PODCAST · religion
Grace Talks
by Corey Simon
The collected sermons of Corey Simon delivered at Bangor-Simpson United Methodist Church.
Episodes
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Advent II: Peace
In this sermon on Mark 1, Pastor Corey dives into the topic of peace and how it is that we pray for it even as the world feels more divided than ever.
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Advent I: Hope
In this sermon on hope, Pastor Corey dives into what it means to hope in the face of the world's problems. How do we endure when everything around us seems to be falling apart?
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The Holy Days
It's the most wonderful time of the year, the time of year when we're told our worth is based on material goods and the consumerism we're able to engage in. In contrast to Christ the King Sunday is Black Friday, the holiday declaring you are enough vs the holiday which says you will never be enough.
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A Church of Failure
In this sermon on the parable of the talents, Pastor Corey dives into what it means to fail and how, as long as we don't give up, failure is actually success because it means we're getting better.
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It's Not The End of the World
"The world is ending!" seems to be the cry from so many corners of the Christian world right now, in this sermon on Matthew 25:1-13, Pastor Corey digs into the parable of the lamps and suggests that we need to relax and understand that the message of Christ seems to be one that is different than...
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All Saints: Grief in the Face of Death
In this All Saints Day sermon, Pastor Corey digs into the intersection between hope and grief in the face of death.
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Q&A Series, Evil
The question of evil is as old as human thought and today Pastor Corey attempts to answer the question according to the Classical Christian tradition in the final sermon in the Q&A series.
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Q&A Series, Politics
This week's question, “With all the political differences in churches and our world, how can we work together with these differences to carry out the mission of the church?” seems like a truly difficult thing to discuss in this era of our history. Hear Pastor Corey's response to this question in...
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Q&A Series, Refugees
In this sermon, Pastor Corey attempts to answer two questions, “Did the Holy Family have documentation to travel to Egypt?” and “What is the Christian response to the refugee crisis?” In light of the many problems facing the world right now and especially in the wake of the attacks on Gaza, what…
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Q&A Series, Divorce and Remarriage
Over the next four weeks, we're delving into a congregation-directed sermon series where congregants were asked to submit questions for Pastor Corey to answer. In this week's sermon, the question is: How do we approach divorce and remarriage within the Church?
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Contradictions and What to Do With Them: Exodus 33:11-20
Whenever we come to scripture we often notice certain cracks in the words written. While some attempt to handwave these away, using creating methods of interpretation to ignore them; it is perhaps the more faithful and honest option to grapple with them and consider their implications. What do we...
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What Are Our Idols: Exodus 32:1-14
In this sermon, Pastor Corey compares the story of the golden calf with the real-life story of the town of Covert. This community set out to defy the powers of racism and white supremacy decades before such things were even commonly expected. What can we learn from such examples today?
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What We Leave in the Sea: Exodus 14:19-31
Undeniably there are parts of Scripture that are ugly. That appears to our modern sensibilities as problematic and even outright hateful. But when we consider how many of these books and documents were written by people in the midst of oppression they suddenly make more sense. How do we read the...
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The Burning Bush: Exodus 3:1-14
Oppression harms everyone, oppressed and oppressor alike. In this sermon, Pastor Corey delves into the damage Egypt was doing not only to the people of Israel but themselves. What does it mean to be called from a place? What does it mean to return to certain danger? What does it mean to proclaim,...
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The Worst Sort of Brother: Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Joseph was the worst sort of brother, snobby, self-centered, and certain of his own superiority. Is it any wonder his brothers hated him? All throughout Genesis we see this pattern of brother hating brother and the problems that emerge. Jealousy is a cancer that destroys everyone it touches and...
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Wrestling is Awesome: Genesis 32:22-31
In this sermon, we begin with the American Dream Dusty Rhodes and the World Heavyweight Championship match of 1986. From here we tie in the story of Jacob wrestling with God and wonder what it means for us. What does it mean to doubt or wrestle with God in our own lives?
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Stolen Grace
In this sermon on the parable of the shrewd manager from Luke 16, Pastor Corey looks at what forgiveness and grace means and how it is that we should seek to be forgiving and grace-filled in all that we do.
