St. Paul Podcast

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....

Megan Eide preaches on inheritance. Jesus served as God’s hands and feet in the world. He took the baton from God and ran with it, and now he passes it on to his disciples. What does it take to inherit that gift of the spirit? Little by little, one by one, the disciples step out and explore their own authentic ways to embrace and share their experiences of faith. Now, the disciples have passed on...

Podcast friends! It’s our last episode of the season. The Holy Spirit visits the disciples, just as Jesus had promised. With the Holy Spirit working in them, they begin to boldly share the love of God with the world. This summer, don’t forget to look for Little Bird among the sparrows and keep spreading love and kindness in the world. Until next season…. 

Peter W. Marty preaches on worship. There is no such thing as a life without worship. Everyone worships something and most of us worship many somethings. What do you love? We tend to worship what we love. What pulls in our confidence? What captures our affections? That’s what we worship and we end up bestowing upon them a power they were never meant to have.   Preaching text: Acts 17: 16-28

Jesus and his friends have spent a lot of time together lately and now it’s time for them all to head back to Jerusalem. It wouldn’t be a trip with Jesus and the disciples without some jokes along the way. Jesus says goodbye one more time to his friends and Little Bird, reminding them (and us) to keep sharing Jesus’ stories and loving beautifully.  

Sara Olson-Smith preaches on living stones. God often takes things that are disregarded and makes them into something beautiful and strong. We may find ourselves buried but God digs us out of the darkness and into marvelous light. Each of us brings our unique selves into this life together, as varied as the sizes and colors of stone in a fieldstone house. Like living stones, let yourself be built...

Peter is still struggling with the denial of his friendship with Jesus. A little time fishing on the water is sure to raise his spirits and you’ll never guess who shows up to make the fishing trip even more special. This friend has a very important job for Peter.

Sara Olson-Smith preaches on Jesus is the shepherd who protects his sheep, knows their names, and leads them to green pastures. Jesus is also the gate, the entrance, the door. This reminds us that Jesus’ whole way of being is not about blockades and barriers or even safety and security for just a few but for all. He is both the shepherd and the gate whose whole purpose is to bring life abundant. ...

As the disciples make the long walk to Galilea, they share a few of their favorite parables that Jesus shared with them. So, snuggle in for story time, and a few wooly good jokes, on this week’s episode.  

Pastor Peter W. Marty preaches on truth. It is essential to human community, it’s a foundation in the social fabric of this world. Once a culture allows truth to become relative, that culture is fighting for its life. To abandon truth is to degrade the bonds and networks of trust upon which society is built and on which our relationships so depend. And what if truth is more than a concept or an id...

Guess what? It’s still Easter on the podcast! That’s right – there are still more stories of Jesus visiting his friends on that first Easter day. While traveling on the road back home to Emmaus, Cleopas and Mary are joined by a stranger. Can you guess who that stranger may be? Listen to this week’s episode to find out. 

Megan Eide preaches on salvation. Salvation is not just a future promise. Salvation is also our present reality when we cultivate the kind of faith that acts as a living hope. Faith becomes an invitation to pause in the midst of panic, to know that we don’t have to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, or even the weight of tomorrow. Jesus has been to tomorrow and back and shown us there...

Did you think you wouldn’t be hearing much from Little Bird after Easter? Well, she has more stories to share! These are the stories of those times when the risen Jesus found his friends. His friends may just be a little surprised to see him again, don’t you think?