Latest Groundwork Podcast Episodes
Our Hearts and God's Character in Nahum and Zephaniah
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - April 26, 2024 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsWhen it seems like evil is winning all around us, and when we don’t understand how God can be both vengeful and loving, angry and good, it can be helpful for us to turn to the minor prophets of Nahum and Zephaniah. Both prophets urge God’s people to examine their hearts and...
God's Judgment and Hope in Micah
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - April 19, 2024 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsThe prophet Micah is most well-known for a famous and often quoted verse: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). But the prophet Micah speaks these word...
Justice and Righteousness in Amos
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - April 12, 2024 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsThe prophet Amos had an urgent message from God. God wasn’t going to tolerate the serious and grievous injustices of his people. During Amos’ lifetime, oppression and exploitation were so pervasive in Israelite society that it tainted their worship. As God’s people today, w...
Messages from God in Obadiah and Joel
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - April 05, 2024 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsThe prophetic books of Obadiah and Joel are quite short and easily overlooked. However, their messages are hard-hitting and remind us that our God is a holy God. Obadiah and Joel were written hundreds of years apart, but they both call out the injustices that God’s people w...
Crucified and Raised to Life with Christ
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - March 29, 2024 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsGood Friday and Easter mark the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the climax of the Christian church year. There’s no doubt these are the events at the heart of our Christian Faith. During Holy Week, Christians around the world pause to remember and celebrate the grea...
The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - March 22, 2024 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsThe four gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry vary in their selections of stories and in their details. Each gospel writer has a different audience in mind and a different goal, both of which influence what and how they retell Christ’s life. However, the story of Jes...
The Complete Sufficiency of the Cross
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - March 15, 2024 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsWhen something seems too good to be true, we might find ourselves raising an eyebrow, reading the fine print, and asking “what’s the catch?” But when it comes to salvation, there really is no catch and beyond having faith there is nothing else we need to do. When Christ die...
The Paradox of the Cross
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - March 08, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsThe cross is a paradox. By human standards, it shouldn’t make sense, it shouldn’t work, and yet, it does. In fact, it’s the greatest paradox—life from death, pardon from penalty, and justification from judgment. In the Roman empire, the cross brought death in a brutal, humi...
The Shame of the Cross
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - March 01, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsShame is a very raw, acute, and distressing feeling. We experience shame when we’re humiliated by our own sinful behavior. Jesus had no sin, yet he too knew shame— the shame of the cross. It’s another aspect of the cross that will help us comprehend the fullness of Jesus’ ...
The Curse of the Cross
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - February 23, 2024 06:00 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsCrucifixion was a particularly gruesome way to die, but when Jesus died on the cross it wasn’t just gruesome, it was cursed. Seeking to understand the cursed nature of the cross leads us to make connections between the Old Testament and the New Testament, between our deep-s...
Why Jesus Had to Die on a Cross
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - February 16, 2024 06:00 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsSometimes habits or traditions become so ingrained in our lives that we can go through the motions of them without spending much time reflecting on their meaning. Sometimes, it benefits us to slow down and once again ask, “why?” We’ll begin our Lenten series “The Cross of J...
Forgiveness
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - February 09, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsMany of us are familiar with the Lord’s Prayer. In it, Jesus taught his followers to pray, “...forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). Through these powerful words, Jesus highlights the central importance of the virtue of forgiveness to ...
Truthfulness
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - February 02, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsMost people would say it is wrong to lie and good to tell the truth. Yet, most people would also admit that at some time in their lives, they’ve told a lie. The apostle Paul identifies truthfulness as a defining virtue of a faithful believer. So, what does that mean for us ...
Generosity
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - January 26, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsThe apostle Paul encourages Christ’s followers to be generous people. Yet, for many of us, generosity does not come naturally. In our human nature, we often feel resistant to giving very much of our time, talents, or money for the sake of others. Join Groundwork as we study...
Thankfulness and Gratitude
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - January 19, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsWhy are thanksgiving and gratitude important virtues for Jesus' followers to cultivate? Join Groundwork as we explore the Scriptures to answer this question by defining thankfulness and gratitude and what it looks like to give expression to these essential virtues in our li...
Humility
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - January 12, 2024 06:00 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsWe talk about humility in the church a lot, but what exactly does it look like? Is it possible to be proud of yourself and be humble? The Christlike virtue of humility is a root virtue from which many of the other virtues flow. Join Groundwork as we explore Scripture to dis...
Compassion
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - January 05, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsThe Christlike virtue of compassion is more than an emotion. The apostle Paul identifies compassion as a defining characteristic in followers of Jesus. Join us as we look in the gospels to witness the compassionate character of Christ. Then we’ll discuss how compassion rela...
Your Questions about Scripture and Hope
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - December 29, 2023 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsQuestions are a natural part of our faith. Asking questions helps us to clarify what we believe and what it means to live as Christians in the world. In this episode, we consider some of the questions you asked in response to our series on the Lord’s Prayer, Joshua, and Rev...
Jesus: Our Prince of Peace
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - December 22, 2023 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsAs we celebrate Christmas and re-tell the story of baby Jesus—the Savior of the World, born in a lowly manger—may we also remember that he is the one the prophet Isaiah called the “Prince of Peace.” Join us as we reflect on our real need for this peace in our lives and our ...
Jesus: Our Everlasting Father
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - December 15, 2023 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsThe prophet Isaiah continued to reveal the nature of the coming Messiah when he prophesied that he would be the “Everlasting Father.” Now that we know that Jesus was the “coming Messiah,” we might wonder, how can the Son of God also be the Everlasting Father? Join us as we ...
Jesus: Our Mighty God
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - December 08, 2023 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsThe words of the prophet Isaiah offered hope to Israel as they faced a hopeless exile. In chapter 9, verse 6 he calls the coming Messiah “Mighty God,” reminding God’s people that the one who was coming to save them would be more powerful than anything they were experiencing...
Jesus: Our Wonderful Counselor
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - December 01, 2023 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsIn Isaiah 9:6, the prophet Isaiah first calls the coming Messiah a “Wonderful Counselor.” Join us as we dig into Scripture to discover what this title communicates about Jesus and how it is connected to the biblical wisdom tradition. As we prepare our hearts to celebrate th...
Love God By Loving One Another
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - November 24, 2023 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsAs the apostle Paul concludes his letter to the Romans, he instructs this early community of believers regarding how they should handle their differences. He knows that differences and disagreements are inevitable because the good news of the gospel calls people of many age...
Transformed Living
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - November 17, 2023 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsAs the apostle Paul continues to unpack the new realities of life for the early Roman Christians, he challenges them to live transformed lives—lives worthy of the grace and mercy they received in Jesus. Join us to study Paul’s teaching in Romans 12-13 and discover how we mi...
In His Mercy, God Chose You
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - November 10, 2023 06:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsWhen loved ones don’t believe in Jesus despite being raised by Christian parents or growing up in church, it can leave us with deep aches and painful questions about God’s sovereign choices and our free will. The apostle Paul understood this ache and wrestling. Even as he ...
The Spirit in Us
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - November 03, 2023 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsIf there’s one thing that Paul wants believers to understand, it is that the power of the gospel is life-changing. In his letter to the Romans, he details why we so desperately need the gospel and how the good news of salvation is for all people. In Romans 8, Paul turns to ...
Our New Life in Christ
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - October 27, 2023 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsAfter Paul writes his summary of the gospel and explains the purpose of God’s law, he turns to a very important topic: making sure that the believers in Rome understand just how much God loves them. A truth we can all continue to cling to today. By studying Paul’s writing a...
Why We Need the Gospel
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - October 20, 2023 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsWhy do we need the gospel? How is the gospel relevant to my life? In the opening chapters of Romans, the apostle Paul records concise explanations to these questions, and his teaching remains greatly beneficial for all believers. In this episode, we’ll begin by looking toge...
God is in Charge, Now and Forever
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - October 13, 2023 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsDaniel was a prophet who could interpret others’ dreams. Many of us are quite familiar with the stories of Daniel interpreting the dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar. But God also spoke to Daniel in his own dreams—dreams in which God revealed important truths about the End Time...
Trusting God When Evil Abounds
Groundwork: Biblical Foundations for Life - October 06, 2023 05:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsAt some point in life, each of us will find ourselves in a situation that is simply unfair. We try our best to live moral lives that honor God, but sometimes it feels like the world wants to punish us for it. When we experience this kind of injustice, it can lead us to ask...
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