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As the gospel of Jesus spread across a Gentile world unfamiliar with the teachings and culture of the Jews, the early church faced an interesting challenge %u2013 meeting different cultures in their own context to demonstrate the redeeming power o...
The exodus from Egypt was a metaphor for God's greater redemption story, the restoration of shalom from the chaos of the evil one. His purpose was to invite Israel into a greater story than the one of their bondage, eventually unveiling a plan of ...
When the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the Promised Land awaited them, but first God led them into the desert. The time they spent there would not only get them out of Egypt geographically, but would also remove its influence from thei...
When the tabernacle was established among the Israelites, God came and lived among His people. Its design, construction, and function revealed much of His character, which proved to be completely unlike that of any gods the people had ever known. ...
At times, God chose to use the harsh reality of life in the desert near the Promised Land as a practical teaching tool to mold and shape His people. The Essenes went willingly into this wasteland to allow Him to do just that: to teach them His wor...
In the Bible, the desert is an image of great hardship and suffering, signifying the impossibility of survival without access to basic resources. God often led His people through desert places, using the barrenness of the land as opportunities to ...
When the Israelites left Egypt and began their journey with God to the Promised Land, how much did they know of their past history? Some, like Moses' parents, seemed to have retained a knowledge and faith in the God of their fathers, but the Bible...
Jesus left heaven to be born in a filthy shepherd’s stable, as if to say, “I’ll leave heaven to enter the brokenness of your world.” Much of His teaching ministry, though, took place in a very different sort ...
Followers of Jesus believe that the Bible contains the inspired revelation of the Creator of the universe. “Gospel” is the word that’s often used – the good news that God is redeeming a broken world through His So...
The people of the Bible lived in temple-building cultures. Temples provided pagan gods with a place to live, keeping them close to the people who worshiped them. Even Israel did the same – first Solomon, then Nehemiah and Zerubbabel, and eve...
Most of Jesus' ministry was spent in Jewish communities, proclaiming the good news of God's kingdom to the people of Israel. His greater intention, though, was for His Jewish followers to bring this message to the Gentile world around them, a worl...
After meeting Jesus on the Damascus Road, Paul dedicated the rest of his life to sharing the gospel with anyone and everyone. He soon became one of the major leaders in the early church, focusing much of his effort on reaching out to the Gentiles....
Unable to stand their suffering under a cruel Pharaoh any longer, the Israelites cried out to God. He heard them and initiated his plan to deliver his people, not only from their physical bondage but from slavery to Egypt's story. In this lesson, ...
In Deuteronomy, God tells Israel that He led them into the desert in order to train and test them, so that He might know what was in their hearts. He still does this for His people today, leading us through experiences to reveal the depths of our ...
God desired a people who would partner with Him in "making space" to reveal Himself to a broken world. The detailed patterns and plans for the tabernacle not only illustrated the kind of care and devotion He wanted to display to His peop...
John the Baptist focused his life entirely on preparing the Jewish people for the coming of Jesus. His ministry still holds enormous meaning for us today, and there is much we can learn from his understanding of how to prepare for the arrival of M...
The heat and intensity of the sun in the desert can be scorching, often without any guarantee of relief. Yet whenever God led His people there, He promised to provide exactly what they needed to make it through each day. In this lesson, wander the...
In the beginning, God created magnificent beauty and order out of absolute chaos, "tohu vebohu," in Hebrew. When humanity rebelled, the world began a long progression of slipping back into that chaos. Yet God wasn't finished; He decided...
The majority of Jesus’ ministry was done in places like the town of Capernaum, among a people who loved to debate and discuss Torah in the synagogue. They didn’t always agree with each other, but their emphasis was on how to ...
WHAT S YOUR MISSION?God gave the assignment to His people thousands of years ago: to bring "lost sheep" back into the love and safety of His kingdom. He said to become a "Kingdom of Priests," and put God on display to show the ...
Are you going through a difficult period of life? The loss of a loved one? Unemployment? A crisis of faith? During these desert times, it's easy to think God has disappeared. In this six-session video series, the 12th volume of the Faith Lessons s...
