Merry ChristmasLuke 1:26-38 We are busy preparing for Christmas. The gifts have been purchased – most of them, anyway – but they need to be wrapped. Is it too late to ship gifts to Minnesota via UPS Ground? The Christmas tree is up, but don’t forget to stop at Home Depot for...
2 Kings 19:1-37Isaiah Reassures Hezekiah The Bible describes Hezekiah as a godly king, a standout, a faithful servant of the Lord. Pastor Dave asked, wouldn’t we love to have a reputation like Hezekiah’s? For sure! Dave organized his teaching on this week’s passage around seven...
2 Kings 17:24-41Assyria Resettles Samaria Pastor Dave surprised us all with his first title slide: John 4:4-42 Jesus the Savior Pursues SamariaHe was making the point that the Bible is one big story of God’s redemptive plan, which is illustrated by His dealings with the Samaritans. After...
2 Kings 17:1-23The Fall of Israel I confess I have Kings-fatigue. Week after week, we have heard about the blatant sins of kings and their people and been warned about idolatry in our own lives. The disastrous fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to the Assyrians and their exile without return...
2 Kings 16:1-20Ahaz Reigns in Judah Ahaz, the next king of Judah, broke the pattern of kings who generally did what was right. Ahaz did not do what was right and walked in the evil ways of the kings of Israel. In the verse quoted in the sidebar, the Chronicler makes a gross understatement when...
2 Kings 13:10-25The Death of Elisha The next king of Israel, Jehoash, was like those who came before: he did evil in the eyes of the LORD, reigned for a while, and died. The only remarkable thing about Jehoash is that he was involved in Elisha’s final prophetic words when he visited...
2 Kings 13:1-9Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel Pastor Dave taught that this week’s passage displays the collision of three attributes of God. He is sovereign: He gave Israel continually into the hand of the king of Syria (v3). He is merciful: He listened to King Jehoahaz, even though he sought...
2 Kings 11:21 – 12:21Jehoash Reigns in Judah The little boy Jehoash (or Joash), rescued as a baby from his evil grandmother Athaliah, turned out to be one of the better kings of Judah. “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD,” says verse 2 of the passage. For one thing...
2 Kings 11:1-20Long Live the King When David was king, the Lord promised to establish his throne forever. (2 Samuel 7:13) Across the centuries, the Jews came to understand that the promise was about more than ordinary human kings; the Messiah would come from the line of David. But within seven...
2 Kings 2:15-25Elisha Succeeds Elijah This week’s passage contains three mini-stories, each one stranger than the one before. Fifty “sons of the prophets” spend three days searching for Elijah, though he was taken up to heaven. Elisha, the successor to Elijah, throws salt in a...