Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It's been another great year of seeing Jesus in all of Scripture. We're going on a short break and will be back on January 13th!

Seth and David talk about everything they missed in Jonah and why you should definitely preach the book of Jonah next Easter Sunday.

Jonah calls God's mercy evil. It's offensive that God would extend mercy to his persecutors, and God interrogates Jonah and his motives. Seth and David talk about the hypocrisy of our own hearts and the scandal of God's mercy shown in Jesus.

Reluctantly, Jonah finally delivers God's message to Ninevah, and both Ninevah and God repent of evil. It's offensive language to describe God's offensive mercy. Seth and David talk about the way God overturns not only Jonah's prophecy but our expectations about who God's mercy can be extended to.

Jonah has been swallowed by a fish, and he prays to God for salvation. It's a sincere prayer, but a self-righteous one too. Seth and David talk about Jonah as a representative of Israel praying to God from the depths of exile and inside the belly of Assyria.

The book of Jonah is not about a fish. It is a story about God's offensive mercy. David and Seth talk about how the book of Jonah upsets many of our expectations and what Jesus meant when he gave the Pharisees "the sign of Jonah."

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Jude addresses a group of false teachers who are using God's grace to justify their greed and sensuality. Seth and David talk about all of Jude's weird references to the Old Testament and Jewish literature and how the good news of Jude is that Jesus keeps us for himself.

Peter ends his polemic against the false teachers and encourages his people with God's patience. Seth and David talk about the good news that God is patient and how his patience is an opportunity for all to be saved.

Peter launches his attack against the false teachers, and he doesn't pull any punches. Seth and David talk about judgment, salvation, sex, donkeys, and angels and why all of it is good news.

Peter is on his deathbed and today's passage is his final sermon. Peter encourages his churches to remain morally virtuous in a morally corrupt world by remembering they participate in God's divine nature. Seth and David talk about the good news of joining in God's power and nature and how moral progress is good news.

1 Peter 5 talks to church leaders in an era where all leaders seem to be evil and overpowering. And more pressingly, for most of us, is it possible to submit to leaders who so often prove themselves unworthy of following? Seth and David talk about why the Gospel is good news for leaders and how the church can be a new Eden where humility, leadership, and submission coexist.

Peter's churches are suffering, just as Jesus told them to expect. But Peter encourages them with the truth that resurrection is inevitable for those who suffer for the sake of righteousness. Seth and David talk about the good news that inevitable suffering leads to inevitable glory.

Peter has told us we are spiritual exiles by our relationship with Jesus. But that also means we are alienated from our physical countries, jobs, and wives. How are followers of Jesus supposed to act when their most central relationships treat them unjustly? Seth and David talk about resurrection hope for people who are powerless in their countries, jobs, and marriages.

Peter says that both Jesus and his followers are living breathing stones. He also says we are chosen, royal priests and citizens of a new nation. Seth and David talk about all of Peter's metaphors and why it's good news that we are priests and temples to this world.

2 Peter is a letter written from a deathbed. It represents some of Peter's final thoughts to a church both disappointed and under attack. Jesus said he would come "soon," but "soon" has lasted decades. Seth and David talk about the false teachers that were skeptical that Jesus would ever come, why it's certain, and why it's good news that God will come to judge and save.

1 Peter is addressed to a group of Gentiles living across modern-day Turkey. He calls them "elect exiles." Peter spends the rest of his letter helping Gentiles see themselves as part of Israel's story of exile and return. He also encourages them to live like members of a different nation. Seth and David talk about Jesus' death as a type of exile and how he is building a new home for us.

Jesus has just been raised from the dead, but none of his disciples believe him. But on the road to Emmaus, Jesus reveals he has defeated death and that he really is God in the flesh. Seth and David talk about the verse that launched Spoken Gospel and why it is good news that Jesus opens our eyes.

3 John is addressed to Gaius and talks about the necessity of hospitality. Seth and David talk about Jesus as our generous host and how hospitality uniquely embodies the Gospel.

John's second letter is written to a specific church that he calls "the elect lady." John recaps what took five chapters to say in his first letter, in just one chapter. And it ends by warning his church to not let deceivers and antichrists preach or teach at their church. Seth and David talk about why it's OK to greet Jehovah's Witnesses at the door and why this letter to "the Elect Lady" gives us new ways to celebrate Jesus and his good news.

John ends his first letter to a community struggling with the lies of several antichrists. It's his final case about the certainty of Jesus's identity to a community unsure of it. Seth and David talk about how to pray, what it means to be confident, and what the "sin that leads to death" is.

"God is love" is one of the easiest to misunderstand sentences in Scripture. It's deep, and it was written by the man who called himself "the disciple Jesus loved." Seth and David talk about the deep and good news that "God is love." Here's the song we kept talking about! Chris Renzema: God is Love https://open.spotify.com/track/5WeJ2gDd1P4jjZYlzJkcXv?si=ca620016abec4999

There is an ancient battle between children of God and children of Satan that stretches back to the garden of Eden. And John uses this ancient battle to encourage a community under threat. Seth and David talk about what it means to be a child of God and why being righteous and loving one another is good news for people afraid, persecuted, and unsure if they belong to God.

John says that his audience is expecting an Antichrist, but what's more important to them is that "many antichrists have already come." Seth and David talk about who the antichrists are, why they are significant to John's community, but more importantly, how antichrists better help us see Jesus as the true Christ who has defeated our enemies.

John continues to comfort his community. Facing both antichrists and persistent doubts about their salvation, John reminds them of their total forgiveness in Jesus and the role loving one another plays in assuring them of their salvation. Seth and David talk about how Christianity is the only religion that offers assurance of our life with God and why loving our neighbor gives us confidence in our salvation.