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Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Text: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

What if the most faithful thing you can do in a hard season isn’t to escape, but to build right where you are? We open with Psalm 66’s arc from testing to rescue and move into Jeremiah’s letter to exiles—a bracing word for people who wanted quick deliverance and got practical instructions instead: build houses, plant gardens, multiply, and pray for the city’s welfare. It’s not surrender; it’s a strategy for resilient hope and shared flourishing.

We unpack the Babylonian exile as both a historical trauma and a living metaphor for moments when life feels foreign and control is thin. Rather than promise “help is on the way,” we tell the truth about slow arcs and real agency. That means naming what’s beyond us and then getting specific about what’s within reach: tending relationships, investing in neighborhoods, choosing generosity over grievance, and advocating for policies that widen the commons. Along the way, we explore how oppression impoverishes the whole community—using the shuttered public pools of the Jim Crow South as a stark example of zero-sum thinking that steals from everyone.

With a nod to Gandalf’s reminder that we don’t choose the times, only how we use them, we return to Jeremiah’s charge as a map for modern discipleship. If you feel like a stranger in your own city, this conversation offers grounded steps to re-engage: plant something that lasts, build something that serves, and pray in a way that propels you toward your neighbor. Join us, reflect on what you can control this week, and share one small act you’ll take. If this resonated, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it on to a friend who needs courage today.

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Presenter: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

What if the best way to understand God the Father isn’t an argument, but a song you can’t forget? We gather around a hymnal and let music do what treatises rarely can: hold storm and stillness in the same breath, pair rock with cloud, and honor a God who is both immortal and invisible yet somehow beside us every hour. Along the way, we correct a common historical mix-up about Arius, trace the politics and pressures surrounding Nicaea, and explore why the Creed says so much about the Son and the Spirit but so little about the Father.

We move through a gallery of living metaphors—sculptor of mountains, nuisance to Pharaoh, host of every table, womb of creation—and watch the room light up as different images give different people a way in. The Navy hymn brings the sea’s danger into view; “Immortal, Invisible” names the mystery that stretched the early church; “God of Great and Small” softens the tone to show how transcendence leans close. Creation hymns turn windows into cathedrals. “All that borrows life from thee is ever in thy care” reframes breath as a gift on loan. And when faith feels thin, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” steadies a grieving congregation, reminding us that God holds when we cannot.

This conversation is a gentle challenge to narrow language and a warm invitation to a wider vocabulary for God the Creator. If the word “Father” has been hard, these hymns offer new doors: light from light, fortress and fountain, guide by day and fire by night. We hold the creed in one hand and a melody in the other, discovering that doctrine can sing and that songs can teach doctrine. Listen, hum along, and tell us which image of God feels most true to you today. If this episode moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the conversation.

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Presenter: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

A single line—“There was a time when he was not”—ignited one of the most consequential debates in Christian history. We open with the shared words of the Nicene Creed and follow the thread back to crowded halls near the Bosporus, where bishops gathered under an emperor’s gaze to settle what felt unsayable: one God, three persons, no shortcuts. Along the way, we pull apart the analogies that seem helpful (the three hats, the board of directors) but quietly bend the truth, and we sit with Arius long enough to understand why his view protected something real even as it risked losing the heart of the gospel.

We talk frankly about Constantine’s motives and why politics and prayer collided in the fourth century. Legal tolerance made underground arguments very public, and public arguments demanded careful words. That’s how phrases like “true God from true God,” “begotten, not made,” and “of one being with the Father” took shape—not as ivory-tower flourishes but as guardrails for worship and the logic of salvation. If Christ is not fully God and fully human, the hope Christians stake their lives on starts to crumble. The councils at Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381) become less distant events and more like family meetings whose minutes still guide how we pray, teach and sing.

