Ponder Anew Podcast

What's the Buzz? Episode 1. 

For the month of May, the Ponder Anew Podcast features the children of St. Paul Lutheran in Lititz.  If even if you are not a part of this congregation, you will find the perspective of the children fascinating and inspiring!

Deacon Emily Myallis leads them in a conversation about how they experience different elements of worship.  

The "What's the Buzz" season title comes from the phrase that that Deacon Emily uses to focus the conversation: "May we BEE _____"

For this first episode, the phrase is "May we BEE fed" and the aspect of worship is Holy Communion.

What's the Buzz? Episode 1. 

For the month of May, the Ponder Anew Podcast features the children of St. Paul Lutheran in Lititz.  If even if you are not a part of this congregation, you will find the perspective of the children fascinating and inspiring!

Deacon Emily Myallis leads them in a conversation about how they experience different elements of worship.  

The "What's the Buzz" season title comes from the phrase that that Deacon Emily uses to focus the conversation: "May we BEE _____"

For this first episode, the phrase is "May we BEE fed" and the aspect of worship is Holy Communion.

Final episode of the season.  We learn who the true anti-hero is.

"Good Grief"  It is easy for Charlie Brown to say; but it is harder in life to grieve. 

Pastor Rob looks at the encounter of Jesus with two of his disciples, Mary and Martha, as they grieve the death of their brother.  It provides a window into how Jesus accompanies us in our grief as well as an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which our culture currently makes grieving difficult.

Three years ago our nation went into lockdown for the pandemic.  Wow!

We continue with encounters between Jesus and people, this week hearing from John chapter 9 about Jesus healing a man.  Everyone except for Jesus wants to focus on sin and blame; Jesus wants to open everyone's eyes to God's works and glory.  This remains a challenge for us as we continue to emerge from the pandemic -- focusing on God's goodness working its way in our world instead of fixating on sin and blame.

For our 3rd podcast of this season, we reflect on the encounter of Jesus with an unnamed Samaritan woman.  Jesus and this woman come from different "tribes"; as such, we see here what it is like for Jesus to interact with and find common ground with someone of a different background.  In a world fraught with divisions and desperately in need of bridge building, there is much we can learn from here.

This main teaching in this podcast is unpacking the seven steps Jesus takes to form a bridge with someone of a different culture.

The Scripture reading (John 4) is longer and the podcast includes background on the Jewish-Samaritan conflict.  If you feel comfortable with the story and that societal vision, you can forward to about the ten minute mark.

How do you talk to a Pharisee? In this episode, we look at John 3, in which Jesus encounters Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Through this encounter, we deconstruct what Jesus means when he says that to enter the kingdom of heaven, you must be born again, and we discover that to talk to a Pharisee, you have to walk with one, too.

 

We continue our season on Encountering Jesus in the Gospel of John.   In this episode, we look at John 2, in which Jesus meets his mother, Mary.  Through this encounter, we explore one of the most vulnerable relationships in life -- parent and child.

A new podcast season:  Encountering Jesus (Looking at John 1-11)

In this podcast, we introduce the season by looking at the haunting question of Nathaniel to Jesus:  "How do you know me?"  (John 1)  Again and again, Jesus reveals how much he knows the person with whom he is speaking.  He is quickly able to get to the core of who they are and then lead them to a new place.  This podcast is a reflection on people's encounters with Jesus and within that an invitation to encounter Jesus ourselves.

A Christmas gift:  a bonus episode!  We look at What Child is This as well as Philippians 2, arguably the world's oldest Christmas hymn.  From the beginning, Christmas and the cross have been connected.