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Latest Episodes:

The Perception of “Failure” in Ministry | Sean Palmer (Part 1) | PT 17 Apr 10, 2023

Show notes

Ministry can often have pressure to be successful in a way that may be counter to the way Jesus chose to minister.

Sean Issac Palmer speaks very openly about a situation where he experienced a painful release from a church. The perception of failure as Sean discussed can be an enormous burden for pastors. Hope is possible when we honor our limitations and fill our lives with pastoral friendships that help provide the safe place all people need.

Discussion Questions:

Sean talked about how Pastors can be a convenient receptacle for people’s pain. How do you see that play out in your ministry?
A youth pastor had a major influence on him when he was younger. Who were the greatest influences in your developmental years?
Sean talked about the pain of being let go from a church. Many times this is so painful because the pastor has few people she or he could turn to. Where do you find yourself going to navigate the most difficult aspects of ministry?

Check out Mark’s new course on Seminary Now: Pastoral Ministry: Calling and Resilience.

SeminaryNow.com is a streaming video platform with short courses from leading authors and professors. The Pastor’s Table listeners can get 25% off full access to the courses by using the code TPT.

Our theme song for The Pastor’s Table is Radiant by eleven eleven worship. LISTEN NOW on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your music.

The Impact of Institutionalized Sin | *Special Series* Northern Seminary & Systemic Sin (Part 3) | PT 16 Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

All creation is groaning under the burden of sin.

Sin is much more than an individual's bad behavior. The insidious nature of sin has impacted every element of creation. That destructive nature of sin is found in all institutions and has harmed many.

Many times institutions have found to be more interested in protecting and advancing “the mission” than actually caring for people. What if people actually were “the mission”?

Discussion Questions:

How would you describe the burden of sin on the structures found in the world?
Where do see systems at work that create unintended but harmful results for those in the system?
Beth, Tara Beth, & Mark talked about how people can be wounded at the expense of propelling an institution’s mission. How have you seen this at play from your experience?

Check out Mark’s new course on Seminary Now: Pastoral Ministry: Calling and Resilience.

SeminaryNow.com is a streaming video platform with short courses from leading authors and professors. The Pastor’s Table listeners can get 25% off full access to the courses by using the code TPT.

Our theme song for The Pastor’s Table is Radiant by eleven eleven worship. LISTEN NOW on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your music.

Personal Sin & Confession | *Special Series* Northern Seminary & Systemic Sin (Part 2) | PT 15 Mar 27, 2023

Show notes

Sin is ubiquitous. There is no escaping the impact of sin in the world we live in.

It is not IF Christian leaders sin but WHEN. That is why the practice of confession is so important.Confession is essential to living as a follower of Jesus. Even though the world propels us to live with a posture that we have it all together, sin is inevitable.

There is no way to live and shepherd like Jesus without regularly confessing sin.

Discussion Question:

The world propels us to live with the posture that we have everything together. How do you feel this at work in your life?
How much are we able to not sin? Mark, Tara Beth, & Beth explore this question. What does your theology about sin help inform this question?
It is important to create safe spaces of confession to deal with sin. Why do you think confession is so important in the role of sanctification?
We all have a longing to justify ourselves. How have you experienced relaxing into the justification of Christ?

Check out Mark’s new course on Seminary Now: Pastoral Ministry: Calling and Resilience.

SeminaryNow.com is a streaming video platform with short courses from leading authors and professors. The Pastor’s Table listeners can get 25% off full access to the courses by using the code TPT.

Our theme song for The Pastor’s Table is Radiant by eleven eleven worship. LISTEN NOW on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your music.

*Special Series* | Moment to Lament | Northern Seminary & Systemic Sin (Part 1) | PT 14 Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

Northern Seminary is journeying through a distressing time.

Mark & Tara Beth interrupt the normal broadcast to address the issues facing Northern. Northern Seminary is an organization that has drawn many students & faculty to study because of its goodness.

For many Northern represented being an island of goodness in a world surrounded by misery. Mark and Tara Beth discuss how an organization that trains women and men for service in God’s Kingdom can be so impacted by the problem of systemic sin.

Incarnational Care | Rob Prince (Part 2) | PT 13 Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

The holiest work of God’s Kingdom often happens in unseen spaces.

Rob Prince shared with Mark and Tara Beth about the way Rob and his wife Carla have been caring for one of their congregation members with terminal cancer.* There is little benefit that Rob & Carla’s friend with terminal cancer can give back to them but it is obvious that their care is a true example of the incarnation.

