Episodios

  • 1 Thessalonians 1 - A Faith That Echoed Across a Region

    1 Thessalonians 1 - A Faith That Echoed Across a Region
    Mar 6 2026
    What does a brand-new church look like when it gets persecuted right from the beginning? Chapter one of 1 Thessalonians answers that question — and the answer is more extraordinary than you might expect. Paul is barely past his greeting before he's overflowing with gratitude for these people, and by the end of the chapter, we discover that this tiny, barely-surviving church has somehow become a witness that the whole region is talking about.**The Opening: Grace and Peace Together**Paul opens with "grace to you and peace" — and it's worth pausing on. *Charis* (grace) was the standard Greek letter greeting. *Shalom* (peace) was the Hebrew blessing. Here they're woven together into a single sentence, a single church, a single Lord. Greek and Jewish, both worlds held in one greeting. And Paul means it theologically: you cannot have shalom without charis. Peace is only possible when grace has come first.**Three Things Paul Is Grateful For**Paul gives thanks for the Thessalonians "constantly," and he's specific about why. Their work of faith. Their labor of love. Their steadfastness of hope. These are not passive feelings — each one has an active verb attached to it. The Greek word behind "labor" (*kopos*) means hard, exhausting work. "Steadfastness" means endurance under pressure. These people are under pressure. And they're not crumbling. Paul has seen what pressure does to people, and what he sees here moves him.**Chosen by God in the Most Hostile City**Paul tells these new believers that God has chosen them — and he says it with full awareness of where they are. Thessalonica demanded worship of Caesar as lord and savior. The social, economic, and legal consequences of walking away from that were real and immediate. Into that situation, Paul declares: the God who made everything has set his love on you specifically. That message would have landed like something alive.**The Discipleship Chain**The Thessalonians became "imitators" of Paul and his companions and of the Lord — and then became a pattern for others. The chain is traceable: God the Father, to the Son, to the apostles, to these new believers, and outward from there to the whole region. Every link matters. No one could say someone else will take care of it.Paul uses a striking Greek word — *exēchētai* — to describe how the Thessalonians' faith spread. It means to echo out, to sound like a trumpet bouncing off mountain walls and filling the valley. This church, at the crossroads of the Via Egnatia, became a gospel amplifier. Paul says he doesn't even have to tell people about them anymore. Their reputation precedes them. A church barely out of its first few months, under persecution, letting their light shine so visibly that the whole Greek region was hearing about it.Thessalonica wasn't abstract. There's still a Roman arch standing there. These were real people, in real sandals, paying a real price.Download blank templates, schedules here:https://schmern2.notion.site/Downloads-Template-Word-and-Excel-Schedule-67439d14449d4c20bfe00efe069f78b8Logos RAMPS Workflow - RAMPS Bible Study - The Bible in Small Steps in Logos WorkflowsJill’s Linkshttps://jillfromthenorthwoods.com/https://www.youtube.com/@smallstepswithgodhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/smallstepspodhttps://twitter.com/schmernEmail the podcast at jill@startwithsmallsteps.com“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.”Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.“The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved”.Bible Maps and images used with permission from https://www.bible.ca/maps/ or https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/bj-ot-world/Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software. Free for non-commercial use by individuals or organizations. May be presented before live audiences; may be posted on social media; may be re-distributed. May not be used commercially. May not be modified or included in published works without permission; contact permissions@faithlife.com. Attribute as: “Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software ()”.By choosing to watch this video or listen to this podcast, you acknowledge that you are doing so of your own free will. The content shared here reflects personal experiences and opinions and is intended for informational and inspirational purposes only. I am not a ...
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    25 m
  • Colossians 4 - A Man in Chains Asks for an Open Door