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To Be A Lost Sheep
In this sermon on the parable of the Lost Sheep from Luke 15, Pastor Corey examines what it means to be the seeker of the lost and what it means to be sought after.
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To Hate?
In this sermon on Luke 14:25-33, Pastor Corey looks at Jesus' teaching on the cost of being a disciple, looking at what it means to hate as it relates to other Scriptures telling us to love.
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Mutual Aid
In this sermon on Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16, Pastor Corey delves into the nature of what it means to live in community and to share one another's burdens. Drawing from the wisdom of mutual aid, he looks into how it is that we can support one another in ways that are both ancient and modern.
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When Peace and Justice Kiss
In this sermon on Luke 12:49-56, Pastor Corey looks at Jesus' claim that he comes not to bring peace but rather division. Sometimes transforming the world for the well-being of all requires disturbing the peace. Or at least that's what Jesus seemed to think.
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What Does the Lord Require?
In this sermon, Pastor Corey digs into the Golden Rule and the repeated call of the prophets to be there for the least of these and the oppressed. Beginning with Isaiah, he moves through the other prophets' similar cries and ties it all together with Jesus' desire for mercy not sacrifice.
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Build Tables Not Walls
In this sermon on the parable of the foolish builder (Luke 12:13-21), Pastor Corey dives into what our role is in sharing our excess. Rather than building up walls or defenses to better hold onto what we have, it would seem the Christian role is to build tables so as to provide for others.
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Guns into Garden Tools
Following his sermon last week, Pastor Corey dives into his guns into garden tools ministry. Using the direction of Isaiah 2, he speaks on his passion for transforming tools of death into tools of life, dreaming of the day when we shall beat swords to plowshares and learn war no more.
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Swords to Plowshares
A sermon Micah 4:1-5 and introducing the theme of the Mountain of the Lord and Christian peacemaking through the witness of beating swords into plowshares, Pastor Corey talks about his experience blacksmithing and the Christian hope for a more peace-filled world.
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Won't You Be My Neighbor?
In this week's sermon, Pastor Corey dives into the parable of the good Samaritan and relates it to Mr Fred Rogers' work on his show Mr Rogers' Neighborhood. Asking the question of "who is my neighbor?" he dives into what it means to be a neighbor both individually and socially in our world today.
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What is the Demonic?
In this sermon on Luke 8:26-39, Pastor Corey talks about his experience at camp as it relates to the story of Jesus' encounter and exorcism of the Gerasene Demoniac. Bringing up rejection and the robbing of bodily autonomy, he dives into some of the biblical basis for understanding the demonic.
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Take a Break
In this sermon on 1 Kings 10:1-15a, Pastor Corey dives into the need for rest. In a culture that is go go go, sometimes we need to take some time for ourselves.
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19 Years till Glory
19 years. That is the deadline some analysts give the UMC before we reach a point of unsustainability. And yet in the face of a number like this perhaps the need is not to become hopeless but rather to become hopeful. To see this deadline as something to be galvanized by. Something built up by.…
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Who is Welcome?
In this sermon on Acts 11:1-8, Pastor Corey dives into Peter's vision and the words of God coming to him saying, "do not call impure what God has made pure," and asks the question, "who are we calling impure?" Reflecting upon the people of God and the serious questions of LGBTQ inclusion we are...
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Gardening Series: To Declare Jubilee
In this sermon on Leviticus 25:1-7, Pastor Corey dives into the ancient practice of the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee and calls us to imagine what it might be like to see that in our world today and how it is that we might best practice that in our own lives.
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Gardening Series: To Defend the Oppressed
In this sermon Pastor Corey has a bad case of allergies so you may notice he sounds a bit congested. Despite that, he delivers a sermon on the importance of caring for the oppressed and the least of these. Through examining the business practices involved in global farming practices he invites…
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Gardening Series: To Be of the Land
In this sermon Pastor Corey goes back to the beginning as he looks at God breathing life into humankind and giving us a place to call home. He talks about our interrelatedness to the land and our inability to be truly separated from it.
