After Paul established the doctrine of justification through faith in Christ, he begins to extrapolate the benefits that manifest in the life of the believer for past healing, present peace, and future hope.

We see the standard for a relationship with God is justification through faith, not works or the law.

In Romans 3:21-31, we see righteousness evident in God, His Son and His people.

We see in Rom 3 how Paul clarifies that Jew, Gentiles and even the believers are sinners. It is a problem throughout human history.

The Lord shifts our focus from the unrighteousness of the Gentile to the unrighteousness of the Jew, showing that God is impartial in both judgement and reward.

We see that the Lord provided enough for every one to know him. And as a result, what our responsibility is to make him known.

Paul expresses his heart to be with the church in Rome and to establish them in the faith through the preaching of The Gospel. 

We kick off the book of Romans by looking at the descriptions of Jesus, Paul and the believers at Rome. They each have different paths, but there are lessons to learn from each.

The Old Testament ends with Malachi 4, as the Lord gives final warnings of the wrath to come and promises of healing through His son, Jesus.

In Malachi 3, the Lord foretells of future messengers that will bring a new covenant and redeem God’s people back to Himself. This prophecy is drastically contrasted with the cold-hearted distance of Israel in the time of Malachi. The Lord beckons His people to return unto Him.

We look at the promises in scripture surrounding tribulation and persecution and see themes on how to get through them.

In Malachi 2, we see the failure of mankind to keep the covenants of God. This failure results in broken relationships and painful consequences in life, but praise be to God, that through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, a new covenant was established.

In Malachi 1, the Lord reminds Israel of His love for them, but confronts their disobedience and lack of reverence through their priestly sacrifices, which were abysmal. In this confrontation, we learn that both Jew and Gentile fall short of the glory of God, yet His glory will be on display throughout the nations when He offers the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God.

We look at the prophecies of Christ in Zechariah and explore how so many people missed his first coming. We consider tools to fight missing the Lord's leading in our lives.

We see a promise of restoration and coming communion between God and His people. We see doctrinal and inspirational aspects of this communion.

Zechariah's vision of a constant supply of olive oil to the lamp changes everything. We look at different candlesticks, the maintenance and ultimately the different aspects of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

We contrast two early points of Zecharaiah's message: the sins of the fathers and the measuring lines. We see they are complimentary in that we must measure ourselves to Christ, not our fathers, tradition or some other standard.

We start the book of Zechariah with a specific look into his role and perspectives in his prophesying and preaching.

Seeking God's direction and strength through prayer is fundamental to any fruitfulness in ministry.

As the remnant continued to build the second temple, God instructs His people to not compare the former temple with the new one, promising them that the new one would inhabit more glory; but God isn't just building the temple - He's also building holiness in His people through the process.