Grow Deep. Reach Out. That’s who we are. That’s what we do. May this podcast remind you that you are a beloved child of God, and we have a lot of work to do together.
Today, we hear the passion narrative from the gospel of Luke as reading and Gospel and sermon...
Scripture: Luke 22-23
Song: "Sins Are Stones" written by J.M. McMillan; performed by the Prince of Peace worship band
Jesus gets into a conversation about waste and worship and wealthy and poor with his disciples today. He ends it with a familiar phrase “the poor will always be with us. What does it mean for us, as followers of Jesus who want to work against poverty, that the poor will be with us? Does it directly contradict our work? Why do anything if it won’t make a difference? What if we have been reading this one wrong the whole time?
Scripture: Phil 3:4b-14; John 12:1-8
Song: "Unashamed" written by D. McKelvey, et al.; performed by the Prince of Peace worship band
Our lives are shaped by the places we have called home along the way. But those places tend to change over time and we certainly change as well. Today we will explore how our Christian faith might affect the ways we think about home, and whether or not we can go there again.
Scripture: Psalm 32, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Song: "You've Set Me Free" written by Nate Bergengren; performed by the Prince of Peace worship band
The world is a broken place. We are broken people. You feel it. We struggle to make sense of it, and when things get really bad it’s old habit to think that hardship and tragedy are God’s way of punishment. Frankly, it’s easier to think that sin causes suffering, and if we just make good choices, follow the right path, we can avoid it altogether. But it’s Lent, and Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to do away with this whole idea--make a new way and give us something better. Now, the question is: what are we going to do about it?
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9
Song: "Reckless Love" written by C. Culver, et al.; performed by the Prince of Peace worship band
Jesus uses two animal metaphors (my favorite!) today in his word of judgment on the people of Jerusalem. There is a lot of backstory packed into this short Gospel message, so let’s dig in and see what Jesus means here as he “sets his face towards Jerusalem” and in our second week in Lent - so too do we.
Scripture: Psalm 27:1-6; Luke 13:31-35
Song: "Unwavering" written by Matt Maher; performed by the Prince of Peace worship band
WATCH THE VIDEO: The Narcissist's Footnote
Have you ever been stranded in the wilderness or had your car break down in the middle of nowhere? They say the vast majority of survival situations are resolved in the first 72 hours. Jesus once spent 40 days out in the wilderness and found himself in some dangerous situations. Today we will equip ourselves with the kind of survival system Jesus recommends.
Scripture: Psalm 91: 1-2, 9-16; Luke 4:1-14
Song: "You Say" written by J. Ingram, et al; performed by the Prince of Peace worship band
WATCH THE VIDEOS...
The Wall Doctor Rx
The Seventy2 Survival System
We are dust. We will be dust again. But God breathed life into dust once, and God will do it again. On this day, we look death in the face and defiantly declare that it will not win.
Scripture: Romans 6:1-9; Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
We’ve all had them, these mountaintop experiences. Moments where God has felt so close and so bright and so real. And when you’ve had that experience, it’s easy to want to stay there. To build tents and “dwell” as the disciples say in today’s Gospel. It’s easy to think of this transfiguration as a thing that can only happen on the mountaintop. But we have to come back down, to the valley, where life is. I once heard the phrase, “we don’t have to stay on the mountain, the mountain gives us gifts so that the mountain stays with us.” What does the mountain gift you today that you can bring with you?
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-36
Song: "Transfiguration" written by Aodhan King, et al.; performed by the Prince of Peace worship band
Joseph’s story is much more than a popular Broadway musical. The story involves deep family dysfunction, identity politics, human exploitation, and all kinds of treachery. And just when it looks like everyone is going to get what they have coming, redemption.
Scripture: Genesis 45:1-15; Luke 6:27-38
Song: "Come As You Are" written by B. Glover et al.; performed by the Prince of Peace band
We have a series of blessings in front of us, ones that don’t quite match what we think of when we hear people say they are so blessed. I mean, it’s a hashtag for crying out loud. What happens when we compare this #blessed trend to this list of blessings from Jesus?
Scripture: Jeremiah 17:5-10; Luke 6:17-26
Song: "Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace)" written by J. Houston & J. Myrin; performed by the Prince of Peace worship band
Video: Blessed Are the Unemployed, Unimpressive, and Underrepresented (Nadia Bolz-Weber)
