The Church in Mission

The sermon podcast of St. Peter's Lutheran Church of Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Creation rejoices, and we with it 12/19/2025

Creation rejoices, and we with it God allows us to witness the wilderness, the barren desert, of our lack of faith. To see the fruitlessness, the barrenness. And when we finally come to the end of our road . . . when we finally come to the sad realization that we are dead without Him . . . He forgives. He heals. He restores. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/39469330

The delight of the prophetic King 12/10/2025

The delight of the prophetic King In every way possible, King Jesus embodies the promises of Isaiah. In His person. In His rule. He is, in fact, the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. His rule in eternity will be, for us and all of creation, a rule completely characterized by peace. By harmony. By joy. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/39385020

It shall come to pass in the latter days 12/03/2025

It shall come to pass in the latter days This mountain—the mountain of God’s holiness— is without doubt the most important mountain in the world. And Isaiah sees that in the latter days its preeminence among all other mountains will be established, its glory will be made firm. It is here on this mountain we learn what both of our sin and His mercy. When God judges our sin, does He do so rightly? Without a doubt, and we who let His word have its way with us know that we have no recourse, no plea to make, but must simply agree that the very cause of all our strife and quarrels lies not in our hands, but in our hearts. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/39256420

The theology that no one likes, but everyone needs 11/26/2025

The theology that no one likes, but everyone needs To look upon Jesus’ suffering and weep without repentance, without faith, is to miss entirely who He is. To miss what He does. Such weeping is mere sentimentality. And sentimentality saves no one. It denies that His suffering is necessary, as though we could find salvation some other way. What is necessary is to see Jesus rightly. Not to deny suffering and attempt too take Him down off the cross, but to leave Him there and believe upon it. What is necessary is to see Him numbered among the sinners, to recognize that He takes that label upon Himself, and in that He offers you His peace, His Kingdom, His forgiveness. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/39182835

The one Gift that eclipses all other gifts 11/13/2025

The one Gift that eclipses all other gifts Jesus points out something that should be obvious, but was not to the Sadducees: there is a difference between this life and the next. In saying that “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,” Jesus reminds us that God does indeed give us good gifts in this life, but that it would be wrong to cling to them, to believe that those gifts are so important that they are all Jesus gives, that He has nothing greater prepared for us. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/39026265

All Saints' Day 11/05/2025

All Saints' Day The saints John sees are those who followed Jesus in this life and who bore the brunt of the world’s refusal to acknowledge Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The saints that John sees are those who have passed through death from this life to the life that is to come. The saints John sees are all those who have clung fervently to Christ, trusting in Him and His grace to carry them through to eternity. The saints John sees, then, are you . . . me . . . everyone who will die in the faith . . . everyone who has died in the faith. What John sees is the ones—all of the ones—who by the time eternity comes will have died in Christ. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/38928500

What is the pastor? 11/05/2025

What is the pastor? For the pastor this means but one thing: he has but one thing to preach. The pastor speaks not from worldly wisdom, he speaks not from philosophy nor from psychology, but he speaks as the very voice of God speaking to the world. The pastor speaks the word, and he speaks it at all times. In season and out of season; a harsh word of rebuke when necessary, an encouraging word of exhortation when needed. The pastor speaks only the word of God, for he has been given nothing else to give. But for the people this means two things. The first is a charge as solemn and serious as the pastor’s: the charge to the people is to expect—and even demand—that their pastor speak nothing but God’s word. Your task as the people of God is to expect nothing but the word of God from me, and to stop your ears should I—or any pastor—preach anything else. But the second is even greater. The task of the people is to hear the word of God and believe upon it. To lean upon it as you lean upon nothing else, to hunger and thirst for God’s word to the extent that nothing else satisfies, that nothing else is even desired. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/38928280

What is the church? 10/16/2025

What is the church? It is not your work by which the church stands or falls. It is not your faithfulness that gives the church her life. And it is not your efforts that keeps you firmly in Christ’s kingdom. The glory belongs solely to Christ. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/38607750

You shall not covet 10/08/2025

You shall not covet These commandments forbid the sin of coveting. The Hebrew word means, at its most basic level, desire, to take pleasure in. Now to be sure, it is good and proper to take pleasure in those gifts God has given to us . . . but we must be careful to take pleasure only in those things which God has given us. When the line is crossed and we begin to desire and take pleasure those things that are not given to us—those things that God has given to our neighbor—then we enter into coveting. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/38517205

You shall not commit adultery 09/17/2025

You shall not commit adultery The consequences of defiling the marriage bed—of bringing anything outside of husband and wife experiencing intimacy together—are severe: they corrupt and rot us down to our very core. And the reason for that is simple: because God does not give us marriage merely for our own pleasure, but to teach us something about His relationship with us. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/38252005

