The Teaching Series
Welcome to The Teaching Series. Below you will find short video teachings about. 12-20 minutes in length (also available as a podcast) that will help you study the Bible and understand its original context. Great for personal use, small group study, teams, family time, etc. Accompanying each teaching are discussion questions, and at times, additional resources for going deeper. Look out for new teaching every other Tuesday.
Don’t want to miss an episode?
Episode 089 – Parable of the Mustard Seed: God Is At Work
Despite what we may think, many people didn’t believe Jesus’s ministry was all that impressive. In fact, they questioned whether or not God’s kingdom was really advancing through him.
Episode 088 – Parable of the Good Samaritan Pt 5: The Common Humanity
Did you know that Jesus didn’t manufacture the Parable of the Good Samaritan out of thin air? He was actually drawing upon a story from the Old Testament (his Bible).
Episode 087 – Parable of the Good Samaritan Pt 4: Imagine The Good
Jesus didn’t tell the Parable of the Good Samaritan so we would help people in need. He told the parable to smash our categories of who’s “in” and who’s “out”.
Episode 086 – Parable of the Good Samaritan Pt 3: Empathy and Action
There’s a marked distinction between sympathy and empathy. Too many of us choose the former. The Good Samaritan chose the latter.
Episode 085 – Parable of the Good Samaritan Pt 2: Shift The Focus
So often, we allow fear or inconvenience to drive our response to someone who is in need. A priest and Levite fail to help a man who is in great need, but a Samaritan does what they were unable or unwilling to do.
Episode 084 – Parable of the Good Samaritan Pt 1: It’s a Bad Question
In Luke 10, Jesus is asked by an expert, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” It’s a bad question, but not for the reasons you may think.
Episode 083 – The Parable of the Soils Pt 2: Listen and Obey
When we read Jesus’ parables, it’s easy to ask “what does this mean” and wonder if Jesus told parables to confuse his audience. A literal reading of the Parable of the Soils seems to indicate that.
Episode 082 – Parable of the Soils Pt 1: How’s Your Dirt?
To understand what Jesus is doing in his other parables, it’s imperative to understand what he’s doing in this one, which is why we’re starting here.
Episode 081 – Jesus and His Explosive Parables
Nearly one-third of Jesus’s teachings are in the form of parables. They are stories he tells to wake up his audience, challenge their assumptions, push them to think differently, and ultimately communicate the message of his movement.
Episode 080 – The Power of Story
Jesus knew how to tell a good story. And he leveraged the power of story because he knew it was the most effective strategy for spreading a message.
