Augustana Podcasts

Sermon Title: Called to Action. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Isaiah 58:2-23 & Matthew 5:13-20. One of Augustana’s values is “Worship is the heart of our life together.” Worship centers us in Christ and unites us in God’s good news and saving work. Yet, worship is not the completion of faith. It’s only the beginning. We worship so that our lives are shaped by Christ that...

Sermon Title: What Is Good? Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Micah 6:1-8 & Matthew 5:1-12. Our Epiphany series, “Glory Revealed” continues today with a look at both a prophetic word from Micah, and some of the most familiar and beloved words from Jesus. Both voices invite us to reflect more deeply on how our worship of God shapes the rest of our lives. As we bring all that...

Sermon Title: Carrying the Light. Preacher: Deacon Stephanie Anderson. Preaching Text: Matthew 4:12-23. In the season after Epiphany, we are listening for how God’s glory is revealed, not in spectacle alone, but in light that guides, calls, and sends. Today’s scriptures proclaim a God who meets fear with courage and ordinary lives with holy purpose. As Jesus begins his ministry and calls his first...

Sermon Title: What Are You Looking For? Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: John 1:35-42. As we move deeper into the season after Epiphany, we explore the glory God reveals among us. God’s glory often looks like invitation, deeper relationship, and changed perspectives because of the light and presence of Christ in our lives. We pray that as we worship together today, God’s light...

Sermon Title: Back to Jordan. Preacher: Intern Pastor Nathan Adu-Gyamfi. Preaching Text: Matthew 3:13-17. Today we gather to remember and celebrate the baptism of our Lord and to remember our own. At the Jordan River, God meets us not at the end of the journey, but at the beginning. Baptism reminds us that God’s grace comes before our striving, and that God names us beloved even before the road ah...

Sermon Title: What Is Your "Another Way"? Preacher: Intern Pastor Nathan Adu-Gyamfi. Preaching Text: Matthew 2:13-23. Today we gather to celebrate Christmas—the good news that God meets us not in perfect conditions, but right in the middle of fear, uncertainty, and longing. In the Christmas story, those who encountered the Christ child did not return the same way they came—they went home by anothe...

Sermon Title: God Doesn't Wait. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Luke 2:1-20. Merry Christmas! We pray that you experience the wonder and holiness of our Savior's birth in worship today.

Sermon Title: Home By Another Way. Preacher: Deacon Stephanie Anderson. Preaching Text: Matthew 2:1-12. Merry Christmas! Today we celebrate the light of Christ revealed to the world – a light that drew the Magi from afar and led them not only to Bethlehem, but onto a new way forward. Epiphany reminds us that encountering Christ changes our direction, inviting us to trust God’s leading even when it...

Sermon Title: A Stubborn Hope. Preacher: Deacon Stephanie Anderson. Preaching Text: Isaiah 11:1-10. Welcome to Augustana’s midweek Advent worship. We pause this evening to listen for the stirring of God’s Spirit and the song that still turns the world upside down. As Mary once sang of a God who lifts the lowly and fills the hungry with good things, we join her and dare to wonder: Is the world abou...

Sermon Title: Interrupted by Grace. Preacher: Deacon Stephanie Anderson. Preaching Text: Matthew 1:18-25. Welcome to worship in this season of holy anticipation. Our Advent theme, The Time Is Now, invites us to pay attention to the places where God’s promise presses into the present moment. Today we hear Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth from Joseph’s perspective – a story of disruption, courage,...

Sermon Title: The Time is Now: Prepare the Way! Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Matthew 3:1-12. Our Advent series “The Time is Now” reminds us of the urgency of faith. It doesn’t require us to have everything figured out, or to never doubt. But Advent holds the promise that God is near and because of that we are changed, even now.

Sermon Title: The New World Order. Preacher: Intern Pastor Nathan Adu-Gyamfi. Preaching Text: Isaiah 2:1-5. Welcome to Augustana’s midweek Advent worship. We pause this evening to listen for the stirring of God’s Spirit and the song that still turns the world upside down. As Mary once sang of a God who lifts the lowly and fills the hungry with good things, we join her and dare to wonder: Is the wo...

Sermon Title: At the Far shores of Galilee. Preacher: Intern Pastor Nathan Adu-Gyamfi. Preaching Text: John 6:25-35. As a grateful people, we lift our hearts in thanksgiving to the God who has carried us through another year. As we worship, we remember that thanksgiving is not simply a day on the calendar — it is a posture of the heart. It turns us toward the One who sustains us, centers us again...

