beloved — The Gospels in English — His Glory In Our Story

Have you ever tried to explain something that was so epically amazing that you couldn't quite put it into words? Sometimes I think that's what the Apostle John faced.

Bible Learning, Biblical Narratives, calling, Faith, Holy Spirit, Incarnation, Jesus, John the Apostle, Metanarrative, storiesJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020beloved, Bible, Christ, Church, Gospels, Incarnation, Jesus, John, King of kings, Lord, Luke, Mark, Matthew, miracles, narrative, Revelation, stories, Temple

Story 20: The Light that Shines: Where Are You Getting Your Hope?

What do you do with your words? I've got to admit that sometimes the phrase "talk is cheap" is a good description for the things I take the trouble to say. If the Bible is right (and I believe it is) then we can know that the opposite is true of God.

Bible Learning, Biblical Narratives, Faith, Incarnation, Jesus, John the Apostle, Spiritual formation, storiesJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020beloved, betrayal, Bible, eternity, forgivenss, God, hope, Incarnation, Jesus, John, Light of the world, narrative, Story, transformation, Truth, Word

Story 25: A Firestorm of Faith: Making Way for the Glories of God

The crowds continued to flock to John, the wild preacher who gave his message in the open places, far from the Temple in Jerusalem. As he baptized the repentant in the waters of the Jordan River, the people could see that his bold declarations were full of the Spirit of God, and so they began to wonder who he was. Is he the prophet Elijah come back to life as foretold in Malachi 4:5?

Story 26: The Ultimate Kill

The Spirit of the Lord had come to anoint the Son of God in a special and powerful way. After Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit led Jesus away from the Jordan and the bustle of ministry that surrounded John. Jesus was compelled to go out to the wilderness and to the silence of utter nature.

Story 27: Epic Adventure: The Chosen Ones of God

After his baptism, Christ was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to face the temptations of Satan. Meanwhile, the counsel of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, the most powerful religious leaders in the country, sent more priests to question John the Baptist.

Story 30: Delving into the Mysteries of God: Nicodemus the Brave

The world of the Jews was being shaken. In the midst of their great, national Passover celebration, the young man named Jesus was turning everything upside down.

Story 32: A Broken Woman in a Broken World and the Cleansing Streams of Living Water

As the ministry of Jesus began to grow in influence, a lot of people weren’t happy. John the Baptist’s disciples weren’t the only ones who noticed how popular Jesus was becoming. The Pharisees were taking notice of Him, too.

Story 41: Just to be With Us

It is a rare thing for someone to truly have all the answers. In fact, in the vast realities of science and the social world of human behavior, it would be impossible for anyone to be able encompass all that is in one, finite little mind, now matter how smart they are.

Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, bride, Christianity, Christmas, Faith, freedom, Galilee, Gospels, groom, Jesus, Jewish Law, Lord, New Testament, new wine, Old Testament, Scripture studyJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Anounted One, beloved, Bible, Blessed, bride, Christ, Church, death, devastation, Jesus, John the Baptist, love, new wine, new wineskins, radical, sacrifice

Story 53: Persecuted Ones: His Love for You is Great

As I prepare this blog, my heart trembles. I have never been called upon to truly suffer for my faith. One of the interesting things about blogging is that I can check every day to see how many people have read my posts and what countries they are from.

Story 54: The Terrible Beauty of the Beatitudes

When we read the Beatitudes, we see a picture of the qualities a disciple of Christ is meant to grow in. The descriptions are of a people so full of meekness and mercy that it is hard to imagine anyone would want to persecute them.

Story 57: We Are Murderers All: What Are You Doing With Your Failure?

Jesus declared that the Laws and prophecies of the Old Testament would remain unbreakable and true until the end of time. In His own life on earth, the Lord obeyed them with absolute perfection in response to His heavenly Father.

Story 61: Social Justice in the Kingdom of God

The next thing Jesus tackled in His Sermon on the Mount was a law that Moses gave in the book of Deuteronomy. It said: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” I've know some people to find this repulsive and brutal, but my guess is that they hadn't thought it through very deeply.

Beatitudes, Beautitudes, Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, blessing, bravery, calling, Christianity, corruption, disciples, disobedience, Faith, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, Gospels, hatred, healing, humility, Israel, Jesus, Jewish History, Jewish Law, Jews, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord, Matthew, Messiah, Metanarrative, narrative, New Testament, obedience, Old Testament, persecution, pride, purity, radical, religious leaders, Scripture study, Sermon on the Mount, shine, sin, Spiritual formation, spirituality, stories, transformation, truthJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020beloved, Bible, Blessed, Christ, corruption, evil, eye for an eye, faith, Galilee, God, Gospels, history, hope, injustice, Israel, Jesus, Jews, justice, Matthew, Messiah, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, radical, reform, reformation, righteousness, social justice, tooth for a tooth, transformation, Truth

Story 64: On Hiding and Loving

In the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught a high and holy Law where absolute love is the supreme goal. Then He taught that His disciples what it would look like to honor it perfectly. The vision of Kingdom love that the Lord presented on the mountain is so achingly pure and obviously holy that humanity naturally praises it and longs for it.

