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Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the book of Judges.
There are lots of gory stories which aren’t suitable for Sunday School (Bern shares an embarrassing Dad moment…) and it’s hard to find good role models, but perhaps Gideon comes close in the way he consults and responds to God, ready to do surprising things with humility when asked.
In contrast, Samson looks like the kind of “strong man” leader who makes the most of their God-given blessings and look like they’re good at getting things done, but turn out to be fatally flawed. Does he remind us of anyone?
It can be tragic when we have God in our culture but not in our hearts. How much more can we expect from ourselves, each other and our leaders if we can really be guided by God and not misuse his culture, name, power, and the opportunities he’s given us?
The next part of our boxset will look at the books of Ruth and Esther, as well as Proverbs chapters 10 to 18. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.

How far would this revolution go? Owen Lynch looks at the way scattered believers in the early days of the church encountered new believers who looked like they would not fit in. While the law, as people understood it, seemed to put them on the margins or outside the boundaries of acceptability, an African eunuch had not only found status in a royal household, but also found scripture which pointed them to Jesus. Why was their baptism so remarkable? How could it revolutionise religious people’s understanding - and ours - of the Kingdom of God?

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the book of Joshua.
At face value, this story of the establishment of Israel in its promised land is a combination of glory and horror - there is new life for God’s people, but a lot of death for almost everyone else.
It’s important to consider how people at the time would have heard and understood these stories, which don’t fit together in a way which allows anyone to take them too literally. Scholars differ in their interpretations, but there is a strong case for finding the truth in the meaning of what is shared through symbols and hyperbole.
What does it mean that God was credited for bringing people across the river and acting decisively in battle? What difference does it make that this was not a kingdom being established by human effort but by God? And what difference would it make to us today if we recognised that what we thought was ours really belongs to God, and that we can trust him to guide us?
The next part of our boxset will look at the book of Judges. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.

Do we get that there’s a massive movement building? Owen Lynch looks at the growing expectation among Jesus’ followers early in the book of Acts that their world would change. Believers were living in revolutionary ways which changed how they saw and handled possessions, hoped and worked for equality, and fought and dealt with corruption. 
There began to be deadly consequences, both for a couple whose corruption undermined the integrity of the movement, and for man inspired by God to share the movement’s story as part of the history of Israel. 
These stories might be familiar to us, but we might have read wrongly or applied them unhelpfully if we haven’t understood their context. What can we do to understand and learn from them better today?

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the book of Job.
In lots of ways, this is a puzzling story that might seem not to fit well into the Bible - although that might depend on how we read the rest of the Bible. If we think it has given us explanations of why things work and rules we can follow with predictable results, we might be a bit like Job’s friends when we think someone needs our help or advice.
The challenge of Job’s story is that they are not as wise as they thought, and that we can’t always get answers to “why” questions or explain difficult situations.
But the encouragement seems to be that God offers a different path to life through being open to experiences that surpass our understanding, growing relationships and trust, and discovering that life-supporting wisdom is not always the same as life-explaining knowledge. 
The next part of our boxset will look at the book of Joshua. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.

What does it mean to deny ourselves, and what difference can this make? Kyle Henderson-Begg looks at what Jesus showed and taught, and what his followers came to believe about this. What are the advantages of self-control, and where can we find more strength to benefit from this?