Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast a Church Podcast
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 150th Anniversary Message - Genesis through Revelation | 28 Sep 2025 | 00:11:53 | |
Faith, in part, involves remembering and retelling our stories. As a community we tell stories from the Bible, from history, and from our own lives. We do this because we believe that in each telling there is always more to experience and discover. Today, we remember and celebrate 150 years of faith, hope, and love at First Pres. | |||
| Hot, Cold, + Calm - Revelation 3 - 4 | 21 Sep 2025 | 00:15:46 | |
What happens when an introvert is told that being a Christian requires extraverted expressions of faith? | |||
| BILL-IEVE - Revelation 2-3 | 14 Sep 2025 | 00:19:11 | |
Jesus is walking among 7 lampstands and holding 7 stars. What does that mean? | |||
| Apocalypse - Revelation 1 | 07 Sep 2025 | 00:16:20 | |
What images come to mind when you hear the word, APOCALYPSE? Fire, war, pandemics, nuclear bombs, and natural disasters? How about zombies? The book of Revelation begins with the word, Apocalypse, but it does NOT mean "the end of the world." If not the end of the world, then what is the book of Revelation about? | |||
| Table Manners - Luke 14:1, 7-14 | 04 Sep 2025 | 00:15:56 | |
Welcome Rev. Suzanne Swartz as our guest preacher. | |||
| Left-Handed - Matthew 25:34-40 | 02 Sep 2025 | 00:13:28 | |
Was Jesus right-handed or left-handed? | |||
| Stained Glass - Matthew 5:14-16 | 19 Aug 2025 | 00:16:01 | |
What can the stained glass windows in our sanctuary teach us? | |||
| The Organ - Isaiah 2:2-5 | 10 Aug 2025 | 00:21:22 | |
How many pipes do you think make up our organ? It's an incredible instrument, whose history and design can hold meaning for us beyond the music. | |||
| The Table - Matthew 26:17, 26-28 | 05 Aug 2025 | 00:14:58 | |
The table is the piece of furniture that sits front and center in many churches, including our church. But why? What is the meaning? What is so important about the table? | |||
| The Font - Matthew 3:13-17 | 29 Jul 2025 | 00:17:33 | |
The next piece of church furniture we're looking at is the baptismal font. The font is a symbol of God's over flowing love and grace, but it means even more. | |||
| The Pulpit - Nehemiah 8 | 23 Jul 2025 | 00:17:33 | |
What is the meaning of elevated pulpit in churches and why do we use a music stand on level ground instead? | |||
| Beyond the Bubble - Luke 10:25-37 | 22 Jul 2025 | 00:16:39 | |
Welcome Rev. Suzanne Swartz, First Pres. Parish Associate. | |||
| What the World Needs Now - Matthew 5:13-16 | 22 Jul 2025 | 00:21:04 | |
Welcome Rev. Dr. Grace Park from Palisades Presbyterian Church. | |||
| Selah - Psalm 77 | 22 Jul 2025 | 00:12:49 | |
I hate interruptions! But perhaps what we need right now is a pause, an intentional interruptions from the chaos and bad news of the day, to take a deep breath. Selah. | |||
| For God So Loved the Scapegoat, Part 4 - Mark 10 | 15 Jun 2025 | 00:15:11 | |
The healing stories of Jesus are NOT just about Jesus or the individual. The community always plays a big part in either the harm or the healing. Along with immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities are also targets of societies blame and exclusion. | |||
| Affirming Sunday - Genesis 37 | 10 Jun 2025 | 00:15:03 | |
Continuing in our series, For God So Loved the Scapegoat, we look at one of the first Queer icons of the Bible. In a time when the LGBTQ+ community is increasingly targeted, we must daily choose to follow Jesus' way of inclusive love. | |||
| Minister of Energy [Pentecost] - Acts 2:1-13 | 08 Jun 2025 | 00:21:10 | |
As we celebrate Pentecost please welcome Rev. Jodi Fondell who has co-served international congregations in Sweden, England, Luxembourg, and France along with her husband, also a pastor. | |||
| For God So Loved the Scapegoat, Part 2 - Genesis 16 + 21 | 18 May 2025 | 00:11:21 | |
According to a recent commercial and the Bible, "when something goes wrong, you find someone to blame. It's what we do." Yes, scapegoating, is often what we do, but in story after story, God loves those to are blamed. Hagar and Ishmael, for example, reveal to us the who God sees, hears, and loves the excluded. | |||
| For God So Loved the Scapegoat - Genesis 4 | 11 May 2025 | 00:13:05 | |
The image of the scapegoat runs throughout the Bible with God's love seeking to interrupting this cycle of blame. What can we learn from those who scapegoat and from those who are often blamed and excluded? | |||
| Dropping Stones - John 7:53 - 8:11 | 04 May 2025 | 00:16:27 | |
Welcome our guest preacher Rev. Suzanne Swartz. | |||
| Cartography of Faith: Making New Maps - Psalm 46 | 27 Apr 2025 | 00:17:44 | |
Welcome our guest preacher Rev. Elizabeth Gibbs Zehnder. | |||
| Including the Goat - Leviticus 16 [Easter Sunday] | 20 Apr 2025 | 00:11:30 | |
On Resurrection Sunday we celebrate that the scapegoating of Jesus by the Roman Empire didn't win. On Easter we are challenged to see the ways we scapegoat others and to see the hope that comes from welcoming those who are excluded. | |||
| Palm Sunday - Leviticus 23 and Matthew 26 | 13 Apr 2025 | 00:13:53 | |
Jesus enters Jerusalem as a sacrifice. But what does that mean? Is Jesus' death needed to appease a blood-thirsty God? Or is there a better way to understand the cross? | |||
| Cleaning Up Our Mess - Leviticus 8 | 06 Apr 2025 | 00:14:00 | |
Why would the altar, the priestly robes, and the tabernacle, need to be purified? Did the tabernacle sin or was it the people? Built into the rituals in Leviticus were both reminders of God's forgiving nature and the values the people were intended to live out with one another. | |||
| Life is Messy - Leviticus 4-6 | 30 Mar 2025 | 00:16:52 | |
How do you explain to a new driver how to drive? I don't know how to explain it, I just do it. Like anything that has become instinctual, it’s easy to stop noticing what we're doing or why we're doing it. In the same way, when it comes to our faith, we can sometimes lose the meaning or the meaning can get distorted when things become too familiar. | |||
| We Are Our Stories - Matthew 13:10-13 | 23 Mar 2025 | 00:16:54 | |
Welcome Rev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins speaking about the stories we tell and the importance of listening to the stories that others tell. | |||
| Motivated by Joy - Leviticus 1-3 | 16 Mar 2025 | 00:14:06 | |
Why animal sacrifice? What is the point of these ancient and seemingly barbaric practices? You might be surprised by the idea that these rituals set us on the trajectory of experiencing God's justice and rest. | |||
| How the Light Gets In - Luke 4:1-13 | 09 Mar 2025 | 00:27:42 | |
Welcome our guest preacher Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus. Laurie serves the national office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as Director of Humanitarian and Global Ecumenical Engagement in the ministries of Compassion, Justice, and Peace. | |||
| Ritual - Leviticus 1 | 02 Mar 2025 | 00:18:53 | |
Why do we do what we do? Rituals are not a way of earning love or belonging, but a way of remembering what is already true. We are already loved. We already belong.
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| Jubilee Remembering - Leviticus 23 | 23 Feb 2025 | 00:15:21 | |
What special dates and events help you remember your story? Leviticus 23 gave the people annual festivals and sacred gatherings as a way of reminding them of their history. This remembering was intended to help the people live in the present according to the rhythm of God's justice and rest. | |||
| Rest - Leviticus 25 | 09 Feb 2025 | 00:15:12 | |
A year of Jubilee includes letting the land rest. This rest is considered holy for the land and for those who work the land. In this Jubilee year celebration, what experiences do you find rejuvenating and restful for you? | |||
| Returning Home - Leviticus 25 | 02 Feb 2025 | 00:12:44 | |
2025 is our 150th Anniversary and a Jubilee year, which in the Bible is celebrated every 50 years. Part of this celebration is a return home or a return to the land, which raises the question, "What does it mean for us to return home?" | |||
| WTF Year - 1 Corinthians 12 | 26 Jan 2025 | 00:11:44 | |
2025 has not started off well. But our we condemned to suffering through what the internet tells us is a WTF year? How can we grieve our different experiences of loss, while also looking forward with hope? | |||
| Our Physical Home: Genesis 1 | 19 Jan 2025 | 00:16:50 | |
This week thousands of people lost their homes here in Los Angeles. We all know people who have experienced this devastation. A lot of people here were evacuated and for the rest of us we have likely had the thought, "what if it had happened to us?" Our physical homes and our physical stuff are important. They matter not just to us, but also to God. | |||
| Not Alone - Isaiah 60 | 12 Jan 2025 | 00:10:20 | |
In the midst of these tragic LA wildfires we are not here to tell you what to feel. Instead, as a faith community we are here to help carry the weight of what each of us are experiencing. | |||
| Christmas Eve Sermon - Isaiah 42 | 07 Jan 2025 | 00:12:22 | |
The birth of Jesus is NOT about Christians winning this season. Instead the light of Christ gathers people together by bringing more love, justice, and equality into the world. | |||
| 2025 Epiphanies: Matthew 2:1-18 - Rev. Suzanne Swartz | 05 Jan 2025 | 00:14:36 | |
Welcome our Guest Preachers Rev. Suzanne Swartz. | |||
| From Birth to 12 Years Old in 60 Seconds: Luke 2:41-52 | 29 Dec 2024 | 00:16:05 | |
Welcome our Guest Preacher Rev. Suzanne Swartz. | |||
| What are We Making? Isaiah 9:2-7 | 22 Dec 2024 | 00:17:18 | |
Making meaning out of what we've been given is part of what makes us human. The goal of Christmas then is not to remove all of our add on traditions, but to ask, "what kind of meaning are we making out of the traditions that we are passing on, changing, or even rejecting?" | |||
| Comfort Food for Advent: Isaiah 40 | 01 Dec 2024 | 00:13:55 | |
Isaiah 40 begins with “Comfort, O Comfort my people…” because we all need comfort in difficult times. As we wait together through the season of advent, the hope of God-with-us comes as the gift of comfort. | |||
| I AM FULL: Luke 6:29-31, 38 | 24 Nov 2024 | 00:14:43 | |
Thanksgiving, ideally, is the gratitude that comes from experiencing the fullness of life. But what about ALL the fullness of life, including both the blessings and the challenges? How do we follow Jesus' way of love when life is complicated? | |||
| Good Magic: Luke 6:27-28 | 17 Nov 2024 | 00:13:20 | |
Curses and counter-curses were a normal part of life in the ancient world. This meant that those who were poor, hungry, and hurting were often considered by others to be cursed. And if you have been cursed then perhaps there is an enemy that you need to curse in return. In this superstitious world, Jesus blesses those who feel cursed, setting us free from the cycle of fighting hate with hate. | |||
| Where do we go from here? Luke 6:17-19 | 10 Nov 2024 | 00:16:35 | |
What do we do when things don't go the way we want them to go? The multitudes in the gospels are the people who have lost or are losing when it comes to life, politics, and even religion. They are the hurting and ignored and yet it's among them that Jesus will center his kingdom movement of compassion and love. | |||
| Sukkot: Leviticus 23 | 20 Oct 2024 | 00:15:27 | |
Sukkot is the Jewish celebration of harvest that includes spending time in a sukkah or tent as a reminder of the 40 years wandering in the wilderness. The tent is a physical experience of the Biblical story, which creates space for all of our human experiences. | |||
| A Generous Harvest: Matthew 9 with Rev. Mack Mossett III | 13 Oct 2024 | 00:28:46 | |
Welcome Rev. Mack Mossett III and Calvary Baptist Church of Santa Monica to our combined worship service and Harvest Festival. | |||
| A Not as Important Sermon: Philippians 3:12-16 | 06 Oct 2024 | 00:12:49 | |
We belong to God and we are loved because of the faithfulness of Christ. Our faith in Christ isn't required! If that's true what is the point of having a faith of our own? | |||
| The Most Important Sermon I've Ever Given! - Philippians 3 | 29 Sep 2024 | 00:20:32 | |
This is the most important sermon I've ever given. Honestly, THE. MOST. IMPORTANT! It's about a fight at a basketball game. It's about prepositions. And it's about being loved and accepted by God. | |||
| God's Incredible Act of Shrinking: Philippians 2 | 22 Sep 2024 | 00:16:47 | |
A long time ago Jewish mystics wondered, "If God is everyone then how is there enough room for us and the rest of creation?" The answer they proposed was that God somehow became smaller. | |||
| Lost + Found: Luke 15 with Rev. Elizabeth Gibbs Zehnder | 15 Sep 2024 | 00:22:52 | |
Welcome Rev. Elizabeth Gibbs Zehnder who reminds us of God's love for all of us. | |||
| Handwritten Letters: Philippians 1 | 08 Sep 2024 | 00:17:26 | |
The problem with reading the letters of Paul is that they include a lot of information, but not a lot of stories. As a result, Paul often comes across as a robot disconnected from what it feels like to be human. But if we read between the lines of his letter to the Philippians we might discover Paul's humanity and the very interesting story of the church to whom he's writing. | |||