Church at the Well Podcast

The Christmas story teaches us that making room in our lives for Jesus doesn’t guarantee a comfortable journey, but the hope we have in Jesus can carry us through any hardship that comes our way. This week, we look at the stories of Simeon and Anna in Luke 2 - two people who modeled this truth. 

Merry Christmas! Hear the good news - God is with you, and is nearer than you know! 

Hospitality is at the heart of who God is, and it's on full display in the Christmas story. In this sermon, Abby explores three moments of God's hospitality in John's account of the incarnation and invites us to receive his hospitality this Christmas with the heart of a child.

When God invites Mary to live a miraculous story of faith, he does not invite her to live it alone. What might that say about God? On this third week of Advent, Jordan explores this question and more with a reflection on Mary and Elizabeth's interaction in Luke 1:35-45.

When Mary said “yes” to the angel Gabriel, she was saying “yes” to making room in her life for God. In this sermon, Abby explores a biblical understanding of hospitality, shares some stories of hospitality, and invites us to discern where and how God might be asking us to make room for him and others.

After a brief hiatus (due to Table Church Sunday and some other technical difficulties), we're back! This week, Jordan re-introduces us to the Advent season with a look at John the Baptist's life from Luke chapter 3. 

When Jesus gave thanks at the last supper, he set an example for us. This week, we explore communion as Eucharist--the Thanksgiving table--by looking back to Old Testament thanksgiving practices that can help us better understand the significance of the Last supper and more fully enter into the celebration of communion.

This week, Adam continues our sermon series, "The Bread and the Cup," with a look at communion as The Lord's Supper.

Communion - The Family Meal For the next four weeks, we will explore four different approaches to the communion table. This week, we begin our sermon series, "The Bread and the Cup," with a look at the elements as the family meal.

How do we seek first the Kingdom of God while also faithfully engaging in politics? In this wrap-up to the series, God, Politics, and the Church, Adam highlights several biblical and historical figures who grappled with this question in their times, closing with Jesus’ invitation to his disciples and to us today as revealed in a parable and a prayer.

Resisting Politics of Fear While our partisan politics often rely on paralyzing fear that casts out love, the Gospel truth we’re invited to live is perfect love that casts out fear. In this sermon, Adam explores how we can engage the political process while resisting the politics of fear. 

"How do you know that you've developed a disordered attachment with politics?" After looking at an example of disordered attachment in the book of Exodus, Adam invites us to consider this question and more in this week's sermon - the second in our "God, Politics, and the Church" series. 

Seven Marks of Faithfulness to Jesus in a Politically Hostile World As we approach the national election, many may be wondering, How can followers of Jesus navigate the raging political storms of our day? In the first sermon of a series called God, Politics, and the Church, Adam offers seven marks of faithfulness to Jesus in a politically hostile world, reminding us that, as an alternative communi...

When the Jewish people returned from exile to rebuild the temple, they hit a wall of discouragement and shifted their focus from God to themselves, neglecting the temple and focusing on their own houses. In this sermon, Adam invites us to consider our ways just as the prophet Haggai invited the Jewish people to do in their time, trusting that God is with us and strengthening us as we roll up our s...

As we follow Jesus, it's not unlikely that we will face seasons and changes that feel like they require much more than we have in our own strength. Thankfully, Jesus promises his disciples the gift of his Spirit for moments just like this. This week, we take a look at two stories from the book of Acts that show the Spirit showing up for people in need of words, wisdom, and direction. 

Jesus invites us to ask the Father for what we need, assuring us the Father delights in giving good gifts to his children when they ask. In this sermon, featuring a guest interview with Rick Pacukonas, we explore Jesus’s invitation to ask, several ways of thinking that can get in the way of asking, how God might be at work in our lives when we must wait, and why we can ultimately have hope even wh...

Welcome back! This week, Adam shares four questions to consider while searching for the right home church. 

Sabbath is meant to be a blessing, not a burden, but we may hold assumptions about Sabbath that weigh it down and hinder us from receiving the gift of Sabbath rest God longs to give. In this audio reflection, Abby offers three approaches to thinking about Sabbath that will help us ponder and practice Sabbath with fresh perspective.

In a society that values excessive work and honors extreme productivity, the practice of Sabbath is quite counter-cultural. Yet, Sabbath remains a remarkable invitation from God to stop, rest, worship, and delight. This week, ahead of our Summer Sabbath series, Adam shares some of the dangers of living a "hurry-sick" life, and invites us to consider how God might be inviting us to engage Him in Sa...

Our culture is saturated with cynicism, and the church is not immune to it, but Jesus calls us to a different way. In this sermon, Ian examines several powerful moments in Jesus’ life and ministry when he resisted cynicism and concludes with three spiritual practices that can help us counter cynicism.

Joy does not depend on the elimination of suffering because it transcends suffering and can even co-exist with suffering. In this sermon, Adam offers a biblical definition of joy, shares a story about the co-existence of joy and pain in his own life, and offers a concrete practice that has helped him cultivate joy.

Josh Riggs, pastor of Church at Prison, shares the story of his surprising calling to work with inmates in Vermont prisons and gives us a glimpse of the heart of God for people the world considers unapproachable.

How is kindness different from niceness? In this sermon, Abby offers a biblical definition of kindness, teases out what we can learn about kindness from the story of David and Mephibosheth, shares a story from her own life about experiencing kindness, and looks at three kindness killers.

When the Holy Spirit produces fruit in us, it’s not just for our sake, but also the sake of others. In this sermon, Jordan defines faithfulness, explores this theme in Scripture, and shares what God has taught him about faithfulness in the context of his own backyard.   

When we think of gentleness, weakness or timidity may come to mind, but the biblical understanding of gentleness is quite different. In this sermon, Adam shares a biblical definition of gentleness, paints a picture of gentleness from the Old and New Testaments, shares a story of being the recipient of others’ gentleness, and offers two practical ways we can be cultivating gentleness in our lives w...