Northplace Church Podcast

As we read through the Bible together this year, it's easy to notice all the violence in the Old Testament. As the voices of God's critics are getting louder, one of the major criticisms we hear today is how God seems to condone "holy war" telling His people to occupy the land and kill anyone that tries to stop them. And then Jesus comes along in the New Testament telling people to love their enemies and turn the other cheek.So then the critical voices ask: Which God do you serve? The genocidal general of the Old Testament, or the peace-loving, merciful God of the New? Because surely these extremely different character traits can't be the same deity, right? And if they are, doesn't that make God problematic?As we reclaim a healthy understanding of the historical and biblical narrative, it answers some of the criticisms of the modern skeptic. But it still doesn't fully deal with those drastic marching orders where God commands them to show no mercy and kill everything that br

As we prepare to move into the book of Joshua in The Unfolding reading plan, let's review the book of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy and ask ourselves these three questions:1. How do these books move the story and narration of the Bible along?2. How do they point us to the Gospel of Grace?3. How do they point us to Jesus?

We're living in the beginning of a historical moment--a moment we've been praying for for years. But because it's happening right in front of us, and because it's happening among students and because it's not happening in a church, many people don't recognize it for what it is.Will people mismanage this move of God? If history proves anything, probably so. But history also proves that God wants to move among us so passionately that he will (mercifully) keep coming. That's just his heart.

Redemptive Historical Unfolding: God Reveals Through TimeIntroduction- The revealing of God’s plan of redemption in the Scriptures is tied to time and space, cultures and people.- Biblical theology utilizes the Bible’s themes, images, concepts, and types to understand and communicate biblical truths about God’s plan in Christ to extend grace to people in order to redeem them.- The plan of salvation amplifies through history. The “unfolding” gains momentum and substance, with all roads leading to salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.The Principle- Scripture uses the covenants, themes, concepts, persons, places, objects, actions, and events to reveal God’s redemptive plan in increasingly detailed perspective. At the same time, Scripture gives us an overarching view of the “grand narrative” of redemption.- Biblical theology explores both the increasingly detailed perspective and the larger whole—the grand vista.- The method of biblical theology leads us to understand how the parts of Scripture fit into the la

This lecture is taught by our Scholar in Residence, Dr. Doug Oss. He has over 25 years of pastoral experience and 27 years as a seminary professor. Dr. Oss has served as a theologian, author, church planter, Bible translator, Greek scholar, and evangelist. The Big Idea:Jesus Christ is the center point of everything, everywhere, all at once, from the infinity past to infinity future. Christ is the center of ALL. God’s Story is already completed in the scripture - we know the end. We know who wins - yet it is still unfolding in history as we know it. For more information about The Unfolding project, bible study resources, and access to our Northplace reading plan check out TheUnfolding.bible

If you’re paying attention, God is doing something big--right now. Since the Asbury Awakening broke out on February 8th at the end of normal chapel service that turned into a prayer service that never stopped, what God is doing has spread across the country.Be careful of your preconceived ideas of what revival is or what it ought to be. You may have preconceived ideas base on your past experiences, or you may have preconceived ideas based off of denominational expectations. Quit drawing lines for God and telling him He has to color inside your lines. And guard you heart of the cynicism that will make you spiritual barren.If people are in the altar crying out to God, repenting of sin, coming to Christ, and seeking to live a more holy life, we want more of that. That’s the classic definition of renewal and revival.

This was a special week as Pastor Bryan preached from our Durban campus in South Africa for the 5-year birthday celebration. The fact that Pastor Bryan was able to speak in Durban speaks to the power of faith and vision. It speaks to the fruit of being faithful to what God asks us to do, and it speaks the faithfulness of God.There are hundreds of different names and titles assigned to God in the Bible, but the one we need to remember on this historic day is that He is Jehovah-Frugal; the God Who Wastes Nothing.

Just like a team of professional football players need a playbook to map out plans and strategies for a game, we as God's people have been given a book to guide us through life. We have access to a tool that helps lead us through the struggles of life and the power to mold us into who God has intended for us to be. It's not enough for us to see and hear God's Word; we need to love it, learn it, and live it.Check out theunfolding.bible for more resources and a monthly reading plan

God cannot be truly “good" and NOT deal with sin, evil and injustice. This tension between God’s holiness and righteousness and his compassion and mercy toward sinful, broken people is felt throughout the book of Exodus (and your whole bible for that matter). And Exodus will start revealing to us how God is going to reconcile this tension between his gracious heart that demands mercy and his holiness that demands accountability.

