That You May Believe

Pastor Paul Bourman and Pastor Tim Walsh

The Bible is the most precious book ever written. In it are words that give light and words that give life. Every single word on every single page has incredible value for us both in our lives on earth and our lives in heaven. And yet, it’s a book that many find difficult to pick up and read, and even more difficult to take to heart. In this podcast series, two pastors from across the country will teach and model a Bible Study method to give you tools and confidence as you open your Bible and read for yourself. These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. read less
Religion & SpiritualityReligion & Spirituality

Episodes

John 17- The Passion of Jesus
Apr 6 2022
John 17- The Passion of Jesus
I think one of the hardest things to do in studying our Bibles is to put ourselves into Jesus' shoes. It's hard, but I'll ask you to try here. See Jesus as he prays to his Father to take the cup of wrath away from. Think of everything you know about the relationship Jesus shares with his Father.  From all eternity Jesus had enjoyed had the perfect relationship with his Father. He had been loved and affirmed. So much so that the Father had boomed from heaven about it three times while Jesus was on earth. Their relationship was perfect, their communication was perfect, they showed their love perfectly for each other.And Jesus prays like that in perfect petition.  He prays not my will, but your will be done. He says, Father, I love you more than I love myself. Think about that. Try and put yourself into Jesus' shoes in that. Why?Because then maybe we can appreciate what it must have been like for Jesus when his Father said no. The Father said no, here. And Jesus knew that. How did he know it? Because Judas walked up.  And when Judas walked up, Jesus knew his prayer had been answered with a no. And so he gets up and says, enough. Let’s go. Here comes my betrayer. And he takes his desire for the cup to be taken away from him and he perfectly submits it to the Father that he loves. Think on this. The Father said no to his Son Jesus. The Father didn’t spare his Son. Why? Because the Father wanted to spare us. Think on this as you prepare your heart for Sunday. Write in your heart and mind. This is the love with which you are loved. This is the passion that is for you. The Father said no to his Son, so that his wrath could be satisfied and he could say yes to you. This is the Father’s love for you. And this is Jesus’ love for his Father and his love for you. That Jesus drank the cup of wrath so that each one of us might do nothing else but drink the cup of salvation. This is cosmic God-sized passion. Poured out for you. Drink that in today. Drink in that salvation. And the passion of God for you. Drink it in.
John 12- Caiaphas The Schemer Gets Schemed
Mar 12 2022
John 12- Caiaphas The Schemer Gets Schemed
Caiaphas was the High Priest at the time when Jesus died. He was the supposed mastermind of the scheme to get rid of Jesus and have the people on their side. He was a schemer. He schemed to have Jesus killed, and it worked. And that bothers me. You can read about his scheme in John 11:45-53.It bothers me because it pokes at the traumas and hurts in our own life experiences. It reminds me yet again that it looks like evil wins in life. And that stings. It feels like that’s all the world is- a place where evil wins. It seems like evil even won against Jesus! He did end up being killed didn't he?That’s why we need to truly see the schemer. And when I name “the schemer” you should know that I’m not referring to Caiaphas. He’s actually not the Big Schemer in this story. Caiaphas’ scheme got trumped. Caiaphas said: “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” (v. 50) Do you see it? He didn’t know what he was saying, did he? He said that it was best that one man should die for the people. Caiaphas unwittingly and unintentionally shared the gospel. He said: the whole nation shouldn’t get placed on the eternal trash heap. Just one man should. One man for the world. The just for the unjust. The Son of God in place of guilty sinners. One man should take the punishments. One man should suffer in our place. Better he should die for us than we should die in our own place.  Caiaphas wasn’t this history’s greatest schemer. God was.And you can see what that means for you, right? God is so big and so wise that he schemed the savviest schemers to proclaim his gospel and carry out his plan. The only thing left is to trust that in our lives.