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Latest episodes from Epiclesis

Jesus' Sense of Humor

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2025 33:14


"Jesus surely has a sense of humor," Pastor Chris says, "and proof positive is that He called me to be a pastor." But does Jesus really have a sense of humor, and is there any evidence in the Scripture of it? Join us for a look at a fascinating snapshot of Jesus' teaching in Luke 12 where we ponder both a question posed to him and a parable that followed. Some delightfully funny moments (at least according to Pastor Chris) show us some wonderful insights into the mind and character of Christ. The painting associated with this podcast/sermon (visible on the Epiclesis website but not on the iTunes Podcast thumbnail) is titled "Jesus the Light of Love" by Ivan Guaderrama.

Lord of the Rings with Steve Pearson, Part 3

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2025 41:57


“Lord of the Rings, Politics, and What's a Christian to Do?” That's the theme for our annual Fall Retreat (October 17-18) with special guest teacher Rev. Steve Pearson. Back for a third conversation in the series, Steve joined Pastor Chris to talk about the second movie in the trilogy, “The Two Towers.” Steve summarized the plot and characters, then he talked about themes in the movie through the lenses we've been using: power (the nature of); fellowship; and sovereignty and freedom. Food for thought: The second movie's title is "The Two Towers," both of which are evil: The tower of Saruman, the wizard, and the tower of Sauron, the main antagonist. But in some ways, Tolkien could have used "The Two Fellowships" as the title instead. There surely is a good fellowship, but to what extent are the evil characters also in a kind of fellowship? For more information about the retreat and Steve, please go here.

The Lord's Prayer

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2025 31:41


The Lord's Prayer is very ancient-future. Why? It's time-bending. It's Body-uniting. It gathers up what has come before us, it focuses our minds on the current state of our situation in Christ, and it casts our thoughts into the future that someday we, the Body of Christ, will sit down at the ultimate eschatological banquet that will never end. Are there some parts of the prayer, though, that confuse or trouble you? Say, the part about God not "leading us into temptation"? Join Pastor Chris for a close look at Luke's account of the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples. The artwork associated with this pocast/sermon (viewable on the Epiclesis website but not in Apple Podcasts) is titled "The Lord's Prayer" and is by Darren Gygi (detail).

The One Thing Needful

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2025 30:37


Luke tells this seemingly simple story of Jesus' interaction with his dear friends Martha and Mary. Martha welcomes Jesus and sets about rushing around with meal preparations— a breathless hospitality with no time for anything, except building frustration, anger, jealousy, and self-martyrdom. All the while, Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus— a “right-hearted” disciple, soaking in the teaching of Jesus. Martha comes to Jesus, seeking his aid to get Mary to help her in the kitchen. Many have taken Jesus' words to Martha as critical of her loving service and hospitality. One wonders whether Martha— and her fellow servants in the Church— have been overlooked in their concerns. Were Jesus' words a critique of serving per se or were they words of healing for a harried, distracted server? The “answer” is “the one thing needful.” Note: The painting associated with this podcast (visible on the Epiclesis website podcast page) is "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary" (detail) by Vermeer.

What Must Faith Do?

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2025 36:20


The Parable of the “Good” Samaritan is a very familiar text. But it is often forgotten that the parable itself is Jesus' response to a Jewish Scripture scholar's question: “Who is my neighbor?” The scholar is not asking the question sincerely, seeking clarity with an eye to obedience, but to “justify himself”— to create the widest possible space between the Bible's demands and the responsibility to obey. Jesus' parable portrays the hated and heretical Samaritan as the hero. He's the one who demonstrates the lavish grace, compassion, and love of God and neighbor; the orthodox Scripture scholar seeks a comfortable, “correct answer” that can help him exclude people from his sphere of concern. But Jesus gets to the heart of the matter asking, “Who acted as neighbor?” To that, the scholar can only reluctantly reply, “The one who showed mercy.” “Go, and do likewise, Jesus says.” Apparently, with Jesus, orthodoxy without orthopraxy is simply hypocrisy. Note: The painting associated with this podcast (visible on the church website podcast page) is "The Good Samaritan" (detail) by Ferdinand Hodler.

Sowing to the Spirit

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2025 37:15


Join Dr. Jay Dudley for an exploration of one of Paul's many metaphors for the relational reality of one's walk with God. A look at Galatians gives us, Jay says, a letter full of emotion, logic, scripturally-based reasoning, pointed questions, and personal appeals-- a case study in communication and a deep insight into our relationship with God. Here's a teaser: Listen for Jay's advice about how aggravation can become connection and intercession.

Lord of the Rings with Steve Pearson, Part 2

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2025 56:09


"Lord of the Rings, Politics, and What's a Christian to Do?" That's the theme for our annual Fall Retreat (October 17-18) with special guest teacher Rev. Steve Pearson. Back for a second conversation in the series, Steve joined Pastor Chris to talk about the first movie in the trilogy, "The Fellowship of the Ring." Steve summarized the characters and plot, then talked about themes in the movie through the lenses we named in the first of our conversations: power (the nature of); fellowship; and sovereignty and freedom. Food for thought: In his movies, Alfred Hitchcock used to talk about what he called a "MacGuffin," a thing that everyone was after that helped drive the story. He famously said that it didn't matter what the MacGuffin was-- that the thing itself was irrelevant to the plot. In Lord of the Rings, there is an object at the center of the story, but it's no empty, irrevelant object. Can you think of some reasons why? For more information about the retreat and Steve, please go here.

