Category: CONNECT THE TESTAMENTS

  • MAKING GOOD OUT OF BAD

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 11:1-12:15; Philippians 3:1-11; Psalm 68:15-35 God is renowned for working through unlikely means with the most unlikely people. During the period of the judges, there were few candidates less likely for God’s work than Jephthah himself: “Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead…

  • COMMUNITY DRIVEN

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 9:11-10:18; Philippians 2:19-30; Psalm 68:1-1 By default, we flag our own needs as high priority. And we often measure our church community by how well it’s serving our needs. Caught up in our own spiritual growth, we tend to forget that we’re meant to attend to the physical and spiritual needs of…

  • BELIEVING IN THE IMPOSSIBLE

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 8:1-9:21; Philippians 2:12-18; Psalm 67:1-7 Too often, we’re cynical about circumstances. When people come to us for advice, we want to list all the reasons why they shouldn’t take a certain course of action. We want to dissuade them. But what if we had a little faith instead? In Judges, we find…

  • MORE THAN I CAN HANDLE

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 6:11-7:25; Philippians 2:1-11; Psalm 66:1-20 “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle.” This Christian maxim is a well-meaning attempt at putting our difficult times into perspective. It holds the view that God knows our weaknesses and knows when we can’t measure up to a challenge. But if we’re going through…

  • IF LIFE WERE A MUSICAL

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 4:1-6:10; Philippians 1:19-30; Psalm 65:1-13 Maybe life should be more like a musical or an oratorio—like Les Misérables or Handel’s Messiah. How we feel is often expressed better in song or poetry than anything else. Literary criticism tells us that poets write verse because prose simply can’t capture the emotions they’re feeling.…

  • DON’T FOCUS ON OVERCOMING

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 2:11-3:31; Philippians 1:12-18; Psalm 63-64 When I go through difficult circumstances, I want the end. I’m so focused on escape and overcoming that I barely think about what God might be teaching me through that experience. And I’m certainly not thinking about how He might be using me to witness to others.…

  • WHO WILL FIGHT FOR US?

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 1:1-2:10; Philippians 1:1-11; Psalm 61:1-62:12 “Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” (Judg 1:1). I’ve felt this way before—wondering who will be my advocate in my time of need. It’s ironic that we are surrounded by people, and we have constant access to communication, and…

  • THEY’RE FUTILE; IT ISN’T

    Connect The TestamentsJoshua 22:10-24:33; 2 Corinthians 13:11-14; Psalm 60:1-12 If you knew it was time to die, to say goodbye for good, what would you say? How would your final hoorah sound? In an episode of Northern Exposure, Dr. Joel Fleischman is convinced that he is dying. Joel, who is usually conservative, begins risking everything:…

  • EXAMINE THYSELF

    Connect The TestamentsJoshua 21:1-22:9; 2 Corinthians 13:1-10; Psalm 59:1-17 Before advising others on how they should act, self-examination is always necessary. When the Corinthians questioned the authenticity of Paul and his colleagues’ ministry (which is ironic, since he had planted their church), Paul says to them: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the…

  • THE SUBTLE SINNER

    Connect The TestamentJoshua 19:10-20:9; 2 Corinthians 12:11-21; Psalm 57:1-58:11 Some sins slip through the cracks—the ones that emerge in hushed tones between like-minded Christians. Sometimes these sins seem respectable because they occur out of supposed concerns for the Church or others. But they can leave deep gashes in the life of a community because they…