St. Paul Podcast

Peter W. Marty preaches on tenacity. When people display a dogged persistence in the fight for something that is good, we should pay attention. The church must look for and expect to find faith existing outside of our boundaries, norms, and expectations. We need to have a faith that is humble and strong enough to stand up to our own minds when that mind is too small or too narrow. We are not meant to remain as we are; it is a gift to evolve, discover, grow, and change.  

Preaching Text: Matthew 15: 21-28

Peter W. Marty preaches on fear. When fear gets the best of us, it can so easily play tricks with our minds. The most important work of Jesus in the world is to calm our fears, to lower our anxieties about all things life and all things death. “Be not afraid.” Jesus hands over a lifeline time and time again.  

Preaching text: Matthew 14: 22-33

Peter A. Pettit preaches on the remarkable generosity of God with many communities. God’s Word is not static, it’s not limited, and it doesn’t choose favorites. It’s living and it’s active, it’s creative and life-giving wherever it touches creation. In God, there is enough love, glory, teaching, commitment, and promise for all. When we see God’s Word living and active in other communities and other faiths, we can celebrate.  

Preaching text: Romans 9: 1-5 

Katy Warren preaches on certainty. What are you absolutely sure of in your life? It’s not easy to be truly convinced. We know God loves us because we’re surrounded by a community of people that remind us of that fact even when we’re prone to doubt it.  

Preaching text: Romans 8: 26-39  

Peter W. Marty preaches on weeds. There’s no field in the world where you will find only grain and there is no flower garden that is only flowers. The same goes for people. We wrestle with the saint versus the sinner within us. We’re perfectly incapable of separating the wheat from the weeds.  

Preaching text: Matthew 13: 24-30

Megan Eide preaches on growth. If we want a fruitful, healthy life, we need healthy soil.  God meets us where we are with words of grace and hope. We all have work to do when it comes to tending our soil and cultivating our lives of faith but, in the end, it’s God’s steadfast love and abundant goodness that wins the day. 

Preaching text: Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23 

Katy Warren preaches on the things we carry. God is aware of the things we carry around with us each and every day. Instead of carrying a laptop, maybe we carry feelings of shame we are unable to put down or instead of our keys, wallet, and phones we carry our own worries, deep grief, or exhaustion and overwhelm. You don’t have to let go of all that is on your heart and mind today but neither do you have to hold it all on your own.  

Preaching text: Matthew 11: 25-30 

Max Franks preaches on kindness. A life of faith is made up of a thousand small gestures. There is no small gesture anything done in faith and love has cosmic significance. From a cup of cold water to holding open a door.  

Preaching text: Matthew 10: 40-42 

Peter W. Marty preaches on baptism and death. We will not take baptism seriously in our lives if we do not comprehend that death is a core image in baptism. There should be a funeral in our own lives every single day. Every day, we should be laying to rest something that is not befitting of God. What do you need to lay to rest today? We all have pieces of our lives we need to let go of every day.  

Preaching text: Romans 6: 1b-11

Sara Olson-Smith preaches on hope. It is impossible to avoid grief, suffering, and death but the promise of hope will not disappoint us. We do not have a force field of protection but we are given something even better. A faith that is just what we need to navigate this world of challenges, an identity to help us to live with hope and courage, a community with whom was can find meaning. There is peace in the present and hope for the future. 

Preaching text: Romans 5: 1-8