The Neighborhood Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing Text: Ephesians 1:11-23 The question keeps returning in whispered prayers and hallway check-ins: where do we find hope when grief is heavy and the world feels unsteady. We take that question to Ephesians 1 and to the tradition of All Saints, where names are spoken, bells ring, and the church stands together at the crossroads of lament and res...

Send us Fan Mail Presenter: Dylan Lewellyn Ever felt put on the spot to pray and didn’t know where to start? We open the door wide: anyone can pray, anywhere, with words or without them. Together we map the landscape of gratitude and intercession, then dig into a deeper truth inspired by Eugene Peterson’s Answering God—prayer isn’t about acquiring favors, it’s about being formed. Instead of chasin...

Send us Fan Mail Ever notice how a small flash of judgment can snowball into stress, distance, and a short fuse at home? We trace that pattern from a vivid scene in Luke 18—the Pharisee who boasts and the tax collector who pleads—into the very real moments where our egos try to buy a hit of moral superiority. Along the way, we connect lifeguard wisdom with Brene Brown’s research on shame to show w...

Send us Fan Mail A small phrase can shake the world. We take a clear-eyed walk through the Nicene Creed’s closing movement and ask why a line about the Spirit, a set of four ancient marks, and a single baptism still shape how we pray, belong, and hope together. Along the way we unpack the filioque clause—those three words “and the Son” that fueled centuries of East–West controversy—and consider wh...

Send us Fan Mail Presenter: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing What if the best way to understand God isn’t a triangle or a formula, but a dance? We open with gratitude and laughter, then step straight into the Nicene Creed’s richest lines—“begotten, not made” and “of one substance with the Father”—to explore why the early church pushed back against Arius and protected the claim that Jesus is fully God,...

Send us Fan Mail Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing Text: Genesis 32:22-31 Darkness, a riverbank, and a stubborn grip that wouldn’t let go—Jacob’s night at the Jabbok shows how real transformation often starts where our strength runs out. We walk through the tense family history that set the stage for this showdown, from a birth marked by rivalry to years of trickery and distance. Then we slow...

Send us Fan Mail Presenter: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing What if the best way to understand God the Father isn’t an argument, but a song you can’t forget? We gather around a hymnal and let music do what treatises rarely can: hold storm and stillness in the same breath, pair rock with cloud, and honor a God who is both immortal and invisible yet somehow beside us every hour. Along the way, we correc...

Send us Fan Mail Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing Text: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 What if the most faithful thing you can do in a hard season isn’t to escape, but to build right where you are? We open with Psalm 66’s arc from testing to rescue and move into Jeremiah’s letter to exiles—a bracing word for people who wanted quick deliverance and got practical instructions instead: build houses, plant...

Send us Fan Mail Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing Text: 2 Timothy 1:1-14 A single line from 2 Timothy—“Guard the good treasure entrusted to you”—opens a tender, practical conversation about how faith survives and flourishes across generations. We start with Paul’s charge to Timothy and the living faith of Lois and Eunice, then follow that thread into kitchens, classrooms, sanctuaries, and ho...

Send us Fan Mail Presenter: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing A single line—“There was a time when he was not”—ignited one of the most consequential debates in Christian history. We open with the shared words of the Nicene Creed and follow the thread back to crowded halls near the Bosporus, where bishops gathered under an emperor’s gaze to settle what felt unsayable: one God, three persons, no shortcuts...

Send us Fan Mail Presenter: Rev. Kit Schooley Journey through 4,000 years of Hebrew scripture evolution in this fascinating exploration of how ancient oral traditions transformed into standardized sacred texts. Discover the dramatic moment when King Josiah, during temple renovations in 604 BCE, uncovered the long-forgotten scroll of Deuteronomy—a discovery so shocking that "he tore his robes&...

Send us Fan Mail Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing Texts: Luke 16:19-31 & 1 Timothy 6:6-19 What if generosity isn't just something God does, but who God is? Drawing from the parable of Lazarus and the rich man alongside Paul's wisdom in 1 Timothy, we discover a profound theological truth: generosity is God, and God is generosity. This revelation transforms how we understand our...

