Pentecost was a day of miracles, including the miracle of understanding given to peopel who spoke many different languages but understood the proclamation of the Apostles. It was the opposite of the language confusion that took place at the Tower of Babel and it was the beginning of a great sending of the church to every tribe, nation and tounge. In addition to the Pentecost sermon from Bethany Lutheran, there is a song performed by C2W (Created 2 Worship) at the end of the episode.

This holiday podcast includes music from many of Bethany's choirs recorded during the Advent and Christmas seasons, with special thanks to Linda Hemphill our Music Director and "Team Roadie" our sound board operators who have been providing some very good material for me to share! I pray the readings and music in this podcast helps you to celebrate the coming our Savior. Merry Christmas!

This podcast was recorded in the summer of 2021 after Bethany Lutheran finished a challenging season for our children's choirs. At the start, I'll talk a bit about the name of this podcast and how it relates to what I am thinking about for the future of our church during and after the current pandemic. The sermon and the song after are all about Daniel and the Lion's Den, plus there is a bonus hand bell anthem, "Holy, Holy, Holy".

In the introduction, I share some news about worship at Bethany in Alexandria, Virginia for the summer of 2021. There are also a few facts about Daniel before the sermon that was recorded on June 6. At the end, enjoy getting your "Marching Orders" from organist, Linda Hemphill.

31 sermons later, I got to finally say "the end"! Except that it is not really the end because there is so much of "The Story" that we are a part of right now, and even more that is "not yet." It is better to say "Amen!" It shall be so! This podcast includes the final sermon in the spiritual growth series called "The Story" as well as a special Mother's Day music offering by mother/daughter duo Linda and Lindsay Hemphill.

The second last chapter of "The Story" gives us some encouragement from the Apostle Paul to Timothy. As a church, we heard this while going through our pandemic self-quarantine when most of our members were worshiping at home. The music at the end is J.S. Bach's "Sheep Will Safely Graze" played by Linda and Lindsay Hemphill.

This chapter of "The Story" is all about the missionary journeys of Paul. The sermon zooms in on Philippi where the the church starts with a merchant, a slave girl and a jailer's family. This gives us a glimpse of how the Body of Christ comes together and is sent out by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The music in this podcast is performed by the praise team at Bethany Lutheran, Created 2 Worship (C2W). At the beginning and at the end, there are two songs used in our Easter season worship.

Chapter 28 of "The Story" takes us to the birth of the church after the Resurrection of Jesus. The title of my sermon is "They Never Stopped". At the time this was preached (one year ago) we were learning terms like "lock down" and "social distance" and dealing with the fact that the church could not hold public worship. Still, "we never stopped" trying to connect with as many people as possible. And today, we are thinking about what will happen post-pandemic. I think the attitude is the same as the Apostles in Acts. May it be said of us that we "never stopped."

One year ago, I was wondering what would become of Easter during quarantine! As I continue to collect the remaining sermons of "The Story" for this podcast, I reflect a little on how things have changed over this past year. The sermon from Easter Sunday latches onto two phrases in the Gospel of Matthew and "The Story" chapter 27. Finally, listen to an instrumental of "The Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah" performed by the organ and trumpet.