The NorthWord
NorthWord is a daily Christian podcast from St. John's Fort Smith in collaboration with the Anglican Family. Hosted by Father Aaron from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories.
Here's how it works: Every Sunday we release the full sermon preached that morning. Then Monday through Saturday, you get 3-5 minute daily reflections based on that sermon - one thought you can actually use each day. Every Wednesday we explore the rhythm of Jesus' life and how his followers have lived it out for 2,000 years.
Whether you're Pentecostal, Orthodox, Baptist, Catholic, or just curious about faith - this is for you. Ancient faith. Real life. No fluff.
The Word. The North. Your Week.
Follow @StJohnsFortSmith and @TheAnglicanFamily
Episodes
50 episodes
Sit Down | Valley of Fear
We closed the sermon on Sunday with one challenge: sit down. Not a five-second prayer — actually sit with your fear. Today we come back to that practice, because I don't think we're done with it yet.
•
Season 7
•
Episode 7
•
2:50
Feast of St. Joseph | NorthWord Holy Day
Today the Church marks a feast day — Joseph, Husband of the Virgin Mary and Guardian of Jesus. Not a single recorded word from him in Scripture. And yet God chose him to raise his Son. A short reflection for the feast.
•
Season 7
•
Episode 6
•
2:52
Blind to Your Blindness | Valley of Fear
At the end of John 9, Jesus tells the Pharisees their sin remains — because they claim to see. On Sunday we looked at Augustine's reading of this passage. Today we go deeper into the most dangerous blindness of all: the kind that calls it...
•
Season 7
•
Episode 5
•
3:06
The Church Calls This the Halfway Point for a Reason | Valley of Fear
This past Sunday was Laetare Sunday — the midpoint of Lent. The Church says rejoice. Not because the hard work is over, but because the dawn is close enough now to feel it coming.
•
Season 7
•
Episode 4
•
3:07
You Called the Wound a Virtue | Valley of Fear
On Sunday we looked at the patterns fear leaves behind — the walls, the performance, the control. Today we slow down and ask the harder question: where did you give the wound a respectable name?
•
Season 7
•
Episode 3
•
3:07
It Knows the Address | Valley of Fear
On Sunday we looked at why we keep going back to what hurts us. The wound is old — but your sinful nature knows the address. Today we sit with that pattern a little longer.
•
Season 7
•
Episode 2
•
3:14
Valley of Fear | The Dark Road to Dawn — Lent 4
Week four of The Dark Road to Dawn. This week we walk into the Valley of Fear — the one that lives in us, not just around us. From John 9, Father Aaron preaches on the blindness we defend, the wounds we carry, and the God who is already in the ...
•
Season 7
•
Episode 1
•
21:32
Valley of Shame | Walking Into Sunday With Less
Tomorrow we gather for worship. This week has been heavy and honest — and today we prepare to walk through those doors carrying less than we came in with. A short reflection to close the week and open toward Sunday.
•
Season 6
•
Episode 7
•
2:23
Valley of Shame | Name It. Confess It. Share It.
Three practices. The woman at the well did all three in about twenty minutes. Today we walk through each one practically — because the Gospel was never meant to stay in your head.
•
Season 6
•
Episode 6
•
2:16
Valley of Shame | Shame vs. Conviction — The Difference That Changes Everything
Shame says I am wrong. Conviction says I did wrong. Three words versus four — but the difference is everything. Today we go deeper on what the Gospel actually says about shame, and why Jesus at the well was convicting, not condemning.&nbs...
•
Season 6
•
Episode 5
•
2:36
Valley of Shame | What Confession Actually Is
Most people have confession completely backwards. It's not how you clean yourself up before meeting Jesus — it's how Jesus cleans you up. At the midpoint of Lent, we look at the discipline of confession and why it's the most powerful thin...
•
Season 6
•
Episode 4
•
2:15
Valley of Shame | Where Shame Hides in Plain Sight
Shame doesn't stay locked in your soul — it shows up at work, at home, in your marriage, with your kids. Today we get practical about where to actually look for it, and what it means to stop managing and start living.
•
Season 6
•
Episode 3
•
2:23
Valley of Shame | What Shame Is Really Doing to You
Shame doesn't just make you feel bad — it makes you hide. And the hiding is the real problem. Today we open the third week of Lent by naming the core challenge: the cycle of shame, isolation, and hiding that keeps us from the life God has for u...
•
Season 6
•
Episode 1
•
2:53
Valley of Shame | Lent 3 Sermon — John 4:1-42
Preached live at St. John's Anglican Church, Fort Smith for the Third Sunday of Lent. We all have five husbands — something we carry that we're convinced would disqualify us if anyone ever found out. In John chapter 4, Jesus meets the wom...
•
Season 6
•
Episode 1
•
17:09
Open Hands Catch Grace
Nicodemus doesn't disappear after John 3. He shows up two more times in the Gospel — each time a little more in the light. His slow transformation is the arc of Lent itself. As Sunday approaches, this episode invites you to come to worshi...
•
Season 5
•
Episode 7
•
3:06
I Confess I Cannot. I Receive Your Grace.
This week's spiritual practice is simple but uncomfortable: get specific about where you've been trying to earn grace, name it plainly, and then receive what God has already given. A short guide to confession and receiving as a daily rhyt...
•
Season 5
•
Episode 6
•
3:14
You Cannot Manage the Wind
Jesus tells Nicodemus the Spirit moves like the wind — you can't summon it, schedule it, or control it. This episode explores what that means theologically and why so many of us are exhausted from trying to generate a spiritual life that ...
•
Season 5
•
Episode 5
•
3:14
Why Nicodemus Came at Night
John 3 isn't just a story about a late-night conversation. It's about spiritual darkness, hidden faith, and the cost of being seen with Jesus. A mid-week Lenten reflection on what it means to come out of the dark and into the light.
•
Season 5
•
Episode 4
•
3:14
Stop Bringing Your Credentials to God
We show up to God cleaned up, performance-ready, credentials in hand — hoping we've done enough to earn our place. Today's episode names exactly where that plays out in your work, your home, and your faith, and what it looks like to stop ...
•
Season 5
•
Episode 3
•
3:14
You're Not Arrogant. You're Proud.
There's a difference between arrogance and pride — and the one most of us carry is the quiet kind. The "I've got this" kind. This episode unpacks the real definition of pride and why it's the thing standing between you and grace.
•
Season 5
•
Episode 2
•
3:21
The Valley of Pride | Lent II Sermon
Pride isn't what you think it is. In this Lent II sermon from St. John's Anglican Church in Fort Smith, we dive into John 3:1-17 and the story of Nicodemus — a man who genuinely believed in Jesus but came to him at night, where no one cou...
•
Season 5
•
Episode 1
•
19:23
SATURDAY: Coming Home Hungry
If this week has done its job, you might walk into church tomorrow a little emptier than usual. Good. This Saturday we prepare for Sunday worship by remembering that Communion isn't a shortcut - it's the answer to our deepest hunger, offe...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 7
•
2:49
FRIDAY: Stop and Sit
If you can't go without food for a day, food has you. Can you go without your phone? Without approval? Without comfort? This Friday we get practical with two simple words that can change your Lent: Stop and Sit. Don't grab, don't fill, do...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 6
•
2:47
THURSDAY: It Is Written
Every time the devil tempts Jesus, He responds the same way: "It is written" - and quotes Deuteronomy. Why that book? Why those words? This Thursday we discover that Jesus isn't just surviving temptation, He's fulfilling Israel's story an...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 5
•
2:53
WEDNESDAY: Forty Days and What They Mean
We're in the first full week of Lent - forty days that mirror Jesus' time in the wilderness. This Wednesday we explore why the number forty shows up everywhere in Scripture and what it means that the Church puts Jesus in the desert at the very ...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 4
•
2:50