Study

Reading Time: 4 minutes

After Jesus’ baptism, he stayed near where John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing. At this point he gave a “preliminary” call to Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael. . . .

Reading Time: 4 minutes

As Jesus continued his Upper Room Discourse in John 15, he moved beyond metaphor by claiming to be the true vine of Israel. Then he connected the dots between the vine and himself, the gardener and his Father, and the branches and the disciples. . . .

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The exclusivity of Jesus is a problem in a pluralistic country like the United States. There is immediate pushback when anyone says, “This is the only way.” . . . But what else are Christians to believe and say when Jesus said that he is the gate (John 10:9)? . . .

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The biblical world had a love/hate relationship with shepherds. Shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians (Genesis 46:34), and by the first century BC they were the ragamuffins of society (Luke 2:8-20). But Scripture has high regard for shepherds. . . .

Reading Time: 4 minutes

It is hard to overstate the significance of Abraham. Today he is looked to as the father of three religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. His name is mentioned 11 times in this lesson text. . . .

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Two miracles provide the background for this lesson text. Jesus multiplied five barley loaves and two fish and fed 5,000 men. Jesus then walked on the Sea of Galilee. . . .

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Jesus was coming into the world—that is the essence of the Christmas story. . . .

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In his encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, Jesus shattered gender, ethnic, religious, social, and cultural barriers. . . .

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus zeroed in on the difference between heavenly things and earthly things. The born-again experience is a gift from God above—not from the law below. . . .