Augustana Podcasts

Sermon Title: A Light for the Whole World. Preacher: Deacon Stephanie Anderson. Preaching Text: Matthew 2:1-12. Today, we celebrate the light of Christ revealed to the world, guiding us like the star that led the Magi to Bethlehem. As we worship together, may we be inspired to follow God’s light and share it with a world in need. May this time of worship renew your hope and illuminate how God is c...

Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Sermon Title: The Weary World Rejoices. Preaching Text: Luke 2:1-20. We pray that you experience the wonder and holiness of our Savior's birth.

Sermon Title: Mary's Song. Preacher: Deacon Stephanie Anderson. Preaching Text: Luke 1:39-55. Our anticipation turns to joy as we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ. This worship invites us to reflect on God's promise to upend the ordinary, life the lowing, and fill the hungry with good things. Together, we are called to respond with courage, hope, and a song of praise for the transformat...

Sermon Title: Listening for Christmas. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Luke 1:68-79. The season of Advent challenges us to focus on God's impending arrival into our world. In this season of so much to do, it can be difficult to see and hear what God is doing. Today you are invited to this time of worship to listen and speak the promise of God for you.

Sermon Title: Life Alert. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Luke 21:25-36. As darkness grows each day, Advent is a season of reflection and spiritual renewal. Busyness fills our days, but we wonder what it all amounts to sometimes. God calls us to lean into waiting, to noticing, to being - rather than - doing. We long for the peace of God to be present with us and for Christ's L...

Sermon Title: Belonging to the Truth. Preacher: Deacon Stephanie Anderson. Preaching Text: John 18:33-37. Today is Christ the King Sunday, the final day of the church year before we begin the Advent season. In our fraught political climate, today brings us good news: Christ is the one who reigns over all of creation and has ultimate authority in our lives. Today we're reminded that we worship a di...

Sermon Title: When the World Seems to be Falling Apart. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Mark 13:1-8. Truth telling sometimes point to uncomfortable realities. We know a thing or two about those kinds of realities. A life-threatening illness, a rupture in a marriage, a family member sent into a combat zone. All of these things can feel like the end of the world is coming soon....

Sermon Title: What's Love Got To Do With It? Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. The Reformation of the 1500s was a dramatic interruption of the status quo of the church. So much had gone sideways and drifted from the core message and purpose of the Gospel. Martin Luther was like a voice in the wilderness, calling the Church back to Christ's saving grace and...

Sermon Title: The Meal We Share. Preacher: Pastor Deb Kielsmeier. Preaching Text: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. The church in Corinth met in homes and celebrated the Lod's supper in the context of a communal meal. But the rich often arrived early and ate and drank to excess, leaving the poor without food or drink. the meal that should have been a symbol of their unity in Christ was used to highlight soc...

Sermon Title: We are One, But Not the Same. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: 1 Corinthians 12:1-13. We're reminded that "God loves a cheerful giver" and that stewarding all that God has entrusted to us ins both "our duty and our joy".

Sermon Title: Sharing in the Blessings of the Gospel. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23. Paul responds to a number of questions the church in Corinth He urges Christians to recognize when one's rights get in the way of benefiting others and extending the reach of Christ's radical message of grace to the wider community.

Sermon Title: God Gives the Growth. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: 1 Corinthians 3:1-11. In today's scripture, Paul does two important things to help us build up the church. The first is to emphasize that God gives the growth. We are co-workers with God called to build up the church as a community. The second thing Paul emphasizes is that when we build up the church, we build...

Sermon Title: Moving Together By Faith -- In Jesus. Preacher: Pastor Deb Kielsmeier. Preaching Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. This fall we are focusing on Paul's first letter to the Corinthians through the lens of our annual theme, "Moving Together By Faith." The church in Corinth was divided over many issues. Paul reminds them (and us) that their unity and their redemption is Jesus Christ alone.

Sermon Title: Why Do We Say "All Are Welcome" at the Communion Table. Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Matthew 9:1-13. Today we take a closer look at the kinds of people who show up around the tables Jesus gather at, and who wants rules for who eats and who doesn't. Here's a hint: It's not Jesus.

Sermon Title: How Does Prayer Work? Preacher: Pastor Deb Kielsmeier. Preaching Text: Philippians 4:4-7. There are Bible verses that seem to promise that God will answer our prayers with whatever we ask. And indeed, we often see God's hand at work through prayer, sometimes miraculously. But other times, it seems as it God doesn't hear our requests and our prayers go unanswered. How do we make sense...

Sermon Title: How Should We Respond to Christian Nationalism? Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Luke 4:1-13. Over the last several years, Christian Nationalism has become a prominent presence in American life. And though there has long been close relationships in many people's minds between "God and Country", Christian Nationalism brings both God and country to the brink of dest...

Sermon Title: Was Christ's Death the Punishment Needed for Our Salvation? Preacher: Pastor Jason Byran-Wegner. Preaching Text: Philippians 2:4-11. For centuries, faithful people have tried to explain what exactly happened when Jesus died on the cross. How did it change the nature of God's relationship with creation? What does it mean when we confess that Jesus the Christ died and rose again? Most...

Sermon Title: Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? Preacher: Pastor Deb Kielsmeier. Preaching Text: Romans 8:18-27. Life can be unfair. We live in a broken world among imperfect people whose actions and choices hard others. Innocent people suffer from war, abuse, disease, and climate change. The kingdom of God is "now, but not yet." In this world, we will suffer. But Christ walks with us and t...

Sermon Title: What Are Some Time-Tested Practices to Strengthen My Faith? Preacher: Deaconess Claire Schoepp. Preaching Text: Colossians 3:12-17. In this lesson, listen for the qualities that Paul uses to describe God's chosen people.

Sermon Title: If Jesus Promised Peace, Why Is There So Much Division Even Among Christians? Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: Galatians 5:16-6:2. We live in a world, both marked by sin, and blessed by God. It's both/and. The peace of Christ is present, but in the world as it is, it does not yet stand alone. What we focus on shapes whether we live in peace or discord.

Sermon Title: Is Salvation the Same as Going to Heaven? Preacher: Pastor Jason Bryan-Wegner. Preaching Text: John 6:35-40. Today we'll look at how salvation unfolds throughout Scripture, rooted in Jesus' words from the Gospel of John.