The Nexus Podcast

In this message, Kimberlee Walker is taking us for a deep dive into the story of a particularly dramatic prison break. An earthquake leaves the prison Paul and Silas are chained in completely leveled. Every prisoner is free from their chains, the doors to their cells wide open.  Kim compares the traditional justice model with restorative justice principles and ask us not only to consider applying them to our prison systems but to our own communities and relationships.
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This Sunday marks 1 years since our community went online in response to COVID 19.  Brad marks our 1 year anniversary with the tale of a shipwreck.  Acts 27 tell of a harrowing ordeal at sea that Paul faced while being transported as a prisoner to Rome. And this story has all the drama…an ill-advised journey, wicked weather, tensions on board, sailors trying to escape, prisoners about to be executed, a crash on a reef, desperate people swimming for their lives, and for good measure, a toxic snake bite. 
 

Melissa's talk "Of Place and Prison" helps us understand the significance of place and how that relates to prison by bringing us into a most curious story from the book of Acts. Imprisoned for talking about Jesus, the disciples are dramatically set free and then proceed to keep doing what they were doing. The religious leaders debate their next move in dealing with these heretics. Into the mix, a man named Gamaliel steps forward with a most interesting proposal.

Building on John's message from last week, Brad delves into the Marriage Wars in which the Church has become entangled.  He starts with a tough question and ends with some suggestions for a way out.  

This week, John Benjamins is taking us into one of the most troubling and shocking stories of the New Testament. It is the story of a couple who lies and drops dead because of it. It is the story of Ananias and Sapphira.  In a compelling talk, John asks us to examine the ways we use the family structure to establish division and social hierarchy.  

Prompted by an email from a young adult at Nexus, Brad addresses the question of how to think through dating/marriage when the person you are with does not share your faith.   He explores Paul’s most extensive writings on marriage, the ‘unequally yoked’ passage, and most importantly, how marriage and community connect and overlap.

Brad claims that this is the most fun he's had doing a sermon in a long time.  It has to do with wolves and humans and God – howling and laughter, bonding and defiance, and equipping us with one of the greatest tools for resilience in the face of struggle. 

Pentecost of course marks the coming of the Holy Spirit, the gift Jesus had promised his followers. It is one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the Christian Path.  You see, after Pentecost, everything about the Jesus Path would start to become more and more clear. Things start clicking for Jesus' disciples. Pentecost would become the epicentre of the Jesus Path revolution and it all starts with a much-anticipated gift.  A gift that launches what Willie Jennings calls "the revolution of the intimate."

In this episode Brad examines the power of storytelling and the ways we use it to further agendas and escape responsibility.  In the book of Acts, Peter crafts a story. A powerful and dangerous one.  With Peter's story as a lens we examine our own stories and how they might be our way of blaming and putting up boundaries.

What we witnessed at Capitol Hill on January 6th was not just political unrest, but a Christian insurrection. We need to call it for what it was before we can figure out what to do about it. And so, we begin our foray into the book of Acts with a teaching called A Failure of Imagination.