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To Doubt is Human
In this sermon on Thomas, Pastor Corey looks at the character of Thomas, the disciple who is remembered most for his doubt, and examines what it means to have faith versus belief and how doubt is actually needed in order for faith to truly flourish.
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Meet the New Gardener - Easter 2022
In this sermon on the Resurrection as presented in the Gospel of John, Pastor Corey examines the view of Jesus as Gardener and what that means both for us as a community and as individuals.
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Good Friday 2022
In this audio version of this year's Good Friday service, we follow Christ to the Cross and reflect on how it still relates to us today.
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The Palms and the Pain
In this sermon on Palm Sunday and the Passion of the Christ, Pastor Corey discusses the fickle nature of our hearts and how we are so often both the ones crying out for our Savior and for his blood.
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Futile Crowns
In this sermon Pastor Corey reflects on the things of the earth we work to accumulate and build up for ourselves only to find them worthless in the end. Which is more important? A life lived for others or a life lived for riches?
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Joining the BBQ
In this sermon on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Pastor Corey dives into the feeling of resentment we all feel when we perceive something as unfair and asks the question of how it is we get past that. How it is that we begin to see others not as someone to be competed with but as someone to…
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Where Was God in the Tsunami?
When it comes to suffering and evil one of the most common questions we will ever hear or ask is: why? In this sermon Pastor Corey looks at Jesus' parable of the fig tree and the gardener and breaks down the question and how it relates to us.
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The Prophets Are Always Killed
In this sermon Pastor Corey looks at the role of the prophet in ancient Israel and the role of the prophet today, noting that to speak truth to power is always dangerous.
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Power Could... But Should It?
In this sermon on the temptation of Jesus, Pastor Corey looks in the difference between ruling through fear and ruling through love, pointing out that it is love, not fear that can change the world for the better.
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Not Ready to Leave the Mountain
Another year another take on the Transfiguration. This time Pastor Corey focuses not on the journey down the mountain, but rather on our time spent on it. In times like this sometimes it's all we can do to rest in the presence of Christ and love and allow tomorrow to deal with tomorrow.
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The Gospel According to Encanto
What can we learn about the gospel from our entertainment? Quite a bit as it turns out. Movies are some of the most prevalent models and teachers of ethics we have in our day and so digging into them and seeing them for their value can be important. In this sermon, Pastor Corey digs into 2021's...
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The Gospel According to The Little Prince
What can we learn about the gospel from our entertainment? Quite a bit as it turns out. Movies are some of the most prevalent models and teachers of ethics we have in our day and so digging into them and seeing them for their value can be important. In this sermon, Pastor Corey digs into 2015's…
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The Gospel According to Frozen II
What can we learn about the gospel from our entertainment? Quite a bit as it turns out. Movies are some of the most prevalent models and teachers of ethics we have in our day and so digging into them and seeing them for their value can be important. In this sermon, Pastor Corey digs into 2019's...
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The Gospel According to Moana
What can we learn about the gospel from our entertainment? Quite a bit as it turns out. Movies are some of the most prevalent models and teachers of ethics we have in our day and so digging into them and seeing them for their value can be important. In this sermon, Pastor Corey digs into 2016's...
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Making the Extraordinary Common - Isaiah 6:1-8
A sermon that starts with MLK and ends with our own mission. How can we reframe the narrative so that we look at what's considered extraordinary and see it instead as common?
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Love Is the Greatest Renewable Resource
A sermon on John 2:1-11, Jesus turning the water into wine. Learn about the amount of wine Jesus transformed and what that image means for us today.
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Baptism of the Lord - The Baptism of Life
Pastor Corey shares more of himself in this sermon on baptism.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The collected sermons of Corey Simon delivered at Bangor-Simpson United Methodist Church.
HOSTED BY
Corey Simon
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Grace Talks have?
Grace Talks currently has 106 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Grace Talks about?
The collected sermons of Corey Simon delivered at Bangor-Simpson United Methodist Church.
How often does Grace Talks release new episodes?
Grace Talks publishes regularly with 106 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Grace Talks?
You can listen to Grace Talks on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Grace Talks?
Grace Talks is created and hosted by Corey Simon.
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