The Bible Explored with Rico Tice

Although 1 Cor 13 is the great love portrait in scripture, Rico shows why it is not the most appropriate passage to use at a wedding. He explains the priority, portrait and perseverance of love and touches on the subject of speaking in tongues.

Rico explains what the Holy Spirit does in someone's life before they become a Christian and elaborates on what the Spirit continues to do in the believer after their conversion. He explains what the gifts of the Spirit are and their purpose.

There are times when our past sins come back to us and the belief that we still need to repent becomes real. Rico shows us that once we have repented and been forgiven by God, no charge can ever be brought against us.

Although it can sometimes be difficult to see how God works all things together for our good, Rico gives us clear examples of times when this has happened in recent history and how this gives us real hope in our struggles.

Although the doctrine of original sin is unpopular to some, Rico explains this doctrine from Romans 5 and shows how it is fundamental to the gospel. He shows how simply knowing that something is wrong doesn't stop us from doing it.

In the light of the great commission to go and preach the gospel, Rico takes us through Acts 18 and shows us the example of the apostle Paul's preaching and how this can be used by us today as we seek to witness to an ungodly society.

Although the gospel message unites believers, Rico is at pains to remind us that the proclamation of the gospel will always bring division. He also explains how forgiveness and justification are two sides of the same coin and what they mean.

Whilst some view history as a series of random, unconnected events, Rico takes us right through Acts 13 to demonstrate how that everything that has ever happened in the world has been orchestrated and brought about by God.

When a person's life is dramatically changed by something they suddenly realise, we call it a 'Damascus Road experience'. Rico takes us through the original Damascus Road experience that Saul had when he encountered Jesus for himself.

Rico encourages us to cross the pain line in our evangelism and believe that as we speak about Christ, God will do the miracle of opening blind eyes.

As Rico explores the occasion when Peter and John heal the crippled man at the temple gate as recorded in Acts 3, he asks whether Christians should pray for miraculous healings today.

Whilst the work of bringing people to salvation is what Christ does through the power of the Holy Spirit, Rico explains that we can play our part by showing what Christ has done in our own lives.

As some of today's children become increasingly defiant, Rico unpacks the principles of good parenting set out in Ephesians 6v4. Rico challenges himself as to whether he and his wife demonstrate a good example to their own children

With our present culture telling us that we are free to do as we wish provided nobody else gets hurt as a result, Rico shows us the Biblical principles of sexual intimacy and explains the difference between lust and love.

In the face of the assertion that we are only sinners because we do sinful things, Rico uses the words of Jesus who said that "it's what's inside a person's heart that defiles him" to explain original sin and the grace of God.

Rico uses the example of the relationship that Kate Middleton had with the future King of England to show us from Ephesians chapter 2 how we, as Christians, have been brought into a relationship with the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.

Our natural instinct will cause us to choose evil over good, so therefore it is not possible for us to discover Christ in and of ourselves. Rico explains how it's the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to see who Christ is.

Whilst many people think that freedom means being able to do as I please, Rico turns that idea completely on its head by showing that true freedom for the believer can only be found in humbly serving others.

Rico continues his studies in the book of Galatians and shows what it was like for the Apostle Paul to be rejected by the Christians of his day because they would not accept his rebuke of their false teaching.

As Rico takes us into the book of Galatians, he explains how painful it must have been to the Apostle Paul to be falsely accused of not preaching the true gospel, when his accusers were actually the ones who were corrupting it.

Rico takes us into the Upper Room with Jesus and reveals fresh truths as Christ shared the Last Supper with His disciples. He draws our attention to the fact that, astonishingly, Judas was given a place of honour in the room by Jesus.

Whilst God supplies us with everthing we need for our existence on this earth, Rico explains from the parable in Matthew21 that we are not the owners of the world but merely tenants.

As Rico takes us through the events of Palm Sunday, he shows that Jesus riding on a donkey was a sign of power not weakness. Rico explains how that Jesus being in control of the situation then gives us hope when our circumstances are difficult.

Rico explains that a gospel that doesn't include the judgement to come is deficient because salvation can only be real if we know what we are being saved from.

