Faith
As Christians, faith is a huge part of our religion. But what exactly IS faith and how do we get it?
Hebrews 11
The Christian Virtues
May 17th, 2013
What makes a good person? Not quite the same as asking what makes a person good. A person becomes good by doing good things, but a good person is someone who has mastered the art of living well and has learned what it means to be a proper human being. What qualifications do we use to decide whether a person is“good”? Let’s talk about virtues.
Ephesians 4:1-3, 17-24Joseph’s Triumph
May 10th, 2013
One of the ideas that people really seem to cling to is that if you're good and obedient and virtuous, God will reward you with blessing-- happiness, a peaceful life, comfortable circumstances. This, despite all experience to the contrary, not to mention all the contrary evidence of scripture; to take just one obvious example, today on Groundwork we look at the life of Joseph. Seized by h...Genesis 41-50
Joseph: The Dream Master
May 3rd, 2013
Martin Luther King, Jr. once told the world, “I have a dream,” and his dream inspired millions. But sometimes dreams can make life hard for the person who has them. Just ask Joseph. He had a dream of a future in which he’d be an important person, the most important person in his family, in fact. And although in the Book of Gene...Genesis 37-41
Jacob: Limping into the Future
April 26th, 2013
Jacob was an operator. He was slick, tricky, unscrupulous. You could trust him about as far as you could throw him. But God, for some reason we can't quite make out, was determined to make something out of Jacob. And he did it in what we might call, “The School of Hard Knocks.” Today on Groundwork we take a look at Jacob’s life as one of God’s chosen sinners.
Genesis 29-33Jacob & Esau: Sibling Rivalry
April 19th, 2013
In history and before psychologists like Sigmund Freud showed up, it's possible no one ever used the phrase “sibling rivalry” to describe what can sometimes go on between brothers and sisters in families. But whether that exact phrase was used, the fact is that history is filled with the conflicts that are unique to siblings. The Bible’s first and...Genesis 27-28
Abraham & Isaac: A Test of Faith
April 12th, 2013
One theologian has commented that anytime a writer in the Bible wanted to make a point about faith, they said, “Look at Abraham.” That's true. Abraham's life is one big illustration of what it means to live by faith. Today on Groundwork, we'll see how that's true in one of the hardest stories in the whole Bible.
Genesis 22-23Abraham: When God Calls Out
April 5th, 2013
Someone once observed that in theory you would think that getting tapped by Almighty God to play a special role in his plan of salvation would be a great thing. It would be like winning a sweepstakes or receiving some distinguished award. But in the Bible the people who get called upon to play key parts in God’s unfolding drama of redemption often ended up leadin...Genesis 12-21