    Colossians 4 - A Man in Chains Asks for an Open Door
    Mar 4 2026
    Paul closes his letter to the Colossians the way he lives his entire ministry: urgent, personal, and deeply practical. From instructions on how to pray and speak to outsiders, to a list of names that reads like a small community portrait, Colossians 4 is a fitting end to one of the most theologically rich letters in the New Testament.**Masters, Bond Servants & Accountability**The chapter opens with Paul returning to the bond servant relationship — and turning it upside down for the masters. You've been told your bond servants should work as if working for the Lord. Now: masters, deal with them justly and fairly. Why? Because you have a master in heaven too. Roman society gave masters near-absolute authority. Paul is inserting a layer of divine accountability above the top of that chain, a radical reframing of power in a world that did not think this way.**Devoted to Prayer — with an Alert Mind**Paul calls the Colossians to devote themselves to prayer — not passive, not inattentive, but with an alert mind and with thanksgiving. He asks for their prayers too: not for release from prison, but for an open door to preach, and for clarity so that he makes the gospel plain. The image is striking — a man in chains, asking not to be freed but to be given more opportunities to speak. Paul found more freedom inside that dungeon to write theologically rich letters than he would have had outside of it.**Walk Wisely Toward Outsiders — Seasoned with Salt**Colossians 4:5-6 is one of Paul's most practical and memorable instructions on how to engage with people outside the faith. Make the most of every opportunity (the Greek word is a marketplace term — grab it before someone else does). Let your speech be gracious, seasoned with salt. Salt was precious in the ancient world: preserving, flavoring, making things worth tasting. Make your words worth hearing. And then the final phrase: know how to answer each *person*, not each crowd. Everyone comes to God through a slightly different door. Wisdom means figuring out which door that is.**The Community Portrait: A Gallery of the Early Church**The greetings at the end of Colossians are not filler. They're a window into the kind of community Paul was building. Tychicus, the letter carrier. Onesimus, a slave, vouched for warmly (we'll hear more from him in Philemon). Aristarchus, a Macedonian who traveled extensively with Paul and is now imprisoned alongside him. Mark — yes, the same Mark who wrote the Gospel — whose earlier falling out with Paul has apparently been healed. Epaphras, likely the founder of the Colossian church, who traveled all the way to Rome to bring Paul their news and is still wrestling in prayer for them. Luke, the beloved physician and author of Luke and Acts. Demas, mentioned quietly here, but who will later desert Paul "having loved this world." And Nympha, a woman hosting an entire church in her house. Wealthy and humble, apostle and slave, men and women — the early church needed all of them.**Paul's Own Handwriting**The letter closes in Paul's own hand — a standard convention of the time, where a scribe wrote the letter and the sender authenticated it by signing the final lines personally. "Remember my chains," he writes. "Grace be with you." From a man in prison, to a community under pressure, the last word is grace.Download blank templates, schedules here:https://schmern2.notion.site/Downloads-Template-Word-and-Excel-Schedule-67439d14449d4c20bfe00efe069f78b8Logos RAMPS Workflow - RAMPS Bible Study - The Bible in Small Steps in Logos WorkflowsJill’s Linkshttps://jillfromthenorthwoods.com/https://www.youtube.com/@smallstepswithgodhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/smallstepspodhttps://twitter.com/schmernEmail the podcast at jill@startwithsmallsteps.com“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.”Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.“The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved”.Bible Maps and images used with permission from https://www.bible.ca/maps/ or https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/bj-ot-world/Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software. Free for non-commercial use by individuals or organizations. May be presented before live audiences; may be posted on social media; may be re-distributed. May not be used commercially. May not be modified or ...
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    25 m
  • Letters to to Thessalonians - Two Letters to One Struggling Church

