Category: Podcasts

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Pastor Riley, Kate, and Sandra discuss vocation. What is the definition of vocation? How do we determine what is a good vocation for ourselves? How are contrition and repentance a part of our daily lives? While our sinful flesh wants to make our lives all about us, we are reminded that when we serve our neighbor, we are serving Christ. Our vocation is the context in which our Father gives us neighbors to serve. And when our old Adam blames us for hurting our neighbor and failing to serve him fully, we are comforted knowing that our good works are not our own, but are hidden in Christ.

Questions? Comments? Show Ideas? Send them to us at http://higherthings.org/contact, leave them on The HT SimulCast Facebook page, or via Twitter @HTSimulCast.

And as always, don’t forget Coffee by Gillespie for your caffeination needs.

To subscribe via iTunes, please go to: pcast://feeds.feedburner.com/higherthings-simulcast
To subscribe directly, please paste the following link into your podcast player of choice: http://feeds.feedburner.com/higherthings-simulcast

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Happy New Year! Pastor Riley and Kate are joined by Sandra Ostapowich to discuss resolutions and the New Year. Making resolutions is a New Year’s tradition. We imagine that we can “fix” the parts of ourselves, or our churches, or our relationships that we don’t like. It is easy to believe we can control our own lives and perfect ourselves. Should we not make resolutions then? Should we not try to plan our year, make goals for ourselves, or “better” ourselves? Should we simply focus on our day to day vocations? Or is there a good mixture of planning and perspective that should guide us as we try to love our neighbor, ourselves, and God “better” in the New Year, always remembering that it is not us who does the good work, but Christ in us?

Questions? Comments? Show Ideas? Send them to us at http://higherthings.org/contact, leave them on The HT SimulCast Facebook page, or via Twitter @HTSimulCast.

And as always, don’t forget Coffee by Gillespie for your caffeination needs.

To subscribe via iTunes, please go to: pcast://feeds.feedburner.com/higherthings-simulcast

To subscribe directly, please paste the following link into your podcast player of choice: http://feeds.feedburner.com/higherthings-simulcast

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Pastor Riley and Kate discuss why it seems like Christ isn’t always enough for us. The Old Adam in us watches for a superhero, a mythical god-man who cannot die. We seek this because we don’t want to taste death. Christ shows us that all men die, even Him, the true God-man. Yet Christ does something that the superhero cannot do, and that we cannot do either. Christ returns to life. And while Christ does not give us perfect lives on earth, He does give us everlasting life, a resurrection from our own deaths, a new life in Him, in our baptism, and that is all we need.

Questions? Comments? Show Ideas? Send them to us at http://higherthings.org/contact, leave them on The HT SimulCast Facebook page, or via Twitter @HTSimulCast.

And always, don’t forget Coffee by Gillespie for your caffeination needs.

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Pastor Riley and Kate discuss the true meaning of Christmas. When we think of the Christmas season we associate it with happy childhood memories and cheerful carols. We think of Jesus as the sweet baby in the starlit stable. But we often forget that that baby is God, and that He became man to take our place as the sacrifice for sin. We also often forget the historical significance of His birth, and how God perfectly wove together His plan for our Savior’s birth. In this episode, we remember why Christmas is actually about our own death and rebirth in Christ.

Questions? Comments? Show Ideas? Send them to us at http://higherthings.org/contact, leave them on The HT SimulCast Facebook page, or via Twitter @HTSimulCast.

And always, don’t forget Coffee by Gillespie for your caffeination needs.

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During the season of Advent, we await the coming of our King, the Light of the world. As we wait, we sing hymns, reminding both our neighbors and ourselves of the message of salvation that we hear each Sunday and in each Advent service. The hymns we sing generally come from the Lutheran Service Book. We know our favorite Advent and Christmas hymns, and we expect our pastors to let us sing them. But are all hymns created equal? Pastor Riley and Kate discuss what makes a hymn great, good, or poor. Does the message that the hymn preaches matter? Or do our emotions trump the Word of God when it comes to our favorite time of year and our most favorite hymns?

Questions? Comments? Send them to us at http://higherthings.org/contact or leave them on The SimulCast Facebook page.