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LIVE recording! We are diving deep into another Children’s Bible story.  This week we are talking about the plagues.  Deacon Julie joins us in this vulnerable episode to talk about faith, life, and all the hard questions.  Questions we can’t answer for ourselves, let alone to kids.  But do we need to? Listen in to join the conversation! Discussion Questions: 1. What do you remember being taught as a kid about death? 2. How do we talk to kids about grief? Should we? 3. Do we understand the grief that kids bring into Sunday School classes? 4. How do we engage in the Biblical narrative with kids? 5. Have you gone back and unpacked your Sunday School stories as an adult? 6. What does this tell us about God?

We are still diving into Children’s Bible stories.  This week we are talking about Baby Moses and why he had to be put in a basket.  How do we process this death and danger? What faith is put in God in that basket? What can we learn from this story for our lives and for our kids. Tune in to Exodus 1 & 2 with Vicar Daniel Crofts for maybe not so much answers, but some really good questions. Discussion Questions: 1. How deep have you thought about this story before? 2. What were you taught in Sunday School about why Moses was put into a basket? 3. How do we talk about why baby Moses was in danger with children? How do we process this? 4. What do you do when a bad guy is in power? 5. How do we process our faith with unanswered prayers or answers in the way we don’t expect? 6. How do you process suffering in this world? 7. What does this tell us about God?

We are diving into a new series for the next few weeks: Children’s Bible stories.  This week we are talking about the Shad, Rack, and Benny.  The trio are put against the fiery furnace as they stand up for their faith.  Does God require absolute faith in the face of death and danger? How do we talk to kids about this? Discussion Questions: 1. What do you remember being taught about this story as a kid? 2. What was the theological message for you growing up about professing your faith unto death? 3. Where do you see God showing up in the hard places? 4. What do you think is the moral of this story? 5. What does this tell us about God?

We are diving into a new series for the next few weeks: Children’s Bible stories.  This week we are talking about the story of Joseph.  It’s a long story that gets boiled down to two pages in our preschool Bible.  But what about all the family dynamics? Parents choosing favorites? Sibling rivalry? And that doesn’t even cover attempted rape, attempted murder, and slavery.  Dive in with us as Pastor Jealaine and Pastor A.J. attempt to tackle this difficult children’s story.  Discussion Questions: 1. What do you remember learning about this story as a kid? 2. What family dynamics do you see at play in this story? 3. What is your theology about forgiveness and reconciliation? 4. What do you think kids should get out of this story? 5. What does this tell us about God?

We are diving into a new series for the next few weeks: Children’s Bible stories.  We tell these nice rosy stories to our kids, but what about the hard stuff in all these stories? Like when God kills everyone.  Let’s dive in and find some good news as we shatter the rosy glasses.  Today we dive into Noah’s Ark, which is roughly Genesis 6-9. Discussion Questions: 1. What do you remember about the Noah’s Ark story as a kid? 2. When did it start to sound different to you? 3. How does this lens of looking at the flood story change your perspective of God? 4. What do you think the message in the flood story is for us? 5. What does this tell us about God?

Hola from Mexico! Pastor A.J. is just south of Ensenada on the west coast in Baja California, Mexico. She is sitting down with Pastor Elizabeth Villegas while they are on Spring Break with their college students working with an organization in Mexico for mission work.  They are unpacking “the Great Commission” and how we do mission work in the world.  **Once again, sorry about my travel audio quality! Discussion Questions: 1. What do you understand about mission work by churches? 2. How does your church engage in mission? 3. What do you think Jesus intended for us when we go out into the world for mission? 4. How do we live into this in our lives? 5. What does this tell us about God?

Hello from Wittenberg, Germany! Site of Castle Church where Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis to the church door.  Pastor A.J. is talking with Pastor Bridget, who is the director of the ELCA Wittenberg Center.  We will learn a bit about the German church, some history, and impacts on East Germany before and after WWII.  **apologies for my travel audio quality. Discussion Questions: 1. How do we process the Lutheran influence on the Nazi persecution? 2. What does this mean for the church today? 3. What do you think about the German Church's response in WWII? 4. How do you think our church history influences what the church looks like today in the United States?  5. What does this tell us about God?

The reading from Romans talks about the idea of Original Sin and the abundance of grace given in Jesus Christ. Can God’s love and grace overpower all sin? If so, what does it mean for our life in Christ?  This is the New Testament lesson for Sunday, February 22, 2026. Discussion Questions: 1. What have you been taught about the Doctrine of Original Sin? 2. Where do you think sin originated? 3. What role did we have in that versus God? 4. Do you feel like you need to have all the answers for your faith? 5. What does it say about the grace of God if God loved even the worst of people? 6. What does this tell us about God?

We dive into 2nd Peter in today’s episode.  It takes some weird turns about faith and is scripture true. What does it mean in our faith to believe or not believe in the factual-ness of the Biblical narrative? This is the New Testament lesson for Sunday, February 15, 2026. Discussion Questions: 1. Does the meaning of this message matter if Peter wrote it or not? 2. What is your understanding of how we interpret the Bible? 3. Is the Bible up for interpretation? 4. Does it matter in your faith if the stories in the Bible are “true”? 5. What does this tell us about God?

Salt, light, and the law.  “Sometimes the Gospel is comforting and sometimes its afflicting, it depends where you are in the story.”  In this episode we dive into the Gospel where Jesus talks about what it means to be a disciple. What does it mean to be the salt of the Earth or the light of the world?  This is the Gospel lesson for Sunday, February 8, 2026. Discussion Questions: 1. Where do you see yourself in the reading?  2. How have you heard “the salt of the Earth?” used before? What does it mean to you? 3. How were taught about Jesus “fulfilling the law”? 4. What do you think this “fulfilling the law” has to do with our call to be a follower of Christ? 5.  What is the salt of the Earth or the light of the world? 6. What does this tell you about God?

The Beatitudes is one of Jesus’ most famous chats.  But what does it really mean? What does it mean for our lives as followers of Christ? Dive in with Pastor Lindsey and Pastor A.J., as we discuss justice and what these blessings mean for our lives. This is the Gospel lesson for Sunday, February 1, 2026. Discussion Questions: 1.  Does the difference between “blessed are the poor” and “blessed are the poor in spirit” mean something different to you? 2. What difference does it make to say “happy” instead of “blessed”? 3. What does justice mean to you? 4. What do you think justice has to do with the Beatitudes? 5. What do you think Jesus thinks justice is? 6. What does this tell you about God?

This isn’t your grandmother’s Advent devotional. Advent After Dark’s final episode is a provocative, thoughtful, and surprisingly tender journey into the Bible’s most sensual book: Song of Songs. We unwrap a new layer of sacred desire, embodied spirituality, and poetic longing—inviting listeners to see scripture with fresh eyes and maybe blush a little along the way. It’s love poetry so lush it borders on scandalous. And yet, it’s right there in the Bible—celebrating bodies, consent, agency, and the fierce power of love. Discussion Questions: 1. What emotions come up when you hear scripture described as erotic? 2. How does the incarnation shape your understanding of the human body? 3. How does this challenge or affirm your understanding of biblical relationships? 4. God is not mentioned once… Why is this here? 5. What does this tell us about God?

I feel like you can't have a study about sex and the Bible without diving into David and Bathsheba.  Dive into this story with us as we unpack sex, abuse of power, and murder in 2 Samuel 11:2-27 in our third part of our Advent After Dark study! Discussion Questions: 1. How was this story told to you as a kid? 2. How was Bathsheba’s role portrayed in how you have heard this taught before? 3. Women: what were you taught about “tempting” men? Men what were you taught? 4 . Do you think there is an abuse of power in play? 5.  What are modern examples of this kind of abuse of power? 6. Do you see any redeeming qualities for David in this story? 7. What does this tell us about God?

Deuteronomy 22:13–21 is one of the Bible’s most disturbing passages about virginity, honor, and punishment—where a woman’s sexual history becomes a public trial, and her body is treated as evidence. For Advent After Dark: Unwrapping Sacred Smut, this text offers a raw lens into purity culture, patriarchy, and the weaponization of sexuality. Discussion Questions: 1. What were you taught about sex and virginity growing up? Was the Bible used as justification? Was it different if you were male or female? 2. Do you think the church has done damage through what it has said (or not said) about sex? 3. What are important ethics to you around sex? Are they based in the Biblical narrative? 4. What should we be teaching about sex in the church? 5. How do you think Mary’s story is related to virginity and the value of women ascribed by these sexual purity laws? 6. What is a healthy sexuality to you? In light of Jesus Christ? 7. What does this tell us about God?

Genesis 19:30–38 is one of the Bible’s most unsettling sex stories—Lot’s daughters, believing the world has ended, get their father drunk and sleep with him to preserve their family line. It’s a tale of desperation, incest, and survival, and it’s ripe for exploration in our first episode of Advent After Dark: Unwrapping Sacred Smut. Discussion Questions: 1. What have you been taught about this story before? 2. What does consent mean to you? Is it the same for men and women? What is the consent issue(s) in this story? 3. Why do you think this story is included in the Biblical narrative? 4. Are there un-redeemable sins? 5. What does this tell us about God?