Faith Lesson Discovery Guides are designed to interact with and support the video sessions. A group outline and video discussion segments are provided for the weekly meeting, plus five days of personal reflection and study between the video sessio...
This guide is designed to interact with and support the video sessions. A group outline and video discussion segments are provided for the weekly meeting, plus five days of personal reflection and study between the video sessions.In With All Your ...
When the Israelites left Egypt, they were finally free. Free from persecution, free from oppression, and free to worship their own God. But with that freedom comes a new challenge learning how to live together the way God intends. In this ninth vo...
Discover how God answers the cry of His persecuted people and proclaims himself LORD to them and their oppressors in this eighth volume of Faith Lessons.Thirty personal Bible studies help you deepen your learningexperience between sessions, and tu...
Are you passionate about your walk with Jesus? Why is it often easier to be excited about hobbies, sports, homes, and occupations than about our faith? Walk As Jesus Walked: Making Disciples, a small group video series curriculum, presents teacher...
Five interactive sessions take you on a journey to the land and culture in which the disciples learned to follow Jesus, their Rabbi, so closely that they were covered by the dust kicked up by his feet. Discover how you can get dusty and be closer ...
The Early Church Discovery Guide contains questions for discussion and reflection, making it an ideal companion to the Early Church video series - the fifth volume of the "That the World May Know" series. You'll discover the passion and ...
Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan illuminate the historical, geographical, and cultural context of the sacred Scriptures. The Death & Resurrection of the Messiah Discovery Guide focuses on Scripture explored in the videos, and includes sidebars, ma...
This series by Ray Vander Laan illuminates the historical, geographical, and cultural context of the sacred Scriptures. The Life & Ministry of the Messiah Discovery Guide focuses on Scripture explored in the videos, and includes sidebars, maps, ph...
The Prophets & Kings Discovery Guide contains questions for discussion and reflection, making it an ideal companion to the Prophets & Kings video series. You'll explore the turbulent history of Israel's prophets and kings and learn from their stor...
The Promised Land Discovery Guide contains questions for discussion and reflection on Scripture passages explored in the videos, the first volume of the "That the World May Know" series. Discover how God guided his people to a specific p...
The people of the Bible used cisterns regularly for their water supply. Rainfall was limited, coming only five months of the year from November through March. People would dig pits into the rock, sometimes entirely underground (as in the cistern a...
God created human beings with the ability, even the deep need, to be in relationship with Him. When Adam and Eve sinned, they broke the friendship between God and his creatures. So God developed a plan of salvation that would restore His children ...
The Decapolis is mentioned by name only three times in the New Testament. In addition to these three instances, on at least two other occasions, Jesus visited specific locations in the largely pagan league of cities to the east of the Sea of Galil...
A Galilean BoatThis replica has been constructed based on the remains of a first-century boat found recently in the mud of the Sea of Galilee.It is considered to represent the type of boat the disciples used for fishing and in their travels across...
This room was the center of family life. It was probably used for eating, for storing food, and for socializing with extended family. Guests could be invited in if the weather was inappropriate for dining outdoors in the courtyard.A small wooden t...
This kitchen is near the door of the house. A domed oven has been reconstructed; it was probably used for heating and cooking when the weather was cold. There would be similar ovens outside for use at other times.The outer part of the oven gathere...
Throughout Bible times, the burial ritual was regarded as very important. Jesus, sharing fully in our humanity (Heb. 2:14), was given a typical, though hurried, burial. Understanding the burial customs and practices of first-century Israel can hel...
Jesus disciples, the ones he called into a relationship with him as talmidim, made such an impact on the province of Asia Minor-the most pagan of all the Roman provinces, that it became the most Christian province in the Roman Empire. Jesus desire...
Hellenism the dominant worldview in the first century, stands in stark contrast to the truths of God found in the Bible. Hellenism Biblical Perspective Human beings are the image of gods. Only God is God. He is the Lord of the Univers...
In the Middle East, floods in the desert are a frequent occurrence because of the topography of the land. The mountains to the north of the Negev and to the west of the Judea Wilderness get significant amounts of rainfall during the short rainy se...
An Aramaic word for father, used by Jesus and Paul to address God in a relation of personal intimacy.