Category: HT Simulcast

On this week’s episode, Pastor Riley, Sandra, and Kate talk about the season of Epiphany and why it is such a special time in the Church Year. It is during Epiphany that Christ reveals Himself to us in His Baptism, His temptation in the desert, His miracles, and in His Word as He teaches. He reminds us constantly that He has come for a specific purpose. His hour is not yet at hand, but soon will be. And His baptism, temptation, miracles – all that He does points to His purpose. He comes to save us from our sins by dying on the cross, triumphing over the devil, and rising again on the third day. It is also in the lessons of the Epiphany season that Jesus’ personality as a human being is shared with us. In this too, we take comfort, remembering that Jesus is a real human being, not God inhabiting the body of a man, but a real human being who suffers and dies just as we do. And just as Christ rose from the dead, we too look forward to our own bodily resurrection in Him.

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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, 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.

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Pastor Riley and Kate discuss how the kingdom of God comes to us, not because we seek God and find our own faith in our hearts, but rather because the Holy Spirit gives us faith. While we are inclined to think of every action regarding our faith as our own, God reminds us over and over again in Scripture and in our liturgy of His faithfulness to us. He does all of the work for us, even in giving us faith.

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

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Pastor Riley and Kate discuss the after effects of the presidential election, and our tendency to judge others based on their decisions and actions. Instead, we are called to see Christ in our neighbor and serve them with love. Our neighbor’s church attendance or moral fiber do not determine our love and care for them. The Lord calls us to the Gospel, enlightens us with His gifts, and sanctifies and keeps us in the one true faith. So while we remember that the Lord calls us and saves us without our cooperation, in the same way our neighbor is called and saved without our help too. Not serving and loving our sinful neighbor won’t drive them to faith. Instead we see Christ in them and love them.

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

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Pastor Riley and Kate talk about doubt and the source of our faithlessness. Every Christian, even Christ’s Apostles, dealt with doubt and their own lack of belief in God’s Promise. To be a Christian doesn’t mean we have perfect faith, because we still live in this sinful flesh. We still want to be our own god and turn inward to find strength and salvation, even expecting perfection from ourselves after we have been forgiven, forgetting that our perfection is in Christ alone. Join us for an excellent discussion.

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

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A new episode of the Simulcast in which Pr. Riley and Kate discuss the aim and purpose of life. Is happiness our primary objective? What is happiness? Is pleasure important? What happens to our vocation when we seek pleasure continually? Does pleasure fulfill us as human beings? What happens when pleasure is no longer enough? Do we ever seek happiness and pleasure in church, forgetting that God gives us everything we need, especially that which is enough for our salvation?

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