We also map where we’re heading next: digging into what “we believe” commits us to, how the Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son,” and why the creed gives more airtime to the Son and the Spirit than to the Father. The tone stays curious and grounded—no claim to having all the answers, just a community trying to speak truthfully about a God who exceeds our categories and meets us in flesh and breath. Stay through the closing prayers and you’ll hear why doctrine is never abstract for us; it shapes how we carry one another.

If this journey helps you think or pray more clearly, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves history and theology, and leave a review with the creed line that challenges you most. Your reflections help guide where we go next.

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Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Text: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

A single line from 2 Timothy—“Guard the good treasure entrusted to you”—opens a tender, practical conversation about how faith survives and flourishes across generations. We start with Paul’s charge to Timothy and the living faith of Lois and Eunice, then follow that thread into kitchens, classrooms, sanctuaries, and hospital halls where ordinary people pass on courage, love, and self-discipline when fear feels loudest. Along the way, we name the ache of families who no longer share the same practices and offer a wider frame: in Christ, family expands to mentors and friends who quietly keep us brave.

We share personal stories of women who modeled generosity and risk, teachers who renewed a love for Scripture, and congregants who embodied interfaith friendship. The heartbeat of the episode is intergenerational church life: a 100-year-old and a 12-year-old holding hands, a baptism viewed from above with a whole congregation promising to nurture a young life, and the realization that guarding the good treasure is never about hoarding. It’s about stewardship that gives itself away—resisting cruelty with compassion, greed with generosity, division with inclusion, and despair with resurrection hope.

If you’re exhausted by scorched-earth rhetoric, this conversation offers a gentler strength and a clear practice: name your Lois and Eunice, give thanks, and become that person for someone else. Listen for a vision of community that keeps promises, expands belonging, and treats everyday moments as sacred chances to protect what matters most. If the message resonates, subscribe, share this episode with someone who encouraged you, and leave a review with the name of the person who “smiled you into smiling.”

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Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Texts: Luke 16:19-31 & 1 Timothy 6:6-19

What if generosity isn't just something God does, but who God is? Drawing from the parable of Lazarus and the rich man alongside Paul's wisdom in 1 Timothy, we discover a profound theological truth: generosity is God, and God is generosity.

This revelation transforms how we understand our spiritual journey. Like the rich man whose clenched fists rendered him blind to Lazarus at his gate, we too can become so focused on accumulating wealth and security that we miss the divine invitation to open our hands and hearts to others. Through the structure of the hymn "God Whose Giving Knows No Ending," we explore three dimensions of generosity: God's boundless giving, our calling to serve, and our responsibility to share.

God's generosity surrounds us in unexpected places—from intricate spider webs discovered on a camping trip to the joy of a child pretending to be an upside-down jellyfish. These moments invite us to "take hold of the life that really is life" by cultivating righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness within community. As baptism reminds us, we receive grace undeserved yet are called to share it abundantly.

The choice stands before us daily: clenched fists or open hands. We cannot have both. As channels of divine generosity, every act of kindness creates ripples of hope and healing that extend far beyond our immediate circle. This week, challenge yourself to find one concrete way each day to marvel at God's generosity, then respond with your own. The transformation might surprise you.

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Presenter: Rev. Kit Schooley

Journey through 4,000 years of Hebrew scripture evolution in this fascinating exploration of how ancient oral traditions transformed into standardized sacred texts. Discover the dramatic moment when King Josiah, during temple renovations in 604 BCE, uncovered the long-forgotten scroll of Deuteronomy—a discovery so shocking that "he tore his robes" upon hearing its contents. This pivotal event reestablished Passover celebrations and reformed religious practices that had drifted over generations.

Follow the Hebrew scriptures through periods of crisis and renewal: the Babylonian exile that forced religious adaptation without a temple, the creation of the Greek Septuagint that brought scripture to diaspora communities, and the painstaking work of the Masoretes who finally standardized Hebrew by adding vowel markings to a language previously written only with consonants. Each development reflects not just textual evolution but profound shifts in how an entire faith community understood its relationship with sacred texts.

