Unfinished Community Podcast

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! This week, Chapter 40 of Genesis is on the menu, as we limber...

This is an updated and revised sermon, re-delivered by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to the congregation of the Unfinished Community as a bonus on November 16, 2023. This sermon is a rework of "Standing in Wait," a sermon delivered as part of the "Casual Sermons" series back in March. It draws from 1 Samuel 16:1-13 and Ephesians 5:8-14, and explores just who it is that is called to le...

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! This week, we dive into Chapter 40 of Genesis, and find Josep...

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! This week, we dive into Chapter 39 of Genesis, and return to...

This is the sermon delivered by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to the congregation of the Unfinished Community, on Sunday, November 5, 2023. Drawing from Revelation 7:9-17 and Matthew 5:1-12, we spend a little time this week working through the difference between the wise, rational, and reasonable decisions made by humans, angels, and elders alike, and the wild and unreasonable choices made by God. How do...

You all asked for it, so here it is; Pastor Don's 5(ish) minute sermon! Drawing from Amos 5:18-24 and Mark 6:1-6, let's spend a quick minute talking about how the church is dying because it's been quietly kicking Jesus to the curb, in almost the same exact way that non-affirming parents do with their LGBTQIA+ kids. Maybe neither group should do that, ya think? Scripture links are below...

This is the sermon delivered by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to the congregation of the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, NJ, on Sunday, October 16, 2023. Drawing from Matthew 22:1-14 and Philippians 4:1-9, we spend our time talking about that great conundrum, whether anyone can really know if another person is truly a Christian or not. Is it solely an internal thing, or is there some criteria we...

This is the sermon delivered by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to the congregation of the Unfinished Community, on Sunday, October 1, 2023. Drawing from Matthew 21:23-32, we spend our time talking about what it means to live out our lives as people who do the work of Christianity, rather than striving just for the look of it. Is there something we need to have to call ourselves Christian and, conversely,...

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! Back to Basics, Episode 58: Tamar Gets the Upper Hand (Genesi...

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! This week, we continue with Chapter 38 of Genesis, and the pr...

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! This week, we arrive at the passage that Pastor Don has been...

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! This week, we begin our LONG journey through the story of Jos...

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! This week, we finish the story of Genesis 35 with the death o...

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! This week, we return to the story of Jacob, as his people ret...

TW: Discussions of sexual violence and vengeance. Viewer discretion is advised! Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood...

Welcome to "Get Thee Behind Me," a new series from Unfinished Community where we explore the objectively terrible theology and somehow even worse writing of the "Left Behind" novels from the late 1990s. These books (and other media) were a massive hit in their time, but they didn't come out of nowhere; they're the evolution of centuries of heresy and cultism made manife...

This is the sermon delivered by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to the congregation of the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, NJ, on Sunday, July 9, 2023. Drawing from Song of Solomon 2:8-13 and Romans 7:15-25a, we talk about what it really means to love God. How is a modern evangelical like a besotted middle-school boy? How can our faith make us more like an incel than a true Christian? What does it...

Welcome to "Get Thee Behind Me," a new series from Unfinished Community where we explore the objectively terrible theology and somehow even worse writing of the "Left Behind" novels from the late 1990s. These books (and other media) were a massive hit in their time, but they didn't come out of nowhere; they're the evolution of centuries of heresy and cultism made manife...

This is the sermon delivered by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to the congregation of the Unfinished Community, on Sunday, July 2, 2023. Drawing from Romans 6:12-23, we dig into some of the...weirdness...of Paul. Did Paul stop being a fundamentalist when he converted? Is it ok for us to realize that Paul had some serious issues with seeing the world in binary terms? Did you know that Paul was the first no...

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! This week, we rejoin the story of Jacob and Esau already in p...

"The members, congregants, and other participants in the life and ministry of Unfinished Community acknowledge the history of oppression, exclusion, and violence both spiritual and all too physical which rests upon our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender siblings. In the wider church, and society at large, these beloved children of God have been excluded, rejected, and subject to great an...

Welcome to "Back to Basics," where Pastor Don and Courtney Fraley explore the Bible, one story at a time, starting at the beginning, and working our way forward until we either get bored or run out of Bible! Tune in every week for a brief exploration of the next chapter in that thrilling and oft-misunderstood story, the Bible! This week, in celebration of our 50th episode, we take some t...

This is the sermon delivered remotely by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to the congregation of the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, NJ, on Sunday, June 18, 2023. Drawing from Genesis 18:1-15 and Matthew 9:35-10:23, we dig into the absolutely terrifying impossibility of a God who calls us to sacrifice everything, but somehow make a better world. How does that even work? How can we take on systemic i...

This is the sermon delivered by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to at the monthly worship service for Unfinished Community, on Sunday, June 4, 2023. Drawing from Matthew 9:9-17, we spend some time talking about what it means to "put new wine into old wineskins." Have our institutions, our ways of being Christian become old, cracked, and broken? Have all our efforts to "revitalize" the C...

This is the sermon delivered by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to at the monthly worship service for Unfinished Community, on Sunday, June 4, 2023. Drawing from Matthew 28:16-20, it's time for a conversation about what this whole "Great Commission" thing really means. Is it really about having a "convert or die" mentality, or is Jesus perhaps getting at something greater, more root...