Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Bryant K Owens

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the classical, Socratic approach to learning. My work draws from theology, philosophy, ethics, and the humanities, always with a heart for making faith thoughtful and life-giving. https://bryantowens.substack.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbryantowens/

  1. 05/13/2024

    05/12/2024 "Wait" [Acts 1:4-5]

    So the work of redemption was completed on the cross as far as the sacrifice of Christ is concerned. However, the work of gathering the redeemed goes on, and it continued in that first generation of the church through the apostles, and then through the church as the apostles established the church. This is the history of the good news in the fallen world. The spel and the establishment of churches passed to Jesus' disciples.  They become the first wave of evangelists and preachers that went out to gather the redeemed and to establish the church. So this is the history of the church, and this history goes on until the last person in the plan of God is redeemed and the kingdom of God is fulfilled. A massive undertaking, Jesus commanded his disciples to take the gospel of repentance and salvation to every person on the planet.  That would be beyond our wildest imagination. Just the massive nature of such a task is daunting to even think about, let alone to be assumed, by powerless people ... educationally, academically, religiously. These are the ones Jesus chose for the job. Disobedient, fickle, yet loyal, disciples. They were inadequate for the task of the Great Commission. Yet Jesus chose them. He chose them to receive the gift of the Helper, the promise, the Holy Spirit, so that the task of kingdom building through heart transformations of sinners could be accomplished. Jesus had a 40-day period between His resurrection and His asor them to finish what He started ... to go out and preach the gospel and plant churches in such a way that it extended throughout all of human history and across the globe. These disciples had to 'wait' until the Father in Heaven sent 'the promise' before they were to go and tell the world the good news. Without this 'Helper' ... their words and actions would be ineffective. The promise was that HIS Spirit would dwell with HIS people ... no longer in a separated holy of holies in the temple ... but HE would dwell within them ... in their hearts ... changing their very souls.

  2. 04/28/2024

    04/28/2024 "The Purpose of the Gospel" (Pt 2) [Luke 24:33-53]

    Jesus' 40 days with his disciples began in Galilee and ended near Jerusalem. Whereas Jesus' commission to the disciples in Matthew 28:16-20 was in Galilee, further discipleship occurred near Jerusalem. This passage in Luke's account was an appearance of Jesus to his disciples following his encounter with two disciples on the road to Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. Jesus ‘opened their minds to understand the Scriptures' concerning himself. Part of the forty days of discipleship was to illuminate the understanding of who Jesus was but also understanding of the purpose of the gospel. True understanding of the Scriptures was granted so that the disciples understood how all of redemptive history fit together. This was a gift of God to the disciples. Furthermore, that illumination seemed to be an act of Jesus while he was present. But Jesus also taught his disciples that he would leave so that the Helper would come. This “Helper” would be the source of illumination concerning Christ and the Scriptures. The “Helper” would also be the source of illumination of the sinner about his sin when the faithful disciples proclaimed the promise of salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught the important lesson of the proclamation of the gospel by citing some of the old testament prophets. A key lesson Jesus taught in his discipleship of the eleven (and others ... up to 500) was the understanding of the Scriptures. It is in this lesson in Jerusalem before his ascension that the lesson from the prophets defined what the proclamation would be from these disciples. They were witnesses to the gospel. Here is the gospel according to Jesus and the common prophecies of Isaiah and other minor prophets

  3. 04/21/2024

    04/21/2024 "The Purpose of the Gospel" (Pt 1) [Matthew 28:16-20]

    All action has some purpose. The preaching/proclaiming of the gospel is action. Therefore preaching/proclaiming the gospel must have purpose. But let's pause and consider what has purpose in this statement: "preach the gospel". Is it the act of preaching that has purpose? Is it the gospel that has purpose? Preaching as an action can have any number of subjects to proclaim. Marketing executives can preach the value of a product or service. A politician can preach a political agenda. An evangelist preaches the gospel. Matthew closes his gospel with what the church now calls The Great Commission. It is a lesson from Jesus to HIS disciples to make disciples, baptizing them, teaching them. This passage has been affectionately dubbed, "The railroad terminal through which all of Matthew runs." This is not a lesson in individualism. This is a lesson in dependent unity. Jesus speaks to 'them' and commands 'them' to make disciples of 'them' by baptizing 'them' and teaching 'them'. The only sense of singularity here is in the assurance that Jesus is with 'them'. "I AM with you always". This is a lesson in discipleship in that HIS church will not be alone in this commission. It is a lesson for the faithful now to trust in Christ as we proclaim the gospel, HE makes disciples. It is a lesson clearly intended to encourage and affirm that though we doubt and fear this commission, we are not alone. Christ is with us even as we stand in fear and joy of this great calling to make disciples. In Christ Alone we do this. In Christ Alone we can.

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About

This podcast feed hosts the public teaching ministry of Dr. Bryant K. Owens. I am an independent scholar exploring Christian Studies in today’s secular world. I believe that thoughtful Christianity can bring meaningful change in our churches, classrooms, homes, and communities. With years of experience as both a pastor and educator, I am passionate about the historical Christian worldview and the classical, Socratic approach to learning. My work draws from theology, philosophy, ethics, and the humanities, always with a heart for making faith thoughtful and life-giving. https://bryantowens.substack.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbryantowens/