Pod Be With You
Two progressive pastors (and many guests!) discuss scripture, real life, and whatever else inspires them. This podcast comes from First Congregational Church of Dundee, IL, and The Congregational Church of Batavia, IL with pastors Rev. Aaron James and Rev. Paige Wolfanger. We represent loving, joyful congregations that encourages us all to get together, get inspired, and get to work.
Episodes
235 episodes
Anything But Lukewarm
We've reached another classic section of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the bit about salt and light. So familiar, so comforting, so...challenging?! But it is more than just a Sunday School song with neat little motions, it's about an entire way o...
•
28:00
God's Center of Gravity (Bible Study)
It's "Greatest Hits" week in the lectionary...foundational passages about what faith looks like in Micah 6 and Matthew 5. If someone were to ask, "What are the fundamentals of your faith," these are the places we might go. So simple, but so rad...
•
33:04
Belonging and Beginning (Bible Study)
We're back, after a hiatus created by sickness, and travel, and the surprises of life. And today we are walking with Jesus beside the Sea of Galilee as he calls his first disciples. It's a familiar story, a Sunday School classic...but what is a...
•
30:03
Advent Peace and Hope
And here's part two! This Bible study explores Advent hope and peace, but through the unlikely angle of fear, grief, expectations, legacy, and more. What do we have faith in? What are we working for? And how can we hold on to hope and become pe...
•
30:24
Sharing Bread (Bible Study)
Part one of your delayed double-dose of Pod Be With You! With apologies for technical difficulties, here are two episodes to catch you up. Thank you for your patience!
•
32:04
Worthy of the Calling (Bible Study)
This week, two passages cut right to the heart of our faith as a way of life. We hear both from Matthew and Ephesians where God's heart is (hint: with the vulnerable) and how we will be: gentle, generous, tenderhearted, patient, and true. This ...
•
37:18
Righteous Reformation
Two separate scriptures and themes from our pastors this week, but a real overlap, as we discuss reformation, righteousness, humility, and discerning what of our "old" treasures to hold on to, and what of our "new" is holy. It's a good one, fol...
•
36:34
Increase Our Faith (Bible Study)
Another hugely challenging - even potentially dangerous - passage from the Gospel of Luke. This is a message for mature audiences only. "Increase our faith," the disciples demand. And what follows are two teachings from Jesus that will ask of t...
•
39:25
Fiery Words (Bible Study)
It's a familiar, if troubling parable...known to us as "The Rich Man & Lazarus." Troubling in what it suggests about the afterlife, challenging in what it says about wealth, conflicted, I would argue, in its view of righteousness. But it's ...
•
32:06
Good With Money (Bible Study)
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager is Jesus at his most enigmatic - which is pastor-speak for, "We have no idea what he's saying." But if you want to hear us take some swings, here you go! A compilation of Jesus' teachings on money, power, an...
•
37:48
The Present Time (Bible Study)
Jesus this week, as found in the Gospel of Luke, is not the Jesus we often think of, peaceful, and compassionate, and gracious. This Jesus knows what time it is, and is urgently trying to get those around him to look at the clock, too. His word...
•
29:22
Eat, Drink, and Be Married (Bible Study)
Back after a hiatus due to traveling and health and what not, we have two amazing, and on the surface at least, contradictory Gospel stories. The first, Jesus telling his followers that they must practice denial, take up their cross, and follow...
•
43:45
A Time to Share (Bible Study)
This week, an obscure (to many Christians, at least) story about the prophet Elijah and the widow who fed him - a story that celebrates many risky leaps of faith. We'll also hear from Ecclesiastes - a teacher who reminds us that there is a time...
•
39:20
Rising Agents and Enemy Companions (Bible Study)
In Batavia, our trend of meal-centric scripture continues. This week, what happens when our meal companions aren't our closest beloved, but are, instead, one of them? We know how much a meal means - which means it's easy to be disturbed by thos...
•
29:09
Getting God to Do What We Want (Bible Study)
Sorry we're a week late in posting! But here's a reflection on various bible passages, exploring in particular the nature of prayer: is it getting God to do what we want? Is it beseeching a heavenly parent with a list of demands? And if not, wh...
•
26:46
Angels Unawares (Bible Study)
Our story today is that of Abraham and Sarah extending extravagant hospitality to a trio of traveling strangers, who turn out to be Divine. And, of course, there is blessing in the hospitality...not earned, but freely given, like the meal itsel...
•
29:44
Holistic Health and the Spirit's Work (Bible Study)
Two separate paths again today...one about Mental Illness and Mental Health, and one about the Spirit moving and working in the world, even when we're maybe not ready. Both firmly anchored in the testimony and witness of our Scriptures where, w...
•
41:14
Tend My Sheep (Bible Study)
It's the fourth Sunday after Easter, and we are talking sheep, shepherds, and disciples this week, with two different but connected paths. The first is the story of the resurrection of Tabitha by Peter in the Book of Acts. And the other is a me...
•
26:07
And Another Thing! (Bible Study)
Two weeks after Easter, and John is still telling us resurrection stories! Which, of course, is only appropriate, because the new life we find in Christ isn't limited to one day once a year. This Sunday is an amalgam of references to other Gosp...
•
32:24
Lent, Week 6: Shouting and Silence
It's a Jesus Christ Superstar moment..."The rocks and stones themselves would start to sing!" Luke's version of the Triumphal Entry is on the pod today. There are no palms, no hosannas, no donkey, but there is resistance, and protest, and chall...
•
35:27
Lent, Week 5: Mercy and Righteousness
Zacchaeus is the story this week, the story of a rich tax collector who climbs a tree just to see Jesus. Again, we think we know what this story is about, but do we really? Is it about repentance? Coming back to your true self? Or not judging t...
•
39:27
Lent, Week 4: Lost and Found
It's a familiar story this week, "The Parable of the Lost Sheep." Or, as Amy-Jill Levine and Ben Witherington like to call it, "The Parable of the Sheep Owner Who Counts, and Seeks, and Celebrates." It changes the emphasis, the center of gravit...
•
35:52
[AUDIO FIXED] Lent, Week 3: Rest and Growth
[AUDIO FIXED] This week, the very short, and in many ways abrupt, Parable of the Fig Tree. Jesus seems to be preaching the same themes as John the Baptist before him here, that time is short, repentance is essential, and bearing fruit a necessi...
•
35:09