Netarts Friends Church Podcast

1 Peter 3.9-14 Life is full of situations that are threatening. The alarm bells go off in our mind. Harm is about to happen to someone. Evil is looming. Things have become untenable. We can't just sit on our hands. We have to do something!!! The challenge is that so often we respond to danger, threats, and mistreatment in ways that cause further problems, cause more harm, or make things worse. How...

1 Peter 3:8 This episode is about sharing life with people who have different personalities, perspectives, communication styles, sensitivities, hot buttons, or approaches than you. What are the prayerful qualities that the Spirit wants to cultivate within you to help you share life together? Credits & Sources: Daniel Taylor, Joel Green, Erland Waltner, Jacob Collier, Scot McKnight, John Elliot...

1 Peter 3:1-7 The apostle Peter calls women the "weaker vessel". Other translations say, "the weaker sex, “the weaker sex, the more fragile vessel, the weaker partner", or “She isn’t as strong as you are, or she has a weaker nature.” Please don't give up on listening! Some of the strongest people I have ever known have been women. This one looks at what Peter says to wives and husbands that is bot...

1 Peter 2:18-25 When the apostle Peter said, "Slaves, be subject to your masters...." was he telling millions of African slaves that when their white masters (many who called themselves "Christians") punished them in whatever cruel way they deemed fit, that the only option those slaves had was to give in, accept it, shut up and take it, suffer and not lift a hand in resistance? Was he telling peop...

1 Peter 2:11-17 Peter says to " honor the emperor" . He says to "submit for the Lord's sake to every human authority "....and we all pause and wonder, "What about when that authority is harming humanity?" In the background of this Scripture is a real Roman Emperor. We explore the story of the Roman Emperor, Nero. We also look at what exactly Peter did and didn't say and how Peter was saying someth...

1 Peter 2:9-10 We are inundated every day be voices trying to tell us to choose our tribe. Our sense of "WE", that identity is socially formed by class, ethnicity, race, political party, religious tradition, nation, tribe, family, and education. This one looks at how our idea of our "WE" determines what possibilities we are willing to consider and pursue. Who is your "we"? This question is crucial...

1 Peter 2:4-10 Rejection is a common human experience. Ignored. Fired. Deported. Sent away. Ghosted. Divorced. Nobody wants you around. Not invited. This episode uses a metaphor from the world of construction waste and old scraps of material that get thrown in the dumpster to paint a picture of how God operates differently, and to describe the kind of home God is building through humanity. Credits...

1 Peter 1:22-2:3 Have you ever found yourself constantly checking in on a relationship, needing to make sure it's secure? Over and over. Have you ever found yourself trying to keep everyone at arm's length, feeling trapped in relationships, like you can't meet people's expectations? Have you ever found yourself wanting intimacy and closeness in a relationship- but not trusting it when you get it?...

1 Peter 1:14-23 So much of who we are is a product of our ancestors and the family we grew up in. We are a product of the narratives and scripts that were handed down by the generations that came before us. We have been handed some really good stuff by our ancestors....and we have also been handed some patterns, narratives, and scripts that are deeply lacking. This episode explores what Jesus has...

1 Peter 1: 6-13 This episode explores the ways in which we humans are limited in our capacity to grasp the grace of God, and the grace that God in Christ continues to reveal. Credits & Sources: Karen Jobes, John H. Elliott, Dennis Edwards, Craig Keener, Pheme Perkins, Douglas Harink, David Bartlett, Scot McKnight, Peter Davids, Erland Waltner, Lee Camp, Moises Silva, N.T. Wright. Sermon by Aar...

1 Peter 1:3-9 When life turns up the heat on you, what can you do? You want to turn down the heat. You want to manage the heat. You want to escape the heat. The much more difficult task is to get curious about the heat. What is the heat revealing about you? Credits & Sources: Marsha Linehan, Bessel van der Kolk, Karen Jobes, David Williams, Eldon Fry, John H. Elliott, Dennis Edwards, Craig Kee...

1 Peter 1:3-6 God's actions always precede our actions. This one explores how hope is a gift that enables us to live differently: without walls and defenses up. It's not only about actions, but inner narratives underneath the actions. Credits & Sources: Eldon Fry, Casey Gwinn, Chan Hellman, N.T. Wright, Karen Jobes, Adam L. Bean, Rodney Stark, John Elliott, David Bartlett, Dennis Edwards, Phem...

