Discover the Word Podcast

Most of us find prayer baffling. Sometimes even unsatisfying. At the heart of our struggle is a kind of tug-of-war between what we want and what God wants. We have certain “prayer problems.” In one of the most desperate moments of His life, Jesus prayed a specific prayer. A prayer contained in three gospels and mentioned in the fourth. “Take this cup, yet not my will.” A two-sided prayer coin. Take this cup: Honest. Not my will: Abandon. Join us as we consider how Jesus flipped back and forth in this two-sided prayer coin, and how, following His example, perhaps we can as well.

Let’s be real. Modern culture is not a patient culture. We don’t like to wait for anything, and we’ve come up with just about every shortcut we can think of to get things done or in our possession more quickly. Henri Nouwen wrote, “Most people consider waiting a waste of time.” Maybe that’s why we pull out our phones at a red light or while in line. Yet the story of the Bible could be described as a story of waiting. The word “wait” shows up at least 119 times in the Bible. And so we wait. In a broken world, in broken bodies, we wait. But the good news is that the Bible is filled with hope for those who wait on the Lord. Join the group this week, as Daniel takes us to verses about waiting, and helps us discover that waiting is not necessarily a waste of time.

A crisis has been defined as any event that is going to lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community, or whole society. One teacher described a crisis more personally as any event or circumstance that makes you fundamentally reorganize your life. Either way, crises shake us to our core. In Psalm 34, the psalmist (David) is facing a time of crisis, and offers wisdom about living confidently by faith in seasons of crisis. We consider it together this week on Discover the Word.

In this series on Discover the Word, the group explores the importance of "where" with our Bible geography expert Dr. Jack Beck. Jack is convinced that location almost always shapes our understanding of an event, and so for that reason, God speaks geographically. The Bible has geography on virtually every page. Discover with the group why geography is not just trivia, it is an essential element of God's communication with us. Dr. Jack Beck continues to open our eyes to how critical and meaningful geography is in the Scriptures as he returns to the Discover the Word table for "The Impact of Place--Part 2."

In Discover the Word Podcast, the group explores the importance of "where" with our Bible geography expert, Dr. Jack Beck. Jack is convinced that location almost always shapes our understanding of an event, and so for that reason, God speaks geographically. The Bible has geography on virtually every page. Discover with the group why geography is not just trivia, but it is an essential element of God's communication with us. Dr. Jack Beck continues to open our eyes to how critical and meaningful geography is in the Scriptures as he returns to the Discover the Word table for "The Impact of Place--Part 2."

Most of us long to hear from God. Directly. In words we can clearly understand and respond to. Right? Scripture catalogues several instances of God speaking to humans, actually more than we might first remember. One story in specific – the interaction of God with Samuel in I Samuel 1-3 - offers insight into how God speaks, and how we, too, can hear Him when we listen.

Dive deeper into our conversation with Jeff Manion’s book The Land Between. Using the biblical story of the Israelites’ journey through the Sinai Desert as a metaphor for being in an undesired time of transition, this book provides fresh biblical insight for people traveling through undesired and difficult transitions of their own. You’ll discover that God desires to meet you in these spaces, helping you to see His goodness, provision, hope, and guidance in all moments of life.

Pastor and author Jeff Manion joins Discover the Word to discuss observations about the unwanted transitions of life. Jeff calls this space the “Land Between.” These are times when life is not as it was and likely not as it will be in the future. These times of change, however, provide our greatest opportunity for spiritual growth.  Join the group as they look at the biblical story of the Israelites’ journey through the Sinai Desert as a metaphor for being in an undesired, transitional space. Here they seek to find ways to recognize God and His provision for our personal “Land Between.”

One of the tried and tested ways we learn is through repetition. Whether it’s multiplication tables, grammar rules, or other languages, repetition helps to embed important ideas in our minds. The same is true with the most important ideas of all—those presented in the Scriptures. So, when we read Habakkuk 2:4, the fact that it’s repeated no less than three times in the New Testament should grab our attention. This week on Discover the Word, we discuss this important text and how it helps our understanding of the gospel.  

Remember playing dress up as a kid? You’d get in your mom’s or dad’s old clothes and role play adulthood. The Bible is filled with mentions of clothing – both literal and figurative, beginning in Genesis with the first desire for clothing after human kind’s fall. Through the New Testament epistles especially, the metaphor of “dressing up” takes on a special significance, directing us to express our internal faith in external efforts, the way we “put on” certain items of clothing.