    Letters to to Thessalonians - Two Letters to One Struggling Church
    Mar 3 2026
    Why did one struggling young church earn two letters from Paul — letters that may be the oldest surviving Christian documents we have? The answer takes us to one of the most important cities in the ancient Roman world, into a clash between a brand-new faith and the most powerful empire on earth, and into some of the most urgent pastoral writing in the entire New Testament.**Thessalonica: A City Worth Understanding**The city of Thessalonica was no backwater. Founded around 315 BC, located at the intersection of the Via Egnatia and the Thermaic Gulf, it was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia with a population estimated in the hundreds of thousands. It was wealthy, cosmopolitan, and deeply tied to the Roman imperial system — which is precisely what made Paul's arrival there so explosive.**The Imperial Cult and Why Everything Got Violent Fast**Thessalonica was institutionally committed to the worship of Caesar as lord and savior. This was not a private religious preference — it was civic identity. The city's status as a free city depended on that loyalty. When Paul arrived preaching that a man crucified as a Roman criminal was the true Lord, the true Savior, the coming King — you can see immediately why the mob descended on Jason's house and why Paul was smuggled out of the city in the dark.**The Letters: What Each One Was Trying to Fix**Paul could not return to the church he'd planted. He sent Timothy instead, and Timothy's report — largely encouraging but carrying specific concerns — prompted 1 Thessalonians, written from Corinth around 49–51 AD. Paul was defending his character against accusations that he'd abandoned them, addressing grief over community members who had died, and giving the practical ethical instruction he hadn't had time to finish in person. The second letter was written shortly after, in response to a new crisis: some in the church had apparently concluded that the day of the Lord had already happened — and had stopped working as a result. Paul's tone gets notably more firm.**The Language of Empire, Repurposed**One of the most striking aspects of these letters is the deliberate use of imperial vocabulary. Kyrios (lord), Soter (savior), Parousia (the coming/appearing) — these were official titles for Caesar. Paul uses every one of them for Jesus, in a city where Caesar's supremacy was non-negotiable. This was not abstract theology. It was a direct political and theological challenge, and the people who heard these letters read aloud would have understood exactly what was being claimed.These letters are a window into the very beginning of the Christian church — real people, paying real prices, for something they had just recently come to believe. That's what makes them worth reading carefully.Download blank templates, schedules here:https://schmern2.notion.site/Downloads-Template-Word-and-Excel-Schedule-67439d14449d4c20bfe00efe069f78b8Logos RAMPS Workflow - RAMPS Bible Study - The Bible in Small Steps in Logos WorkflowsJill’s Linkshttps://jillfromthenorthwoods.com/https://www.youtube.com/@smallstepswithgodhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/smallstepspodhttps://twitter.com/schmernEmail the podcast at jill@startwithsmallsteps.com“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.”Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.“The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved”.Bible Maps and images used with permission from https://www.bible.ca/maps/ or https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/bj-ot-world/Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software. Free for non-commercial use by individuals or organizations. May be presented before live audiences; may be posted on social media; may be re-distributed. May not be used commercially. May not be modified or included in published works without permission; contact permissions@faithlife.com. Attribute as: “Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software ()”.By choosing to watch this video or listen to this podcast, you acknowledge that you are doing so of your own free will. The content shared here reflects personal experiences and opinions and is intended for informational and inspirational purposes only. I am not a licensed healthcare provider, psychiatrist, or counselor. Any advice or suggestions offered should not be considered a substitute for ...
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    29 m
  • Colossians 3 - Risen With Christ and Clothed in a New Robe

    Colossians 3 - Risen With Christ and Clothed in a New Robe
    Mar 2 2026
    What does it actually look like to walk out your faith in the middle of ordinary life? That's the question Colossians 3 is answering — and Paul doesn't let the church stay comfortable. He opens with a high call (you rose with Christ, set your mind on things above) and then works his way steadily down into the practical details of how that actually changes the way you live, the way you treat people, and the way a community holds together.**Risen With Christ — And What That Changes**Paul opens with something that could stop you in your tracks: "If you have been raised with Christ..." — not "if you believe in Christ," but if you have been raised with him. The old self died on the cross. A new life came out of the tomb. That new life, Paul says, is "hidden with Christ in God" — not hidden in the sense of invisible, but hidden in the sense of protected, secured, held under God's wing. The glory is ahead. The only reasonable response is to set your mind on things above and put away what's already dead.**Putting Off the Old Self — Even the Subtle Sins**Paul lists the things that belong to the old life — and he includes the dramatic ones (sexual immorality, covetousness, which he calls idolatry) and the ones that feel less dramatic but are no less serious: anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, lying. He uses a clothing metaphor: these old dirty rags aren't yours anymore. Don't launder them and keep wearing them. In a Greek and Roman world where temple prostitution was woven into everyday life and civic worship, this instruction wasn't abstract. It was a complete reorientation of identity.**The New Self — A Community Without the Old Divisions**In the new self, Paul says, there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free. In a world where every one of those distinctions determined your value, your access, your safety — this was radical. Christ is all, and in all. The new community isn't organized by ethnicity or social status. It's organized by what Christ has done.**What the New Clothes Look Like**So what does the new self actually wear? Compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. Bearing with one another. Forgiving as we've been forgiven — not a little less than God forgives, but as God forgives. And above all, love: the agape love that isn't just one more item on the list but the thing that holds all the other virtues together. Without love, even patience becomes resentment.**Peace as Referee, and the Word Dwelling Richly**Paul uses an athletic term for what the peace of Christ does in your heart — it *rules*, like a referee calling inbounds and out of bounds. When you're in conflict, when you're making hard decisions, that peace is what should be making the call. And the word of Christ should dwell in you not just a little, but richly — overflowing into how you teach each other, how you worship, how you sing, how you express gratitude.How we act when we're frustrated, A chapter-by-chapter walk through Colossians 3 — what it means to rise with Christ, putting off the old self, the radical equality of the new community, and the virtues Paul says we now wear.when we disagree, when someone gets on our nerves — that's where Colossians 3 lives.Download blank templates, schedules here:https://schmern2.notion.site/Downloads-Template-Word-and-Excel-Schedule-67439d14449d4c20bfe00efe069f78b8Logos RAMPS Workflow - RAMPS Bible Study - The Bible in Small Steps in Logos WorkflowsJill’s Linkshttps://jillfromthenorthwoods.com/https://www.youtube.com/@smallstepswithgodhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/smallstepspodhttps://twitter.com/schmernEmail the podcast at jill@startwithsmallsteps.com“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.”Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.“The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved”.Bible Maps and images used with permission from https://www.bible.ca/maps/ or https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/bj-ot-world/Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software. Free for non-commercial use by individuals or organizations. May be presented before live audiences; may be posted on social media; may be re-distributed. May not be used commercially. May not be modified or included in published works without permission; contact permissions@...
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    23 m
  • Colossians 2 - Secret Knowledge, Angel Visions, and Self-Made Religion