Sermon Title: Awake for the Unexpected. Preacher: Deacon Stephanie Anderson. Preaching Text: Matthew 24:36-44. Advent is a season of watchful waiting. The time is now – now to notice the light in our lives, now to tend to hope, now to live with hearts open to God’s presence. In today’s reading, Jesus reminds us that we cannot know the hour when God’s fullness will be revealed. Our call is to live...

Sermon Title: The Time Is Now: Tending to the Least of These. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Matthew 25:31-46. Advent holds a tension between waiting and responding. We anticipate God coming as the Christ Child at Christmas. At the same time, God is breaking into the world which yearns for healing and redemption now. Faith calls us to step into that tension and to be alert to...

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen and what Jesus would do about it all if he were "in-the flesh," so to speak? You're not alone. Augustana's fifth and sixth graders have tender hearts and are wondering the same thing. They invited Rev. Tim Schroeder, a member at Augustana Lutheran Church, to help them think through this big theological question and want you to listen in on their convers...

Listen in on this conversation between Deacon Stephanie and two of our youth as they explore faith through the lens of "promise." They ask big questions about the nature of promises. A favorite question they explore is "when is it ok to break a promise?" Join in this conversation beyond the pulpit.

Sermon Title: The Time Is Now: Have What Is Needed! Preacher: Intern Pastor Nathan Adu-Gyamfi. Preaching Text: Matthew 25: 1-13. Today we begin the season of Advent, a time of waiting, watching, and preparing for Christ’s coming. Our theme for this season is “The Time Is Now.” In today’s Gospel from Matthew 25:1–13, Jesus tells the parable of the ten bridesmaids, some wise, some foolish, reminding...

Sermon Title: A Dialogue with Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner and LMD’s International Field Director. Preaching Text: Haggai 2:1-9. We welcome two very special guests to worship today. Dr. René Clausen is a renowned composer and Conductor Emeritus of the Concordia Choir in Moorhead, MN. He will be conducting the Senior Choir through four of his compositions during worship. We are also blessed to have th...

Sermon Title: You Belong to God. Preacher: Deacon Stephanie Anderson. Preaching Text: Luke 6:20-31. Today we remember all the saints – those who have gone before us and those still walking beside us. In Jesus’ blessings and woes, we hear God’s great reversal: the poor, the hungry, the grieving, and the excluded are named as beloved. Life and death are held together in God’s care, and heaven is not...

Sermon Title: Made New By God's Love: Faith Is A Lifelong Journey. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Sermon Text: Philippians 4:1-9 & John 8:31-36. Today we mark the anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, an event that changed the Christian faith forever. Martin Luther sought to refocus the faith on the grace of God found in Scripture, and away from traditions and practices that burdened...

Sermon Title: Made New By God's Love: We Are Sent to Serve. Preacher: Intern Nathan Adu-Gyamfi. Sermon Text: Luke 10:1-12. Today, we continue our fall series, Made New by God’s Love, reflecting on what it means to be sent to serve. In Luke 10:1–12, Jesus calls and sends ordinary people—people like us—to proclaim peace, bring healing, and announce that the Kingdom of God has come near. As we gather...

Sermon Title: Made New By God's Love: You Belong Here. Preacher: Deacon Stephanie Anderson. Sermon Text: Luke 15:1-7. Today’s worship continues our fall series, Made New by God’s Love, as we reflect on what it means to belong—to God and to one another. In the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus shows us a love that refuses to give up on anyone. God’s welcome is wide and healing, gathering the lost an...

Sermon Title: Made New By God's Love: All that We have is a Gift from God. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Sermon Text: Luke 11:1-10. We are sometimes hesitant to ask for what we need. We convince ourselves that strength is doing it on our own. But God has another way. Seek God and you will find what you most need. Ask and it will be freely given. The truth is that everything we already have...

Sermon Title: Made New By God's Love: Relationships Change Us. Preacher: Pastor Karen Castillo. Preaching Text: Luke 19:1-10. We welcome Pastor Karen Castillo, President of the Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala (ILAG) as our preacher this morning. Pastor Karen leads the ministry of 18 congregations and about 3,000 members of the Lutheran Church across Guatemala. Augustana has been a partner o...