a Church Podcast

Continuing in our series, For God So Loved the Scapegoat, we look at one of the first Queer icons of the Bible.  In a time when the LGBTQ+ community is increasingly targeted, we must daily choose to follow Jesus' way of inclusive love.   Support the show

As we celebrate Pentecost please welcome Rev. Jodi Fondell who has co-served international congregations in Sweden, England, Luxembourg, and France along with her husband, also a pastor. Support the show

According to a recent commercial and the Bible, "when something goes wrong, you find someone to blame.  It's what we do."  Yes, scapegoating, is often what we do, but in story after story, God loves those to are blamed.  Hagar and Ishmael, for example, reveal to us the who God sees, hears, and loves the excluded.   Support the show

The image of the scapegoat runs throughout the Bible with God's love seeking to interrupting this cycle of blame.  What can we learn from those who scapegoat and from those who are often blamed and excluded?   Support the show

Welcome our guest preacher Rev. Suzanne Swartz. Support the show

Welcome our guest preacher Rev. Elizabeth Gibbs Zehnder. Support the show

On Resurrection Sunday we celebrate that the scapegoating of Jesus by the Roman Empire didn't win.  On Easter we are challenged to see the ways we scapegoat others and to see the hope that comes from welcoming those who are excluded. Support the show

Jesus enters Jerusalem as a sacrifice.  But what does that mean?  Is Jesus' death needed to appease a blood-thirsty God?  Or is there a better way to understand the cross?   Support the show

Why would the altar, the priestly robes, and the tabernacle, need to be purified?  Did the tabernacle sin or was it the people?  Built into the rituals in Leviticus were both reminders of God's forgiving nature and the values the people were intended to live out with one another.  Support the show

How do you explain to a new driver how to drive?  I don't know how to explain it, I just do it.  Like anything that has become instinctual, it’s easy to stop noticing what we're doing or why we're doing it.  In the same way, when it comes to our faith, we can sometimes lose the meaning or the meaning can get distorted when things become too familiar.   Support the show

Welcome Rev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins speaking about the stories we tell and the importance of listening to the stories that others tell.   Support the show

Why animal sacrifice?  What is the point of these ancient and seemingly barbaric practices?  You might be surprised by the idea that these rituals set us on the trajectory of experiencing God's justice and rest.   Support the show

Welcome our guest preacher Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus.  Laurie serves the national office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as Director of Humanitarian and Global Ecumenical Engagement in the ministries of Compassion, Justice, and Peace.   Support the show

Why do we do what we do?  Rituals are not a way of earning love or belonging, but a way of remembering what is already true.  We are already loved.  We already belong.      Support the show

What special dates and events help you remember your story?  Leviticus 23 gave the people annual festivals and sacred gatherings as a way of reminding them of their history.  This remembering was intended to help the people live in the present according to the rhythm of God's justice and rest. Support the show

A year of Jubilee includes letting the land rest.  This rest is considered holy for the land and for those who work the land.  In this Jubilee year celebration, what experiences do you find rejuvenating and restful for you?    Support the show

2025 is our 150th Anniversary and a Jubilee year, which in the Bible is celebrated every 50 years.  Part of this celebration is a return home or a return to the land, which raises the question, "What does it mean for us to return home?" Support the show

2025 has not started off well.  But our we condemned to suffering through what the internet tells us is a WTF year?  How can we grieve our different experiences of loss, while also looking forward with hope?   Support the show

This week thousands of people lost their homes here in Los Angeles.  We all know people who have experienced this devastation.  A lot of people here were evacuated and for the rest of us we have likely had the thought, "what if it had happened to us?"  Our physical homes and our physical stuff are important.  They matter not just to us, but also to God.   Support the show

In the midst of these tragic LA wildfires we are not here to tell you what to feel.   Instead, as a faith community we are here to help carry the weight of what each of us are experiencing.        Support the show

The birth of Jesus is NOT about Christians winning this season.  Instead the light of Christ gathers people together by bringing more love, justice, and equality into the world.   Support the show

Welcome our Guest Preachers Rev. Suzanne Swartz. Support the show

Welcome our Guest Preacher Rev. Suzanne Swartz. Support the show

Making meaning out of what we've been given is part of what makes us human.  The goal of Christmas then is not to remove all of our add on traditions, but to ask, "what kind of meaning are we making out of the traditions that we are passing on, changing, or even rejecting?"   Support the show

Isaiah 40 begins with “Comfort, O Comfort my people…” because we all need comfort in difficult times.  As we wait together through the season of advent, the hope of God-with-us comes as the gift of comfort.   Support the show