Jesus at 2AM - A Humorous, Intelligent Look at the Bible, Church History & the Life of Faith

At last God makes good on his promise to save. Israel is set free from Egypt and flees into the desert...only to discover that she is quickly trapped between the Red Sea and the fast-approaching army of Pharaoh. And it is a situation everyone who sincerely follows God will face - the moment when, unless God personally intervenes on our behalf, we are most certainly doomed. In this episode we join Israel on the shores of the Red Sea wondering if our faith has been a horrible miscalculation! The biblical passage referenced in this sermon is:  Exodus 14:5-25 (NRSV)   Want to support the podcast?  CLICK HERE for ways to help! Want to connect?  You can send e-mail here. Or find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Few stories in scripture are more historically or morally questionable than the story of the Passover. Did YHWH truly put to death all the firstborn of Egypt??? And if so, how can we possibly consider God good, much less loving??? In this episode we examine the Passover, its place in Israel's salvation, and the instruction is provides for living as God's people. The biblical passage referenced in this sermon is:  Exodus 11:1-12:13, 21-36 (NRSV)   Want to support the podcast?  CLICK HERE for ways to help! Want to connect?  You can send e-mail here. Or find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Before we can surrender to God's care and leading, we must first be (mostly) convinced that God is devoted to us and capable of securing our welfare. And in the ancient world, way a deity demonstrated both power and devotion was by means of partisan action - working demonstrably on behalf of their followers. In this episode, we examine YHWH's plagues upon the Egyptians and what they are intended to reveal about the strength and faithfulness of Israel's God. The biblical passages quoted in this sermon are:  Acts 1:6-8 (NRSV) Exodus 6:1-9; 7:14-25; 8:16-19 (NRSV)   Want to support the podcast?  CLICK HERE for ways to help! Want to connect?  You can send e-mail here. Or find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In the end, there is only one way to know for sure if God is active in the world and in your life: risk. Not random danger, but obedience to a call. It turns out that God's revelation is often paired with a command to "go...," and to risk, and thereby to discover that God is present. In this episode we look at God's appearance to Moses in the burning bush and the accompanying call to speak to both Israel and to Pharaoh - both sojourns into danger. But it is here that Moses learns "I am with you!" The biblical passage for this sermon is: Exodus 2:23-3:22 (NRSV). Want to support the podcast?  CLICK HERE for ways to help! Want to connect?  You can send e-mail here. Or find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Learning to see God in our own lives is much like learning to see God in the story of Moses's birth. At first glance, God appears quite absent - nowhere to be found as his people face great trial. And yet, upon closer inspection, God's fingerprints begin to emerge everywhere. Where first we saw only indifference, slowly, deeply attentive care comes into focus. And we see that God has been active in our rescue all along. In this episode we learn to see behind the scenes - where God is always at work.   The biblical passage for this sermon is: Exodus 2:1-15 (NRSV). Want to support the podcast?  CLICK HERE for ways to help! Want to connect?  You can send e-mail here. Or find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The journey of faith and surrender to God's leading begins not in strength, but in weakness, in captivity - slaves to forces too great for us to overcome. It is there that God meets us and declares again the promise of salvation. In this episode we begin where the exodus began - with God's people enslaved to Pharaoh, crying out for deliverance. And we recognize this physical captivity as a symptom of our larger captivity to sin itself. And we also discover captivity will not have the last word!   The biblical passage for this sermon is: Exodus 1:1-22(NRSV). Want to support the podcast?  CLICK HERE for ways to help! Want to connect?  You can send e-mail here. Or find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The ultimate work of the life of faith is to surrender ourselves to God, to entrust all that we are and all that we possess to his care and leading. The question is: HOW??? How do we overcome the countless resistances we have to placing ourselves in God's hands? The short, answer is: reluctantly. But there is hope! God has a long history of bringing broken humans into relationship with him. So in this series we begin at the beginning of that work, the exodus. In this episode, we meet the God who saves. The biblical passages referenced in this sermon are:  1 Peter 2:9-10 (NRSV) Genesis 17:1-8 (NRSV) Want to support the podcast?  CLICK HERE for ways to help! Want to connect?  You can send e-mail here. Or find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The purpose of studying what we don't believe is to define more clearly what we do - with the ultimate goal of obedience (and the healthy relationship with God, self and other that comes with it!). In this series's concluding, hopefully non-heretical episode, we look at Jesus's call to put faith into action, and I offer some practical advice on writing a personal statement of faith (a more helpful exercise than you might imagine!). Ready to work on your own statement of faith? You can download my Short Guide to Writing a Personal Statement of Faith HERE. The biblical passage referenced in this sermon is: Matthew 7:15-27 (NRSV).  Want to support the podcast?  CLICK HERE for ways to help! Want to connect?  You can send e-mail here. Or find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Protestantism brought much needed reform to the 16th century church, not least its call to return to the Bible as the primary source of authority. But it wasn't long before debates raged about the interpretation of the Bible. And rather than resolve their differences, many Protestant determined to split from the others to form what they considered a truly faith church. In this episode, we look at the habit of division has continued for 500 years - in direct contradiction of the Bible we claim to obey. The biblical passages referenced in this sermon are: Ephesians 4:1-6 (NRSV) 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 (NRSV) Luke 5:29-32 (NRSV) Matthew 13:24-30 (NRSV)   Want to support the podcast?  CLICK HERE for ways to help! Want to connect?  You can send e-mail here. Or find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

God is not an American. Nor an Italian, German, Brazilian, Australian...nor any other nationality. And yet, many a political state has woven into its cultural mythology the belief that God has set them apart to exercise divine authority on earth. In this episode, Ian looks at the dangers of nationalism and the horrifying example of Nazi Germany. He goes on to find hope in the bravely written Barmen Declaration, a stark reminder to the church that the Kingdom of God belongs to no nation.   Check out the Theological Declaration of Barmen HERE.    Want to support the podcast?  CLICK HERE for ways to help! Want to connect?  You can send e-mail here. Or find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.