This week is the 17th Sunday after Pentecost, which is September 24th, 2023 and the Good Word comes from Matthew 20:1-16. Jesus tells a parable about God's generosity, challenging the common assumption that God rewards people according to what they have earned or deserve. Jesus uses the parable to illustrate his statement that in the Kingdom of Heaven, the last will be first and the first will be last.

This week is the 16th Sunday after Pentecost, which is September 17th, 2023 and the Good Word comes from Matthew 18: 21-35. Here, Jesus tells Peter to forgive someone 77 times and he expands on this by telling a parable that has quite a shocking ending. Jesus shows that forgiveness is not about keeping score. There's no upper limit on God's forgiveness for us or on the number of times we need to forgive others. God's boundless grace and unlimited mercy is a model for how we are to forgive. Today we are challenged to stretch our perspective and forgive each other.

This week is the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, which is September 10th  2023, and the Good Word comes from  Matthew 18: 15-20.  This reading is part of a longer teaching that Jesus shares with his disciples about how to deal with the everyday things that come up in the life of a community. Here, Jesus gives them, and us, a model for how to handle conflict.  Rather than talking behind someone’s back or ignoring them all together, Jesus offers a way to work through conflict that centers trust and relationship, and relies on God’s Spirit as a mediator. 

This week is the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, which is September 3rd, 2023, and the Good Word comes from Matthew 16: 21-28. Here Jesus reveals that the ultimate purpose of his ministry is to deny himself and take up the cross and anyone who wishes to follow him will do the same. After Peter, a disciple, correctly names Jesus as the Messiah, the son of the Living God he cannot believe Jesus' words that the ministry of the Messiah will end in suffering, death, and the cross.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This week is the 13th Sunday After Pentecost, which is August 27th, 2023 and the good word comes from Exodus 1:8-2:10. It tells the story of two Hebrew midwives, Puah and Shiphrah, who save many Hebrew infants from death through their clever and courageous actions that defied Pharoah’s cruel genocidal edict. It’s the story of Pharoah’s daughter drawing Moses out of the Nile river and raising him as her own. These acts of mercy and rescue by women begin the pivotal story of Moses and the Israelites Exodus from Egypt. In today's sermon we hear how small and mighty acts of resistance from everyday people can crack the power of empire.

Welcome to The Good Word Podcast, a sermon podcast from Immanuel Lutheran Church in Missoula, MT, a congregation of the ELCA, hosted by Pastor Molly Sasser-Goehner and Pastor Rebekah Cochrane.

We are so excited to get this podcast off the ground and are grateful for your support of the new ministry. In this trailer you'll hear why we felt inspired to start this podcast and some hopes and dreams for what it might mean for our community locally and beyond!