    Colossians 2 - Secret Knowledge, Angel Visions, and Self-Made Religion
    Feb 27 2026
    Colossians 2 is where Paul stops building the foundation and starts pointing at the cracks. The church at Colossae has everything they need in Christ — and they're being quietly pulled away from it anyway. Not by persecution, not by outright rejection of the faith, but by additions. Food rules. Festival observances. Angel worship. Mystical visions. Ascetic practices. A slow layering of spiritual requirements that sounds serious and disciplined and deep — and has nothing to do with the gospel. This chapter is Paul's direct response to all of it.Rooted, Built Up, and Not Getting Yanked Out Paul opens with an image of gardening: stay rooted in Christ. Not pulled up by the leaves and dragged out, but growing deeper, becoming more firmly planted, more able to withstand whatever storms come. He tells them they were taught the truth, they received it, and now the work is to keep walking in it — not sideways into something else. Gratitude, he notes, is a marker of that kind of health. When you're genuinely rooted in Christ, thankfulness spills over naturally.The Warning About Human Philosophy Paul gives a direct caution: don't be taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition rather than Christ. He's not dismissing all tradition — he acknowledges traditions can bind a community together and keep our focus where it belongs. But when tradition grows bigger than the Word, when it starts replacing Christ rather than pointing toward him, that's when it becomes a problem. The Pharisees did it with the law. The Colossians are doing it with a new set of additions.Circumcision, Baptism, and What They Actually Mean Paul brings up circumcision — not the physical act, but what it always pointed to: cutting away the flesh-ruled self so that Christ rules instead. This is God's work, not ours. He connects it directly to baptism: going under the water as burial, coming up as resurrection. New identity, new life. Not ritual cleansing like the Jewish mikvah washings — something deeper. A complete renewal. And then the debt imagery: every obligation our sin created was nailed to the cross and cancelled. Paid in full.Christ Disarmed Every Competing Authority Paul uses a vivid Roman image his readers would have recognized immediately. When a Roman general defeated an enemy, the conquered ruler was paraded through the streets of Rome in public humiliation — stripped of power for everyone to see. Paul says that's what Christ did to every competing authority on the cross. False teachers, legalistic systems, demonic powers, earthly rulers — their ultimate claim over us is broken. They may cause suffering, but they cannot determine where we end up.Food, Festivals, and the Shadows That Point to Christ Don't let anyone judge you over what you eat, what days you observe, or how you keep the calendar. Paul's point is that these things were always shadows — pointers toward Christ. The Jewish festivals, the Sabbath, the dietary laws: they existed to direct people forward to what was coming. Christ has come. The shadow gave way to the reality. Observing these things isn't wrong if they're kept in their proper place, but they cannot be turned into requirements for standing before God.Angel Worship, Mystical Visions, and Self-Made Religion This is where the Colossian false teaching gets specific. Some were claiming angelic visions, secret spiritual experiences, hidden knowledge only available to a few — and using those claims to build authority and pull people away from the simplicity of Christ. Paul calls it what it is: self-made religion, false humility, and ascetic practices that have no actual power over sin. Denying yourself food or inflicting suffering on yourself doesn't make you holier. It just makes you look like you're trying harder. Christ's work — not our self-punishment — is what sanctifies.Colossians 2 is a chapter that feels startlingly current. Secret knowledge, mystical experiences, spiritual add-ons, rules that promise depth — none of it is new, and none of it works. Paul's answer is the same in every direction he turns: Christ is the head. Christ is sufficient. Everything else is a shadow, a tradition, or a distraction. The simplicity of that is both easy to understand and remarkably hard to stay in.Download blank templates, schedules here:https://schmern2.notion.site/Downloads-Template-Word-and-Excel-Schedule-67439d14449d4c20bfe00efe069f78b8Logos RAMPS Workflow - RAMPS Bible Study - The Bible in Small Steps in Logos WorkflowsJill’s Linkshttps://jillfromthenorthwoods.com/https://www.youtube.com/@smallstepswithgodhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/smallstepspodhttps://twitter.com/schmernEmail the podcast at jill@startwithsmallsteps.com“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any ...
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    26 m
  • Colossians 1 - Christ Holds Everything Together

    Colossians 1 - Christ Holds Everything Together
    Feb 25 2026
    Colossians 1 — Show NotesColossians chapter 1 opens quietly — with greetings, gratitude, and prayer. But by the time Paul finishes the chapter, he has laid out one of the most comprehensive statements of who Christ is anywhere in the New Testament. This isn't a rebuke letter. It's a maturity letter. And it begins by reminding a faithful, growing church exactly what — and who — they already have.A Church Worth Praying For Paul opens with thanksgiving, not correction. He's heard about the Colossians' faith, their love, and the fruit their community is producing. Epaphras, who planted the church and recently traveled to Rome to visit Paul, has reported well. Paul's response to good news is the same as his response to crisis: prayer. He prays that they would grow in wisdom, spiritual understanding, and knowledge of God's will — not because they're failing, but because growth never stops.Light, Darkness, and What Redemption Actually Means Paul describes salvation in vivid terms: transferred out of the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son. Redemption, he explains, means being purchased — bought at a price. The forgiveness of sins is not something earned or discovered through additional practice. It happened. The price was paid. For a church being nudged toward extra spiritual requirements, this framing is deliberate and pointed.The Hymn at the Center of Chapter 1 Colossians 1:15–20 is structured differently from the rest of the letter — rhythmic, elevated, likely an early Christian hymn or creedal statement. Its claims are sweeping: Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (meaning supreme over it, not part of it), the one through whom everything was created and by whom everything holds together. He is the head of the church. He is first in everything. Paul isn't building toward this — he states it plainly and completely.Everything Reconciled Through His Blood The chapter ends with reconciliation. Not just people reconciled to God, but all things — on earth and in heaven — brought back into alignment through the blood of Christ shed on the cross. The Colossians were once alienated, hostile, doing evil. Now they are presented before God faultless and blameless. Every condition that needed to be met was met. There is no remaining requirement. This is the foundation Paul is reinforcing before he addresses what they've been adding on top of it.The Mystery That Was Never a Secret Paul describes his own role as a servant entrusted with making the word of God fully known — including a mystery hidden through the ages but now revealed. He's careful to define what he means: this isn't secret knowledge available to the spiritually elite. God's plan has been unfolding progressively — through Eden, Noah, Abraham, Israel, and finally and fully through Christ. The mystery was simply unrevealed, not hidden. And now it's out: Christ in you, the hope of glory.What Maturity Actually Looks Like Paul's stated goal for the Colossians is that they would be presented mature in Christ. Not just informed — mature. There's a difference between accumulating spiritual knowledge and being shaped by it. The Colossians are showing signs of reaching for more without going deeper in what they already have. Paul's answer isn't more information. It's rootedness — staying grounded in the sufficiency of Christ so that competing ideas and add-on theologies don't find purchase.Colossians 1 is an education in the centrality of Christ — his role in creation, his headship over the church, his work of reconciliation, and his sufficiency for everything that follows. Paul isn't reacting to a crisis. He's building a foundation strong enough that the quiet drift happening in Colossae won't be able to pull them off it. That's the same foundation worth standing on today.Download blank templates, schedules here:https://schmern2.notion.site/Downloads-Template-Word-and-Excel-Schedule-67439d14449d4c20bfe00efe069f78b8Logos RAMPS Workflow - RAMPS Bible Study - The Bible in Small Steps in Logos WorkflowsJill’s Linkshttps://jillfromthenorthwoods.com/https://www.youtube.com/@smallstepswithgodhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/smallstepspodhttps://twitter.com/schmernEmail the podcast at jill@startwithsmallsteps.com“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.”Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.“The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® ...
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    18 m
  • Letter of Colossians - Spiritual Upgrades That Aren't

    Letter of Colossians - Spiritual Upgrades That Aren't
    Feb 24 2026

    Download blank templates, schedules here:

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    Jill’s Links

    https://jillfromthenorthwoods.com/

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    Email the podcast at jill@startwithsmallsteps.com

    “Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.”

    Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

    “The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved”.


    Bible Maps and images used with permission from https://www.bible.ca/maps/ or https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/bj-ot-world/

    Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software. Free for non-commercial use by individuals or organizations. May be presented before live audiences; may be posted on social media; may be re-distributed. May not be used commercially. May not be modified or included in published works without permission; contact permissions@faithlife.com. Attribute as: “Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software ()”.

    By choosing to watch this video or listen to this podcast, you acknowledge that you are doing so of your own free will. The content shared here reflects personal experiences and opinions and is intended for informational and inspirational purposes only. I am not a licensed healthcare provider, psychiatrist, or counselor. Any advice or suggestions offered should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice. You are solely responsible for any decisions or actions you take based on this content.
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    11 m
  • Philippians 4 — Anxiety, Joy, and the Peace of God

    Philippians 4 — Anxiety, Joy, and the Peace of God
    Feb 23 2026
    Peace that doesn't make sense. That's what Philippians 4 is actually about. Not the kind of calm you manufacture by thinking positive thoughts or avoiding the news — the kind that shows up in the middle of real fear, real anxiety, real uncertainty, and doesn't have a logical explanation. Paul wraps up his letter to the Philippians with some of the most quoted verses in Scripture, and in this episode we slow down and look at what they actually mean — including what they don't mean.When Faithful People Conflict Paul opens the chapter by naming two women — Euodia and Syntyche — who were genuine, devoted workers in the gospel and yet were caught in a real conflict with each other. Paul doesn't dismiss them or shame them. He asks the church to help them reconcile. Unity isn't just a nice idea — it's something the whole community is responsible for tending.Rejoice Always — But What Does That Mean? "Rejoice in the Lord always" is one of those phrases that can sound hollow if you're in the middle of something hard. Paul isn't talking about cheerfulness or pretending everything's fine. Joy in the Lord is something deeper — rooted in knowing that God is sovereign and that the story doesn't end with whatever is happening right now.Gentleness, Reasonableness, and Letting Go Paul says to let your reasonableness — or gentleness — be known to everyone. The Greek word points to something like graciousness: not gripping tightly to your own position, not being combative, giving people the gift of your patience. This isn't weakness. It's a posture that reflects where your real security lies.Do Not Be Anxious — And Here's How Paul doesn't just say "stop worrying." He gives us something to do with the worry: bring it to God. Prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving — not after you see how things turn out, but now, in the middle of it. The promise that follows is remarkable: a peace that genuinely doesn't make sense given the circumstances, guarding your heart and mind in Christ Jesus."I Can Do All Things" — What Paul Actually Meant One of the most misquoted verses in the Bible shows up here. Paul isn't saying God will help you accomplish any goal you set. He's saying he can endure any circumstance — plenty or poverty, freedom or prison — because Christ sustains him. Context matters, and this one changes everything about how the verse lands.Fix Your Mind, Not Just Your Behavior Paul closes with his famous list — whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable — and asks us to think on these things. This isn't about ignoring darkness. It's about where you aim your focus. Like a cyclist heading toward the rut instead of away from it, what we stare at shapes where we go. Peace isn't generated by willpower. It's guarded by God when we keep our eyes fixed on Him.Philippians 4 ties the whole letter together. Citizenship in heaven, eyes fixed forward, joy that holds even under pressure — it's all connected to where we set our minds. Paul wrote this from prison, so he knew exactly what he was asking. And he also knew exactly what was possible. That's worth sitting with.Download blank templates, schedules here:https://schmern2.notion.site/Downloads-Template-Word-and-Excel-Schedule-67439d14449d4c20bfe00efe069f78b8Logos RAMPS Workflow - RAMPS Bible Study - The Bible in Small Steps in Logos WorkflowsJill’s Linkshttps://jillfromthenorthwoods.com/https://www.youtube.com/@smallstepswithgodhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/smallstepspodhttps://twitter.com/schmernEmail the podcast at jill@startwithsmallsteps.com“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.”Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.“The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved”.Bible Maps and images used with permission from https://www.bible.ca/maps/ or https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/bj-ot-world/Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software. Free for non-commercial use by individuals or organizations. May be presented before live audiences; may be posted on social media; may be re-distributed. May not be used commercially. May not be modified or included in published works without permission; contact permissions@faithlife.com. Attribute as: “Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software ()”.By choosing to watch this video or listen to this ...
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