You often hear people talk about “preaching the Gospel” or you’ll hear them refer to the “Gospel of Jesus Christ." But what is the Gospel? Well, in a literalsense, it means “good news." It’s the good news about salvation through Jesus Christ. But when most people think about the Gospel they’re usually thinking about it in one of two ways:1. The “Gospel” as a principle2. The “Gospel” as a storyBut here’s the part that a lot of people miss: even though we’re saved by faith in Christ alone (and not by our own works) a real, authentic, saving faith WILL produce good works in us. The gospel will change us deeply and impact the way we live our lives.

We want to answer the question: "What is the Bible?"Is it an encyclopedia of truth where you look up a subject of interest and learn all there is to know? On subjects like God, marriage, sex, money, how to get ahead in life...Is that what it is? Or is it an allegory or riddle about you and life and Jesus and the right way to read it is to look for the deep symbolic clues or spiritual meanings?Here's why this matters: if we misunderstand what the Bible is, we’llturn it into something it's not...and then we’ll end up using it and abusingit to our own ends.

TheUnfolding.BibleMost of us claim to be Christians but have never read the bible through. Which means we're basing our lives on a book we've never actually read. Why is that? How can there be so much love, respect, and admiration for a book we see as sacred, yet people won't read it?A LOT of crazy things have been done in the name of "the Bible says." The Bible has been the cause of some of the greatest good in human history, and it has been misused for some of the greatest evil.When misused, the Bible becomes a poison. When read, understood, and accurately applied, it becomes the cure.

The Bible is not a collection of 66 random books full of odd stories. It’s not a compilation of inspirational quotes. It’s not a moral code. This book is the way God has chosen to reveal Himself to us.As you read and engage every page with an understanding of the overarching storyline, God reveals more and more of himself to us. That’swhy we call the Bible “the unfolding revelation of God”.And it all points to Jesus.Check out theunfolding.bible for our reading plan, resources, and more. We have something for every age!

Merry Christmas from your Northplace family!"Obedience to God aligns us with His heart and places us in the pathway of His blessings." - Pastor Bryan

Christmas is the story of this transcendent God becoming one of us--the story of the divine becoming human--of deity robing himself in flesh. Because of that, our attention in the coming days before Christmas will be on the baby in a manger. The nativity scene captures our focus; however, we will NEVER comprehend the magnitude of God becoming flesh until we understand what it means for God to be God.We've already focused on the 'Ever' part of His nature, so on this Sunday before Christmas, let's look at what it means for God to truly be 'present' with us.

Ever Present Week 2Psalm 46 doesn't normally cause people to think about Christmas, but the concept of an Ever-Present God is the very essence of what Christmas is all about. What God has done for us in the Christmas story--his willingness to be present with us--is one of the most beautiful expressions and demonstrations of love you will ever see.Just think about how much peace it would give you, if you lived constantly with an awareness that the presence of Jesus was always with you.

During the month of December, we celebrate God's presence in the world, with Christmas as the pinnacle, but we also let our anticipation build for his return--his second Advent--as promised in scripture.To understand the "Ever Present" nature of God, we need to understand two words often used in theological circles that are rarely used anywhere else: Transcendence and Immanence.These are opposite concepts and yet both are completely true of our God. The words "Ever-Present" describe the transcendence and the immanence of God.

Closing out The Affluenza Antidote series, this week we looked at the last part of Paul's explanation of the antidote that can cure our hearts of affluenza.If you want to move the heart of God, if you want to capture His attention, if you want to show Him love, then give yourself--your time and resources--doing something for the people that are made in His image. Like Paul, Jesus instructs us to let eternity motivate our generosity--to look past this present world and think about laying up treasure in the age to come.Jesus teaches us to view our time and money in light of eternity, because when we do, we will loosen our grip on our money and it loosens its grip on us.

All Christians have been instructed to do good for other people. PoorChristians, middle-income Christians, rich Christians. Every Christian, every follower of Jesus is supposed to “do good." But in his comments specifically made to affluent people, he’s saying: Do even more good.Can you imagine what would happen in our communities in our country if every Christian took this piece of advice from Paul and Jesus and acted on it? It would literally change the world. And it would change us. The entire reputation of the Christian faith in this country would be changed.

Week 2 of series : The Affluenza AntidoteWhich of these two statements create the most anxiety in you:1. There is no God.2. You have no money.Your honest answer will tell you where you really place your hope.There is an antidote to affluenza clearly marked out for us in scripture, and if we can cometo an awareness that we have this spiritual disease and we’re willing to apply the scripture’s cure, our hearts can be healed of it.