PODCAST · religion
Worship in the Trenches
by Josh Cehulik
Where Sunday's worship meets Monday morning. Join Worship Pastor Josh Cehulik for weekly worship theology conversations that connect Christian liturgy to real life. Every church has a liturgy, and it's forming you whether you realize it or not. Designed for pastors, volunteers, and anyone seeking worship ministry insights, deeper Sunday worship messages, and daily worship that carries into ordinary life. Real worship wisdom for those on the front lines of life and ministry.
Episodes
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Episode 64: Establish the Work of Our Hands
William Wilberforce spent forty-six years fighting the slave trade and slavery in the British Empire. He died three days after learning the final bill would pass. The week's readings define holiness by how we treat our neighbor, hang the whole Law on two commands, show Paul refusing flattery, and...
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Episode 63: Known by Name
After the First World War, Rudyard Kipling wrote the words carved on the graves of soldiers no one could identify: "Known unto God." Josh carries that epitaph into the readings. God tells Moses, "I know you by name," names a Persian king who never knew Him, and Jesus holds up a coin and asks…
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Episode 62: We Waited for Him
In 1574, the besieged city of Leiden held out for five months, waiting on a wind only God could send. Josh Cehulik uses that siege to open the day's Scripture readings. In Exodus 32, one crowd quits waiting after forty days and builds a golden calf. In Isaiah 25, another crowd stands on God's...
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Episode 61: Taken Hold Of
In 1887, a homeless poet mailed his work to a London magazine with a post office for a return address, and the editor went looking for him. In today's passages God plants a vine, writes a law, sends His Son into the vineyard, and closes His hand on a man running the other way. Every church's...
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Episode 60: Is the Lord With Us or Not?
Crossing South Georgia Island in 1916, three exhausted men each sensed a fourth walking beside them — and none of them mentioned it until later. Israel asked the same thing at Rephidim, thirsty, in a camp God's own directions had led them to. Josh works through Exodus 17, Psalm 78, Ezekiel 18,...
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Episode 59: God's Frustrating Mercy
When Charles II pardoned nearly everyone in 1660, the royalists who had bankrupted themselves for the crown coined a bitter slogan: indemnity for the king's enemies, oblivion for his friends. They had a case. Somebody always pays for a pardon. Josh works through Exodus 16, Psalm 105, Jonah 3–4,...
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Episode 58: Who Sits in the Seat of Judgment?
On November 1945, four nations with every reason for vengeance sat down below the bench and handed the gavel to a tribunal. Most of us are less generous with our own case files. Josh works through Genesis 50, Exodus 14, Psalm 103, Matthew 18, and Romans 14 to ask one question: who actually sits…
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Episode 57: God Did for Me What I Could Never Do for Myself
Jean Valjean walks out of nineteen years in the galleys knowing exactly what his own hands can do — and then stands free in a courtyard on the strength of a word he had no part in earning. Josh traces that same movement across Exodus 12, Psalm 119, Ezekiel 33, Matthew 18, and Romans 13: a house...
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Episode 56: I AM WHO I AM
Sailors and people escaping slavery both steered by one fixed light: the North Star, constant while everything else wheeled around it. Frederick Douglass even named his newspaper after it. When Moses asked God His name, he got the fixed point of the universe—"I AM WHO I AM"—tied to a promise: "I...
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Episode 55: He Will Fulfill His Purpose for Me
Tolkien invented a word for the sudden rescue that arrives from beyond the hero: eucatastrophe. He built a whole story on it—and he learned it in the trenches of the Somme. This short episode traces a God who finishes what He starts, from a baby in a basket on the Nile to a church the grave can't...
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Episide 54: God Sent Me Ahead of You
In 1956, five missionaries were killed reaching an isolated people in Ecuador—men who went ahead into danger so others behind them might live. Long before them, Joseph told the brothers who sold him: "God sent me ahead of you to preserve life." This short episode traces that pattern from a pit in...
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Episode 53: Take Courage, It is I
On an October morning in 1555, Hugh Latimer told a fellow martyr to "take courage" at the stake. He was borrowing the words Jesus spoke over a storm: "It is I. Don't be afraid." This short episode traces courage through fear—Joseph in the pit, Elijah under the broom tree, Peter sinking in the...
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The Responder's Rule Vol 1 - Book Introduction
This devotional is designed to connect Ancient Worship practices and rhythms to the modern-day lives of those in high-stress professions. Particularly geared to First Responders, a community Josh has served for more than a decade. This is the first part in a 30-Day series covering each day of the...
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Episode 52: I Shall Be Satisfied
Twenty years ago, Josh taught his first devotional in a college dorm room from Psalm 17: "I shall be satisfied." This short episode traces a hunger food can't fill—from Jacob wrestling in the dark to Jesus feeding the crowd—and names what satisfies it: the face of God. Worship reflection for...
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Episode 51: Ask What I Shall Give
George Müller fed hundreds of orphans with bare cupboards and a single rule: tell no one but God. He was taking God at the word once spoken to a young king — "Ask what I shall give you." From Laban's grudging bargain to Solomon's blank check to the Son the Father did not spare, this week traces…
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Episode 50: God is There
Adoniram Judson, chained in a Burmese death prison, said the future was as bright as the promises of God. This week's readings sound that note from every angle: God meeting Jacob on the run, waiting in every direction the psalmist could flee, holding the first and the last, present in the mixed...
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Episode 49: From Thorns, A Harvest
A date palm seed sat in a drawer for two thousand years — then sprouted the moment it touched soil. The word of the kingdom is a seed like that: it always carries life, and the only variable is the ground. From Esau trading his birthright for a bowl of stew to the four soils of the sower, the...
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Episode 48: Arise and Come Away
In 1947, a war-weary Britain lifted its head to celebrate a royal wedding — a flash of color on a hard road. That same joy runs through this week's Scripture: a bride who says "I will go," a bridegroom running over the hills, a humble king on a donkey coming for prisoners. From Rebekah to Romans...
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Episode 47: Surrendering Our Gifts Back to God
Norman Rockwell's "Freedom of Worship" caught a real instinct — that a people's relationship to God matters. But instinct without theology drifts. From Abraham's knife raised over Isaac to a false prophet telling the crowd what it wanted to hear, the readings press one question: are you loving…
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Episode 46: A Fire in My Bones
John Bunyan sat twelve years in an English jail rather than agree to stop preaching — the word in him was a fire that would not go out. From Jeremiah's burning bones to the reproach Christ carried to the sparrow the Father sees fall, faithfulness costs something real. But for the one already dead...
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Episode 45: Is Anything to Hard for the Lord?
A nineteen-year-old with no credentials walked into a half-empty London church — and the deacons trusted God to do what they couldn't produce. From Sarah's laughter to the crowds with no shepherd to the cross itself, one thread holds: God moves toward weakness, not away from it. Is anything too...
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Episode 44: What I Desire
Martin Luther stood at the Diet of Worms on the same ground Abraham stood on leaving Haran: nothing in hand but a promise. From Genesis to Romans, one thread holds — God has always desired faith that trusts Him and love that flows from knowing Him, not religious machinery kept running long after...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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.
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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...
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Episode 38: Into Your Hands
Where do God's people belong now that the tomb is empty? On the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Josh traces a single prayer — "Into your hand I commit my spirit" — from David's cry for deliverance, to Jesus on the cross, to Stephen the martyr at his stoning. Through Psalm 31, John 14, Acts 7, and 1 Peter...
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Episode 37: The Pastor and the Pasture
In English, "pastor" and "pasture" sit a few letters apart because they come from the same root: to feed. During Scotland's Killing Times, hunted ministers led their flocks to literal pastures for illegal worship. This week, Josh traces the shepherd metaphor from Psalm 23 through John 10, Acts 2,...
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Episode 36: Pay Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain
In 1939, audiences watched Toto pull back a curtain to reveal a fraud. On a Friday afternoon in Jerusalem, God pulled back a curtain to reveal the opposite. This week, Josh traces the torn veil from Psalm 116 through the Emmaus road, Peter's Pentecost altar call, and the epistle's revelation of a...
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Episode 35: The Path of Life Begins at an Empty Tomb
To walk the Appian Way into Rome was to walk through a cemetery. The Apostle Paul made that walk carrying a message that death had been defeated. This week, Josh traces the "path of life" from David's psalm through the locked room in Jerusalem, Peter's Pentecost sermon, and the scattered church's...
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Episode 34: I Shall Not Die, But Live
On April 9, 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer walked to the gallows and called it "the beginning of life." This week, as we arrive at Easter, Josh traces the dying-and-living pattern through Psalm 118, John 20, Acts 10, and Colossians 3 — and asks where the risen Christ meets you in the places where…
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Episode 33: Famous Last Words
What does a person say when every pretense falls away? The Victorians collected famous last words because they believed the final statement revealed what someone carried all along. This week, as we approach Good Friday, Josh traces Jesus' final words from the cross through Psalm 22, Isaiah 53…
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Episode 32: An Eternal Kingdom Built on a Discarded Stone
What do ancient quarry workers and Palm Sunday crowds have in common? Both encountered a stone they didn't know what to do with. This week, Josh explores how God's pattern of building through rejection — from Psalm 118 to the road into Jerusalem — reshapes the way we worship and live, especially...
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Episode 31: The Resurrection Isn't Plan B
"I am glad for your sakes that I was not there." That's what Jesus says when he hears that Lazarus has died. It's one of the most uncomfortable statements in all of Scripture — and it forces us to ask the question we've all wrestled with at a graveside: Why does God allow death? This episode…
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Episode 30: The Blind Man Who Saw What Everyone Missed
We're really good at evaluating what we can see. Resumes, appearances, credentials — we've built entire systems around measuring what's visible. But this week's readings trace a different pattern: the people who could see kept missing what mattered, while a man born blind ended up with the…
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Episode 29: Leaving Your Waterpot With Jesus
We all show up to the well carrying something. The Samaritan woman carried a waterpot — a daily ritual, a daily return to the same thirst, the same need, the same empty jar. But she left it behind. In this episode, we trace what happens when Jesus meets us at the well — and why the thing you came...
