Worship in the Trenches

Episode 43: Let Us Make

Trinity Sunday takes us back to the beginning — where God said "let us make" and a mysterious plural entered the story. This week on Worship in the Trenches, we trace the identity of the triune God from Genesis through the Great Commission to Paul's benediction over a fractured church. Practical worship theology for pastors, volunteers, and congregants navigating Sunday worship and Monday morning. Weekly worship wisdom rooted in Christian liturgy and the lectionary.

Episode 42: Would That All the Lord's People Were Prophets

Moses wished all God's people carried the Spirit. A thousand years later, the doors blew open. This week's readings trace the expanding scope of God's breath — from a tent in the wilderness to a locked room to every nation hearing the gospel in their own language. What does it mean that the same Spirit poured out at Pentecost dwells in you? Weekly worship teaching exploring christian liturgy and worship ministry insights for pastors, volunteers, and congregants. Where Sunday's worship meets Monday morning.

Episode 41: Between the Cloud and the Fire

What do the people of God do in the space between a promise and its fulfillment? In the summer of 1727, a fractured community of Moravian refugees stopped arguing, started praying, and launched a prayer movement that lasted over a hundred years. This week's lectionary readings trace the same pattern — from the God who marches ahead in Psalm 68, to Jesus interceding for his disciples in John 17, to the earliest church waiting together in the upper room in Acts 1, to Peter's declaration that the Spirit of glory rests on the suffering church. If you're standing in a gap between what God has said and what God has yet to do, this episode is for you.

Episode 40: The Shape of Sunday Morning

A sermon given at Calvary Baptist Church in Ashland, Ohio, that asks, "Does the gathered worship of Sunday morning have shape?" And if so, what is it? Join Josh as he uncovers the pattern in the Bible every worship service should follow.

Episode 39: Come and Hear

What makes a testimony ready? In this episode, Josh walks through the life of Christian witness from beginning to end — from the psalmist's "come and hear," to Jesus's promise of the Spirit of truth, to Paul's sermon at the Areopagus, to Peter's call to give a reasoned account for the hope within us. Anchored by the story of Polycarp, the elderly bishop who stood before a Roman proconsul in 155 AD and answered, "Eighty-six years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong."