Nancy Guthrie has spent years helping Christians understand how the whole Bible fits together and how every part of Scripture leads us to behold Jesus Christ. She is a Bible teacher, author, host of Help Me Teach the Bible, and a graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary whose Biblical Theology Workshops have equipped Bible teachers across the United States and around the world.

In this conversation, Nancy joins Mike Neglia to discuss the relationship between biblical theology and faithful Bible teaching. She explains why understanding the Bible’s unfolding story should produce joy and assurance, how God’s plan is even better than Eden, and how teachers can point people to Christ without forcing Jesus into every detail of a passage.

Nancy also shares practical wisdom about sermon preparation and delivery. She reflects on the strengths and limitations of outlines and full manuscripts, the importance of loving people more than our notes, and why going off script is not always as spontaneous as it appears. She recommends resources for growing in biblical theology and introduces the vision behind the Beholding Christ project.

The conversation also looks back on Help Me Teach the Bible, the influential podcast in which Nancy interviewed skilled preachers and teachers about communicating particular books of Scripture faithfully and effectively. She reflects on what she learned from those conversations, including Iain Duguid’s approach to Judges and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and tells a moving story about the courage of Christians in Afghanistan.

This episode will encourage pastors, Bible study leaders and anyone who wants to understand the Scriptures more deeply, teach them more faithfully and help others see the beauty of Christ throughout the whole Bible.

Resources Mentioned:

Even Better Than Eden: Nine Ways the Bible’s Story Changes Everything about Your Story
Nancy’s official book page, including the nine biblical-theological themes running from Genesis to Revelation:
https://www.nancyguthrie.com/even-better-than-eden

Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
Nancy’s official page for her study of Revelation, focused on endurance, judgement, salvation and the coming new creation:
https://www.nancyguthrie.com/revelation

Why Middle Eastern Women Want to Learn to Teach the Bible
This is the episode containing the Afghan Christian woman, alongside women from several Middle Eastern countries. The Afghan participant discusses helping her husband minister through house churches and reaching women with the gospel.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/help-me-teach-the-bible/women-middle-east-want-learn-teach-bible/

Julius Kim on Teaching for Attention and Retention
Nancy Guthrie speaks with Julius Kim about communicating in ways that help listeners pay attention, understand and retain what they hear.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/help-me-teach-the-bible/julius-kim-teaching-retention/

Iain Duguid on Judges
Nancy and Iain Duguid discuss teaching Judges, understanding its structure and preaching Christ from one of the Bible’s darkest books.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/help-me-teach-the-bible/ian-duguid-on-judges/

In this episode of the Expositors Collective Podcast, Mike Neglia sits down with Pastor Tommy Cota for a conversation about conversion, calling, sermon preparation, and the ongoing work of growing as a Bible teacher.

Tommy shares the remarkable story of how Jesus transformed his life after years of alcohol and drug use and five and a half years in the California state prison system. Following his release from prison in January 2000, and through the faithful prayers of his wife, Diana, Tommy surrendered his life to Jesus Christ on June 11, 2000. During the conversation, Mike and Tommy discover that they both came to faith in Christ at almost exactly the same time, in southern California.

Their conversation traces Tommy's journey from an unlikely small men's Bible study that became an incubator for future pastors, to Calvary Chapel's School of Ministry and eventually pastoral ministry at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. In 2014, Tommy stepped out in faith to plant Hope Alive Church, with a heart to reach the people of Santa Ana with the hope found in Jesus Christ.

Mike and Tommy also get practical about the craft of preaching. They discuss Tommy's experience teaching through Genesis, the dangers of Bible studies that go on far too long, and why Tommy has intentionally reduced the size of his "commentary stack" during sermon preparation. They reflect on what happens when authors you once considered a little too "out there" start making sense, and the importance of internalising a sermon so thoroughly that, when you step into the pulpit, you aren't "married to your notes."

Along the way, Mike shares some reflections from his own experience teaching through Revelation, as two pastors at different stages of long-term Bible exposition compare notes on trusting the text, learning from others, and continuing to grow as preachers.

Tommy Cota is the pastor of Hope Alive Church in Santa Ana, California. He and his wife, Diana, have been married since 1990 and have three children and three grandchildren. Tommy and several other pastors are also featured in the documentary The Neighborhood, which tells the story of pastors and churches serving communities affected by gangs and violence in Southern California.

For information about our upcoming training events visit ExpositorsCollective.com

Join our private Facebook group to continue the conversation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExpositorsCollective