Your Week with St. Luke’s

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, all three pastors (Jenn, Jad, and Melissa) gather to close out the Christian year with a conversation on Christ the King Sunday and the culmination of our month-long focus on gratitude. Together, they explore what it means to claim Christ as Lord in a world full of competing allegiances, how worship recenters us in community, and why generosity is a sp...

In this week’s episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Pastor Jad explores Nehemiah 2. As we close our November series, Lead Courageously with Gratitude, we look ahead with gratitude for the hope God gives us to rebuild what’s been broken. Through Nehemiah’s story, we’re reminded that faithful leadership begins with noticing, that hope rooted in gratitude gives us courage to act, and that rebuilding...

In this week’s episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Pastor Jad invites us to reflect on what it means to “clothe ourselves with love” from Colossians 3:12–17. Through vivid imagery and thoughtful teaching, he explores how virtues like compassion, humility, gentleness, and patience shape a community that mirrors Christ’s fullness and peace. Drawing from the letter’s historical and theological dept...

In this episode Your Week with St. Luke’s, we’re invited to reflect on how gratitude shapes the way we lead—in our church, families, workplaces, and community, as we kick off a new series called Lead Courageously with Gratitude. Through the lens of Israel’s crossing of the Jordan, Pastor Jad unpacks the book of Joshua as a theological reflection on covenant faithfulness, remembrance, and the livin...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Pastor Jenn and Liz sit down with Dr. Ryan Bonfiglio to explore the radical power of hospitality—how scripture calls us to welcome not just friends, but strangers and even God in unexpected forms. Together they unpack what it means to “make room” in our homes, our churches, and our lives when true hospitality disrupts our comfort zones. It’s a conversa...

In this week’s episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Pastor Jenn and Liz continue their conversation with Dr. Ryan Bonfilio from The Candler Foundry as they explore 2 Kings 4:1–7—the story of a widow, a jar of oil, and a God who transforms scarcity into abundance. Together they wrestle with what it really means to trust God’s provision, especially when our instinct is to hoard rather than share. T...

Three kings lost in a desert, a prophet who calls for music before a miracle, and a divine command to dig ditches in dry ground—what does faith look like when the world feels barren? In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Dr. Ryan Bonfilio from the Candler Foundry joins Pastor Jenn and Liz to unpack 2 Kings 3 and explore what it means to prepare for God’s abundance even when hope seems impo...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, we launch a new series: Serve Joyfully, reflecting on the dramatic story of Elijah and Elisha in 2 Kings 2. Pastor Jenn and Liz are joined by Dr. Ryan Bonfiglio from the Candler Foundry and together they explore how Elijah’s departure in a fiery whirlwind and Elisha’s courageous step into leadership illustrate the challenges and blessings of answering...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Pastor Jad closes out the Love Boldly series by diving into Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 22:34–40, where he names love of God and love of neighbor as the heart of the entire law. As you listen, you’ll be invited to imagine yourself in the story: as a Pharisee questioning Jesus, a disciple listening in, or a member of Matthew’s community seeking hope in u...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, we’ll explore Jesus’ command in John 15 to “love one another as I have loved you” alongside the vision of the early church in Acts 2, where believers devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, prayer, and radical generosity. Pastor Jenn reminds us that Jesus redefined friendship as sacrificial love, a love embodied in bold, risky action for the sake o...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Pastor Melissa continues the Love Boldly series by exploring John Wesley’s first General Rule—“Do no harm”—and reframing it as the church’s call to heal the harm. Drawing on Isaiah 58:6–12, she unpacks the prophet’s challenge to move beyond empty ritual toward authentic devotion expressed through justice, compassion, and restoration. The message invite...

In this episode of "Your Week with St. Luke’s,” we kick off a new series called Love Boldly, where we’ll explore what it means to practice genuine love and overcome evil with good, taking an innovative look at John Wesley's three simple rules and and focusing on practicing love as a verb. St. Luke’s Pastor Jad unpacks Romans 12:9-21, where the Apostle Paul outlines love as the ethic and heartbeat...

In this final episode of the Change Makers series, St. Luke’s Pastor Jenn invites us to reflect on what it means to lead our lives with courage, humility, and faithfulness rooted in God’s presence. Drawing from Joshua 1:1–9, one of the Bible’s most pivotal leadership transitions, she unpacks God’s call to “be strong and courageous” as an act of trust rather than ego—reminding us that bold leadersh...

In this week’s episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Pastor Jenn explores the call to be Change Makers by lifting our voices for justice through two powerful scriptures: Proverbs 31:8–9 and Micah 6:8. Together, these passages challenge us to move beyond private faith into public action—speaking up for the voiceless, practicing mercy, and walking humbly with God. With insights from wisdom literatur...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Pastor Jenn continues the Change Makers series by exploring the parable of the Good Samaritan through a fresh lens. She challenges us to shift from passive belief to active discipleship—starting right where we are. Drawing on scripture, historical context, and insights from theologians, Pastor Jenn reminds us that mercy is more than a feeling—it’s a co...

In this first episode of our Change Makers series, Pastor Jenn invites us to move from belief to bold action by exploring the powerful connection between faith and works in James 2. Building on Jesus’ call to be salt and light, she challenges us to live out our discipleship by fighting modern-day “dragons”—acts of injustice, favoritism, and spiritual bypassing—through everyday faith in action. Wit...

In the final episode of our Big Fish series, Pastor Jenn and the creative team reflect on what it means to “be the hero of your own story” through the lens of faith, theater, and transformation. They discuss how telling stories—both our own and others’—can be an act of courage, healing, and grace. This conversation celebrates the power of community, the gift of perspective, and the ways God meets...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, we continue our special Big Fish Series and pick up where we left off. Together with Kelly Morris Rowan, Dustin Russell, and Steve MacKinnon, Pastor Jenn leads a thoughtful exploration into how imagination, grace, and vulnerability come alive on stage and in life. The group discusses how storytelling helps us recognize truth even in fiction—and how sac...

In this special episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Pastor Jenn sits down with members of the cast and creative team behind St. Luke’s upcoming theater production of Big Fish to explore the spiritual power of storytelling. Through honest conversation, Kelly Morris Rowan, Dustin Russell, and Steve MacKinnon reflect on the role of theater as a modern-day parable—sharing stories that heal, challeng...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Liz, Pastor Jenn, Chris Stubblefield, and Diana Mendez wrap up the “Be Fruitful” series with a thoughtful conversation on gentleness and self-control. They explore how these final fruit of the Spirit aren't just personal virtues but visible signs of a Spirit-led life—shaped by grace, humility, and trust in God. With real-life stories and honest reflect...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, host Liz Vasquez, Lead Pastor Jenn Stiles Williams, and guests Barbara Barber and Will Hodges explore the fruit of faithfulness as part of the Be Fruitful series on the fruit of the Spirit. Through Scripture, personal stories, and heartfelt reflections, they discuss how faithfulness is more than belief—it’s a consistent, trustworthy presence rooted in...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke's, we continue our Be Fruitful series by exploring the fruit of the Spirit through the lens of kindness and goodness—not as superficial niceness, but as authentic, Spirit-led qualities that flow from love and transform how we live and relate to others. Liz, Pastor Jenn, Brittany, and Sanyie reflect on how true kindness and goodness are rooted in God’s lov...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, we’re talking about patience—the kind that comes from the Holy Spirit, not just biting your tongue!  Liz and Pastor Jenn are joined by special guests Brenda Cheves and John Stiles Williams as they share real stories from classrooms, parenting, and life about what it means to practice “cheerful, hopeful endurance.” It’s honest, funny, and full of wisdom...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, Liz and Pastor Jenn are joined by two more St. Lukers: Brittany Vega and Josh Stanley, and together they explore how peace—often misunderstood as the absence of conflict—is actually found in surrender, perspective, and trust in God's presence. Drawing from Galatians 5 and reflections on nature, rowing, and spiritual practices, we talk about the kind of...

In this episode of Your Week with St. Luke’s, we begin our Be Fruitful series by exploring the first two expressions of the fruit of the Spirit: love and joy. St. Luke’s staff member Liz Vasquez and Pastor Jenn host a thoughtful conversation with special guests Alice Williams and Dennis Barber about how these expressions grow within us as part of a Spirit-shaped life—not as a checklist, but as a r...