Published by Pastor Adam Flanick and Josiah Schultz
A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior Lutheran Church - Gladwin.
Listen on Apple Podcasts1 hr 39 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - Introducing Rev. Mark Brandt - Path to ministry - Some trends being observed in churches both synodically and at the district level - A look at the numbers over (baptized membership, active pastors, etc) Additional Resources and Further Reading: Rev. Mark Brandt - https://www.michigandistrict.org/people/rev-mark-brandt LCMS Annual Reports - https://www.lcms.org/news/publications/annual-report A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 56 min
The Christian is both "a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none" and "a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all." This special release is in recognition of the 250th anniversay of American independence. Americans celebrate freedom every Fourth of July. We commemorate independence, self-government, and the rights secured by our Constitution. More than 250 years before the American Revolution, however, Martin Luther wrote about a very different kind of freedom. In The Freedom of a Christian, Luther argues that the deepest human bondage is not political but spiritual, and that the deepest freedom is found not in self-rule but in faith in Christ. His work invites us to ask a timely question: What does it mean to be truly free? As we celebrate the liberties of a nation, Luther challenges us to consider the freedom of the conscience, the freedom of the Gospel, and the paradox that a Christian is both "a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none" and "a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all." The following reading is Martin Luther's "The Freedom of a Christian," (or, "Concerning Christian Liberty") written in 1520. This recording uses the public-domain English translation by R. S. Grignon, originally published in 1910. I will also include Luther's accompanying letter, written directly to Pope Leo X, to whom the treatise was dedicated.
1 hr 56 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - Introducing Rev Dr Grobien - Digging deeper into the content he will be presenting on during our circuit convocation - What are ethics? - How does God through the Scriptures inform the behavior of a Christian? A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
3 hr 30 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - The journey that led Jeff and Ashley to faith in Christ - The ways that Christ can transform a life - The dangers and allures of worldly remedies - Being redeemed from rock bottom - Testimony about Christ's faithfulness - The path to finding a church home A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 28 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - Illinois Assisted Suicide Policy - End-of-life ethics - The Christian response Additional Resources/Further Reading: https://mountziongreenfield.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/February-March-2026-.pdf A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 36 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.comTopics discussed in this episode:- The season of Pentecost - The work of the Holy Spirit - Third Article of the CreedA catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin.www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 24 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - LCMS International Missions - John Lewis and Kari Dawley Foro to Rwanda - Purpose of the Foro and future opportunities Further Reading and Additional Resources: John Lewis; Senior Mission Advocate LCMS734-646-0122 john.lewis@lcms.org A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 31 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - Terminology around the Pastoral Office - How Scripture defines the ministry - Confusion of the Call - Examination of Ephesians 4:12 Further Reading and Additional Resources: "Church and Ministry : Witness of the Evangelical Lutheran Church on the Question of the Church and the Ministry" by C.F.W. Walther "Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod", Adopted 1932 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, N.D.) https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/doctrine/brief-statement-of-lcms-doctrinal-position "On Marriage and Family Life," by St. John Chrysostom https://svspress.com/on-marriage-and-family-life/ "The Ministry Offices, Procedures and Nomenclature" A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod; September 1981 "The Church and Her Fellowship, Ministry, and Governance" by Kurt E Marquart Augsburg Confession; Article V: Of the Ministry https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/of-the-ministry/ A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