You shall not murder 09/10/2025

You shall not murder This commandment demands that we—each of us—consider any factor that concerns people, that concerns their bodies. This commandment demands that we consider the physical well-being of our neighbor. Which means that for us, this commandment speaks to us at levels never before seen in human history. Never before in human history has it been more difficult, more complex, to consider the question, “but who is my neighbor?” This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/38168645

Honor your father and your mother 09/10/2025

Honor your father and your mother This is the first commandment in what we call the second table of the Law: that portion of the commandments that dictate not how we live before God, but how we live with one another. It is the commandment that dictates how society should function, how society itself will reflect a Godly attitude, or not. It is this commandment that forms the foundation of the second table. All of the remaining commandments depend upon this commandment, just as all 10 commandments depend upon the first. And all of this begins with “Honor your father and your mother.” This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/38168165

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy 08/27/2025

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy For six days we occupy ourselves with many concerns, none of which are the one thing needful. For six days we busy ourselves with the world, with its concerns, with its demands, with its stresses. But we have one glorious day where we are renewed. When our thinking, our attitudes, our ideas, our very lives are re-oriented to God’s own life . . . the life that He gives to us. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/37980575

You shall have no other gods before me 08/13/2025

You shall have no other gods before me Martin Luther and John Calvin both have said “The human heart is an idol factory.” In our sinfulness, our hearts naturally produce any number of things to which we declare, “You are that in which I find my comfort. You are that in which I receive my security. You are my god.” The thing about an idol is that it comes between us and God. “You shall have no other gods before me.” An idol is something between you and God. An idol that obscures God’s face from you . . . an idol that prevents you from seeing the face of God . . . an idol that you have placed between you and Him. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/37784695

What is put off, what is put on 08/06/2025

What is put off, what is put on Alone, we stood naked before God. Naked . . . exposed . . . and ashamed. Ashamed of what we looked like without proper clothing. Ashamed of being naked before God. Ashamed of what we were. But having been baptized into Christ, we are now clothed . . . covered . . . all our shame, all our fear, all our sin now covered with a righteousness not our own that could tarnish and fade, but clothed with the perfect robe of Christ’s own righteousness. Indeed, having been baptized, when the Father now looks upon us, He sees no sin, He sees no shame, He sees only the image of His Beloved Son . . . and there is no wrath left for us. The love He feels for His Son now washes over us, and we all are made as Christ before Him. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/37694670

"I, too, am a man under authority . . ." 08/05/2025

"I, too, am a man under authority . . ." Navy Chaplain Rev. Matthew Prince joins us today with a powerful message of the warrior God who never ceases to fight for His people . . . and win. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/37694460

The mystery hidden for ages and generations 07/23/2025

The mystery hidden for ages and generations Being in Christ is a gift, it is a treasure. It is a treasure more worthy than literally anything else in this world of being so valuable that we should retain it at any cost. It is to be held firmly, something that we determine is a pearl of such great price that nothing—nothing—is better than, is worth more, than it. But a gift of such value is a gift that, curiously enough, is also very easy to give up. I don’t know why that is. I fear that it of such value that it is hard to fully grasp . . . and therefore some things—some infinitely lesser things—seem to our frail, finite eyes to be things we’d much rather cling to. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/37520250

. . . But the Lord was not there 07/02/2025

. . . But the Lord was not there God owes us no answers, and certainly owes us no apologies. When we speak in way that suggests the Lord has forgotten or forsaken us, especially to the Lord, it is we who are shortsighted, not Him. And so, when we do speak such things, even though it may be emotionally honest, it nevertheless shows that our faith has been deficient in some way. And when that is the case, the Lord will work in such a way that restores and strengthens our faith . . . but what does that look like? This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/37209005

Hypocrite or faithful Christian? 06/25/2025

Hypocrite or faithful Christian? In our Lutheran Confessions, the line between “hypocrite” and “faithful Christian” is clear. But that is in a book of theology. Theology books have the benefit—indeed, the task—of providing straightforward answers. Theology in books is clean and neat. But in our outward gathering around Word and Sacrament that is called “church,”—and indeed in the secret, inner lives of our hearts and minds—the line between “hypocrite” and “faithful” is not nearly so clear nor so plain. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/37150270

The Holy Trinity 06/25/2025

The Holy Trinity For the benefit and salvation of all, the Son goes forth from the Father, and the Spirit goes forth from the Son. Each moves in a sort of arc: going forth and returning. For as the Holy Spirit goes forth, He calls people everywhere through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is how God’s missionary movement comes to its completion: by Him moving forward, moving outward, to call us, to gather us, to return us to Himself. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/37150040

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit 06/11/2025

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit But now . . . now Peter is the first to rise. Peter is the first to speak. He lifts up his voice and declares with boldness that what is happening before all the world is God’s doing . . . that it is God’s prophesied plan . . . and that God’s plan has come to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Timid, frightened, denying Peter is now Peter with a fire in his belly . . . he is not Peter who speaks without fear . . . he is now Peter who publicly aligns himself with Jesus Christ and declares that all should join him in this faith. What has made the difference? That’s not the right question. The right question is “WHO has made the difference?” This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/36953560

The Ascension of Our Lord 06/05/2025

The Ascension of Our Lord As He is the Living Lord of His Church, His word to us and His leadership over us is final and authoritative. In these verses, Jesus both points us towards our ultimate goal and gives us the task that moves the Church towards that goal. And as we look for what both of those are, we will also find some additional truths that help cement the reality of our hope and our task in our hearts and minds. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/36866250

The Lord of His Church, even behind the scenes 05/28/2025

The Lord of His Church, even behind the scenes And that is the point: underneath the seemingly ordinary life and worship of the Church is the Lord Jesus Himself guiding and growing His Church. The risen Lord Jesus moves and works in and through His Church. The Church is not a collection of people who gather together to remember the words of some long-dead prophet, it is the Body of Christ made alive through His Word, His Sacraments . . . you know, His life. Paul plants the seed, but the living Lord gives the growth. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/36746580

Arise, Peter, kill and eat 05/28/2025

Arise, Peter, kill and eat Perhaps we can summarize it this way: with the Lord Jesus’ command to Peter, “Arise, kill and eat,” He directs Peter to live out the new life in Christ. The life that is no longer determined by the Law. The life that is not a matter of how much righteousness one achieve on one’s own, but the life that is the life of Jesus Christ . . . the Lord who was crucified, died, and was buried . . . and with whom our own efforts at making ourselves pleasing to God, with whom the notion that God’s love and grace was intended only for a few, select people, with whom our own sin, was crucified, died, and was buried as well. With all that dead and buried with Christ in the grave, what was left when Christ arose from the dead but to grant the new life that is governed by none of that instead? This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/36746340

The shape of the Christian life 05/14/2025

The shape of the Christian life This—all this—Paul knows. He knows it by faith. He knows it by Jesus. Paul has been called by Jesus, He has been made new by Jesus, and He has been shown just how much he must suffer for the name of Jesus . . . and in so many different aspects of his life and ministry, Paul has come to reflect Jesus . . . because Jesus has made His home in Paul. Paul has been crucified with Christ, and now Paul no longer lives, but the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ now lives in and through him. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/36555285

Saul encounters the Living Lord 05/07/2025

Saul encounters the Living Lord The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ meets Paul face to face, and in that one moment Saul recognizes the depth of his spiritual blindness, his entire theological worldview comes crumbling down, and he is on the ground before the Lord God of the Universe . . . whom he has been actively persecuting by persecuting those who are called by His name. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/36461270

It is necessary to obey God rather than men 04/30/2025

It is necessary to obey God rather than men What God has done, man cannot overturn. The Apostles preach boldly in public, they speak from within the Temple itself, and declare the wonders of God and His Son Jesus Christ. And so it is, with one eye over our shoulder on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we might wonder just who has power in the world now? Who rules over all now? When the agents of evil, the agents of Satan, seek to silence the Lord’s chosen spokesmen, when they bring all of their power against them . . . who is victorious? This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/36363560

He is risen! 04/23/2025

He is risen! God’s original plan for humanity was undying life in the flesh. He had designed humanity for an unending life, lived with Him and enjoying His presence. If Christ cannot grant that . . . if in this life only we have hope in Christ . . . then yes, we are to be pitied more than all men. But we have confidence for something much greater. We have confidence in a resurrection from the dead that does not lead to eternal condemnation, but a resurrection that leads to eternal bliss. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/36282090

The vineyard taken and given 04/09/2025

The vineyard taken and given The “tenants” forsook the role of steward and took for themselves the role of Lord. But the One True Lord cannot let that stand . . . and so He sends His duly-appointed servants to call the “tenants” back to faithfulness. And the prophets’ reward is to be beaten, cast out, and wounded. Those who spoke on God’s direct authority were shamefully treated as men of no account . . . and in that, God’s own authority, name, and character was rejected as being of no account, as well. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/36056490

The Prodigal Son 04/02/2025

The Prodigal Son The son recognizes his father’s character of mercy. He does not dare plead for restoration, but he does at least know that his father will receive him, even if he doesn’t receive him as a son. The son knows the father is a man of mercy. That he is just and upright. In in the same moment the son realizes he is utterly unworthy of his father, he also recognizes—possibly for the first time ever—just how worthy his father is . . . and no doubt he is ashamed all the more. This podcast can never be a substitute for in-person attendance at a local church. Click here to find a local church you can connect with! /episode/index/show/f00b84f9-253c-4a3d-8c04-64146451e8bd/id/35958010

The Church in Mission

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