Christianity — The Gospels in English

Imagine it. The first man and woman lived in a glorious Garden. They had lives of perfect rest and happiness. They never had to worry about having enough food, about bad weather or illness or growing old. It was a world of endless bliss.

Story 32: A Broken Woman in a Broken World and the Cleansing Streams of Living Water

As the ministry of Jesus began to grow in influence, a lot of people weren’t happy. John the Baptist’s disciples weren’t the only ones who noticed how popular Jesus was becoming. The Pharisees were taking notice of Him, too.

Story 33: The Messiah's Preaching in Galilee Begins: Will the People Hear His Call?

As the Lord travelled to Galilee to begin His ministry there, He stopped for several days in Samaria. The people there had responded to His message of freedom and transformation with great faithfulness. Then the Lord journeyed to Cana.

Story 34: Options for Response: Throw Truth off a Cliff (or lose your soul trying...)

As Jesus made His way through Galilee to tell the people of the region the Good News of the Kingdom of God, He traveled to His home town of Nazareth. They had waited for so many years through history for the Kingdom of God to come.

Story 35: Introducing Mark

We have already learned about the writers of the book of Luke and the book of Matthew. Let’s refresh our memories, and then we’ll go on to learn about the writer of the book of Mark. Matthew was written by Jesus’ disciple, the tax collector. He wrote his book for the Jewish people to help them understand that Jesus was really the promised Messiah of Old Testament prophecy.

Story 36: Signs of the End of Suffering: The One with Healing in His Hands

In the early days of Christ’s ministry, He spent His days preaching and teaching in the northern region of the nation of Israel around the Sea of Galilee. One day while Jesus was in Capernaum, He went for a walk along the edge of the water.

Apostle Peter, Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, Christianity, corruption, demonic, Demons, disciples, evil spirits, Faith, freedom, Galilee, healing, Holy Spirit, Israel, Jesus, Jewish History, Jews, Mary, Messiah, Metanarrative, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, Peter, prophecy, radical, Scripture study, Spiritual formation, spirituality, truthJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Anounted One, Bible, Blessed, Christ, demonic, evil spirits, faith, God, Gospels, healing, history, Holy Spirit, hope, Isaiah, Israel, Jesus, Jews, Lord, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Messiah, miracles, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, oppression, overcoming, Peter, prophecy, radical, reformer, righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Simon, sin, spirituality, stories, Story, theology, transformation, Word

Story 37: Leaving Everything You've Known for Everything You've Needed

How different were the people of Capernaum from those in Nazareth! They heard the words of Jesus and believed! Many were healed of their suffering. Can you imagine the excitement the people felt as they watched people being set free?

Apostle Paul, Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, calling, Christianity, disciples, Faith, freedom, Galilee, Israel, Jesus, Jewish History, John the Apostle, Mark, Messiah, Metanarrative, New Testament, Peter, radical, Scripture study, Spiritual formation, stories, truthJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Bible, calling, faith, fishermen, Galilee, God, Gospels, history, hope, Jesus, John, Lord, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Messiah, miracles, narrative, New Testament, overcoming, Peter, radical, reformer, righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Simon, stories, Story, theology, transformation

Story 38: The Healing Power of Jesus

As Jesus and His disciples were traveling to the cities and towns around Galilee, the Lord continued to do His work of teaching and miraculous healing. Crowds came from all over to follow this wildly popular young preacher.

Story 39: Forgiveness

The times that Christ lived in were very different times from our own. There were no news cameras or newspapers. It wasn’t possible to take a picture with a cell phone and post it on the internet.

Story 40: Tell Me Who the Real Sinners Are

Jesus was out once again walking along the shore of the sea. What a beautiful view with the yellow, rolling hills that molded themselves around the blue, shimmering waters of Galilee. It was probably some time in the fall, but the nation of Israel is in a land where the weather is mild, even in the middle of winter.

Story 41: Just to be With Us

It is a rare thing for someone to truly have all the answers. In fact, in the vast realities of science and the social world of human behavior, it would be impossible for anyone to be able encompass all that is in one, finite little mind, now matter how smart they are.

Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, bride, Christianity, Christmas, Faith, freedom, Galilee, Gospels, groom, Jesus, Jewish Law, Lord, New Testament, new wine, Old Testament, Scripture studyJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Anounted One, beloved, Bible, Blessed, bride, Christ, Church, death, devastation, Jesus, John the Baptist, love, new wine, new wineskins, radical, sacrifice

Story 42: The Man at the Pool

Another feast of the Jews had come, and so Jesus travelled down to Jerusalem to worship His Father at the Temple. Jerusalem was surrounded by high, protective walls that had been built hundreds of years before.

Story 43: The Right Side of Belief Part 1: Hearing what He really said

The book of John was the last of the three Gospels to be written. At the end of his book, John tells the reason he wrote his Gospel. It was so that, “…you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name’”

Story 44: The Right Side of Belief Part 2: Hearing what He really said

Listening can be a dangerous thing.Often, we can have so many thoughts in our head…so many assumptions about ourselves and others and the way the world works…that even when we do listen, we only hear what makes it through the grid of our own mental noise.

Story 45: Hearts Grow Harder Still

After His great confrontation with the religious leaders in Jerusalem (see Story 44), Jesus made the journey with His disciples back home to Galilee.One day, Jesus and His disciples were going for a walk through the grain fields of the countryside.

Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, bravery, Christianity, corruption, Faith, forgiveness, Galilee, Gospels, healing, Israel, Jesus, Jewish History, Jewish Law, Jews, Mark, Messiah, Metanarrative, miracle, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, radical, religious leaders, sin, Spiritual formation, spirituality, stories, synagogueJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Bible, Christ, corruption, God, Gospels, history, Holy Spirit, Israel, Jesus, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Messiah, miracles, Pharisee, radical, reformer, Salvation

Story 46: A Day in the Life: The Crowds Come

One of the ways a writer expresses what is important is by using a lot of repetition. You can tell what is important to them by the subjects that they bring up the most often and by what themes get the most volume in their writings.

Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, Christianity, demonic, evil spirits, Faith, Galilee, Gospels, healing, Holy Spirit, Israel, Jesus, Jewish History, Jewish Law, Jews, Mark, Messiah, Metanarrative, miracle, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, prophecy, radical, Scripture study, sin, stories, synagogueJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Bible, Christ, God, Gospels, history, hope, Isaiah, Israel, Jesus, Jews, Luke, Matthew, Messiah, New Testament, Old Testament, overcoming, prophecy, radical, reformer, Scripture, stories, theology, transformation, Truth

Story 47: The Choosing of the Twelve

Jesus was doing massive amounts of healing and preaching to the multitudes. The Jews from Galilee and Judea that came to Him early on in His ministry were being joined by Gentiles from cities hundreds of miles away.

Bible Learning, Bible Lesson, Biblical Narratives, calling, Christianity, corruption, demonic, Demons, evil spirits, Faith, forgiveness, freedom, Galilee, Gospels, healing, Israel, Jesus, Jewish History, Jews, Mark, Messiah, Metanarrative, miracle, narrative, New Testament, radical, religious leaders, Scripture study, sin, spiritualityJennifer JagersonOctober 17, 2020Bible, Christ, corruption, disciples, faith, God, Gospels, history, Holy Spirit, Isaiah, Israel, James, Jesus, Jews, John, Luke, Mark, Matthew, miracles, narrative, New Testament, Old Testament, overcoming, Peter, prayer, Salvation, Solitude, stories, transformation, Truth, Word

Story 48: The Sermon on the Mount: AKA "Marching Orders"

There are few sections of the Bible that are read and celebrated as much as the Sermon on the Mount. It is found in chapters five through seven in the book of Matthew. It contains some of the most beautiful ideals ever written down by a human hand.

Story 49: The Sermon on the Mount: Naming the Blessed

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most beautiful ethical writings in the history of humanity. Just before giving us the Sermon Matthew explained that crowds of people were traveling from all over the nation of Israel and the surrounding Gentile countries to get near Jesus.

Story 50: Rich in Blessings, Poor in Spirit

These words are like the doorway to being a disciple. In each verse, the Lord did not give a specific action, like “serving” or “sharing the Gospel.”