Beatitudes, Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, blessing, calling, Christianity, corruption, disciples, disobedience, Faith, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, generosity, Gospels, humility, hypocracy, hypocrisy, Jesus, Jewish History, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, love, Matthew, Messiah, Metanarrative, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, prayer, purity, radical, religious leaders, Scripture study, Sermon on the Mount, shine, Spiritual formation, spirituality, stories, treasureJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020beloved, Bible, Blessed, Christ, corruption, faith, God, Gospels, history, hope, hypocrisy, Israel, Jesus, Matthew, Messiah, miracles, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, prayer, purity, radical, reformer, religious leaders, righteousness, Scripture, selfishness, theology, transformation

Story 69: Resting from Worry

Let’s remember what we have read about in the Sermon on the Mount. As we look at each little section, it is important to remember how it fits into the big picture of God’s Kingdom. For example, when Jesus tells us not to worry, it could seem like a pretty heartless thing to say.

Beatitudes, Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, blessings, bravery, calling, corruption, disciples, disobedience, Faith, Fasting, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, generosity, Gospels, healing, Holiness, Holy Spirit, humility, Jesus, Jewish Law, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord, Matthew, Messiah, Metanarrative, narrative, New Testament, obedience, Old Testament, prayer, purity, radical, religious leaders, Scripture study, Sermon on the Mount, shine, sin, Spiritual formation, spirituality, stories, transformation, treasureJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020anxiety, beloved, Bible, Bible lessons, Blessed, Christ, corruption, faith, Galilee, God, Gospels, history, hope, Israel, Jesus, Jews, Matthew, Messiah, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, peace, radical, reformer, religious leaders, rest, righteousness, Scripture, Sermon on the Mount, sin, stories, stress, theology, transformation, trust, worry

Story 73: Where Will You Build Your House?

Matthew wrote the Sermon on the Mount to teach what it means to be a disciple of Christ. In the final three pictures that Jesus gave, He showed the difference between those who are truly members of His Kingdom and those who are not.

Story 75: The First Signs of the Death of Death

Jesus continued to journey about the countryside telling everyone the Good News and healing the sick. One day He travelled to a city called Nain. His newly appointed disciples were with Him, and they were followed by a huge crowd.

Story 77: Rejection or Rest

As Jesus preached to the people throughout the region of Galilee, the powerful religious leaders began rejecting His message. But it wasn’t just the religious leaders that refused to hear the message of God through John and Jesus.

Story 78: Weeping Faith

In the midst of Christ's busy ministry of teaching and healing throughout the region of Galilee, one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to dine in his home. Many of the Pharisees had already rejected the Messiah completely, but this one was still struggling with how to understand the coming of Jesus and His remarkable miracles.

Story 82: True Family

Imagine if the powerful religious leaders of your day journeyed to find you so they could confront you. Men from the Temple in Jerusalem in the South of Israel had travelled all the way to the North to do just that. Jesus had a lot of choices that He could have made.He could have hid from them...and then gossiped about them for the next 20 years.

Story 84: The Parable of the Harvest

Jesus had begun to speak to His disciples in parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. The rest of the crowd was still there as Jesus preached from the boat, but for most of them, these stories would be a mystery.

Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, blessing, bravery, calling, Christianity, corruption, death, demonic, disciples, disobedience, Evil One, evil spirits, Faith, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, generosity, Gospels, grace, Holiness, Holy Spirit, humility, Israel, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jewish History, Jewish Law, Jews, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord, love, Matthew, mercy, Messiah, Metanarrative, miracle, narrative, New Testament, obedience, Old Testament, parable, persecution, Pharisees, prayer, prophecy, purity, radical, religious leaders, repentance, Satan, Scripture study, seek, servant, serving, shine, Spiritual formation, spirituality, transformation, treasure, truth, wheatJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020angels, beloved, Blessed, Christ, corruption, devil, eternity, faith, fire, Galilee, God, God the Father, Gospels, harvest, Heaven, history, Holy Spirit, hope, Isaiah, Israel, Jesus, Jews, Judgment, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew, Messiah, narrative, New Testament, parable, radical, reformer, religious leaders, righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, theology, transformation, Truth, wheat