Send us Fan Mail Presenter: Rev. Kit Schooley The Bible didn't simply fall from heaven—it was assembled through centuries of debate, politics, and spiritual discernment. This eye-opening exploration reveals how Matthew quietly wove four "suspicious" women into Jesus's genealogy: Tamar, who disguised herself as a prostitute; Rahab, who sheltered Jewish spies; Ruth, a foreigner w...

Send us Fan Mail Preacher: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing Text: Luke 16:1-13 Money talks, but what is it saying about us? In this thought-provoking exploration of Jesus's most puzzling financial parable, we dive deep into the story of a manager who makes a radical choice when faced with imminent unemployment. Far from being a simple tale about dishonesty, this parable challenges everything we th...

Send us Fan Mail Speakers: Kay Kinnear, Revs. Mark Lile-King and Stephen M. Fearing Texts: Psalm 23 & Romans 8:38-39 The gentle reading of Psalm 23 opens this moving memorial service for Edith May Phillips, a 92-year-old woman whose quiet faith left an indelible mark on everyone she encountered. Through heartfelt remembrances and theological reflections, we discover a remarkable soul who embod...

Send us Fan Mail Presenter: Rev. Kit Schooley Dive into the messy, fascinating origin story of how we got our Bible. Long before leather-bound volumes sat on shelves, church leaders grappled with an overwhelming abundance of texts, stories, and letters claiming authority. Around 100 CE, Christian congregations used whatever resources were available—Old Testament writings, Jewish traditions, testim...

Send us Fan Mail The wounds of our divided nation run deep, especially in weeks marked by political violence. How do we navigate this broken landscape as people of faith? Through the familiar parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin, we discover a profound truth: God's love defies conventional wisdom. Consider the shepherd who abandons ninety-nine perfectly safe sheep to rescue just one....

Send us Fan Mail Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing Text: Luke 14:25-33 What does it really mean to follow Jesus? In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus delivers what might be considered the worst recruitment pitch ever: "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple." These jarring words launch us...

Send us Fan Mail Speaker: Rev. Dr. Kit Schooley What if everything you thought you knew about how the Bible came together was incomplete? The messy, human story behind Christianity's sacred text reveals a journey far more fascinating than most Sunday School lessons suggest. The Bible didn't arrive as a pre-packaged collection of divine writings. Its formation followed no clear pattern, e...

Send us Fan Mail Preacher: Dylan Lewellyn Texts: Lamentations 3 & John 14:1-17 Grief comes to us all, yet our society often teaches us to suppress it, push through it, or overcome it as quickly as possible. This powerful sermon challenges that narrative by diving deep into biblical perspectives on sorrow, particularly through the often-overlooked book of Lamentations. The message begins with a...

Send us Fan Mail The words of Psalm 23 and Romans 8 set the perfect tone for remembering Vernon Mull, whose 92 years on earth embodied the promise that nothing can separate us from God's love. Born in 1932 in humble circumstances in Weaverville, Vernon learned early the value of perseverance and hard work – qualities that would define his character throughout his remarkable life. What strikes...

Send us Fan Mail Faced with hardship, how do we keep our hearts from growing hard? This memorial service for 94-year-old Carolyn Sherrick explores a remarkable life guided by what the pastor calls "the three Gs of faith": gentleness, generosity, and gratitude. From her meticulous work as a CPA to her collection of over 800 nativity scenes gathered during travels to 90 countries, Carolyn...

Send us Fan Mail There's something profoundly spiritual about a neighborhood—that collection of people brought together not by choice but by proximity, learning to share space and life with one another. This concept forms the heart of our special joint worship service between Fellowship Presbyterian and Guilford Park Presbyterian Churches, where we explore the surprising ministry of Fred Roge...

Send us Fan Mail Preaching: Rev. Dr. Kathryn G. N. Campbell Text: Micah 6:1-8 & Mark 12:28-34 Fred Rogers wasn't just a television personality—he was a Presbyterian pastor whose ministry unfolded daily on screens across America. His deliberate choice to call his viewers "neighbors" wasn't coincidental but likely rooted in Jesus's teachings about loving our neighbors as...

Send us Fan Mail Preacher: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing Text: Esther 1 A seemingly obscure figure in scripture, Queen Vashti emerges as an unexpected hero in the opening chapter of Esther—a story often skipped in Sunday School. Before Esther saved her people, there was a woman who refused to be objectified, even when commanded by the most powerful man in the known world. Queen Vashti's defianc...