Podcast Overview

Author

424: Kleinig - The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Service

01/16/26

8 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

In this episode, we learn about the Holy Spirit and the Divine Service from Dr. John Kleinig. In particular, we discuss how Christ gives the Spirit to the church through his word, how Christ institutes the divine service and empowers it with God’s Spirit, and how the church receives the Holy Spirit by faith in God’s word as it is proclaimed and enacted in the divine service. The conversation revolves around the central question: How then can we be sure that the Spirit is at work in our worship?
- Holy Spirit
- Liturgy
- Worship
- Faith
422: Post-Christmas and Post-New Year Debrief

01/03/26

9 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? In this episode, we gather for a post-Christmas, post-New Year pastoral debrief. We talk about symbols and meaning, Christmas and holidays, signs and seasons, and how modern churches quietly cleared the path for culture to push Christ out of Christmas without much resistance. We explore the strange and largely arbitrary ways the world measures time, along with the old Adam’s never-ending pyramid project. That is, his need to build meaning upward by effort, progress, and control rather than receive it as a gift. From there, we return to symbol and meaning. We ask why ancient liturgy’s nostalgia or ornamentation, but the distilled shape of reality itself, why the Lord’s Supper isn’t a side practice, but the beating heart of the Church, of worship, and of the Christian life. And why stories’ decorations for faith, but the way truth takes on flesh and finds us where we actually live. This is a conversation about time, worship, memory, and why the Church invents meaning but receives it again and again at the table.
415: Luther - The Mass is a dangerous thing, fabricated and invented without God’s Word and will

11/07/25

9 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

Mass Effect. In this episode, we continue our reading of The Smalcald Articles, focusing on Luther’s critique of the Roman Mass and all its consequences for the churches and Christian life. We discuss mimetic desire, sacrificial religion, the exclusive work of Jesus.
414: Luther - God is extravagantly rich in His grace

10/31/25

9 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

An Arm-Twisting Confession. In this episode, we read Martin Luther’s Smalcald Articles on the gospel, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Why did he have to have “his arm twisted” to write them? What is he trying to teach the churches about the gospel? How does the gospel circumscribe and define the Church, worship, and Christian life? Why does something written in the 1530s matter today? We look to answer all these questions and more on this episode of the Banned Books podcast.
Dead As A Doorway (Romans 8:26-30)

10/09/25

5 mins

By Daniel Emery Price | Scott Keith

In this episode of Tough Texts, Scott Keith and Dan Price look into Romans 8:28, exploring how this often-quoted scripture is frequently misunderstood.
On Apathy and Excuses

09/10/25

4 mins

By Adam Francisco | David Andersen

David and Adam discuss religious apathy and the excuses people give for avoiding church.
Be sober or be eaten

09/08/25

4 mins

By Troy Neujahr | Craig Donofrio

raig and Troy close out Peter's first epistle to the Church.
- Anxiety
- Humility
Spiritual but not religious, nones, et cetera episode artwork

09/03/25

4 mins

By Adam Francisco | David Andersen

David and Adam begin a conversation on what to think and do about the religiously unaffiliated--those who claim to be spiritual but not religious and/or check the "none" box on religious surveys.
Peter's packed pericope for pastors

08/28/25

4 mins

By Craig Donofrio | Troy Neujahr

Peter--the apostle--exhorts pastors to be humble, and he leads by example.
- Ministry of the Church
- Humility
Did Jesus really exist?

08/27/25

4 mins

By Adam Francisco | David Andersen

David and Adam address the claim that Richard Dawkins and other skeptics have made, asserting that Jesus may not have existed and, even if he did, the historical evidence is unreliable.
Monday, August 25, 2025

08/25/25

14 mins

By Dan van Voorhis

Today on the Christian History Almanac, we head to the mailbag to answer a question about practices surrounding Holy Communion.
Luke 14:1-14 – Pentecost 12 (C)

08/25/25

4 mins

By Steven Paulson | John W. Hoyum

On this episode of Preaching the Text, John Hoyum and Steve Paulson discuss the way of humility, and the false theories about how to become humble.