1 Peter 1:1-2 Have you ever felt like a stranger in your own life? Like you are missing a time you can't get back to, a community you can no longer reach, or a version of yourself you've lost? Have you ever needed someone who knows your story and still chooses you? Have you ever needed someone to believe in your process and progress? Have you ever needed someone to include you in their story? Then...

Luke 24:1-49 Have you ever wished you could have amazing spiritual experiences like other people say they have? Have you ever tried to recreate the spiritual experience that someone said they had? Have you ever given up on having an amazing spiritual experience? This episode deals with these angles of chasing and plodding in our spiritual journey. Credits & Sources: Mary DeMuth, Alan Culpepper...

Luke 23:50-54 This episode explores the experience of Joseph of Arimathea (the man who buried Jesus). We are all mixed bags. You may be surprised how much you relate to good old "Joe". Credits and Sources: Amy Jill-Levine, Christian Miller, Raymond Brown, David Garland, Tim Geddert, Justo Gonzalez, Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Alan Culpepper, Joel Green, Craig Keener. G.H. Twelftree, D.W. Chap...

Luke 23:32-43 This one is a guided meditation, a prayer exercise that perhaps may open up doors of forgiveness that can be difficult to open, and to keep open. Credits & Sources: Lee Camp, Debie Thomas, Joel Green, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Alan Culpepper, Brad Jersak, Brian Zahnd, Miroslav Volf, Savannah Locke. Music by Tyler Chester and Michael Gungor Sermon by Aaron Carlson For more informatio...

Luke 23:26-31 This episode explores the stumbling way of Jesus from his trial before the governor Pilate, to the place of The Skull, where he was crucified. It explores the way of the cross. Credits & Sources: Henri Nouwen, Craig Keener, Josephus, J. Dennis, Mark Baker, Brian Zahnd, N.T. Wright, Alan Culpepper, David Garland, Justo Gonzalez, Oscar Romero. For more information or to support thi...

Luke 22:54;63-23:25 You may not have spent much time in a courtroom, but you probably know the feeling of being on trial: accused, judged, misrepresented, misunderstood, threatened, pinned down, ganged up on, demeaned, alone, unwanted, scapegoated, experiencing injustice. This episode is about the pathway Jesus opens to navigate these situations from a different place. Credits: P. Gregg Blanton, M...

This one is not a sermon or a talk. It is a guided meditation. More can happen through holy Silence and Centering prayer than may ever happen through words. Enjoy! This one closes with a benediction. For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org (03/29/26)

Luke 22:31-62 This episode explores how Jesus looks at us before and on the days that absolutely everything is falling apart.... even though we are doing our best.... Trying so hard. Meaning well. Wanting to get it all right. Credits & Sources: Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, Stephanie Rigg, Casey Gwinn, Chan Hellman, Justo Gonzalez, Alan Culpepper, Moises Silva, Eugene Peterson, Joel Green,...

Luke 22:20-27; 9:46-48 Does this sound familiar? You start thinking about yourself, who you are, your attributes, and your performance. And in almost no time flat you are comparing yourself to someone else. You are using someone else as a measuring stick to evaluate yourself. Does this sound familiar? This episode explores the different way of relating to greatness that Jesus offers in order to fr...

"I thought I could trust you. I was counting on you. Relying on you.....and then....I couldn't. It really hurt." Betrayals come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small. Some are massive. Some are intentional. Some are unintentional. Friend drama, workplace drama, family drama, marriage/romantic partner drama, business drama, and neighborhood drama. This episode explores how Jesus treats betrayers....

Luke 21:5-38 Under stress some of us over-function, some of us under-function. It doesn't work to tell us to, "Stop it." We need something that releases us from the stress and strain. This episode looks at what Jesus does it release us from the inevitability of keeping on over-functioning or under-functioning. Credits and Sources: Murray Bowen, Michael E. Kerr, Roberta M. Gilbert, Edwin H. Friedma...

Luke 19:47-21:4 We all know what it is like to face options, categories, and choices that leave us stuck because there is no way to move forward without violating a core part of who we are. None of the options or categories work. It is a stalemate, a double-bind, an impasse, a lose/lose. This episode is about navigating these kinds of situations with Jesus. There is a way through, and Jesus is the...

Luke 19:28-44 "Peace" and "peacemaking" are words that get thrown around a lot. People have very different ideas of HOW we achieve peace. So many people say that they want peace, and yet we live in a world so lacking in peace. This episode extends the conversation from simply saying that we want peace, to ask what does Jesus show us that we can do that makes peace possible and actual? Credits and...