The NorthWord

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text! Tomorrow we gather. This week we walked through the Valley of Fear — the wounds, the walls, the blindness we defend. Here's what to bring with you when you walk through that door on Sunday morning.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text! We closed the sermon on Sunday with one challenge: sit down. Not a five-second prayer — actually sit with your fear. Today we come back to that practice, because I don't think we're done with it yet.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  Today the Church marks a feast day — Joseph, Husband of the Virgin Mary and Guardian of Jesus. Not a single recorded word from him in Scripture. And yet God chose him to raise his Son. A short reflection for the feast.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  At the end of John 9, Jesus tells the Pharisees their sin remains — because they claim to see. On Sunday we looked at Augustine's reading of this passage. Today we go deeper into the most dangerous blindness of all: the kind that calls itself sight.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  This past Sunday was Laetare Sunday — the midpoint of Lent. The Church says rejoice. Not because the hard work is over, but because the dawn is close enough now to feel it coming.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  On Sunday we looked at the patterns fear leaves behind — the walls, the performance, the control. Today we slow down and ask the harder question: where did you give the wound a respectable name?  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  On Sunday we looked at why we keep going back to what hurts us. The wound is old — but your sinful nature knows the address. Today we sit with that pattern a little longer.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text! Week four of The Dark Road to Dawn. This week we walk into the Valley of Fear — the one that lives in us, not just around us. From John 9, Father Aaron preaches on the blindness we defend, the wounds we carry, and the God who is already in the kitchen at 3am.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text! Tomorrow we gather for worship. This week has been heavy and honest — and today we prepare to walk through those doors carrying less than we came in with. A short reflection to close the week and open toward Sunday. Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  Three practices. The woman at the well did all three in about twenty minutes. Today we walk through each one practically — because the Gospel was never meant to stay in your head.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  Shame says I am wrong. Conviction says I did wrong. Three words versus four — but the difference is everything. Today we go deeper on what the Gospel actually says about shame, and why Jesus at the well was convicting, not condemning.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  Most people have confession completely backwards. It's not how you clean yourself up before meeting Jesus — it's how Jesus cleans you up. At the midpoint of Lent, we look at the discipline of confession and why it's the most powerful thing you can do this season.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text! Shame doesn't stay locked in your soul — it shows up at work, at home, in your marriage, with your kids. Today we get practical about where to actually look for it, and what it means to stop managing and start living. Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text! Shame doesn't just make you feel bad — it makes you hide. And the hiding is the real problem. Today we open the third week of Lent by naming the core challenge: the cycle of shame, isolation, and hiding that keeps us from the life God has for us.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  Preached live at St. John's Anglican Church, Fort Smith for the Third Sunday of Lent. We all have five husbands — something we carry that we're convinced would disqualify us if anyone ever found out. In John chapter 4, Jesus meets the woman at the well at noon — isolated, hiding, thirsty for something that never satisfies. What happens next chan...

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  Nicodemus doesn't disappear after John 3. He shows up two more times in the Gospel — each time a little more in the light. His slow transformation is the arc of Lent itself. As Sunday approaches, this episode invites you to come to worship with open hands and your actual self.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  This week's spiritual practice is simple but uncomfortable: get specific about where you've been trying to earn grace, name it plainly, and then receive what God has already given. A short guide to confession and receiving as a daily rhythm.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  Jesus tells Nicodemus the Spirit moves like the wind — you can't summon it, schedule it, or control it. This episode explores what that means theologically and why so many of us are exhausted from trying to generate a spiritual life that only God can give.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text! John 3 isn't just a story about a late-night conversation. It's about spiritual darkness, hidden faith, and the cost of being seen with Jesus. A mid-week Lenten reflection on what it means to come out of the dark and into the light. Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  We show up to God cleaned up, performance-ready, credentials in hand — hoping we've done enough to earn our place. Today's episode names exactly where that plays out in your work, your home, and your faith, and what it looks like to stop performing and start receiving.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  There's a difference between arrogance and pride — and the one most of us carry is the quiet kind. The "I've got this" kind. This episode unpacks the real definition of pride and why it's the thing standing between you and grace.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  Pride isn't what you think it is. In this Lent II sermon from St. John's Anglican Church in Fort Smith, we dive into John 3:1-17 and the story of Nicodemus — a man who genuinely believed in Jesus but came to him at night, where no one could see. Jesus dismantles his theology, his credentials, and his sense of control. But he doesn't condemn...

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  If this week has done its job, you might walk into church tomorrow a little emptier than usual. Good. This Saturday we prepare for Sunday worship by remembering that Communion isn't a shortcut - it's the answer to our deepest hunger, offered by the One who refused every shortcut Himself.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  If you can't go without food for a day, food has you. Can you go without your phone? Without approval? Without comfort? This Friday we get practical with two simple words that can change your Lent: Stop and Sit. Don't grab, don't fill, don't run - just ask what you're actually starving for.  Support the show

We want to hear from You! Send us a Text!  Every time the devil tempts Jesus, He responds the same way: "It is written" - and quotes Deuteronomy. Why that book? Why those words? This Thursday we discover that Jesus isn't just surviving temptation, He's fulfilling Israel's story and getting it right where they got it wrong.  Support the show