Rejecting the King of Kings - 1 Samuel 8:4-9Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the LORD for guidance. “Do everything they say to you,” the LORD replied, “for they are ...  Read More

The Kingdoms of Man - 1 Samuel 8:4-5, 9-18 … all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”… the LORD replied… Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”So Samuel passed on the LORD’s warning to the p...  Read More

1 Samuel 8:19-20“We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”Every sibling remembers wanting what their brother or sister had. It was a Christmas gift, a bigger piece of cake, the front seat in the car, or a pair of shoes. Honestly, it might not have been any better than what you already had. But they had...  Read More

You Will Know the Truth: How Jesus Rewrites Our Way of KnowingINTRODUCTION: The following is a guide to help facilitate discussion between you and the person you’re studying with or with your Connect Group. Feel free to add, subtract, or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPEN:  Icebreaker: Share about a time when you genuinely thought you under...  Read More

The Freedom of a New Way of KnowingJohn 8:36 Freedom is not a feeling. It is not a personality trait. It is not even the absence of constraints. Freedom, in the language of Jesus, is the experience of being fully aligned with truth — truth that is embodied in Him. “Whom the Son sets free,” Jesus says, “is free indeed.” Freedom is living in the truth of who God is, who you are, and who others are. ...  Read More

Seeing the World Through ChristColossians 1:15–17 Paul eventually writes one of the most breathtaking statements in all of Scripture: “Christ is the image of the invisible God… and in Him all things hold together.” This is not abstract theology; it is the testimony of a man whose entire way of seeing has been remade. Christ becomes Paul’s interpretive lens. Everything that once made sense apart fr...  Read More