The Tree Church Bible Study

Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem and the town is stirred. But Naomi finds no comfort in her homecoming. She asks to be called Mara - bitter - and names God as the one who has brought her back empty.

In this episode of the Tree Church Bible Study, Pastor Stacey Crawford and Pastor Chris Reed study Ruth 1:19-22 and open an extended conversation on the practice of lament. They explore why lament is woven throughout scripture, how Psalm 22 and Jesus's words from the cross give it shape, and why bringing honest grief before God is a mark of faith rather than a failure of it. The episode closes with a look at the barley harvest as a quiet early sign of God's coming provision in the story.

The Tree Church Bible Study podcast (TCBS) is created for the purpose of helping the Tree grow deeper in our understanding of the Scriptures. Join the conversation as we take an in depth look at different books of the Bible.
Access Show Notes and Extra Resources Here - Learn More
Join the TCBS Community and Ongoing Discussion about Scripture Here - Learn More

🎥 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZbEhfuCekJ0

The famine in Judah is over. Naomi decides to return home and releases her daughters-in-law to go back to their families and find new husbands. Orpah agrees. Ruth refuses.

In this episode of the Tree Church Bible Study, Pastor Stacey Crawford and Pastor Chris Reed study Ruth 1:6-18, unpacking Naomi's honest reckoning with God's discipline, the levirate law and its importance for vulnerable women in the ancient world, and the powerful moment when Ruth clings to Naomi in a vow of total commitment. The discussion explores what God's resistance looks like in a life of disobedience, how shame and guilt can either hinder or help us return to him, and what Ruth's loyalty reveals about the nature of faithful love throughout the rest of the book.

The Tree Church Bible Study podcast (TCBS) is created for the purpose of helping the Tree grow deeper in our understanding of the Scriptures. Join the conversation as we take an in depth look at different books of the Bible.
Access Show Notes and Extra Resources Here - Link
Join the TCBS Community and Ongoing Discussion about Scripture Here - Link

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ORq9i99LJOc

The Tree Church Bible Study podcast exists to help the Tree grow deeper in Scripture — taking an in-depth look through the books of the Bible, one passage at a time.
The Book of Ruth opens in the middle of loss. Pastor Stacey Crawford, Pastor Chris Reed, and Pastor Zach walk through the first five verses of Ruth chapter one — a famine, a family's journey to Moab, and the rapid succession of deaths that leaves Naomi alone with two foreign daughters-in-law and no clear way forward.
The pastors unpack the historical setting of the judges period, the significance of Moab, the meaning of the characters' names, and the complexity of Elimelech's decision to leave Bethlehem. The episode closes with honest personal stories about taking matters into their own hands — and a grounded reflection on obedience, sovereignty, and what it means to trust God when life is hard.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2kvp4X1v2eI
⁠Access Show Notes and Extra Resources Here⁠Join the TCBS Community and Ongoing Discussion about Scripture Here

The Tree Church Bible Study podcast exists to help the Tree grow deeper in Scripture — taking an in-depth look through the books of the Bible, one passage at a time.
This series opens a brand new study on the Book of Ruth with Pastor Stacey Crawford, Pastor Chris Reed, and Pastor Zach. Before diving into the text, the pastors cover everything you need to get started: authorship, literary genre, historical setting during the time of the judges, and the key themes running through all four chapters — redemption, faithfulness, God's sovereignty, and the surprising role of an unlikely foreigner in the line of King David and Jesus.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eQ1Lz2lkIiI
⁠Access Show Notes and Extra Resources Here⁠
Join the TCBS Community and Ongoing Discussion about Scripture Here

The Tree Church Bible Study wraps up its study of Acts in this final episode. Pastor Stacey Crawford, Pastor Chris Reed, and Pastor Phil Venrick pick up in Acts 28:23 as Paul spends a full day teaching the Jewish leaders in Rome. Some are persuaded. Others are not. Paul responds by quoting Isaiah's 700-year-old prophecy about people who cannot see or hear what God is doing - and the weight of that moment carries all the way into the present.

The group works through what hard-heartedness looks like in everyday life, why Paul's announcement about the Gentiles is both beautiful and sobering, and what Luke's open-ended conclusion is really asking of the church. The episode closes with honest personal reflection on what Acts has meant to each of them and what it looks like to keep walking as part of the story God is still writing.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3i64CqggjT0