Roots and Branches Podcast

As a fitting follow-up to Episode 93 and a complementary commentary to our winter-spring sermon series on the book of James, this two-parter overviews Pastor Brent’s DMin dissertation, Reimagining Catechesis: Embodied and Embedded Discipleship Through Placemaking. After swapping stories of how the year 1994 was pivotal in each of their lives, Pastor Brent and Paul go over the outline of Pastor Brent’s elective class offered at New Life EFC on four Tuesday nights—Feb. 11-Mar. 4—from 6:30-8 pm. In our post-Christian (and often anti-Christian) culture, disciple-by-doing goes beyond doctrine, theory and catechesis by using hands-on, whole-life discipleship for deeper formation of all ages in the local church body.

Paul and Pastor Brent co-host their first shared episode of 2025 with a preview of the book of James, Pastor Brent’s winter-spring sermon series. In addition to the many well-known themes of James (e.g.: trials and suffering; wisdom; faith and works; careful use of words; humility; interactions with fellow believers; prayer), the theme of disciple-by-doing / whole-life discipleship is also seen throughout this letter and reflects our unique ministry strategy at New Life EFC. Living lives of godly actions rooted in God’s grace are essential for the Christ-follower, and the Lord calls us to be sanctified in community through the local church.

Paul Arneberg offers an annual refresher following up Episodes 34 & 35, “Goal Setting Parts 1 & 2.” Part 3 reviews and offers specifics on four basic categories of goal setting: physical (nutrition and exercise); spiritual (Bible reading and prayer journaling); financial (budgeting and saving); and skillful (vocation and hobbies). Healthy relationships should be the overarching end-result of all goal setting, so Paul ends by discussing a fifth category: relational goals (e.g., names, hospitality, gratitude). Whatever age, personality, or areas of gifting, each one of us can improve at setting and pursuing mini- (realistic) goals, medium- (reasonable) goals, and mega- (ridiculous) goals. Such intentionality better equips us to love others and to grow in Jesus’ grace and knowledge (2 Pet. 3:18).

Happy New Year, Roots & Branches church family and friends! Pastor Brent is on vacation, so Paul rings in 2025 with a solo episode as a follow-up and further commentary on his 12/29/24 sermon on Psalm 90. After overviewing this heavy psalm written by Moses, Paul highlights the grief and the hope represented by three family deaths: Wendy’s dad, Conrad DeGroot in 1970; Paul’s mom, Audrey Arneberg in 1985; and Paul’s nephew, E. Andre Larrea in 2002. Paul also addresses the death of his dream of fatherhood due to infertility—and how the Lord broke his depression on 11/24/02 using 1 Thess. 5:18. In addition to reading a poem of 15.5 couplets that he wrote for Andre’s funeral, Paul mentions “Teach Us to Number Our Days” by Marty Goetz, “All Glory Be to Christ” as sung by The Petersens, and “On Eagle’s Wings” by Michael Joncas. (Note: Charlie Seifert is the name of the Christian firefighter on the scene of Andre’s death.)

Paul Arneberg and Pastor Brent Kompelien conclude Advent 2024 with one of the most awesome chapters in the Bible, Revelation 5. Ever influenced by the arts to supplement his love for God’s Word, Paul opens and closes with samples of a great oratorio that he experienced in college, The Revelation of St. John the Divine by the late Dominick Argento. Pastor Brent reflects on his final sermon on “The Promises of God” by delving into the breathtaking nature of the Christ-exulting worship in Rev. 5. This final Roots & Branches episode for 2024 wraps up with a discussion of the “already” and “not yet” nature of Christ’s kingdom, admonishing the listeners to prioritize reading the whole counsel of God in order to grow in Christ and cling to the Lord’s promises for ultimate fulfillment at the end of the age, especially amidst trials. Keep Christ at the center, and keep in Christian community as a comfort and foretaste of the coming fullness of the Kingdom of God!

Paul Arneberg and Pastor Brent Kompelien continue their mini-series celebrating Advent 2024. After Paul recounts the four-fold life-changing nature of the year 1989 in his life, Pastor Brent returns to his sermon from 12/15/24 and offers bonus material on Abraham, the exemplar of faith and “the father of us all” (Rom. 4:16). He and Paul discuss atonement (meaning to “cover over”) as a human longing and NEED, but only fulfilled in receiving salvation in Christ through faith. Cross references abound, including Deuteronomy, Matthew, Mark, Ephesians, Galatians, and comparing the Mercy Seat in the Temple to our need to be covered by the mercy of Christ.

Paul Arneberg and Pastor Brent Kompelien return to their mini-series celebrating Advent 2024. As Pastor Brent wraps up his 15-week sermon series on “The Promises of God” this month, he and Paul discuss Matthew 1 and the arrival of the Promise in Christ (aka the Messiah, or Anointed One). After Paul connects his recent arctic distance run with the journey depicted in The Nativity Story (2006), Pastor Brent recaps the genealogy of Jesus in Matt. 1 and how both Judaism and Christianity are unique in world history by demanding that we hold up a mirror to ourselves and our need for salvation from our sins (Matt. 1:21). Paul ends with an admonishment to renew personal Bible reading in 2025 and he gives a plug for our New Life EFC sermon podcast (available on our website or search iTunes for “New Life EFC Hastings sermons”).

This two-part episode by Director of Discipleship Paul Arneberg focuses on the concept of margin inspired by the book Margin by Dr. Richard A. Swenson. In the 2019-2020 school year, the Lord led Paul to write a nine-part column series on margin. Using Scripture, personal examples and movies, Part 2 features four more key words related to margin: Contentment, Rest (incl. seven sub-category “S” words: Sleep, Stress, Schedule, Space, Sovereignty, Satisfaction, and Sabbath), Balance vs. Excellence (+ Negative Excellence), and Time.

This two-part episode by Director of Discipleship Paul Arneberg focuses on the concept of margin inspired by the book Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives by Dr. Richard A. Swenson. In the school year leading up to and including the COVID lockdowns (2019-2020), the Lord led Paul to write a nine-part column series on margin (https://jugheads.com/category/themarginseries/). Using Scripture, personal examples and movie references, Part 1 features Paul discussing four key words related to the concept of margin: Boundaries, Gratitude, Peace, and Simplicity.

Paul Arneberg and Pastor Brent Kompelien kick off a mini-series celebrating Advent 2024. As Pastor Brent wraps up his 14-week sermon series on “The Promises of God” this December, he and Paul discuss Ezekiel 34 and the Lord’s promise to shepherd His sheep and seek the lost. Cultural references include the classic “Rudolph” Christmas program; Aslan of Narnia; Aragorn of Middle-earth; and a special mention of an Advent song by the late Christian musician Jeremy Erickson. Supportive Scriptures include passages from Luke, John, Romans, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, and Revelation.