Commons Church Podcast

It’s not always easy to see ourselves as we truly are. But stories can help. When we listen carefully to a story that is authentic to the human experience, we come to know ourselves in new ways. The book of Jonah is one such story. Despite its rather fantastical qualities, the story of Jonah is a real human tale. A story of human failure and divine grace, a story of the interplay between duty observed and plain disobedience. A story of the internal conflict between authentic honesty and dishonest selfishness. It’s all here, all of the meaning and the mess of life. But the thing that makes Jonah’s story most helpful to us is how everything, all of it, is placed before God. And really, this is the thing most true about our humanity, the thing we most need to educate our imaginations with: there is no other kind of life except that which is lived before God. Jonah is not a children’s tale. It is a very grown up tale that ends with a very serious question: what kind of person will you be?   ★ Support this podcast ★

It’s not always easy to see ourselves as we truly are. But stories can help. When we listen carefully to a story that is authentic to the human experience, we come to know ourselves in new ways. The book of Jonah is one such story. Despite its rather fantastical qualities, the story of Jonah is a real human tale. A story of human failure and divine grace, a story of the interplay between duty observed and plain disobedience. A story of the internal conflict between authentic honesty and dishonest selfishness. It’s all here, all of the meaning and the mess of life. But the thing that makes Jonah’s story most helpful to us is how everything, all of it, is placed before God. And really, this is the thing most true about our humanity, the thing we most need to educate our imaginations with: there is no other kind of life except that which is lived before God. Jonah is not a children’s tale. It is a very grown up tale that ends with a very serious question: what kind of person will you be?   ★ Support this podcast ★

This is it.Back in Rome for a final time.Chapter by chapter, we’ve worked through this lengthy letter from the Apostle Paul. Along the way marking how his theology transformed as he grappled with the story of God in Christ.Along the way, we’ve grown, and we’ve continued to let the gracious way of Jesus alter the way we think of the Divine.How we look at each other. How we talk about faith.So, if you’ve been with us since the beginning, come along as we jump in where we left off and see how Paul wraps things up.And if you’re new to Commons, step a little closer to a text that’s shaped who we are and who we want to become. ★ Support this podcast ★

In Romans 16 Paul names a number of women in prominent roles within the early church. But then in his letters to Corinth and Timothy, he seems to take a different tone. What is going on here? Should we try to harmonize these passages? Here's a bit of a deeper dive. ★ Support this podcast ★

This is it.Back in Rome for a final time.Chapter by chapter, we’ve worked through this lengthy letter from the Apostle Paul. Along the way marking how his theology transformed as he grappled with the story of God in Christ.Along the way, we’ve grown, and we’ve continued to let the gracious way of Jesus alter the way we think of the Divine.How we look at each other. How we talk about faith.So, if you’ve been with us since the beginning, come along as we jump in where we left off and see how Paul wraps things up.And if you’re new to Commons, step a little closer to a text that’s shaped who we are and who we want to become. ★ Support this podcast ★

This is it.Back in Rome for a final time.Chapter by chapter, we’ve worked through this lengthy letter from the Apostle Paul. Along the way marking how his theology transformed as he grappled with the story of God in Christ.Along the way, we’ve grown, and we’ve continued to let the gracious way of Jesus alter the way we think of the Divine.How we look at each other. How we talk about faith.So, if you’ve been with us since the beginning, come along as we jump in where we left off and see how Paul wraps things up.And if you’re new to Commons, step a little closer to a text that’s shaped who we are and who we want to become. ★ Support this podcast ★

This is it.Back in Rome for a final time.Chapter by chapter, we’ve worked through this lengthy letter from the Apostle Paul. Along the way marking how his theology transformed as he grappled with the story of God in Christ.Along the way, we’ve grown, and we’ve continued to let the gracious way of Jesus alter the way we think of the Divine.How we look at each other. How we talk about faith.So, if you’ve been with us since the beginning, come along as we jump in where we left off and see how Paul wraps things up.And if you’re new to Commons, step a little closer to a text that’s shaped who we are and who we want to become. ★ Support this podcast ★

This is it.Back in Rome for a final time.Chapter by chapter, we’ve worked through this lengthy letter from the Apostle Paul. Along the way marking how his theology transformed as he grappled with the story of God in Christ.Along the way, we’ve grown, and we’ve continued to let the gracious way of Jesus alter the way we think of the Divine.How we look at each other. How we talk about faith.So, if you’ve been with us since the beginning, come along as we jump in where we left off and see how Paul wraps things up.And if you’re new to Commons, step a little closer to a text that’s shaped who we are and who we want to become. ★ Support this podcast ★

Swipe Right is a phrase that entered the common lexicon through the arrival of Tinder, an app designed to help people skip past the hard work of investing in the kind of healthy mature relationships we all really long for.But here’s the truth; healthy relationships are a matter of life-and-death importance because we are far more than sexual beings; we are human beings with all that is entailed.In this series, we intend to move past sermons on dating and relationships and talk about what it means to be a human with a brain, and a body and a soul and how all of these aspects inform our experience of love, sexuality, and relationships. ★ Support this podcast ★

Recap: 2:11Polished Ivory: 10:33Black and Beautiful: 15:14Sex Drives: 23:10Reintegration: 27:32Swipe Right is a phrase that entered the common lexicon through the arrival of Tinder, an app designed to help people skip past the hard work of investing in the kind of healthy mature relationships we all really long for.But here’s the truth; healthy relationships are a matter of life-and-death importance because we are far more than sexual beings; we are human beings with all that is entailed.In this series, we intend to move past sermons on dating and relationships and talk about what it means to be a human with a brain, and a body and a soul and how all of these aspects inform our experience of love, sexuality, and relationships. ★ Support this podcast ★