Topical Series

Today Pastors Clint and Michael introduce Pride and Greed as part of the seven deadly sins. Pride, often called the chief sin, is the innate human temptation to evaluate the value of our lives based upon the perception of others and to reach for privilege and power for our own sake. Greed flows out of our innate human temptation to acquire more things in the hope of filling our restless souls. Tho...

In this introductory conversation, Pastors Clint and Michael explore the basic vocabulary, history, cultural impact, and theological foundation that will be necessary for studying the seven deadly sins and their corresponding virtues. Don't miss this important conversation and don't miss a single vice or virtue released every Tuesday morning through the season of Lent! Be sure to share this with a...

Lots of us think that we know something about the 7 deadly sins, join Pastors Clint and Michael as they introduce their new podcast series (which will be recorded live) where they explore both the 7 deadly sins (Vices) but also their opposing Virtues. This will be a thoughtful and engaging series where we are all invited to explore how easy it is for these sins to take root in our lives and how im...

Join Pastors Clint and Michael as they offer some concluding thoughts on how Christians can live a more unhindered life. No matter what we have learned about ourselves in the midst of this self-assessment, it all hinges on whether we are willing to put that knowledge into practice. Don't miss this down to earth conclusion of the Unhindered series! Download the Unhindered Self-Assessments Here: Pra...

Let's be honest, no one is perfect and, unfortunately, that means you aren't perfect either. Join Pastors Clint and Michael as they discuss the many pitfalls that often get in the way of Christians living out the faith. Though taking an honest assessment of our lives isn't often easy, it is absolutely essential to become the kind of people who are marked by the grace and love of Jesus Christ. Down...

The central message of the Christian faith is the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Today the Pastors invite you to explore how that forgiveness has made a difference in your own life. Do you find yourself getting angry with others quickly or do you keep a long list of wrongs? Maybe you been unable to forgive yourself for something that you have done (or left undone)? Let's explore grace together. Down...

Today the Pastors explore what our relationships with others can to teach us about the state of our own spiritual health. For those with eyes to see, our closest relationships can become a mirror that reveal our greatest strengths and deepest burdens, a glimpse that can become a catalyst for becoming more Christ like people of faith. Join the Pastors for this engaging conversation about our relati...

The power of the good news of Jesus Christ transforms Christians from the inside out. Therefore, any deep reflection on the Christian life must explore our personal conduct and, ultimately, our character. Join the Pastors as they explore how our attitude and demeaner can all be signs of our spiritual health and what practical steps we can take to deepen our "everyday faith. " Download This Week's...

Many have wanted to spend more time in prayer and spiritual study, but few have been able to "find the time." Today, the Pastors introduce the first self-assessment in our Unhindered series. Join the conversation as we examine the things that demand our attention, and we address the most common traps for those seeking to grow deeper in their faith. Download This Week's Unhindered Self-Assessment H...

Many have wanted to spend more time in prayer and spiritual study, but few have been able to "find the time." Today, the Pastors introduce the first self-assessment in our Unhindered series. Join the conversation as we examine the things that demand our attention, and we address the most common traps for those seeking to grow deeper in their faith. ????Download This Week's Unhindered Self-Assessme...

The New Year presents a renewed opportunity to take an honest assessment of our spiritual health, to intentionally connect with a Christian community, and to resolve to dig deeper in our own faith and discipleship. In this introductory conversation Pastors Clint and Michael explore how easily our faith can become hindered and how small steps, carefully chosen, can help shape us into women and men...

Join Pastors Clint and Michael as they start a new series called Unhindered. Throughout this seven-week series, they will offer a new survey tool every week to assess the strengths and growth areas of your own personal faith along with practical tools to make 2022 a year of deep faith and Christian discipleship. Please share this series with anyone who you think would like to deepen their faith th...

