Reasoning Through the Bible

RTTB's brief end of the year announcements of thanks and what's coming in 2026. Support the showThank you for listening!! Please give us a five-star rating to help your podcast provider's algorithm spread RTTB among their listeners. You can find free study and leader resources at the following link - Resource Page - Reasoning Through the Bible Please prayerfully consider supporting RTTB to help us to continue providing content and free resources. You can do that at this link - Support RTTB - Reasoning Through the Bible May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve

The day after Christmas can feel hollow—muddy streets, drooping lights, long return lines, and a nagging sense that the moment slipped through our fingers. Glenn shares in a moving dramatic monologue authored by Doug Brendel about an elderly department store clerk who faces that familiar scene and quietly re-centers what matters. Between a counter stacked with refunds and a chorus of frayed tempers, he serves with patience and prayer, offering a living reminder that the heart of Christmas isn’t found in a receipt, a sale tag, or a perfect photo.As the crowd presses in, small stories reveal a larger truth: a Bible traded for a toy, a holiday unraveled by mishaps, and a watch that won’t keep time. Then a woman drops a broken nativity on the counter. Piece by piece, the clerk restores the scene—until he finds the Christ child stuck to a price label, hidden under glue. That single image captures the tension of modern Christmas: the sacred buried under the urgent, the essential masked by the marketed. With gentleness, he returns Jesus to the manger, and something shifts. The woman softens. The store quiets, if only for a moment. And a city, through one ordinary act, sees what it has been missing.We reflect on how easily meaning gets displaced by noise and how hope returns when we put Jesus back at the center—of our schedules, our spending, our serving, and our celebrations. This is a story for anyone who’s felt the post‑holiday slump, who’s wrestled with consumer culture, or who’s longing for faith that feels near and real. Walk with Glenn as he recites this tender tale and into a new year with hearts reset on what lasts: love, presence, and the joy that outlives the season.If this resonated, share it with a friend, subscribe for our verse‑by‑verse studies, and leave a review to help others find the message. What will you put back in place today?Support the showThank you for listening!! Please give us a five-star rating to help your podcast provider's algorithm spread RTTB among their listeners. You can find free study and leader resources at the following link - Resource Page - Reasoning Through the Bible Please prayerfully consider supporting RTTB to help us to continue providing content and free resources. You can do that at this link - Support RTTB - Reasoning Through the Bible May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve

Discover the origins of Christmas as we unwrap (pun intended) the holiday's rich history and address the long-debated question: Did Christmas begin as a pagan festival? Our festive foray cuts through the tinsel to provide clarity on how December 25th became the cornerstone of Christian celebration.  We share how scriptural verses about bringing trees into a home are misinterpreted and set the record straight on Martin Luther's influence, which transformed this evergreen into a symbol of celebrating Jesus' birth. Join us for an episode that not only offers historical insights but also a heartwarming reminder to keep the Lord Jesus at the center of our Christmas festivities.Support the showThank you for listening!! Please give us a five-star rating to help your podcast provider's algorithm spread RTTB among their listeners. You can find free study and leader resources at the following link - Resource Page - Reasoning Through the Bible Please prayerfully consider supporting RTTB to help us to continue providing content and free resources. You can do that at this link - Support RTTB - Reasoning Through the Bible May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve

What if God’s law moved from stone tablets to your heart? We walk through the end of Hebrews chapter 8 and venture into the beginning of chapter 9 to show why Jesus is the better priest who brings a better covenant with better promises—and why that changes everything about how we know God, obey, and worship. We unpack Jeremiah chapter 31’s promise of an inner work of the Spirit, explore how the covenant speaks to Israel while blessing the nations, and clarify a key tension: the Mosaic Law is obsolete, yet God’s moral will is fulfilled in us through the law of Christ.From there, we step into the tabernacle. Picture the outer court, the holy place, and the Holy of Holies sealed by a veil. Only the high priest entered once a year with blood for the mercy seat. Every detail shouted distance. Then the cross tore the veil. Jesus, our great High Priest, presented His own blood, opened a living way into God’s presence, and continues interceding for us. The smoke of incense that once hovered before the curtain now imagery-richly belongs inside, because our Advocate is already there.This conversation connects theology to hope and practice. If the Spirit writes God’s ways on our hearts, obedience grows from desire, not fear. If the law of Christ guides us, we live led by the Spirit rather than by ritual. If access is open, we come boldly to the throne of grace. Along the way, we address Israel and The Body of Christ [The Messiah], the promise of future belief, and how Gentiles share in covenant blessings without erasing the text’s plain meaning. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves Hebrews, and leave a review telling us: what part of the new covenant gives you the most confidence today?Support the showThank you for listening!! Please give us a five-star rating to help your podcast provider's algorithm spread RTTB among their listeners. You can find free study and leader resources at the following link - Resource Page - Reasoning Through the Bible Please prayerfully consider supporting RTTB to help us to continue providing content and free resources. You can do that at this link - Support RTTB - Reasoning Through the Bible May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve

A single claim reframes everything: Jesus serves right now as our high priest in the true tabernacle—the one God set up, not man. From that vantage point, Hebrews chapter 8 unfolds a better ministry, a better covenant, and better promises, showing how the Old Testament doesn’t get replaced but revealed in full through Jesus Christ [Messiah]. We walk through the text line by line to explore why the earthly sanctuary was only a copy and shadow, how Psalm 110 and Jeremiah 31 anchor the argument, and what it means that The Law moves from stone tablets to living hearts.We also tackle a question that splits commentaries and coffee tables: who is the new covenant for? By following Jeremiah’s wording—“the house of Israel and the house of Judah”—and Jesus’ words at the table of His last Passover supper—“the new covenant in my blood”—we make space for both biblical specificity and gospel breadth. Israel is named, The Church is grafted in, and all of it centers on union with Jesus. The first covenant wasn’t flawed; the people of Israel were. The new covenant doesn’t lower the bar; it changes the heart, producing real righteousness through The Spirit.Along the way, we challenge a popular but thin habit of reading the Old Testament [Hebrew Scriptures] through a New Testament lens that erases its original meaning. Hebrews doesn’t rewrite the Hebrew Scriptures; it lets them speak and then shows their fullness in Jesus. That approach deepens assurance: our mediator is seated at the right hand of Majesty, His once-for-all sacrifice secures access, and His present ministry anchors our hope beyond the veil. If you’ve wondered how priesthood, sacrifice, Israel, and The Body of Christ fit together without forcing the text, this conversation offers a clear, Scripture-first path forward.If this helped you see Hebrews with fresh eyes, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves Bible theology, and leave a review with your key takeaway so others can find it too.Support the showThank you for listening!! Please give us a five-star rating to help your podcast provider's algorithm spread RTTB among their listeners. You can find free study and leader resources at the following link - Resource Page - Reasoning Through the Bible Please prayerfully consider supporting RTTB to help us to continue providing content and free resources. You can do that at this link - Support RTTB - Reasoning Through the Bible May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve