Pastor Sean Barrett preaches from John 13:31-35. You can find all the readings for this Sunday here. To learn more about Lutheran Church of the Nativity, visit our website at NativityArden.org.

In this episode Dr. Aaron Davis hosts a conversation with Nativity's pastor, the Rev. Dr. Sean Barrett, about faith and music. We discuss things like the difference between "Christian music" and "secular music," the role music can play in one's life of faith, whether anti-Christian music can ever be appropriate for a Christian to listen to, and more. Links Nativity's website - Link The Nicene Creed - Link Questions or Suggestions? Contact Dr. Davis with your input: [email protected].

Pastor Sean Barrett addresses the question, "Pastor talked about the creeds: some might wonder why we recite them every service, when it's all written down? I thought it was tied to practice in the early church when more was said than written, and with church doctrines evolving/splitting, it was important to remind ourselves, in community, of what holds us together, our shared beliefs. Is that why, or are there other reasons we recite them?"

In this episode Dr. Aaron Davis interviews Prof. Andrew Torrance of the University of St Andrews about his book Accountability to God (Oxford University Press, 2023). We discuss what accountability is, how accountability might be thought of as a theological virtue, the risks and rewards of accountability relations, what accountability looks like in Scripture, and more. Links Nativity's website - Link University of St Andrews faculty profile for Torrance - Link Torrance's Accountability to God (Oxford University Press, 2023) - Link Torrance's, "Accountability as a Virtue," Studies in Christian Ethics 34, no. 3 (2021): 307-315 - Link Torrance's, "A Baptismal Theology of Accountability," Studies in Christian Ethics 34, no. 3 (2021): 336-346. - Link Torrance's, "Accountability as the Ground of Human Flourishing," Studies in Christian Ethics 36, no. 4 (2023): 814-826. - Link Questions or Suggestions? Contact Dr. Davis with your input: [email protected].

Pastor Sean Barrett preaches from John 10:22-30. You can find all the readings for this Sunday here. To learn more about Lutheran Church of the Nativity, visit our website at NativityArden.org.

Pastor Sean Barrett addresses the question, "In the past, Catholics and Lutherans excommunicated each other and said some terrible things about one another (e.g., Luther calling the Pope "AntiChrist"). What are Catholic-Lutheran relations like now, given that we prayed for the new Pope yesterday?"

In this episode Dr. Aaron Davis walks through Prof. Oliver Crisp's book Approaching the Atonement: The Reconciling Work of Christ (IVP Academic, 2020). Prof. Crisp's book addresses questions about what the atonement is, what sorts of views of the atonement have existed through Christian history, how one can think well about the atonement, and more. Links Nativity's website - Link Crisp's Approaching the Atonement - Link Aaron's introductory article on analytic theology - Link Aaron's review of Approaching the Atonement - Link Crisp's Participation and Atonment - Link Questions or Suggestions? Contact Dr. Davis with your input: [email protected].

This week, Dr. Aaron Davis considers the following question posed anonymously: "In last weeks sermon, I heard a correlation made between having an abortion, after discovering the unborn child had downs syndrome, with rejecting the risen Lord. Did I hear this correlation made correctly?" Links: Nativity's website - nativityarden.org CBS News reporting on Iceland and Down's Syndrome - Julian Quinones and Arijeta Lajka, "'What kind of society do you want to live in?': Inside the country where Down syndrome is disappearing," CBS News, August 15, 2017, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/down-syndrome-iceland/. 

In this episode Dr. Aaron Davis hosts a conversation with Nativity's pastor, the Rev. Dr. Sean Barrett, about Christian creeds. What are creeds? Why would we want to use creeds? Why do creeds matter? Together we work through questions like these and more. Links Nativity's website - Link The Nicene Creed - Link The Apostles' Creed - Link The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 - Link Questions or Suggestions? Contact Dr. Davis with your input: [email protected].

This week, Dr. Aaron Davis considers the following question posed anonymously: "My dad died of dementia a few years ago. One of my hopes is to see him in heaven and have him recognize me. As I thought about yesterday's sermon, my mind wonders if this is a realistic expectation? What do you expect God to heal and not heal in our new bodies?" Links: Aaron Brian Davis, "Horizons of Hope: Disability, Eschatology, and the Work of the Holy Spirit," Journal of Disability & Religion 28, no. 3 (2024): 356-378.  Eleonore Stump, The Image of God: The Problem of Evil and the Problem of Mourning (Oxford University Press, 2022).  Preston McDaniel Hill and Aaron Brian Davis, eds. Disability Theology and Eschatology: Hope, Justice, and Flourishing (Lexington Books, 2025).