BibleProject Podcast Episode Summary

Looking Back at 2025 and Ahead to 2026

Date: December 29, 2025
Hosts: John, Tim, and Steve
Theme: Reflecting on 2025’s achievements, stories, and resources; unveiling what’s ahead for BibleProject in 2026.

Episode Overview

In this special year-end tradition, John, Tim, and Steve gather to look back at the highlights of 2025 for BibleProject—from new resources and stories of community impact to themes explored in podcasts and videos. The team shares memorable listener stories, noteworthy milestones, and a preview of exciting content planned for 2026, all with their signature warmth and humor.

Key Topics, Insights, and Notable Moments

Opening Reflections and Community Focus

• Year-End Tradition: Steve notes this is his fifth annual wrap-up episode.
  "It's what I'm living for, John. Right here, man. I work out all year trying to get ready for this month." (00:29, Steve)
• Celebrating Listeners: The hosts express gratitude for the many stories and participation from the BibleProject community.
  "We want to… celebrate all of you who are listening who’ve been a part of this and celebrate what we’ve gotten to do together." (00:50, John)

Listener Impact Stories

• Patron Testimony: Steve shares a moving message from Natalie, who struggled to engage with the Bible until the BibleProject helped her.

  "I had reached a point where picking up the Bible felt like picking up a brick... Through the Bible Project, God healed my relationship with his Word and gave me a new taste and desire for it." (01:33, Steve quoting Natalie)

• Personal Resonance:
  "It’s like we’re working on something that’s working on us." (04:04, Steve)

New and Improved Resources

The "One Story" Reading Plan

• Significant Overhaul: The BibleProject’s flagship year-long reading plan on YouVersion received a substantial rewrite by their scholar team. "It’s kind of like having a Bible nerd that you’re reading the Bible along with helping you through literally every part of every book..." (05:14, Tim)
• Collaborative Experience and Encouragement:
  "You could actually do it with a group of people where you can have friends and connect with friends." (05:47, Steve)
  • Encouragement not to give up if you fall behind:
    "Just feel free to… pick up where the rest of the group is… don’t be burdened by it." (08:29, Steve)
• Humor: "If you read through the Bible in a year with us, you will have zero questions afterwards. That’s our Bible Project guarantee." (08:10, John, tongue-in-cheek)

The BibleProject App

• "We've never spent a lot of time, like, advertising our app... It's actually cool. Hundreds of thousands of people every month. It's a great way to listen to our podcast. It's a great way to do classroom." (30:02, John)

Major 2025 Themes and Series

Exodus-Themed Content

• Unique Themes of Exodus:
  • The team broke down major themes: Mountain, The Exodus Way, Redemption, and Wilderness.
  • Each theme became a video and/or podcast series.
  • Mountain Series: Explored the biblical symbolism of mountains as meeting places between God and humanity.
    • "When y’all told me you were doing a video on the mountain, I was like, oh, my goodness. We’re running out of topics." (10:13, Steve)
    • "But I was so wrong. It's about where heaven and earth meet. It was so good." (10:16–10:53, Steve)
  • Exodus Way: Liberation as an ongoing biblical pattern.
    • "That was a video that was on one of the first lists that I brought to you back in 2013." (11:27, Tim)
  • Redemption: Explored through the lens of reclaiming what’s lost, not just freeing slaves—a shift for Tim.

    "It was a much deeper rediscovery... We even shifted the fundamental definition of redemption." (13:14, Tim)

    • The “Repo man” analogy was memorable and made the theme accessible.
  • Wilderness: Fresh and meaningful to John.

    "The wilderness is a place that makes us ready… it felt really significant to me." (15:20, John)

Other Key Productions

• How the Bible Is Formed Mini-Series:

  • Explains the formation of the biblical canon, including the Catholic Deutero-canon and Protestant Apocrypha.
  • "We wanted to help course correct on that and introduce our audience to these really amazing Second Temple Jewish texts." (16:30, Tim)

• Advent Series:

  • Focused on four Advent words, continuing the tradition of new, accessible content tied to the church calendar.

