Mark 9–16: Formed in God’s Story

How does the cross save us? This free course draws on Jesus’ teaching and actions in Mark 9-16 to answer that question.

With the Messiah’s identity revealed in Mark 8:29, the second half of Mark’s Gospel is all about the Messiah’s mission to save a world that wants to be rid of him. How does he make atonement between heaven and earth … with a cross?

Over six Wednesday evenings in August/September 2026, we’ll hear and see Jesus’ answers to those questions, as he teaches us about the cross and shoulders it to redeem the world.

Each week we’ll upload notes here ahead of time, with podcasts of the night added after the event. Bookmark this page, and they’re yours.

If you live in Perth (Western Australia), you can attend the sessions in person at Riverview Church. There’s no charge, but please register so we can provide a chair for you.

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The (in)justice of forgiveness

Jesus knows that asking us to forgive feels like asking us to place a crossbeam on our shoulders.

What sort of justice system asks us to forgive people who don’t deserve it? If you struggle to forgive, you’re not alone. It’s not a natural desire. Jesus went out on a limb with this one.

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Mark 1–8: Formed in God’s Story

Free course to explore the Gospel of Mark.

Update 2026-06-18: Added podcasts for Week 6, and the full notes as a single PDF .

Ready for a deep dive into the Gospel of Mark? We’ll cover Mark 1–8 in May/June 2026, and complete Mark 9–16 in Aug/Sep.

Wherever you live, you can download the notes (PDF) and podcasts (MP3) each week. You can also download the FULL NOTES (all 6 weeks combined).

Schedule

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The Last Supper

On the eve of Good Friday this year (2026), a few of us are getting together to reenact Jesus’ final meal. It was Passover, but we are not having a full Seder. Gentiles imitating them could be offensive to some Jews, and Passover prior to AD 70 was not the same as practiced today.

Passover was a celebration of God liberating his people in Moses’ time, opening the way for the Sinai covenant that established Jacob’s family as a kingdom of God. It also anticipated the day when God would free his people again to be a kingdom of God. That hope takes an unexpected turn in the meal Jesus led.

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The justice of the cross

How will you describe the justice of the cross this Easter?

In what sense was the cross of Christ just?

The cross was a execution device, a slow, painful, public death intended for insurrectionists like Barabbas (Luke 23:19). Someone caught financing the fight against Rome could say, “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41).

Even by the standards of the Roman empire, there was no justice in the cross of Christ:

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Exploring the Bible

Join us in person or by podcast for this free course on the grand narrative of the Bible, and our place in what God is doing on earth.

UPDATE 2026-03-19: Added final podcasts and full notes.

What is the Bible? Where did its books come from? What is the story line? How does it shape the way we live in relationship with God today?

Whether you’re new to the Bible or have been reading it for years, you won’t want to miss this. If you wondered how the laws of the Old Testament apply to us, or how the wars of King David fit with Jesus’ teachings, this is for you. What do we need to know to benefit from the poetry of the Psalms or the challenge of the Prophets? How does Jesus fit with Israel’s story? How does grace fit with the Law? How do first century letters shape the church today?

Was the Bible inspired by God or written by people with their own language and worldview? How do we meet God in Scripture? What do we do when we’re not sure what it’s saying?

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Postcard from the Psalms

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! (Psalm 84:1). What did that mean when they penned those words in Old Testament times? What does it mean for us as we receive their words today?

This podcast demonstrates how to hear the Psalms as inspired Scripture, first in their setting, then in ours. Apply this example to the other 149 Psalms, and see the whole book come alive in its original setting and in light of Christ.

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Formed in God’s Story: Romans 9–16

Join is in person or by podcast for twelve sessions in the second half of Romans.

Update 2025-09-11: Added final pocasts, and full notes.

Where does the gospel take us? What kind of world is created as the Spirit of God sets us right through trust in his Anointed? What kind of community develops as people do right by each other as the expression of faithfulness to God, mirroring the way God in Christ did right by his earthly realm out of his faithfulness to us?

Romans 9–16 explores these questions. We are no longer a divided, warring people, for those who were not God’s people are now called God’s people. We offer ourselves in God’s service, to love each other sincerely, sharing meals together as the Father’s family, embodying the transformation that comes to the world as we recognize God’s Christ is our Lord.

In August/September 2025, we’re exploring these chapters together, with two sessions each Wednesday evening. The notes are available as a single PDF  covering Romans 9-16, or as separate PDFs for each week along with the podcasts below .

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God’s Story shapes us (podcast) (2 Timothy 3)

You might move continents if you received the right opportunity. God is calling you to live in his God-breathed story, to participate in something far bigger than you own brief lifetime.

This podcast (30 minutes) was recorded 18 May 2025 at Riverview Church 18 May 2025 as part of series in 2 Timothy.

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Invitation to Romans

Update 2020-06-14: Notes and podcasts are now available for all sessions, along with a PDF of the notes for all six weeks.

Fourteen years ago, I set out to seek the kingdom of God, the centre of Jesus’ teaching and mission. Nine years ago, I launched this blog to share the results. Now I’m ready to apply this research to the book of Romans.

The kingdom perspective brings freshness and depth to familiar words like gospel, faith, righteousness, and salvation. These life-giving words restore relationship between heaven and earth, revealing how our heavenly sovereign, out of faithfulness to us has done right by us in providing his Christ as our Lord. This gospel calls for us to respond with faithfulness to him, so his life in us results in us being right with him and doing right by him in response, so earth is restored as a mirror of heaven’s faithfulness and righteousness to us. That’s the impact of the gospel we see in Romans.

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Podcast – Genesis 12

This podcast (22 min) covers the topics blogged on Genesis 12:

Included posts:

You can download the notes on Genesis 11–12, or the full notes for the series (75-page PDF).

This is the final podcast from the series Formed in God’s Story: Genesis 1–12.

Previous podcasts:

Abram and this world’s rulers (Genesis 12:10-20)

What happens to God’s plans to save the world if we’re unfaithful? Abram’s encounter with Pharaoh has the answers.

God partners with Abraham to save the world. The flaw in God’s plan is God’s determination to partner with us. Haven’t we already seen that the world is unsustainable when humans are unfaithful to God? (Genesis 6:5-13)

What if Abraham is unfaithful? Won’t our unfaithfulness destroy what God is building through us? Won’t our unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? (Romans 3:3)

God’s whole kingdom project seems unstable:

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Kingdom: partnership with God (Genesis 12:1-9)

In calling Abraham, God begins the mission of restoring heaven’s reign to the nations of the earth.

The whole earth belongs under God’s sovereign authority, but the nations went their own way (Genesis 10) and the kingdoms tried to take over God’s world (Genesis 11). God responds by calling Abraham into partnership with himself.

God launches a different kind of kingdom. Genesis 12 is the bridge from the nations to God’s nation. Abraham is the bridge to a new world in partnership with divine leadership:

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The nations (Genesis 10)

What’s the point of listing the nations in Genesis 10? It’s a big deal in the big story.

Chapter 10 is a new family story. We heard the tô·lē·ḏôṯ of Noah (6:9). Now it’s the tôlēḏôṯ of Noah’s sons (10:1, 32).

It’s about the nations descended from Noah’s sons. The nations go their own way, so God will call Abraham to establish a nation — a nation to restore the blessing that the nations are missing (Genesis 12:1-3).

Naturally, the list of nations only covers the nations Israel knew. There’s nothing about the cultures of ancient China or south America, nothing on the first nations of Australia. But don’t let that dimmish your appreciation for what Israel was doing by recognizing the other nations:

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