2 hr 26 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - Background and introductions from our guests - Discussion regarding what faithful fatherhood looks like, and how to lead a household in the way of the Lord Further Reading and Additional Resources: "Leadership and Emotional Sabotage: Resisting the Anxiety That Will Wreck Your Family, Destroy Your Church, and Ruin the World" Joe Rigney - Author A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 24 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - Background and introductions from our guests - Sharing various resources for promoting connection and fellowship between young adult singles in the church - Discussion regarding the value of finding likeminded friends and spouses, especially ground in a common faith Further Reading and Additional Resources: https://lcmssingles.com/ https://thegarmsfamily.com/ A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 33 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - Environmentalism vs Consumerism, and a third way - Christian duty to steward the earth - Worshipping God and not creation - Looking to the New Creation A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 46 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.comTopics discussed in this episode:- Should Christians be "judgemental"?- Different kinds of judgement- Discernment, correction, and condemnation- Matthew 7 "Judge not, lest ye be judged."Further Reading and Additional Resources:Concordia Commentary, Matthew 1:1-11:1, by Jeffery GibbsA catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin.www.oursaviorgladwin.com
45 min
“A Beautiful Easter Sermon” delivered in the presence of the Elector of Saxony. Dr. Martin Luther, Wittenberg, 1538
2 hr 31 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - The historical and modern iterations of "anti-life" ideology - The Scriptural picture of family and fruitfulness - Misconceptions about contraceptives - Reframing reproduction vs pro-creation Further Reading and Additional Resources: - "Ethics of Sex: From Taboo to Delight" CPH, Edited by Gifford A. Grobien- https://youtu.be/5M3W0CvQfzE?si=OKivjrKhLjSma847 (Paul Ehrlich Interview) - http://www.esp.org/books/malthus/population/malthus.pdf ("An Essay on the Principle ofPopulation" by Thomas Robert Malthus) - https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/charted-rapid-decline-of-global-birth-rates/ (Birthrate Chart; UN World Population Prospects 2022) - "Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race" by Shanna Swan and Stacey Colino. - Essays: D. Richard Stuckwisch, "Pastoral Considerations of Contraception" and Donna J. Harrison, "Contraception: An Embryo's Point of View." - This blog is a wealth of resources: Lutherans and Procreation https://lutheransandcontraception.blogspot.com/ - "Should Christian Couples Use Contraception?" by Rev. Heath Curtis https://drive.google.com/file/d/1goK4Jvrw2MVKcAmf7DO5EXcR44xoBIMu/view (This is a very good Lutheran article that evaluates contraception from Scripture, tradition, and natural law, with attention given to hard cases.) *Non-Lutheran Resources - "Lambeth, 90 Years Later" https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2020/09/01/lambeth-90-years-later/A critique of the Church of England's disastrous resolution to approve artificial contraception under some circumstances for "moral" considerations. - "What the Early Church Believed: Contraception and Sterilization" https://www.catholic.com/tract/contraception-and-sterilizationGood for patristic quotes. A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 45 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - What does the Bible say about work and leisure? - How can we continue to live according to our vocations even after we step away from our career? Further Reading and Additional Resources: "On Social Justice," St. Basil the Great; Popular Patristics Series A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 49 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - What is "closed communion" and why do we practice it? - What does it mean to be in union with Christ and other believers? - If we will be united with other believers in heaven, why don't we unite with them all on earth? Further Reading and Additional Resources: Luther's Small Catechism Check out Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller's video on the topic for a succint review. https://youtu.be/OG1sopM7CsU?si=_IK2BKC09K5OU2vv A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
2 hr 15 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.com Topics discussed in this episode: - What is a vocation? - Responsibilities associated with certain vocations - All members of one body - Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25) - Table of Duties (Small Catechism) Further Reading and Additional Resources: - "Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther, 1520. A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 4 min
The Life of Faith series will be periodic episodes where we interview various congregration members who have agreed to share their stories, reflect on their lives as Children of God, and highlight key moments and lessons they have learned along the way. Our first guest is Mike Almassy, a long-time Lutheran and new member of our Board of Elders. Enjoy! Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.comA catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin.www.oursaviorgladwin.com
1 hr 49 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.comTopics discussed in this episode: What is AI? Tool vs Idol Tower of Babel case study Call for Wisdom Further Reading and Additional Resources: Elon Musk Presenting at the WEF: https://www.youtube.com/live/IgifEgm1-e0?si=QDn1EUu-uCtfP9xu LCMS CTCR Study: https://resources.lcms.org/reading-study/ctcr-study-document-online-technology-in-the-church-study-materials/ A catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin. http://www.oursaviorgladwin.com/ / oursaviorgladwin
1 hr 24 min
Send your questions and comments to encounterpodcast@protonmail.comTopics discussed in this episode:- QnA: Spending time with Jesus - What is prayer? - Sabbath RestA catechetical platfrom and resource of Our Savior - Gladwin.http://www.oursaviorgladwin.com/https://www.facebook.com/oursaviorgladwin