In a world full of evil and hatred, Rico asks where God is in the midst of it all. Rico shows how currently evil and good live together in this world but shows how they will be separated in a coming day.

As Jesus is invited to a meal with a wealthy tax collector, Rico highlights who else is on the guest list and the embarrassing conversations that ensue over the meal.

Whilst everything we have and own has been given to us by God, Rico makes it clear that we should not not let our possessions blind us to our dependence on God,. We should instead be thankful to Him every day.

The Lord's Prayer is one of the most well-known prayers throughout the world. Rico unpacks the request "Give us today our daily bread" word by word to make us consider what it really means.

With many people trying to live their lives according to the Sermon on the Mount, Rico explains how meekness is power under control and sees Christ as the ultimate example of this.

Rico unpacks the real meaning of the often quoted word 'repentance'. He shows how it is possible to acknowledge God as the Lord of creation but not to submit to Him as Lord of our life.

Rico explains that it is possible to live in this world as though we own it. He shows that when God, the maker and owner of all things, comes into His world looking for our allegiance, we throw Him out and kill Him.

It's been said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But Rico shows how even as Christians we want to wield our power over others as he looks at two of Christ's disciples trying to make their demands on Jesus.

Using the parable of the mustard seed, Rico explains that the end result of the Kingdom of God is far greater than its beginning which started with twelve people. Rico shows how this growth happens in the same way in our spiritual lives.

With Rico having spent his life as an evangelist, he uses the parable of the sower to show that the gospel in itself isn't lacking when it comes to salvation, but that the problem lies in the type of soil into which the seed is sown.

With Christianity coming increasingly under fire, Rico asks if it's wise for us to question the Bible. He looks at how Jesus responded when when someone who knew the Scriptures questioned him about them.

The Christianity Explored course is based on three questions; Who is Jesus? Why did He come? and What does it mean to follow Him? Rico answers these questions in a simple yet profound way using Mark's gospel.

Rico asks what our deepest problem is and then examines what happens if that need is met. Rico uses the incident of when a crippled man was healed to show that there was a deeper problem that needed to be addressed.

Using the founder of the Salvation Army, General William Booth, as his example, Rico explains why we must see Hell as a reality, and points us to the references Christ made to it throughout His public ministry.

Rico looks at what constitutes our conscience and concludes that it's our awareness of future judgement. He looks at John the Baptist confronting King Herod and shows how it's the perfect example of speaking truth to power.

Rico analyses the assertion by Seigmund Freud that Christianity is just a crutch for weak people who need support. Rico also looks at why Jesus asked His disciples in Mark chapter 8 "Who do you say I am?"

Whilst the Bible makes it clear that all power is to be found in Jesus, Rico shows that Christ's power was shown throughout His time on this earth, not by Him being served by others, but by Him serving them.

Salvation through the cross offers us us eternal life with Christ, but Rico explains that we not only need salvation from our sin, but salvation from the eternal judgement of hell.

The Christianity Explored course is based on three questions; Who is Jesus? Why did He come? and what does it mean to follow Him? But Rico is at pains to stress that following Christ will also bring opposition and rejection.

Rico analyses the "scarcity mindset" in the light of one of Christ's post resurrection appearances, and shows what is meant by Jesus being the sustainer and upholder of everything in the universe.

As the apostle Peter denies his Lord three times, Rico sets out the safeguards we, as Christians, can put in place to avoid the temptation of denying our Lord and Master.

With the resurrection of Jesus being the proof that Christ has defeated death, Rico uses eye witness evidence to refute the objection: how do we know it's true?

Being a witness for Christ today can sometimes seem like an impossible mission, but Rico shows how that we do not witness alone but in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Becoming a Christian gives us real hope and a joy that cannot be taken away. But Rico warns us that because we are Christ's followers, the world will hate us for it.

Rico shows us Christian leadership through three pictures of Christ: His meekness in riding into Jerusalem, His power in raising the dead, and His power over weakness and the seed.

Rico, together with Oxford scientist Dr Ard Louis, unpacks the question of whether modern science rules out miracles, set against the arguments of Richard Dawkins and the theory of natural selection