Letters—Greeting/SenderOnce upon a time, people wrote letters. There weren’t any phones to text or emails to send. There was no FaceTime® or Facebook® ; there were no tweets, or even planes, trains, or automobiles to make for a quick way to relay a message. When one person wanted to communicate to another person when they were apart, they’d write to them.Of the twenty-seven books in the New Testam...  Read More

Nehemiah 1:5-11aI said, "I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of...  Read More

ObservationsAt the beginning of each session of study, I’ll have a few verses of Jude for you to read. Jot down a few of your initial observations of the verses, and then spend some time in prayer before beginning your study.Don’t skip this part. Observation is an imperative part of studying the Scriptures. This is where you get the chance to pay attention to the little things you’re reading so yo...  Read More

Why Jude?I first discovered Jude when I was a year into knowing Jesus and full of uncertainty about what that actually meant. I’d spent the majority of my Bible reading in the common books like John, Romans, and Psalms—all of the books Christians liked to quote—and not once had I heard them make reference to Jude.I don’t know how I didn’t notice it myself, as if I didn’t have to see it after skimm...  Read More

Why Jude?I first discovered Jude when I was a year into knowing Jesus and full of uncertainty about what that actually meant. I’d spent the majority of my Bible reading in the common books like John, Romans, and Psalms—all of the books Christians liked to quote—and not once had I heard them make reference to Jude.I don’t know how I didn’t notice it myself, as if I didn’t have to see it after skimm...  Read More

Jesus loved the invisible.Few things feel worse than being invisible.Invisible people are pushed to the edge of a crowd. It feels like nobody even sees you. Their lack of eye contact communicates, “your voice doesn’t matter. You don’t matter.”Maybe that’s how you felt the time you traveled through an airport where no one spoke your language. How did you find your gate? You were invisible to the ru...  Read More

Jesus loved the person we hate.When Jesus came into town that day, he did the unthinkable. That’s what the people of Jericho might have thought the day Jesus turned his attention to the one person in the town everyone despised. Imagine what someone from Jericho might have said . . .“We gave him a heroes’ welcome and the first thing he did was find the traitor among us. Zacchaeus was one of us unti...  Read More

Nehemiah 1:1-4The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.  Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.  They said to me, "The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity...  Read More

Messy and Beautiful – How Jesus LovedCulture wars are nothing new.Pick a point on history’s timeline anywhere on a map and you’ll find people at war with each other. The issue of the day can range from immense to incidental: how to govern, how to live as a community, what’s important to the family, how to worship, who’s important/who’s not, even what to wear, what to eat, or watch online.Our cultu...  Read More

He is for UsWho is Jesus? People have debated that question for generations. Some said he was brilliant, and others label him insane. Some said Jesus was a good teacher, and others call him a liar. To judge a person’s character, you’ve got to look at their life.How did Jesus live among us? He was different things to different people. See if you find yourself on this list.To the victim, Jesus defen...  Read More

He Faced Hardship like UsAs of last year, more than 65 million people have been forced to leave their homes and live as refugees outside their country or displaced within, according to the U.N. refugee agency, Global Trends.On the run for their lives, these millions leave everything behind just to survive.Jesus could say, I know exactly what that is like. Jesus and his parents were refugees, too. ...  Read More

He Loves UsJesus had the same amount of time as everyone else, yet he was never in a hurry. He took the time to notice people, even the ones others overlooked. You feel loved when you’re noticed. It feels good. Just study his life and you see him loving on the most unexpected people.Jesus loved the outsiders: Almost everyone was poor in first century Israel. They lived hungry, never knowing what i...  Read More