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.

The Apostle John is talking to a group of believers plagued by the question "Do I still have fellowship with God in light of all my sin?" False teachers comforted these doubters by telling them that they didn't need to worry about their sin. But John comforts them a different way. Seth and David talk about how we can know we are saved even when our sin seems extremely dark.

John's three letters are short and dense. He's a pastor encouraging a congregation under attack by a group of false teachers, he calls antichrists. In this intro episode, Seth and David talk about the good news that Jesus has come in the flesh and why a simple gospel is the best antidote to the complexity and confusion around us. ALSO We need to buy new podcast equipment to replace the borrowed equipment we've been using! If you're a regular listener and want to help others see Jesus in all of Scripture, please click the link below and donate! https://www.spokengospel.com/?form=donate-podcast&fundraiser=NERVQKCB

You saved our podcast. In one month you guys raised over $4500. THANK YOU. We love you guys and can't wait to see what God does in the future. Next week we start a new series in 1 John!

We need to buy new podcast equipment to replace the borrowed equipment we've been using! If you're a regular listener and want to help others see Jesus in all of Scripture, please click the link below and donate! https://www.spokengospel.com/?form=donate-podcast&fundraiser=NERVQKCB

Amos ends with the most intense of his prophecies against Israel's idolatry and her neglect of the poor. It seems like God will undo the covenant he began with Israel when he brought them out of Egypt, even un-create the world he gave them. But in mercy, God promises to resurrect a son of David and restore everything Israel lost. Seth and David talk about Jesus as the son of David Amos prophesied, the final prophet with better news, and the king who will bring God's people back into covenant and back into his Garden.

In a series of four speeches, Amos pronounces God's judgment on Israel's injustice. With each speech, Amos' warnings intensify leading up to God's call for justice to roll like a river and righteousness like an overflowing stream.

Uniquely among the minor prophets, Amos zeros in on Israel's injustice towards the poor. He indicts them for their failure to be generous as God had been generous to them. Seth and David talk about Amos' unique emphasis among the prophetic books and how Jesus' generosity transforms us into people that love justice.

Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Edom and Israel. The biblical story is full of sibling rivalry. Seth and David talk about how the story of Jesus resolves the sibling animosity we see not just in the Bible, but in our own families.

Obadiah prophesies against the nation of Edom. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, and the Israelites were the descendants of Esau's brother, Jacob. Since the womb, they had been fighting, and in the centuries that followed Edom sold their brother-nation into slavery. Obadiah prophesies doom for Edom's treachery against their brother. Seth and David talk about the way that Jesus solves sibling rivalry and ends the pride of Edom and those like him.

In response to Israel's repentance, Joel predicts a coming day of the Lord's mercy. Not only will he restore what was lost to the locusts, but God promises an even greater day of God's mercy when he will pour out his Spirit. Seth and David talk about why Jesus doesn't just come once and why the promise of the Holy Spirit is such good news.

The prophet Joel explains to Israel why a plague of locusts has descended on Israel. He tells them that it is a "day of the Lord." God is judging Israel, and this is only the first wave. Seth and David talk about judgment and the way that natural disasters should cause to repent and hope for God's deliverance.

Hosea's last oracles of doom are some of his darkest. But his prophecies of mercy are also some of his most explicit. Seth and David talk about God's most brutal punishments and how they reveal God's even deeper commitment to his love in Jesus.

The oracles of doom continue. Hosea rebukes Israel's priests for the way they have enmeshed their worship of God with political power. Israel has taken advantage of her relationship with God. She assumed splitting her allegiance between God and the powers of Egypt and Assyria was harmless. Seth and David talk about the temptation to blend faith and power and how Jesus' Kingdom is not of this world.

Most of Hosea's book are pronouncements of judgment against Israel for breaking her covenant with God. In a lot of ways, Hosea reads like a legal document citing offenses and doling out punishments. Seth and David reflect on both God's justice towards Israel, but also the surprising fact that while God's judgment needs a reason, his love does not.

One of Hosea's central metaphors for Israel's political and spiritual idolatry is adultery. And Hosea lives out this message personally. He marries a prostitute and remains married to her, even when she's unfaithful to him. David and Seth talk about why Hosea uses sexual metaphors to describe Israel's sin and the surprisingly (almost uncomfortably) intimate way Jesus comes near his people.

Hosea is about God's love towards his unfaithful people. Hosea even marries a whore to prove the point. It's one of the most shocking books in the Bible and the way Hosea uses the metaphor of adultery to describe idolatry is scandalous. Seth and David talk about the unique way Hosea highlights God's, husbandly love and the way Jesus demonstrates it in his life and death.