St. Paul Podcast

Remember last week’s episode when we fast-forwarded 12 years? Well, hang on to your seats – we’re fast-forwarding even further into the future – almost 20 years! This week, Little Bird and Jesus go on an adventure to see Jesus’ cousin John at the Jordan River.   

Max Franks preaches on self-worth. When we realize our inherent human value, it allows us to see ourselves and others as God sees us. When we face unrelenting hurt, loss, or insecurity, we can boldly face what the world tosses at us with a certain assurance that, through our baptism, Christ walks with us.   Preaching text: Matthew 3: 13-17 

In this week's episode, we fast forward to when Jesus is 12 years old. Jesus and Little Bird are the best of friends but when Jesus and his family travel to Jerusalem, Little must stay behind. Just as the group is getting close to home, Little Bird flies out to meet them on the road and discovers quite the surprise - Jesus isn't with them! Where could he have gone? Find out on this week&...

On the first podcast of 2023, Peter W. Marty preaches on goodness. Good always outweighs evil. Good always has more beauty, more merit, and more presence; you just have to notice it. This year, try your best to notice all the goodness you can. Along the walks that you make, every place you go, try to create and share some goodness and some kindness too.   Preaching text: Matthew 2: 13-23 

Happy New Year! This week, we find Little Bird just where we left off - the stable in Bethlehem.  On this day, some astounding new visitors arrive, bringing with them one of the strangest creatures Little Bird has ever seen! 

Last week's episode ended with Little Bird waking up to a most peculiar sound. What could that sound have possibly been? This week, Little Bird meets a very small new friend. 

Peter W. Marty preaches on this special Christmas edition of the St. Paul audio podcast. The world is full of brokenness but in Jesus Christ, God makes gentle the life of the world. God whispers in our ear, through Jesus Christ, that we have to make this world a better place. We can allow our hearts to be our own little manger for God to live in, for God to dwell in, for God to make a home in. Fea...

Peter W. Marty preaches. Sometimes we find ourselves in a place we didn’t expect, a situation we didn’t plan. Listen closely while you pray. It may not be the life you imagined but God will be born into it. This may be what Christmas is about – the irrational, unexplainable appearance of love in the midst of the world’s toughest realities and some of our own unplanned circumstances. To do what Jos...

This week, Little Bird is off on her longest journey yet, flapping her little wings all the way to Bethlehem. Little Bird, Mary, and Joseph find comfort and support in a very unlikely place. 

Pastor Sara Olson-Smith preaches on joy and the way joy bursts forth like a spring in the desert. Joy sometimes comes in the most difficult of times, surprising us. Many of have known our own desert exiles. A season defined by sorrow, despair, longing, or grief. Times in our lives that don’t seem like we’d hoped they’d be. But Isaiah says to be strong and not to fear, the Lord will come to save yo...

This week, our brave Little Bird is off on another adventure. This time, traveling days and days to visit Mary's cousin Elizabeth. This week's episode is filled with lots of song and encouragement. 

Peter W. Marty preaches on justice. The biblical concept of justice, wherever God is involved, is about making things right for people and making things right in society. Justice is not about fair play, it’s about righteous play. It’s not about giving people what they deserve, but what they need. God’s justice is helping all people live a dignified life. Preaching text: Isaiah 11: 1-6

We're starting off our podcast at the beginning, even before Jesus was born. Today, Little Bird will meet a very special woman, and together, they'll have a remarkable encounter and learn some truly life-changing news! Original music by William Campbell Children's voices by Annie Harless, Gary Harless, Isabelle Lovel, Susannah Olson-Smith, Amos Olson-Smith 

Pastor Katy Warren preaches. If we are to place our faith in a God that does unexpected and unimaginable things, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that God could break into our lives in some unconventional way. One of the themes of the Advent season is to make room for Christ in our homes and in our lives. To prepare a space for God where we have otherwise been too busy, too distracted, or...

Pastor Sara Olson-Smith preaches on the reign of Christ. The view of our own route is often narrow. Jesus has a wide view, a great big holy atlas. Jesus is spacious, expansive, supreme, towering over all things and all time. Jesus sees the whole big picture, from the beginning to the end of it. Jesus has this big broad view. Jesus’s purpose is to save and redeem the whole universe, to bring togeth...

Pastor Peter W. Marty preaches on sticky faith. Skills and talents accumulate. Learning a new language is built on layers and layers. Our lives are like ten-layer cakes. Faith is the same. When you face challenges or crises in your life, you have accumulated layers and layers of insight, depth of heart, and a Godly hope that comes from attending to your faith. The best kind of faith is a sticky fa...

Pastor Peter W. Marty on saintliness. Saints don’t have to be perfect, famous, or dead. Some of the best saints we know are sitting among us right now. When you refuse to live only for yourselves because you know your lives belong to God, that is what it means to be a living saint. It’s not about the good life but living a life that is good.  Preaching text: Luke 6: 17, 20-26 

Pastor Megan Eide preaches on God’s forgiveness. No one wants to be remembered for their mistakes. Jesus’ message is about identity and grace. Who we are and how we see ourselves is all wrapped up in who God is and how God sees each and every one of us. Nothing we do or say can overshadow our identity in Christ. We are not defined by our mistakes or enslaved to the sins of our past. We are redeeme...

Pastor Katy Warren preaches on repaying debts. We’ve all been “victims” of time lost that we wish we could have back. God promises to repay us for our struggles, not with money, goods, or services but with hope. Hope for what comes next. “Be glad and rejoice...I will repay you.”  Preaching text: Joel 2: 23-28

Pastor Peter W. Marty preaches on knowing God best through the struggles in our lives. We meet God most clearly, most vividly, most especially through our struggles and hardships. The things in life that require the most of us are often the most rewarding. Sometimes suffering, struggle, and blessing are all comingled. We may be wounded through the hardships in our lives, but they are our best chan...

Pastor Sara Olson-Smith preaches on simplicity. Sometimes in faith we don’t have to make things too complicated. So often we think that understanding God or receiving God's mercy or experiencing God’s love demands complicated or elaborate actions. We think there is some complicated recipe we need to cook up a bit of faith to experience God’s healing goodness. We often get in our own way of re...

Pastor Peter W. Marty preaches on 2 Timothy 1:1-7,14. “Guard the good treasure that has been entrusted to you, with the help of the holy spirit, keep safe what has been deposited in you.” What is it about your character, your integrity, your values, and priorities of faith that you would like to leave this world? You have to fan the flames of the precious faith, that treasure that is within you. K...

Pastor Sara Olson-Smith preaches on Luke 16:19-31. This parable offers us an invitation to abundant life now, a way out of the stuckness, of breaking out of the circumstances that keep us apart and divide us. We break out of these patterns that divide the prisons of our own circumstances when we get to know a person beyond their situation, beyond their label. The way we build this new way of being...

Pastor Katy Warren preaches on Luke 19:1-10. There is no better time than right now to reevaluate what consumes our time, our attention, and our efforts in different ways. What we’ve prioritized and what we've put off. We can discover for ourselves the ways God’s love and grace actually move us toward lives that simply can’t wait to do something with that love. 

Pastor Peter W. Marty preaches on Exodus 32:7-14. To have a change of mind or a change of heart when we are wrong,  mistaken, or blind to a very important truth is a beautiful thing. To alter our course or reverse our ways of thinking when we have wronged others, disrespected them, or been too certain of our own certainty is a magnificent move that is open to all of us. Faith is all about change;...