Perhaps most remarkable is how Judaism transformed after the Second Temple's destruction in 70 CE. With priests suddenly without purpose and sacrificial worship impossible, rabbis emerged as the new religious leaders, synagogues replaced the temple, and scripture became the central unifying force of Jewish identity. Unlike many religious traditions that faltered after losing their central institution, Judaism flourished by developing the rich tradition of Midrash—preserving interpretations from great teachers across generations that continue to inform religious thought today.

This story reveals how a faith tradition's ability to adapt its relationship with sacred texts enabled it to survive catastrophic losses and flourish through millennia of diaspora. What began as stories passed down through oral repetition became a sophisticated textual tradition that sustained religious identity without a homeland, demonstrating remarkable resilience through some of history's greatest challenges.

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Preacher: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Text: Luke 16:1-13

Money talks, but what is it saying about us? In this thought-provoking exploration of Jesus's most puzzling financial parable, we dive deep into the story of a manager who makes a radical choice when faced with imminent unemployment. Far from being a simple tale about dishonesty, this parable challenges everything we think we know about economic justice.

The key to unlocking this scripture lies in understanding the exploitative economic landscape of first-century Palestine. Under Roman occupation, wealthy landowners squeezed struggling farmers through a system of debt and interest—creating a pyramid with the rich at the top and the poor masses at the bottom. When our manager realizes he's about to be fired, he has a moment of clarity: he's just as expendable in this broken system as those beneath him. His solution? Switch sides.

By reducing debts (likely by removing unjust interest), the manager uses his fleeting position of power to offer relief to those who had been oppressed. While we might initially see this as dishonest, Jesus surprisingly commends this shrewdness and drives home his point with a stark conclusion: "You cannot serve both God and wealth."

This message speaks directly to us today. Most of us occupy some position of influence in society—like the middle manager in the parable—and have opportunities to use that influence for good. Are we perpetuating systems that concentrate wealth at the expense of relationships, or are we building communities where money serves people rather than the other way around? Are our churches known as friends to the poor or tools of the rich?

The good news is that we're not powerless. Together, we can challenge unjust economic structures regardless of political affiliation. God has promised that oppressive pyramids will be upended, and we're invited to joyfully participate in that work.

What decisions will you make this week that show where your true loyalty lies? How might you use your position to ease someone's burden?

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Presenter: Rev. Kit Schooley

The Bible didn't simply fall from heaven—it was assembled through centuries of debate, politics, and spiritual discernment. This eye-opening exploration reveals how Matthew quietly wove four "suspicious" women into Jesus's genealogy: Tamar, who disguised herself as a prostitute; Rahab, who sheltered Jewish spies; Ruth, a foreigner who refused to abandon her Jewish mother-in-law; and Bathsheba, whom King David took after arranging her husband's death. Each woman, despite challenging circumstances, played a crucial role in preserving Israel's future.

We journey through the fascinating formation of the New Testament canon, from competing early proposals to Constantine's pivotal role. After experiencing a vision of a cross before battle, Constantine commissioned Bishop Eusebius to produce fifty Bibles for churches in Constantinople—but Eusebius included only twenty of our current twenty-seven books, omitting Revelation and others based on personal preference. It wasn't until Athanasius of Alexandria championed a specific collection around 367 CE that our familiar New Testament began taking shape.

The process raises profound questions about what was included and excluded. We glimpse alternative texts like the "Round Dance of the Cross" from the Acts of John, where Jesus led disciples in a sacred ritual dance rather than communion. The recent discovery of additional early Christian writings at Nag Hammadi reveals perspectives that didn't align with emerging orthodoxy, including women's leadership roles and alternative spiritual practices.

Understanding this history doesn't diminish scripture's significance but enriches our appreciation of how divine inspiration works through human processes. What might we learn from the voices that weren't preserved in our canon? How might Christianity have developed differently if other texts had been included? Explore these questions with us as we uncover the human story behind our sacred texts.

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