Hope of Eternal Glory (Zephaniah 3)
As we finish our series on honour and shame, we visit the prophet Zephaniah to hear one last, beautiful hope: of a great day when God’s people will not be put to shame, and when God will rejoice over them with singing. This is the hope that the gospel gives us, and the hope that […]
Not Ashamed of the Gospel (Mark 8; Romans 8)
When we’re tempted to feel shame because of the gospel, we have a choice: to look at the immediate, felt reality of feeling ashamed, or to look to Christ and the honour that he’s clothed us in, and to not be ashamed of the gospel. In this talk, Wes Redgen helps us think through this […]
The Honour-Restoring Gospel (Mark 14-15; Romans 5)
When we’re reading the Bible, we can often hear guilt as the main singer, and shame as the back-up singer, on the side of the stage. But in this talk, Wes Redgen (New Testament lecturer at QTC) helps us to hear both the singers, singing in harmony, in the centre-stage of the gospel.
One Forever (Ephesians 1)
Union with Christ is one of the greatest realities spoken of in the Bible. But God only tells us what it’s like with word images: it’s like a vine, it’s like a body, it’s like a marriage. And so, as Paul prays, we need the “eyes of our hearts to be enlightened,” so that we […]
Coming Home (Luke 15)
In this great parable, Jesus tells a story of a Father and his two sons, and how they both dishonour their father. Instead of rejecting them, though, the Father mercifully invites them both to feast with him. For the son who returns from squandering his Father’s money in “wild living,” the Father shamefully runs to […]
Breaking the Cycle (John 21 and Romans 12)
In this split-talk, Sam and Philip start thinking about how to break the cycle of shame; what habits we can be putting in place to be making sure that our shame is being brought into the light of Christ. In the first half of the talk, Sam looks at the idea of being vulnerable about […]
Maps of Purity (Leviticus)
Even if we don’t often think in these terms, every culture places different people, spaces, animals, food and time into categories of clean and unclean. In the book of Leviticus, God is doing the same: drawing these boundaries for his people, to give them a map leading to holiness. But when Jesus came, he re-drew this […]
The Cycle of Shame (Genesis 4)
In Genesis 4 we see the cycle of shame continue from Adam and Eve to their children. In this chapter, shame leads to sin, which leads to shame, which leads to sin. And we can see this cycle continue through God’s people and through families as we keep reading through Scripture. For all of us, […]
The Source of Shame (Genesis 3)
This is the story of when shame first entered the world; from the first humans being “naked and without shame,” to sewing fig-leaves together to hide and cover their nakedness. In this story, we can see the hiding and blame-shifting that ashamed people have always shown, but we can also see hope. The hope of […]
Love Covers Our Shame (Genesis 1)
In Western culture, we tend to think and make decisions according to right and wrong; whether we will be innocent or guilty because of something. But in many other cultures, and in the culture the Bible was written to, they thought in terms of honour and shame. And in many ways, our culture works according […]