When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Christ Does Not

By Russ Lackey | Mark Mattes

01/20/26

19mins

When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Christ Does Not

American religion did not become optional because the gospel failed. It became optional because religion slowly redefined itself around usefulness.

Bradley Gray

01/19/26

Behold the Lamb

The Passover wasn’t just Israel’s story; it’s ours.

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

Steven Paulson

01/16/26

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

God makes us pure saints by planting us back in the earth we imagined we needed to escape.

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Jeffrey Pulse

01/24/21

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 18:15-20 (Epiphany 4: Series B)

Christ is not only the fulfillment of the prophetic line, but He is also the NEW Moses.

Chad Bird

01/23/21

The One Hebrew Word You Don't Want to Forget

In the Old Testament, to zakar ("remember") is not merely to rifle through the files in your head until you find that fact you’ve been searching for. To zakar is to employ your hands and feet and lips to engage in whatever action that remembrance requires.

John W. Hoyum

01/19/21

What Happens When the Gospel Isn’t Threatened

Has the modern world taken too strong a dose of the gospel as its inheritance from the Reformation?

Jeffrey Pulse

01/17/21

Old Testament: Jonah 3: 1-5, 10 (Epiphany 3: Series B)

Jonah rejected his first call and job description and headed in the opposite direction . Now, after spending three days in the belly of the big fish, Jonah is called again.

Ken Sundet Jones

01/12/21

Conspiracy Theories, Law, and Salvation

Paul knew, and so do we: the law doesn’t change hearts or heal the world. More demands won’t do the trick.

Robert Kolb

01/10/21

He Doesn’t Make Things Like We’re Used To

God makes all things new. He refashions us from those turned in upon ourselves, turned to idols of our own choice and making, to experience the freedom He gives by pronouncing us His righteous children.

John Bombaro

01/10/21

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (Epiphany 2: Series B)

What does being free from sin, which is obviously a good thing, have to do with being free from the Law, which sounds dangerous?

Jeffrey Pulse

01/10/21

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) (Epiphany 2: Series B)

Samuel plays a very important role in preserving the line of Judah by anointing and instructing the first kings of the united monarchy—especially King David.

John Bombaro

01/04/21

God's Unmasked Face

The church does well to remind the world that God is unmasked, indeed, that God has unmasked himself in the person of Jesus.

John Bombaro

01/03/21

The Rituals of Preaching

Rituals resist domestication and confront us with a world and worldview brought forth from the Bible and through twenty centuries of Christianity for the purpose of arresting our contemporary worldview through its self-sameness.

Jeffrey Pulse

01/03/21

Old Testament: Genesis 1:1-5 (The Baptism of Our Lord: Series B)

Christ has come to make all things new, and water and the Spirit are used for His new creation just as it was for the original.

Jeffrey Pulse

12/27/20

Old Testament: 1 Kings 3:4-15 (Christmas 2 Series B)

The receiving and/or possessing of a gift, even one from God, is far different than putting it to use.

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