In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He made it all out of absolutely nothing…the stars and the oceans, the air, and the birds and all the animals and plants on the earth. He is so powerful that He just spoke, and they all came into being.

Over the years, many of the Kings of Judah were good, but most of them were not. At the point in the story where we will begin, King Joash had been reigning over Judah for forty years. He was a very good king. He had restored the holy Temple and led the people of God into righteous worship of their Lord.

The man you are about to learn about is one of the greatest men in history. His name is Isaiah, and he was a prophet. God would give him important messages to tell the people of Israel. Some of the Israelites would learn through Isaiah how to show their love and faithfulness to their Lord. Others would learn about God’s judgment by ignoring and disobeying what Isaiah said.

Isaiah was in the throne room of the Most Holy God in Heaven. He was standing before the Lord of all Creation who reigns in power over all the universe. The bright, pure holiness of God’s presence made Isaiah see the filth of his own sin in new and shameful ways. He cried out to the Lord for help, and God showed him mercy.

The prophet Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet. He wept because he loved God, yet he watched as the nation of Israel rebelled against Him. Jeremiah knew that their hearts were hard, ugly, and full of sin. They rejected Yahweh and the amazing privilege it was to be His holy, chosen people. For hundreds of years they had not turned to Him in trust. God had warned them again and again through His holy prophets, and still they had not turned in repentance to their God.

The mighty army of Babylon stormed through the land of Israel in 605 BC. It had conquered the nations of Egypt, Syria, and Persia in a sweeping campaign of war. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, laid siege to Jerusalem and defeated the city. His vast troops surrounded the city walls and waited while the Jews inside trembled with fear. Days and weeks past and they began to run out of food and water. People were growing weak. Many began to starve and die.

There were probably many ways that Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel chose to honor the God of Israel over King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian gods. The royal court of a pagan king was a place full of all kinds of degrading sins. Choosing to live by the high and holy, pure law of the God of Israel would have set these teenagers apart from the rest in everything they did.

Daniel and his friends were probably still teenagers when a great problem arose for the wise men of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. It was powerful and vivid, and he knew it had special meaning. He knew it told something important about the future, something mighty and great. It filled his mind, and he was desperate to discover the right interpretation.

Acts is the book of the Bible that tells the remarkable story of what happened after Jesus Christ died and rose again. The Lord made the way for a New Covenant between God and those who choose to trust in Him. Acts is the story of how the victory of Christ unfolded in human history after Christ ascended into Heaven. Luke was the man who was given the privilege of telling that story. He is the same man that wrote the story of Christ’s ministry on earth in the book of Luke.

While all the people of Jerusalem were still wondering about the crucifixion of Christ and the rumors that surrounded it, Jesus was meeting with His faithful friends, explaining to them what was going on. He spent forty days after His resurrection appearing to His disciples and teaching them about the Kingdom of God. God’s plans were going on just as God intended, and the disciples were going to play an important part.

As the disciples watched their Lord raise up into the sky, the angels spoke great words of hope. One day He would return to that very Mount, and when He returned, everything would change forever. What thoughts did the disciples have as they made their way back to Jerusalem?

The Lord Jesus promised His disciples that He would send his Holy Spirit to them. Now at the festival of Pentecost, just ten days after Jesus ascended into Heaven, the Spirit had come like flames of fire, filling the followers of Christ with boldness and power. They poured out into the streets speaking languages from all over the world.

The book of Romans was written by the Apostle Paul. In this letter, humanity was given one of the clearest explanations of the truth of the human situation in existence. He provided concise but all-encompassing insight into some of the deepest and most important aspects of what God wants us to understand and respond to. Over the centuries, Christian believers have been meeting over this letter, wrestling with it, debating the contours of its meaning, and finding in it some of the most freeing hopes of life.

The first chapter in Paul’s letter to the Romans begins with verses that explain the grandest, most powerful ideas ever thought by a human…and that is because the thoughts first came from God. The letter proceeds to encompass the whole spectrum of reality, from the broad ranges of life within human civilization to the deepest, most intimate struggles of every human heart. Understanding Romans provides a rich and truthful grid by which to understand our world and its relationship to the eternal God, which in itself is a profoundly stabilizing framework for life.

When Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, some of his friends were already in Rome, living as members of the Church. There were also many Christians in Rome that he did not know, and he knew they would read this letter as well.

This next section of Paul’s letter to the Romans is going to take us through some painful truths. They are hard to think about, but they are important because they help us come to terms. As humans, we like to imagine that all is well. We buy ourselves a lot of temporary peace by ignoring a lot of the evil and degradation going on all around us. If we had to face all of the suffering and evil that goes on in the world, we wouldn’t be able to bear it. It would break us.

Welcome to the opportunity to learn about the book of Revelation. Like all of Scripture, this text is important because it is inspired by the God who created us. Revelation also holds a special place in Scripture because it is the last book of the Bible. This is where we learn how the story that began in the Garden of Eden is going to come to its final, cataclysmic, victorious end. It also explains how new life will begin in eternity with God. Revelation tells us of the Great Ending, and the even greater Beginning.

The story we are about to read is called Revelation for a good reason. A revelation is something that happens when a mystery is revealed. Something that was hidden is uncovered. It was written by John, the apostle who journeyed with the Lord during His life on earth. It was his task to deliver the message about the end of human history. It was his tremendous privilege to describe the manner in which God would inaugurate the first steps into everlasting life.

When you read the Book of Revelation, you will notice that right from the start, John makes sure we know that this message is from God. It was so important that the Lord Jesus sent an angel to help him bear the greatness of all that he was about to see.

Almost all of the Bible tell us about things that happened in the deep past. But there are some parts of Scripture that look forward to tell the end of the story. They explain what is going to happen in the future. They are called prophecies. God gave His plan to men like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, telling them what His plans are all the way to the end of time and beyond. These men were prophets, and even though they lived thousands of years ago, the Lord gave them images and visions that showed them things that haven’t happened yet.