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Episode 28: Look Up
We're good at reading the weather app. We're less good at lifting our eyes beyond what we can immediately see. In this episode, we trace a pattern throughout Scripture: God invites people to look, and then shows them something far bigger than they imagined. From Abraham scanning a plot of land to...
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Episode 27: From Hiding to Hiding Place
John Newton captained slave ships for six years after his conversion before his conscience could no longer bear the weight. His journey from hiding his sin to hiding in his Savior traces the path we all must walk. Through Genesis 3, Psalm 32, Matthew 4, and Romans 5, Josh explores the movement…
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Episode 26: A Daily Hike to the Mountaintop of God's Glory
Throughout Scripture, witnesses stood on mountaintops and encountered God's glory—but access was limited to a select few at specific moments. Moses at Sinai. The King enthroned on Zion. Peter, James, and John at the Transfiguration. But then Peter makes a striking claim: Scripture itself is the...
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Episode 25: Peek-a-Boo with God
Worship works like spiritual peek-a-boo—God reveals himself saying "Here I am!" and when our lives align with his character, we respond with "Here we are!" But the game breaks down when we separate religious activity from the life God calls us to live. Through Psalm 112, Isaiah 58, Matthew 5, and…
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Episode 24: The Lord's Lawsuit Against Counterfeit Worship
God brings a lawsuit against his people—the charge is counterfeiting. We create designer deities who think, vote, and prioritize exactly as we do, then call it worship. Through Psalm 15, Micah 6, Matthew 5, and 1 Corinthians 1, Josh traces the biblical pattern that exposes our false images of…
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Episode 23: Are You a Laser or a Prism?
What happens when we dilute the gospel's power with our own agendas, personality cults, and divisions? Drawing from Isaiah, the Psalms, Matthew, and Paul's letter to the fractured Corinthian church, Josh explores how focused devotion to Christ crucified creates penetrating gospel power—while...
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Episode 22: God Calls Us Before the World Notices
When does God start caring about a human life? This week's Scripture reveals a worship pattern that turns our value systems upside down: God calls and names us from the womb, long before the world takes notice. Through Psalm 40, Isaiah 49, John 1, and 1 Corinthians 1, we discover how worship...
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Episode 21: Where Does Your Delight Rest
By February, 80% of New Year's resolutions have failed. We keep searching for satisfaction in the same places, and they keep disappointing us. But what if Scripture offers a different pattern? In this episode, Josh traces a remarkable progression from Psalm 29's universal call to worship, through...
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Episode 20: When the Left Overs Run out
What if you're coming to worship already full instead of desperately empty? This week's readings trace an extraordinary movement—from God's particular blessing of Israel to the universal fullness available in Christ. Join us as we explore how receiving "grace for grace" changes everything about…
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Episode 19: God Keeps Singing His Promise: An Advent Worship Devotional
In the winter of 1520, Martin Luther stood in his study reading the Psalter while the Roman Catholic Church demanded his recantation. The promises of Scripture sustained him "like a mighty fortress" because they remained true even when everything else crumbled. Luther discovered what Israel…
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Episode 18: Worshiping on the Highway of Holiness: An Advent Worship Devotional
In 1942, vehicles began using sections of the Alaska Highway while construction crews were still blasting through mountains ahead of them. Travelers drove on completed portions while hearing dynamite echo in the distance. That's where we live as Christians—walking on a road already completed by...
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Episode 17: The Heralding Worshiper: An Advent Worship Devotional
In medieval England, royal heralds rode ahead of the king's procession—speaking with authority but always stepping aside when the king arrived. John the Baptist understood this role perfectly. Standing in the Jordan River with crowds gathering around him, he declared: "He that cometh after me is...
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Episode 16: Candles in the Darkness: An Advent Worship Devotional
In 1780, when darkness fell over New England in the middle of the day and some thought Judgment Day had arrived, Colonel Abraham Davenport said, "I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought." This is the posture of Christian watchfulness—living as people...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Where Sunday's worship meets Monday morning. Join Worship Pastor Josh Cehulik for weekly worship theology conversations that connect Christian liturgy to real life. Every church has a liturgy, and it's forming you whether you realize it or not. Designed for pastors, volunteers, and anyone seeking worship ministry insights, deeper Sunday worship messages, and daily worship that carries into ordinary life. Real worship wisdom for those on the front lines of life and ministry.
HOSTED BY
Josh Cehulik
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Worship in the Trenches have?
Worship in the Trenches currently has 64 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Worship in the Trenches about?
Where Sunday's worship meets Monday morning. Join Worship Pastor Josh Cehulik for weekly worship theology conversations that connect Christian liturgy to real life. Every church has a liturgy, and it's forming you whether you realize it or not. Designed for pastors, volunteers, and anyone seeking...
How often does Worship in the Trenches release new episodes?
Worship in the Trenches has 64 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Worship in the Trenches?
You can listen to Worship in the Trenches 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 Worship in the Trenches?
Worship in the Trenches is created and hosted by Josh Cehulik.
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