The revchristruelsen’s Podcast

An Occasion to Celebrate

Text for discussion: Deuteronomy 16.

We are headed into a weekend when many will be celebrating a thing they call Valentine's Day, often without understanding what they are doing and why they are doing it.  In Deuteronomy 16, Israel is commended to celebrate a number of important feasts, significant not only for their history, but foreshadowing the things even of Messianic times to come.  

Hymn: Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise.  (public domain)

The engraving (by Dore) a depiction of Moses and the Ten Commandments.  (public domain).

 

 

God's Generosity

Text for discussion: Deuteronomy 15.  

God provided generously in the Promised Land and wanted to ensure that those who were down on their "luck" were provided for.  This chapter gives us insight to that society.  Yet, God's greatest promises are fulfilled in Christ who gives abundant life.  

The hymn: Lord of Glory, You Have Bought Us.  (public domain)

The engraving (by Dore) a depiction of Moses and the Ten Commandments.  (public domain).

 

 

Living in God's Country

Text for discussion: Deuteronomy 14.  

 

There was once a time when all of humanity that lived, lived under God in a harmonious society-that was life in the Garden of Eden.  In the Fallen world, things run differently.  

In the Promised Land, things would be a little more like Eden, a little less like the Fallen world, but it was never easy.  

The hymn: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (public domain).

The engraving (by Dore) a depiction of Moses and the Ten Commandments.  (public domain).

Discerning False Prophets

Text for discussion: Deuteronomy 13.  

The world is filled with idea, philosophies, doctrines, teachings.  How do we separate the good from the bad, the true from the untrue?  How do we determine what comes from God?  

The hymn: My Faith Looks Up to Thee (public domain)

The engraving: by Dore - a depiction of Moses with the Ten Commandments (public domain).  

Identity Protection

Deuteronomy 12.  

We are in God's image, though imperfectly.  Deuteronomy 12 is about a new way of life in God's Promised Land, and how they would keep it.  

The hymn: Fight the Good Fight (public domain).

The engraving: by Gustave Dore features Moses and the Ten Commandments.  (public domain).  

God's Mark Upon Us

Text for discussion:  Deuteronomy 11.  

In this one, we talk about how God's word and His ways were to become a daily part of Israel's life, bound to their wrists and foreheads, written upon their gates and doors.  

Here we talk about how God is at work, writing His name on us, and giving us His Holy Spirit.  

 

The hymn: The People that In Darkness Sat (public domain)

The engraving: by Dore (Moses and the Ten Commandments) (Public domain).  

The World, Lit Up

Featured text: John 1. 

The light of Christ shines in the dark world.  The world was made through Christ, yet, when He arrived in the fullness of time, the world did not know Him! 

Hymns: Away in a Manger, Silent Night.  (Public domain).  

The painting: Adoration of the Shepherds by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622.  (Public domain). 

The Golden Thread: Messiah

This podcast is a celebration of Christmas, tracing the golden thread, the theme of Messiah through the Old Testament to the birth of Jesus in the proper fullness of time.  

This special service ends with prayers and song.  

Hymns: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, What Child is This, Gentle Mary Laid Her Child, Away in a Manger, Silent Night.  (All public domain).

The painting: Adoration of the Shepherds by Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1600s) Public domain.  

ALL scriptural passages come from the ESV translation of scripture.  

Help for the Downtrodden, Salvation for Those in Darkness and in the Shadow of Death

Text for discussion: More from Luke on the preparation for the birth of the Savior.  

Mary sings a song about how God fulfills His promises.  Zechariah prophesies regarding his son as the forerunner to the Savior, Jesus.  

The hymn: Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates.  (Public domain).

The painting: The Dream of Joseph by Rembrandt.  1645.  (public domain).  

What is His Son's Name? Surely You Know

Text for Discussion: Luke 1:1-38.

During the Advent season we see in what ways Messiah was foretold, going back to the Old Testament, and how He came to be called Jesus.  

 

The painting: The Dream of Joseph by Rembrandt, 1645. (Public domain).  

Hymns: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, What Child is This?  (Public domain).