Have you ever thought about your Christmas traditions theologically? Join Pastors Clint and Michael as they explore the rich variety of Christmas stories and themes and discuss how these things direct our attention, intentionally and unintentionally, on things other than Christ. At the end of the day, we discover that it isn't the stuff of Christmas that is the problem, but unwillingness slow down...

Have you ever considered how your Christmas decorations and family traditions affect your family's celebration of the birth of Christ? Today, Pastors Clint and Michael dig into the history, theology, and practical implications of our holiday traditions. Regardless of how you deck your halls, you will likely learn something new about the celebration of Christmas and be encouraged to reconsider thos...

Christmas is a strange season where sacred and secular blend together. Today the pastors discuss what Christians should think and do about all of the Christmas entertainment? Is there any sacred left in the songs and movies of a culture obsessed with Santa Clause and White Christmases? Join Pastors Clint and Michael for a lively conversation (that exposes very different assumptions) about what Chr...

How long has Christmas been celebrated like what we think of as Christmas? In today's episode, we learn that, surprisingly, it hasn't been very long. Join Pastors Clint and Michael as they explore the nuanced history, culture, and impact that our changing Christmas celebrations have had on Christians' celebrations of the birth of Christ for thousands of years. Starting with the fundamental awarene...

The Pastor Talk weekly podcast will be taking a couple weeks off for the Thanksgiving break but we will be back on December 2nd for a 4 week Advent series we are calling “Too Much Christmas?” This series will be a light-hearted look at Christmas through the lenses of Scripture, culture, tradition, and nostalgia. We hope you will join us as Pastor Michael (a self-described Christmas fanatic) and Pa...

In this series conclusion, Pastors Clint and Michael explore the many questions left behind by the missional conversation, especially how these conversations become practical in the life and practice within a church. Be sure to stay tuned to the end for when the Pastors make predictions as to what challenges and strategies that future generations of the Church might engage in their efforts to be f...

Today Pastors Clint and Michael welcome Dr. Darrell Guder to the Pastor Talk podcast. Dr. Guder has written several influential works in missional theology and served for much of his career as a professor of missional theology. In fact, it was that capacity that both Clint and Michael had the opportunity to study with him during their time in Seminary. Today's conversation invites us to consider b...

Today Pastors Clint and Michael are overjoyed to welcome Amgad Beblawi to the Pastor Talk podcast. Amgad is the Mission Executive for three PC(USA) Presbyteries in northwest Iowa and he is actively involved in helping over 100 churches foster and grow in their missional identities. Today's conversation explores how Amgad's understanding of the the missional church has been shaped by his internatio...

Have the Pastors convinced you that every Christian needs to have a missional identity? So what next? What does it actually mean to be missional? Join Pastors Clint and Michael as they explore these foundational questions and provide some suggestions for how every Christian (and congregation) can begin to make this missional identity part of their core spiritual DNA. Be sure to share this with any...

If Christians are going to take on a missional identity, we will inevitably wrestle with who we are called to serve. In a world with finite resources but infinite need, Christians must grapple with the tension between helping those near to us and those far away. In this conversation, Pastors Clint and Michael explore how both of these held together in Christian discipleship are necessary for shapi...

Living into Christ's mission has never been easy. In fact, it has always required careful attention and deliberate effort. Today, Pastors Clint and Michael explore some of the barriers that stand in the way of both our individual and communal efforts to become Christians defined by our mission. In particular, the Pastors discuss how Fear, Focus, Forgetfulness, and Faith can all serve as real barri...

In this conversation, Pastors Clint and Michael turn the mission focus to you. Do you consider yourself a missionary or do you think that missionaries are only professionals trained and sent overseas? As the contemporary church surveys our quickly changing culture, we have been forced to return to some of the most fundamental questions of the faith such as "who is called to be a witness to the sav...

On one hand, the mission of the church is simple, to be faithful to Jesus Christ. On the other hand, it requires commitment from both the individual and the community to be humble enough to be open for direction and courageous enough to follow where Jesus leads. Today's conversation explores how Christians have historically understood their call to participate in God's mission through several ways...