join us as Michael teaches the book of Psalms and discusses how we should understand and read these lyrics as New Testament believers.

We’re moving from the historical books to the Wisdom/Poetry Literature, beginning with the book of Job. In this important text we are forced to ask impossible questions about difficulties in life: loss, illness, suffering; and to wrestle with the possibility that, perhaps, the answers to those questions aren’t ours to have.  Join us as Michael helps us understand the book of Job.

Some scholars argue that the book of Esther shouldn't be in the Bible. Neither God's name nor his laws appear in the text, no miracles occur, no prophet speaks.  But here, in this text, we see God's providence.  Michael teaches an overview of the book of Esther.

Michael teaches on the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a contemporary of Ezra’s. Where Ezra is moving the exiles back to Jerusalem, most of Nehemiah’s account is in Jerusalem as he attempts to repair the wall around the city to prevent enemies from entering who would physically and spiritually destroy Israel’s newly reestablished temple complex.  Nehemiah’s task is a restoration project not unlike Ezra’s attempts to reform the Jews who had fallen away from YHWH.

Join us as Michael continues our series The Big Book – Cover to Cover with the book about Ezra, scribe and priest who played a pivotal role in Israel’s history. This book continues the account from 2 Chronicles 36:21-23 and covers about 23 years, with a 60 year gap between the 22nd and 23rd year. It begs the question: What have we set our hearts on? 

Michael continues his survey of the Bible with 2 Chronicles.  While 1 and 2 Chronicles tell a continuous story, 2 Chronicles has a different emphasis. In 1 Chronicles, the emphasis is the importance of the temple in national life – but in 2 Chronicles, the emphasis is the impotence of the temple in national life.  2 Chronicles condemns ritualism, the idea that what satisfies God is external conformity rather than internal reality.  While 1 Chronicles emphasizes the importance of recognizing God as a nation, 2 Chronicles emphasizes the importance of following formal recognition with actual recognition in attitudes and actions.  Tragically, we see in 2 Chronicles that Israel’s recognition of God was only formal, not actual. Listen in as Michael helps us see the lessons we can apply to our lives as we read about the failures of the Israelites.

Michael continues his survey of the Bible with 1 Chronicles.  1-2 Chronicles cover the same time period as 2 Samuel-2 Kings, but offers more and different detail because it was written for a different purpose. What we know of the past shapes how we view our present and plan our future. What we know of our theological history will affect the way we understand and live out our faith.  First Chronicles helps us to fill out our understanding of the history of our theological roots.

Wayne Wolf preaches on Psalm 90.