The Altar Must Often be Built…

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2025 28:45


Fire and altars. Feeding pigs. Growing decent vegetables: Just what might those things have in common? Pastor Chris made some connections to the fiery story of Elijah and Elisha that included an intriguing passage from C.S. Lewis' That Hideous Strength. Along the way we talked about what it means to build an altar and, also, the sometimes hard truth that the building of altars we do for God may not result in anything obvious to us. The image associated with this sermon/podcast is titled "Fire from Heaven" and is anonymous.

Lord of the Rings with Steve Pearson, Part 1

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2025 54:37


Ancient-Future Faith in Romania?

Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2025 29:54


“Overwhelmed” with Kathi Lipp

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2025 34:27


Alpha and Omega

Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2025 32:01


The Fragrance of Christ

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2025 31:12


A Penitent Life

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2025 30:15


A Glimpse of How Things Really Are

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2025 28:04


Jesus IS the Sabbath

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 16, 2025 26:36


The Spirit of the Lord is On Me

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2025 26:27


Baptism and the Incarnation

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2025 27:00


Gift on Loan from God

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 29, 2024 27:03


While We Wait

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2024 29:38


Dr. Jay Dudley

Wait in Hope… The Days Are Coming

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2024 23:27


Pastor Chris Alford

The Superior King

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2024 29:35


Kingdom over Country, Christ over Culture

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2024 20:30


Faithfulness, Ruth, and Saying “Yes” to God

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2024 30:22


The biblical story of Ruth is a multi-faceted one, filled with deep meaning at every turn. We may know her best as being in the lineage of Jesus. But at the heart of her story are revelations of God's covenant faithfulness, both to and through Ruth and the characters who surround her. Join Pastor Ellen as she reflects on the challenges and opportunities for Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz as they chose to say “Yes” to God. What lessons and encouragement do they offer us as we seek to live out our lives, “on display” of God's love and manifold wisdom? And what might all this have to do with God's Big Story? The painting associated with this sermon is "Ruth Gleaning" by James Tissot, c. 1896.

A Long Life

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2024 26:28


What does the Bible have to say about life and death for God's saints? Pastor Chris took a couple of Sundays leading up to an All Saints emphasis at the end of October to talk about what Christians can expect.

Number Your Days

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2024 34:28


How are we supposed to count something that's uncountable? Normally, we can't “know” our end, and normally we can't actually "number" our days, as the psalm say. Just what does it mean to number our days? One fascinating truth about Scripture is that very often, God calls us to count things that are NOT countable, and then He forbids us from counting things that ARE countable. What does that mean for Epiclesis church, and for you, as we go forward from here? Join Pastor Chris for a wonderful and timely teaching on numbering our days.

Worship Shapes Our Faith

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2024 27:04


Does it really matter how we worship? Does it make any difference what happens in our chapel each Sunday? The early church believed it made a tremendous difference. Join guest speaker Dr. Carl Peters as he gives a delightful teaching on why the way we worship is critical to our faith.

What Do You Remember?

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 29, 2024 26:01


The biblical kind of remembering is not like our usual idea of remembering where we recall an event or reflect on happier times. Biblical remembering involves bringing something from the past into the present in such a way that it does not lose any of its original meaning or power or import. It's an almost tangible way to connect past and present. So much about worship—so much about living a life of worship—is about remembering rightly. How do we remember rightly and biblically?

Frenemies With God???

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2024 38:54


If you knew a storm was coming, what kind of a house would you build? Join us as we learn how to “un-frenemy” our relationship with God, and explore the radical way James views troubles and testing that are guaranteed to happen to us all. Find notes for this sermon here.

Peace Makers: The S.A.F.E. Way To Manage Conflict

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2024 41:02


What should your goal be as a peacemaker? What is the #1 thing standing in your way of that goal? Join us as we explore the first half of James 3 and learn the S.A.F.E. way to manage conflict with the people around you. Find teaching notes for this sermon here.

Jesus Doeth All Things Well

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2024 30:27


Do you know where the line of the old hymn "Jesus doeth all things well" comes from? It's from a passage of Scripture we looked on this day from the Gospel of Mark. Pastor Chris began the teaching by asking what God has been up to since the Fall in the Garden of Eden. You could make a strong theological case for saying "re-creation." In Matthew 15, Jesus took His disciples to two far-flung regions. What might His ministry in those two places have to do with re-creation? Join us!

Sit, Walk, Stand

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2024 29:50


The Book of Ephesians was summed up by author Watchman Nee this way in his book by the same title: "Sit, Walk, Stand." On this final Sunday in our series on Ephesians, Pastor Chris used that phrase to recap Paul's letter. The teaching ended with a look at what Paul's admonition to "put on the armor of God" might ultimately mean.

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