Pod Be With You

A silly story about some serious things: the brilliant satire of the book of Jonah. It's a delightfully absurd send-up of common prophetic tropes, and an enduring testimony to the power of humor to tackle weighty topics. Including, here, redemption, justice, and mercy. Our hero petulantly stumbles into playing a part in Ninevah's redemption - and even, despite his best efforts, his own. 

Let's reclaim the word "awesome," shall we? This psalm is a love song to a transcendent Creator, a wandering walk through wonder at both the nearness and beyond-ness of God. This God knows us better than we know ourselves, and loves us more than we can imagine. Do we really believe it? 

This episode was born out of many different spontaneous conversations that we wanted to capture as one. So here, Michele Clark, Digital Media Coordinator at FCC Dundee, interviews me (Aaron) with some big questions: What is it like being a pastor in changing, divisive times? How do you decide what to say in a sermon? What's it like being a pastor and a parent? Is church itself going to surviv...

This week, a story of an impossible yes, and love finding a way. When the good news shows up looking like bad news, the ferociously faithful Mary says, "Let it be" - and began a world-changing story. With a week until Christmas, this is the right story to hear!

We hope you enjoy the audio from our recent Jazz concert here at FCC Dundee. Bill O'Connell and his ensemble offered a collection of sacred and secular favorites for the season. Whether you're running errands or just need a great soundtrack for wrapping presents, this should do the trick! Video of the concert can be seen on our YouTube channel and Facebook page. 

In a Christmas story too often by, for, and about men, our story lingers this week on two women: one expecting and the other expectant, embracing in love and joy. They had the faith to see their story - their fulfilled promises - as part of God's story. Can we? 

This conversation with Rev. Leah Robberts-Mosser focuses on Jubilee Cafe - a weekly, free, restaurant-style meal served as a ministry of Community United Church of Christ in Urbana-Champaign, IL. Even as they adapt to COVID restrictions, this meal helps those struggling with food insecurity and social isolation. Perhaps most of all, in bringing together what are often fractured segments of our soc...

On this second Sunday of Advent - our Sunday of Peace - we had the joy of welcoming a string quartet, composed of Ray Ostwald, Joe Malmquist, Wendy Evans, and Mark Kuntz. They offer four pieces in this service: wonderful arrangements of some of our Advent and Christmas favorites. A short sermon - a reflection on what it means to be a peace-maker - begins at about 14:45. Thank you for listening!

Please welcome our first guest! Nicole Havelka is an ordained minister and yoga instructor, whose consulting practice focuses on leading individuals and institutions through change with mindfulness, resilience, and purpose. Which sounds like exactly the kind of expertise we could use right now. This conversation took us to fascinating and helpful places - thanks, Nicole!

This is a time for waiting and preparation - and sometimes the waiting is easier. But peace requires action, preparation - real work. So even as we celebrate peace, experience peace, and wait on the fullness of peace, we are also called, with John the Baptist, to prepare the way. This is a time to be peace makers. 

This week's sermon on decision fatigue and defiant hope begins at about 9:45. Also, don't miss Linda's wonderful offering of "Of the Father's Love Begotten" just before - about 7:20 in. Thanks for listening!

Some more worship! Mark's singing some fantastic songs, and the scripture and sermon start at about 13:50. Thanks for listening!

A little bit of everything this week (sounds like Thanksgiving already)! A conversation about the coming holidays,  the spiritual work to hold together grief and gratitude, and a remarkably contemporary spiritual diagnosis from the book of Deuteronomy . . . Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Here's something new: audio of a recent worship service at FCC Dundee (Nov. 8). You'll get some music, prayer, sermon and more. For those looking for the sermon, it begins at about 16:10. Let us know what you think at ajames@fccdundee.com - thanks!

We may think we know the Parable of the Talents, and what it's about. But do we? There is so much going on in the text about abundance, faithful practice, and risk. Now. more than ever, these are words we need to hear.

Welcome back, Paige! We've got a story with teeth this week. What happens when a moment arrives and you're not prepared? How can we stay vigilant this long, and what does it really mean to wait faithfully? 

Today, for many of us, light is easy - flick a switch, pay your bills. We don't have to think much about it or even know much about where it comes from; for the right fee, we can have it on demand. But for most of human history, that's not how it worked. Light was fire you had to make happen, plan for, protect, and nurture. Light was hard work, then - which made it a lot more like real f...

Nothing influences people like people. Sometimes, that means we get ourselves into trouble. But it may also mean that we have more power to change the world than we ever thought. 

Scared and bored is a dangerous combination. The people of Israel are tired of waiting, so they lose their patience and lose their nerve. And in the quintessential moment of idolatry, they make a golden calf to worship, and throw a huge party. How'd that go, do you think?

Soon, Pod Be With You will come to you both from FCC Dundee and the Congregational Church of Batavia. This is because Pastor Paige has accepted a call to be Batavia's next pastor - and while we're sad for us, we're happy for her. Here, we discuss all of it together: gratitude and grief, excitement and loss, beginnings and endings. 

Here in his letter to the church at Philippi, the Apostle Paul encourages the member to live in unity together, as they are one in the Body of Christ. How are they to do this? Through the self-emptying love modelled by Jesus in his life, death, and resurrection.

Years ago, I took a beginning pottery class. It was fun, and frustrating, and I learned a lot about the art and patience. This experience gave me interesting insight into the Biblical metaphor of God as a potter.

Fear is a normal part of the human experience. But God is there, with outstretched hand, to calm our fear. Can we do the same for others?

What if the grace of God was so radical we resented it? What if it was so wonderful we found ourselves willing to reject it? How can the love of God be unfair? And what if we were willing to cling to our ideas of fairness, even at the expense of grace? That's a lot for a story about day laborers, but here it is!

For a minute, I let my inner crabby old man out for a rant about Fantasy Football. Which isn't about Fantasy Football at all, really, but about all those trivial things that take our time, money, and attention. Because that's where discipleship starts: attention.