Shows / St. Paul Podcast
St. Paul Podcast
A vibrant faith community in Davenport, Iowa, St. Paul Lutheran Church runs a ministry that reaches across the country and outreach commitments that extend around the world.
Episodes
- St. Paul Podcast
A special Christmas Eve 2025 episode, 12.24.2025
Mark Niethammer preaches on this special Christmas Eve episode of the St. Paul podcast. Jesus is God's incredible 'yes' to the world and to our lives. It was…
- St. Paul Podcast
Little Bird and Jesus: Little Bird, Mary, and Joseph go to Bethlehem
This week, Little Bird is off on her longest journey yet, flapping her little wings all the way to Bethlehem. Little Bird, Mary, and Joseph find comfort and…
- St. Paul Podcast
Word out of place, 12.14.2025
Mark Niethammer preaches on God’s love. God's healing presence appears in unexpected places—transforming wilderness into blooming gardens and making broken…
- St. Paul Podcast
Little Bird and Jesus: Little Bird and Mary visit Elizabeth
This week, our brave Little Bird is off on another adventure. This time, traveling days and days to visit Mary's cousin Elizabeth. This week's episode is…
- St. Paul Podcast
Life in the meantime, 12.7.2025
Katy Warren preaches on time. Prolonged waiting can cause our hope and optimism to dwindle, especially when days pass without visible change and peace feels…
- St. Paul Podcast
Little Bird and Jesus: Little Bird and Mary meet an angel
We're starting at the beginning, even before Jesus was born. Today, Little Bird will meet a very special woman, and together, they'll have a remarkable…
- St. Paul Podcast
Isaiah’s strategic plan, 11.30.2025
Sara Olson-Smith preaches on hope. Advent calls us to let our dreams of God's future actively shape our present lives. Like backward design, we can start with…
- St. Paul Podcast
When we show up together, 11.23.2025
Mark Niethammer preaches on the reign of Christ. When evil seems loudest, faithful followers show up together, bearing witness that evil will not prevail. The…
- St. Paul Podcast
Stories with the Book Corner: Thanksgiving Edition
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is right around the corner and today's story shows readers the joy of one community's Thanksgiving and how celebrating the…
- St. Paul Podcast
Keep going, 11.16.2025
Katy Warren preaches on persistence. We all get stuck in patterns—making progress, then feeling like we're starting over. Never grow tired of doing good. We…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
Paul, Sylvanus, and Timothy close their letter to the Jesus community at Thessaloniki by addressing divisive interpretations of the end times through the…
- St. Paul Podcast
Joy lives here, 11.9.2025
Mark Niethammer preaches on joy. Joy is found when we stop focusing on ourselves and instead concern ourselves with others. In these challenging times, we need…
- St. Paul Podcast
Joy Sunday, The Bible for Worship
The final chapter of John's gospel demonstrates the power of forgiveness and renewal , as the same disciple who failed and fled in the face of Jesus' suffering…
- St. Paul Podcast
A rich inheritance, 11.2.2025
Sara Olson-Smith preaches on hope. We are heirs of God, receiving an incredible inheritance of hope and power - the immeasurable greatness of God's strength to…
- St. Paul Podcast
Festival of All Saints, The Bible for Worship
The physical setting of Jesus' "Sermon on the Plain" in Luke's gospel shows the radical character of the kingdom that Jesus announced and served, calling his…
- St. Paul Podcast
Mercy freely given, 10.26.2025
Maddy Tyler preaches on mercy. Competition fosters growth and community but can damage relationships with others and God when it breeds contempt, perfectionism…
- St. Paul Podcast
Stories with the Book Corner: Halloween Edition!
Happy Halloween! In today's story, we meet a little ghost who isn't quite like the other ghosts. Music by Tunetank & Aleksandr Abrosimov from Pixabay Visit…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, Reformation Sunday, The Bible for Worship
In the final parable of the central section of Luke's gospel, the theme of discipleship — what it means to live as God's people, which has shaped the central…
- St. Paul Podcast
God's bigger story, 10.19.2025
Mark Niethammer preaches on stepping back to see the bigger picture. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by life's challenges. God provides hope and perspective when…
- St. Paul Podcast
Living a grateful life, 10.12.2025
Katy Warren preaches on gratitude. Gratitude is fundamentally connected to faith and shapes our entire perspective on life. Each day presents a choice between…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
The seemingly unrealistic confidence of the psalmist finds a welcome and reassuring place in its placement within the Book of Psalms, as a person beset by…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
With the story of Jesus healing ten men and having only one return to praise God and give thanks, Luke opens the third part of his gospel's Central Section…
- St. Paul Podcast
Diving in, 10.5.2025
Sara Olson-Smith preaches on action. Confidence and faith grow through taking action rather than waiting until we feel ready. We build faith by doing the hard…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
In a pair of brief, challenging sayings, Luke shows Jesus counseling caution to those who follow him. The character of faith and the kingdom life that we live…
- St. Paul Podcast
Raised up, 9.28.2025
Maddy Tyler preaches on compassion. We all carry wounds—loss, broken relationships, devastating diagnoses—that leave us desperately seeking relief and…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
In a vivid parable of stunning reversals, Luke shows Jesus underscoring the centrality of two things: generous compassion toward our neighbors and God's…
- St. Paul Podcast
Squandered treasures, 9.21.2025
Katy Warren preaches on our gifts. You have been entrusted with gifts from God and carry the responsibility to use them wisely to bring compassion and peace…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
Luke uses an unexpected and challenging parable by Jesus to underscore one of the central themes of the gospel—the urgency of the choice we face to live by…
- St. Paul Podcast
Lost and found, 9.14.2025
Sara Olson-Smith preaches on counting. When life leaves us feeling lost—whether through our own mistakes, painful circumstances beyond our control, or…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
In two Jesus parables about lost things that are found, Luke teaches the reason for the Jesus community to extend care and concern to those on the fringes of…
- St. Paul Podcast
Choose life, 9.7.2025
Mark Niethammer preaches about choices. Many daily decisions are clear — we know right from wrong. Others are harder to discern, falling into life's gray areas…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
The writer of Deuteronomy looks far back into Israel's past to portray Moses instructing the Israelites about life in the land. In the writer's own day…
- St. Paul Podcast
No lower seat, 8.31.2025
Maddy Tyler preaches on honor. What does honor look like in our modern world today? We're trapped by presumptions, snap judgments, and self-importance…
- St. Paul Podcast
Stories with the Book Corner: Tiny, Perfect Things
There are so many things to notice in this world. Take a walk and see what you see all around you! Just like the character in today's story. Visit…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
Luke uses a communal banquet scene as the setting for Jesus to teach what true glory is, and how it differs from acclamation and success in simply human terms…
- St. Paul Podcast
Taking notice, 8.24.2025
Katy Warren preaches on noticing. The goodness of God is all around us, waiting for us to notice. There is so much power in seeing and noticing God all around…
- St. Paul Podcast
Stories with the Book Corner: I Am A Tornado
A returning favorite for Stories with the Book Corner! We all have BIG emotions sometimes and it's nice to have a friend who listens...or just sits with you!…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
In one of the dramatic episodes that Luke portrays of Jesus in a synagogue, we hear the core value of life affirmed and re-affirmed — affirmed from within…
- St. Paul Podcast
Necessary divisions, 8.17.2025
Mark Niethammer preaches on divisions. The world that God dreams of isn’t just going to happen. It’s going to take work on our part. It will force all of us to…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
Luke portrays the profound importance of understanding God's power over the worldly forces of death as a fire and division that splits communities and…
- St. Paul Podcast
Greatness in God's frame, 8.10.2025
Peter Pettit preaches on reframing. Without the larger context, we look at things only from what we know but there is a bigger frame. Greatness in God’s frame…
- St. Paul Podcast
Stories with the Book Corner: Here We Are
This world is a really big place. There's a lot to learn but together we can learn about how to live together! Visit stpaulqc.org/children to learn more about…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
With a look back to the earliest ancestors of the people of Israel, Genesis tells a story that reorients a desperate community from their difficult situation…
- St. Paul Podcast
Toward God, 8.3.2025
Sara Olson-Smith preaches on looking outward toward others. Our desire for more is often a need to fill a hole we have in ourselves. When we focus on only…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
A dramatic encounter leads to a parable with a dramatic confrontation in this story from Luke. Together, they can help us understand what we might do with any…
- St. Paul Podcast
Lord, teach us to pray, 7.27.2025
Katy Warren preaches on prayer. Many of us desire to have a rich prayer life but are wondering what to pray, how to pray, wondering if we’re doing it right or…
- St. Paul Podcast
Stories with the Book Corner: The Rabbit Listened
Today's story is all about empathy! Visit stpaulqc.org/children to learn more about St. Paul and the many children's opportunities available. Thank you for…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
Luke frames the familiar prayer that Jesus taught in particular ways to encourage a community living through difficult times with the promise that God's gift…
- St. Paul Podcast
Choosing the better part, 7.20.2025
Mark Niethammer preaches on distractions. In today’s world, distractions are constant and often unavoidable. But how often do they keep us from doing what…
- St. Paul Podcast
Stories with the Book Corner: Sally Goes to the Mountains
Today's story requires a little daydreaming! What do you daydream about? Visit stpaulqc.org/children to learn more about St. Paul and the many children's…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
In an exchange between Jesus and a familiar friend named Martha, Luke addresses a key question of discipleship and the many needs out of which the world calls…
- St. Paul Podcast
Firmly rooted, 7.13.2025
Mac Mullins preaches on roots during his final weekend as pastor in residency. These days, it feels like the foundation of our lives is hanging on by a thread…
- St. Paul Podcast
Stories with the Book Corner: Malala's Magic Pencil
Today's story centers around the magic in all of us. We all carry magic that can change the world! Visit stpaulqc.org/children to learn more about St. Paul and…
- St. Paul Podcast
Stories with the Book Corner: In My Heart
It's another Story with the Book Corner. This week, Kathy Becker reads In My Heart! Visit stpaulqc.org/children to learn more about St. Paul and the many…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
The author of Colossians confronts a perennial question of faith, offering people of every era a clear standard for knowing whom and what to follow in a…
- St. Paul Podcast
Near and here, 7.6.2025
Maddy Tyler preaches on being shaped by others. Putting yourself out there takes a lot of courage, vulnerability, and faith. We are the sum of all the people…
- St. Paul Podcast
The boundaries of love, 6.29.2025
Mac Mullins preaches on drawing boundaries. When two deeply held priorities clash, we must decide which matters more—ours or God's. God's priorities, rooted in…
- St. Paul Podcast
Season after Pentecost, The Bible for Worship
Luke tells of Jesus sending out 72 people "to every place where he himself intended to go"; through this story, we learn how we all can pave the way for Jesus…
- St. Paul Podcast
Stories with the Book Corner: The Dictionary Story
Welcome back to Stories with the Book Corner! For our very first week, Mac Mullins joins us on the podcast to read The Dictionary Story. Visit…
- St. Paul Podcast
The Bible for Worship, Season after Pentecost
John, the gospel writer, sets two scenes in mirror relation to one another to demonstrate the power of forgiveness for reconciliation and to underscore the…