Artisan Church Podcast

Revisiting themes from Ecclesiastes through songs that inspire, challenge, and give voice to our longing to make meaning in a world that so often seems meaningless. Pastor Scott is joined by special musical guest Mel Muscarella. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Everything Is Meaning: Ecclesiastes and Existentialism”

Pastor Jae explores how the work we do today is an investment in the support we may need in the mysterious, unpredictable future. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Everything Is Meaning: Ecclesiastes and Existentialism”

A reflection on the fact that even simple and seemingly unspiritual things can still point us toward deep meaning, and that this meaning can be found everywhere around us—even (and maybe especially) when the world seems like an unjust, disordered place.The poem referred to in this message is “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Everything Is Meaning: Ecclesiastes and Existentialism”

Pastor Jae explores how particular seasons in our lives drain the meaning that we work so hard to store up and offers a glimpse at why less is more. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Everything Is Meaning: Ecclesiastes and Existentialism”

An introduction to the book of Ecclesiastes and to our series, in which we reflect on some of the least spiritual words in the whole Bible. Or are they the most spiritual? Or is it both? Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Everything Is Meaning: Ecclesiastes and Existentialism”

Join us for Easter as Dr. Rebecca Letterman shares a message for leaning into the season even when the world is full of turmoil. Speaker: Rebecca Letterman

When Jesus entered Jerusalem at the start of Holy Week, his presence created turmoil. Perhaps we should expect some turmoil when Jesus starts to overturn our expectations—even when this is uncomfortable for us. (At the start of the sermon, Pastor Scott offered at tribute to his grandmother in word and song.) Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Jesus on the Outside”

Pastor Jae inspects the dangers of looking at surface appearances, and examines how God’s standard for living well begins in our hearts. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Jesus on the Outside”

A sacred community reading of the famous story of Jesus healing a man who was born blind—and resetting religious understandings of the cause of disability in the process. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Jesus on the Outside”

A reflection on the story of Jesus ministering to a single person, one on one, outside the walls of the church—and what that has to do with Pastor Scott's special announcement. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Jesus on the Outside”

Pastor Jae explores how a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus reveals how what we know often is based on where and when we’re from. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Jesus on the Outside”

Pastor Jae explores why Jesus’s transfiguration provides hope and stability for many believers around the world. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Season of Epiphany 2026: Unveiling the mysteries of faith”

Pastor Jae shares a message about how leaning into our faith requires true communal belief in who we are and what defines us. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Season of Epiphany 2026: Unveiling the mysteries of faith”

Have you ever had a moment where something that was confusing suddenly became crystal clear? Once you see it, it seems so obvious. The good news of Christianity should feel like this—and if it doesn’t, perhaps that is because you just haven’t had the right epiphany yet.(Note this sermon is based on the lectionary texts from the previous Sunday.) Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Season of Epiphany 2026: Unveiling the mysteries of faith”

The community comes together to process the challenges of current events by "living the questions" that arise in us lately. Speaker: Pastors Jae Newman and Scott Austin Part of the series “Season of Epiphany 2026: Unveiling the mysteries of faith”

Pastor Jae examines how a “servant song” from Isaiah offers clear reasons why Jesus is “Beloved” to his Father and explores what Jesus’s baptism means for us. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Season of Epiphany 2026: Unveiling the mysteries of faith”

Pastor Jae teaches on how the Genesis creation narratives connect with Jesus’s establishment of the Kingdom of God. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Season of Epiphany 2026: Unveiling the mysteries of faith”

The story of the birth of Jesus is inherently "political," meaning simply that it took place in a particular place and time, with social and civic factors at play. (Just look at how much detail about the government there is in the Christmas story!) We, too, exist in a particular time and place, with our own social and civic factors at play. And if we want Christ to be born into our own hearts, we must take this into account. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “The Will to Dream: Persistent courage to imagine, resist, and rebuild a better world.”

Dive into Mary’s “Magnificat,” her famous hymn of praise, as we explore some of the stresses held by Jesus’s mother while she clung to the hope of security in God’s provision. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “The Will to Dream: Persistent courage to imagine, resist, and rebuild a better world.”

When we are caught in the tension between a holiday season that calls us to peace and a world that seems to be in ever-increasing discord, we may need to reset our understanding of what peace is, and what it isn't. We are reminded, once again, of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words: “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “The Will to Dream: Persistent courage to imagine, resist, and rebuild a better world.”

Enter Advent and discover the word of the Prophet Isaiah who calls us to draw strength from real hope in the midst of difficult, heartbreaking days. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “The Will to Dream: Persistent courage to imagine, resist, and rebuild a better world.”

As we consider the way Paul ends his letter to the Galatians, we not only find the passage we've been anticipating all along (the Fruit of the Spirit!), but we also see the intensity and passion with which our author makes his point. Will we be offended—or inspired? Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Roots of the Fruits”

Pastor Jae explores how Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, models how we can clap back against all that wishes to confuse us or separate us from finding our place in history and God’s family. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Roots of the Fruits”

One of the earliest formative teachings of the Christian religion is that despite our never-ending desire to come up with ways to sort ourselves into hierarchy, the Spirit has leveled the playing field. We are all One. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Roots of the Fruits”

Each autumn we contemplate questions both old and new.  Explore how determining the vintage of our oldest questions can help us find ways to hold our new thoughts in tension as we pour our best into another year of learning, of aging. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Roots of the Fruits”

We know the presence of the Lord in our lives by the fruit of the Spirit that others find within us.  What happens, though, when that fruit rots on the vine?  How do we reset ourselves from the shadow sides of our gifts? Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Roots of the Fruits”

A reprise of a well-loved sermon that helps us entirely rethink the ugly version of the "good news" that so many of us have heard. Don't miss it! Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Sunday School 2.0”

Members of the Artisan community share the major shifts they experienced as they transitioned from childhood faith to an adult faith. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Sunday School 2.0”

How do we know what we believe as we age? Pastor Jae explores how the stories we loved best as children create deep imprints in our understanding of God and how encountering those stories evolves as we do. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Sunday School 2.0”

Many children who’ve grown up in church have been taught to see themselves through shame and fear. Together we’ll consider what changes when we believe we are actually good inside, and how that shift makes space for true community, restoration, and flourishing. Speaker: Pastor Jessie Brajcki Part of the series “Sunday School 2.0”

Joseph. Daniel. Noah. Moses. Even Jesus himself! Many of us learned of these heroes of the faith as cute, cartoonish characters—sort of a biblical Sesame Street. But few of us really learned the broader arc of the Bible's stories, and without this, we will struggle to apply these mysterious ancient texts to our modern lives. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Sunday School 2.0”

In our next WSMF message, Zachary Foster shares about his sobriety journey for National Alcohol & Drug Addiction Recovery Awareness Month. Speaker: Zachary Foster Part of the series “Work of the People (What's Saving My Faith): What's Saving My Faith”

Making healthy, thoughtful choices can help us protect fragile parts of us that require boundaries.  But what if those boundaries are crossed?  What if we outgrow these boundaries? Pastor Jae investigates how daily work can help us navigate a way out of circular mazes. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Do You Still Talk to Grandma?: When the Problematic People in Our Lives are the Ones We Love”

Many of us experience fractured relationships. No matter where blame belongs, we can often feel “lost” on what our complicated relationships can look like in the future.  Pastor Jae explores how accepting little losses every day can direct us to finding something unexpected. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Do You Still Talk to Grandma?: When the Problematic People in Our Lives are the Ones We Love”

One of the challenges of applying Jesus's teaching to our modern lives (such as trying to negotiate pain that comes from people we love) is that we struggle with who we are in his stories. We will investigate the Parable of the Good Samaritan, considering the possibility that for once, we are not the hero in the story. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Do You Still Talk to Grandma?: When the Problematic People in Our Lives are the Ones We Love”

Join us as author, speaker, and comedian Brit Barron kicks off our Do You Still Talk to Grandma series, where we’ll reflect on the difficult negotiation work of striving to find a way forward without allowing differences with family members to entrap us in Cancel Culture ideologies. Speaker: Brit Barron Part of the series “Do You Still Talk to Grandma?: When the Problematic People in Our Lives are the Ones We Love”

So much of our spiritual life revolves around believing in things that are not yet apparent to us.  Pastor Jae explores how through Abraham’s story we can glimpse God’s plan to move treasure from a garden to a city, and how we’re all part of the moving crew. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Ordinary Time: No holidays. No feast days. Just "normal."”

What the Bible really has to say about the meaning of our life on earth might surprise you. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Ordinary Time: No holidays. No feast days. Just "normal."”

Reading Scripture across cultures and millenia is not easy work.  Our own inner world can quickly become knotted as we seek simple answers to complex questions.  Pastor Jae focuses on Luke 11 as a way to point to the power of prayer as a way to navigate some discontinuities in our spirituality. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Ordinary Time: No holidays. No feast days. Just "normal."”

In a special Pride Month edition of "What's Saving My Faith," Penny Sterling shares about how action saved (and is saving) her faith. Speaker: Penny Sterling Part of the series “Work of the People (What's Saving My Faith): What's Saving My Faith”

The metaphor of bearing fruit is one of the most powerful images of the Christian life in all of scripture. What does it mean for faithful followers to bear fruit in body, stock, and soil? How can we bear fruit in every good work? Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Ordinary Time: No holidays. No feast days. Just "normal."”

On his way to Jerusalem with his disciples, Jesus interacts with several people: some who oppose him, some who want to follow him halfheartedly. His responses to these individuals are hard to understand. We will explore these interactions together, placing ourselves into the story. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Ordinary Time: No holidays. No feast days. Just "normal."”

Pastor Jae explores that while Jesus does inaugurate his kingdom on earth, daily discipline is needed to help us discover where, as Frederich Buecner says, our “deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Ordinary Time: No holidays. No feast days. Just "normal."”

On Trinity Sunday, we reflect on one of the deepest theological mysteries of the Christian faith, but ultimately—as always—we return to the Law of Love. Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Ordinary Time: No holidays. No feast days. Just "normal."”

Prayer is one of the main access roads to our spiritual life, but for many it presents daily challenges.  As we prepare for the Pentecost, we dust off our prayer life in order to stay awake to the presence of God’s activity in our lives. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Eastertide”

When Jesus gives a new commandment, it is not complicated.  It is, however, challenging.  Calling others to love one another, Jesus reorders how we relate to others, God, and ourselves. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Eastertide”

Julia shares a story of what's saving her faith. Speaker: Julia Detmer Part of the series “Work of the People (What's Saving My Faith): What's Saving My Faith”

From the time of Jesus's earthly ministry, there have been questions about his intention and purpose in the world. We should not be surprised to find that these questions persist in our day (and into our visions of the last days), but it does leave us with a choice: which version of Jesus will shape our choices, our attitudes, and our interactions with our world? Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Eastertide”

Life on our High Horses leads us further and further from Jesus.  When we dismount from our strengths and live from our actual selves that’s the place where God can meet us. Speaker: Pastor Jae Newman Part of the series “Eastertide”

As the disciples sought to live out the Gospel in their world, they received both threats and peace. Their choice, and ours: how to respond in the way of Jesus, the “firstborn from the dead.” Speaker: Pastor Scott Austin Part of the series “Eastertide”