St. Paul Podcast

Today’s story is about some very good friends. As Jesus and the disciples travel from town to town, crowds and crowds of people follow them around, making it difficult to get close to Jesus. But a group of friends makes absolutely sure (using some very creative methods) to get their sick friend in front of Jesus. It’s a very hole-y episode today. 

Paul encourages his beloved community in Philippi to trust God to hold them through suffering, as God has done with Jesus and with Paul himself. Preaching text: Philippians 2:1-13. The Bible for Worship is a weekly introduction to the scripture passage that is likely to be the basis for the sermon on the following weekend. It correlates with the Revised Common Lectionary as it is used at St. Paul....

Peter W. Marty preaches on God’s divine patience. God’s compassionate purpose is to heal hurt, save lost and lonely people, and build a kingdom of peace. We prize the faith that is ours because of the spirit of patience we receive from a compassionate God. A God that puts up with a world full of wrongness and hardened hearts, always giving people a chance to give up their self-righteous ways and c...

More miracles are happening this week. Little Bird and the disciples head out on one of our most familiar modes of transportation but when Jesus says he’ll meet up with them later – it’s not quite what they expected!

Jesus’ parable teaches that worth is not measured by work or money in God’s economy and that God gives generously to all.  Preaching text: Matthew 20: 1-16

Pastor Mac Mullins preaches on mercy. Is it enough to simply say ‘I’m sorry?’ When words aren’t enough to heal our wounds, God does so through the very mercy we show one another. We show mercy by being physically present in each other’s loneliness and by comforting and supporting one another in our sadness. Mercy comes by showing up. If words could solve every issue, what a lonely and colorless li...

Are you ready to experience another amazing miracle? This miracle helps 10 men get their lives back. Little Bird hopes you’re ready for a toe-tally incredible story with a lot of heel-ing power. 

Paul encourages the community in Rome to strive for unity rather than uniformity so that those whom God has included will not be excluded. Bible for Worship is a weekly introduction to the scripture passage that is likely to be the basis for the sermon on the following weekend. It correlates with the Revised Common Lectionary as it is used at St. Paul.  With Peter A. Pettit, teaching pastor.

Pastor Peter W. Marty preaches on freedom. Freedom is not just won on the battlefield or in the political arena. It's in the hearts, the minds, and the imaginations where the seeds of liberty are planted and grown. Freedom is a spirit that has to be taught and has to be learned. How can we grow a deeper sense of freedom in our own lives by learning and growing?   Preaching text: Excerpts from...

Podcast friends! We've missed you and we're so glad to be back. For our second season, we are telling more stories about Jesus. The first handful of episodes are stories about miracles Jesus did and today's episode features a miracle at a wedding banquet. So snuggle on in for today's episode!

Pastor Max Franks preaches on love. When you treat someone as an adversary, they tend to become one. Instead of putting others down and elevating yourself, challenge that impulse by building them up. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. Genuine love is what really transforms. Let love be genuine.    Preaching text: Romans 12: 9-21

Sara Olson-Smith preaches on keys. The kingdom of heaven isn’t a place but a vision. When Jesus says to Simon Peter “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven,” it’s not about giving Peter the job of gatekeeper but the responsibility of making God’s dreams become real in this world. We are all given those keys. Jesus entrusts us to be the people who help unlock, unleash, and unfurl the goo...

Peter W. Marty preaches on tenacity. When people display a dogged persistence in the fight for something that is good, we should pay attention. The church must look for and expect to find faith existing outside of our boundaries, norms, and expectations. We need to have a faith that is humble and strong enough to stand up to our own minds when that mind is too small or too narrow. We are not meant...

Peter W. Marty preaches on fear. When fear gets the best of us, it can so easily play tricks with our minds. The most important work of Jesus in the world is to calm our fears, to lower our anxieties about all things life and all things death. “Be not afraid.” Jesus hands over a lifeline time and time again.   Preaching text: Matthew 14: 22-33

Peter A. Pettit preaches on the remarkable generosity of God with many communities. God’s Word is not static, it’s not limited, and it doesn’t choose favorites. It’s living and it’s active, it’s creative and life-giving wherever it touches creation. In God, there is enough love, glory, teaching, commitment, and promise for all. When we see God’s Word living and active in other communities and othe...

Katy Warren preaches on certainty. What are you absolutely sure of in your life? It’s not easy to be truly convinced. We know God loves us because we’re surrounded by a community of people that remind us of that fact even when we’re prone to doubt it.   Preaching text: Romans 8: 26-39  

Peter W. Marty preaches on weeds. There’s no field in the world where you will find only grain and there is no flower garden that is only flowers. The same goes for people. We wrestle with the saint versus the sinner within us. We’re perfectly incapable of separating the wheat from the weeds.   Preaching text: Matthew 13: 24-30

Megan Eide preaches on growth. If we want a fruitful, healthy life, we need healthy soil.  God meets us where we are with words of grace and hope. We all have work to do when it comes to tending our soil and cultivating our lives of faith but, in the end, it’s God’s steadfast love and abundant goodness that wins the day.  Preaching text: Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23 

Katy Warren preaches on the things we carry. God is aware of the things we carry around with us each and every day. Instead of carrying a laptop, maybe we carry feelings of shame we are unable to put down or instead of our keys, wallet, and phones we carry our own worries, deep grief, or exhaustion and overwhelm. You don’t have to let go of all that is on your heart and mind today but neither do y...

Max Franks preaches on kindness. A life of faith is made up of a thousand small gestures. There is no small gesture anything done in faith and love has cosmic significance. From a cup of cold water to holding open a door.   Preaching text: Matthew 10: 40-42 

Peter W. Marty preaches on baptism and death. We will not take baptism seriously in our lives if we do not comprehend that death is a core image in baptism. There should be a funeral in our own lives every single day. Every day, we should be laying to rest something that is not befitting of God. What do you need to lay to rest today? We all have pieces of our lives we need to let go of every day....

Sara Olson-Smith preaches on hope. It is impossible to avoid grief, suffering, and death but the promise of hope will not disappoint us. We do not have a force field of protection but we are given something even better. A faith that is just what we need to navigate this world of challenges, an identity to help us to live with hope and courage, a community with whom was can find meaning. There is p...

Peter W. Marty preaches on building a life worth living. Shaping particular habits, developing moral commitments, and practicing certain disciplines will give shape to your character. And from that character, everything else in your life springs. It’s the virtue that grounds you. To build a Christian life well, one must have a deep commitment to the most vulnerable people, commit ourselves to the...

Pastor Peter A. Pettit preaches on signatures. A signature is the name we put on our work. A signature authenticates what we do as ours. The psalmist in Psalms 8 reflects on God as an artist of creation. The response to that creation is how majestic, how remarkable, how awesome is this creation that God has made? The psalmist reminds us it is only humans who carry God’s image. You are God’s signat...

Max Franks preaches on being better together. Paul writes to an emerging Christian community in Corinth. How to be a faithful community together. To be the body of Christ.  Perfectism isn’t what God desires for us or how we were created to be in community with each other. We can’t be all things to all people. Instead, God wants us to discover our own gifts and use them for the benefit of the all....