BibleProject in Context: The "Movement"

• Beyond BibleProject:

  • John and the team emphasize that the most enduring legacy is not the videos, but promoting a culture shift towards reading the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus.
  • "This idea of the Bible’s one story is way bigger than this project... they're really getting excited about is the Bible..." (18:32–18:55, John)
  • "Its enduring legacy is that we've brought more language and culture around this idea..." (19:08, John)

• Stories of Global Impact:

  • Churches using BibleProject resources without attribution (focus is on Scripture, not on the brand).
    • "There was no mention of BibleProject. And it was just so great." (20:15–20:16, Steve)
  • The reach includes translation into over 55 languages and use in places as diverse as libraries in Rwanda, seminaries in Pakistan, and coffee shops in Bulgaria (see 24:36–26:20 for Melanie’s update).

• Grassroots Initiatives:

  • Nicole and Amber created a curriculum for kids/families based on the one-story paradigm (1storyfamily.org), showing how the movement is spreading organically.

Milestones & Community Highlights

• Podcast Milestone:
  "We've been doing this podcast for 10 years now... This is our 10th year as a podcast... near the end of 2025, we released our 500th episode." (32:12–32:45, John/Tim)

• Classroom Courses:

  • Genesis classes completed, launching Matthew classes for deeper study (27:43–28:46).
  • Classes made available in prison education programs via the Pando tablet (29:05, Steve).

• App Improvements: More coordination, easier navigation, and integration of all resources.

• Gratitude for Support Teams:

  • “Super encouraged by a group of volunteers that come to our office every Tuesday... Also for our prayer team... Over 80,000 people receive a monthly prayer email… And then lastly, is the 50,000 patrons that joined us this last year and are a part of what’s going on here and enable us to really to make the content, to scatter these seeds…” (38:38–41:03, Steve)

Looking Ahead to 2026

• Exodus Capstone: The Ten Commandments

  • Next video and podcast series will be an in-depth look at the Ten Commandments; each command will get its own episode and video.
  • "I was surprised as we started to work on it, how much more excited I got about the Ten Commandments..." (33:56, Tim)

• Podcast-Exclusive Mini-Series on Jude

  • Before the Ten Commandments series, a six-episode exploration of the Letter of Jude—an often-overlooked, "wild" New Testament text.
    • "Jude’s wild. It’s a wild ride." (36:13, Tim)
    • "I kind of forgot this was in the Bible." (37:10, John)
    • "It’s such a unique window into an early form of Christianity... different than Paul’s church planting movement." (37:32, John)

Notable Quotes

• "It’s like we’re working on something that’s working on us." (04:04, Steve)
• "The gift for me of being a part of this project is being able to live out our mission statement, where I feel like I’m experiencing the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus." (02:41, Steve)
• "Our most enduring legacy...is that we've brought more language and culture around this idea of reading the Bible this way." (19:08, John)
• "If you read through the Bible in a year with us, you will have zero questions afterwards. That’s our Bible Project guarantee." (08:10, John, joking)
• "It isn’t about us. And...if it wasn’t having an impact on people’s lives...then does it really need to be done?" (41:47, Steve)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Patron Story (“Natalie’s Comment”): 01:32–02:35

• One Story Reading Plan Announcement: 04:08–06:00

• Exodus Themes & Releases

  • Mountain: 09:14–10:56
  • Exodus Way: 10:55–11:44
  • Redemption: 12:01–13:57
  • Wilderness: 14:34–16:15

• How the Bible is Formed Series and Apocrypha: 16:15–17:26

• Local and Global Movement & Testimonies: 18:55–26:35

• Classroom/Prison Partnerships: 27:43–29:27

• App Updates: 30:02–31:57

• Podcast 10-Year Anniversary: 32:12–32:45

• What’s Next in 2026:

  • Ten Commandments: 33:16–34:52
  • Jude Miniseries: 34:58–38:27

• Thanking Volunteers, Prayer, Patrons: 38:35–42:59

Tone and Style

Energetic, thoughtful, playful, and transparent—a conversational tone that invites the audience to celebrate, reflect, and look ahead together. The hosts are honest about challenges, gleeful about successes, and always aware that their work is just a part of a much larger movement of people experiencing the Bible as a unified story leading to Jesus.

Summary Takeaway

The episode reaffirms BibleProject’s commitment to making the Bible accessible and exciting for everyone. With a blend of heartfelt stories, practical resources, major milestones, and behind-the-scenes glimpses, the team celebrates the global movement of reading the Bible as a unified story leading to Jesus—while teasing rich, new content for the coming year. The greatest legacy, they agree, is not in their content but in helping spur a worldwide cultural shift in how people engage with Scripture.