*Rob and Carla's dear friend Lisa passed on 3/13/23. Our thoughts and condolences are with them and their congregation in Flint Michigan.

Discussion Questions:

How does the incarnation inform the way you care for your congregation?
Rob shared how he and his wife Carla brought Lisa into their home. They helped provide palliative care as Lisa lived with terminal cancer. Rob mentioned Lisa’s joy in the face of her pain. In what ways do you see your congregation experience joy in the face of pain?
Rob, Mark, & Tara Beth, shares what care looks like for someone who might be considered “the least of these.” What do you notice that happens in your heart when you care for people who have no way to give back?
Rob & Carla cared for their friend Lisa in “unseen spaces.” How have you seen God work through your church in unseen spaces?

Pastoring with Pain | Rob Prince (Part 1) | PT 12 Mar 06, 2023

Show notes

Rob Prince has pastored for over 30 years with chronic migraines.

His migraines have been a limitation on his life and ministry. Rob, Mark, and Tara Beth explore how Jesus willingly embraced limitations in the incarnation. The reality of the incarnation provides a profound vision of the way all pastors can serve through their own pain. Even though God has not taken away Rob’s migraines, Rob’s testimony is one of God’s continued grace and faithfulness in the midst of challenging circumstances.

Discussion Questions:

Mark and Tara Beth start out the conversation by talking about how the incarnation means Jesus subjected himself to work and live with limitations. Do you feel liberated by the idea that Jesus worked out of limitations?
Rob shared about the pain from migraines that he has while pastoring. How do you make sense of the pain you face while leading in a church?
Rob has prayed for the migraines to end but they continue to persist. How do you navigate walking through seasons of asking for God to bring relief but the pain continues to persist?
Ash Wednesday can bring a challenging reminder that one day we will die. In what ways does this reminder of your mortality impact how you pastor?

Check out Mark’s new course on Seminary Now: Pastoral Ministry: Calling and Resilience.

SeminaryNow.com is a streaming video platform with short courses from leading authors and professors. The Pastor’s Table listeners can get 25% off full access to the courses by using the code TPT.

Our theme song for The Pastor’s Table is Radiant by eleven eleven worship. LISTEN NOW on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your music.

How Human Was Jesus? | Dr. Beth Felker Jones | PT 11 Feb 27, 2023

Show notes

The mystery of the incarnation can be disorienting but it also holds tremendous blessings.

Dr. Beth Feker Jones dives deep into the question of how human was Jesus. Did he get sick? Was he able to sin?

Jesus unquestionably loves our bodies because he lived life on earth with a body. Understanding the depths of the incarnation helps us understand the impact it can have on our daily lives. Jesus is holding space for your physical body and he wants you to live well the life He has for you.

Discussion Questions:

The conversation today was all about the question of how human was Jesus. How would you answer that question?
Mark asks Beth all sorts of questions about the humanity that Jesus experienced. What does the human experience of Jesus mean to you as a follower of Jesus?
You’ve probably heard many different interpretations of John 10:10 about “live to the full.” How does Jesus’ experience of a human life help you understand this passage more profoundly?
Jesus holds us in our physical space. Where is Jesus holding space for what is going on in your body right now?

Check out Mark’s new course on Seminary Now: Pastoral Ministry: Calling and Resilience.

SeminaryNow.com is a streaming video platform with short courses from leading authors and professors. The Pastor’s Table listeners can get 25% off full access to the courses by using the code TPT.

Our theme song for The Pastor’s Table is Radiant by eleven eleven worship. LISTEN NOW on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your music.

Practicing Christian Doctrine | Dr. Beth Felker Jones | PT 10 Feb 20, 2023

Show notes

Good practice is good for good theology, and good theology is good for good Christian practice.

Dr. Beth Felker Jones rejoins the conversation and explores the interaction between Christian theology and Christian practice. Discover how they’re not isolated components of faith. Rather, there is a deep and significant interplay between the two.

Questions:

It was discussed that good practice is good for good theology. How do you see practice impacting what you believe?
Beth Felker Jones suggests that the Spirit works in each individual and fully interacts with our full body. How did that encourage your relationship with God?
What did you learn about combing the corporate with the individual reality of God’s desire to be present?
The practice of prayer was discussed as a critical rhythm to sustaining and forming good theology. In what ways did that part of the discussion help you think about prayer?

Check out Mark’s new course on Seminary Now: Pastoral Ministry: Calling and Resilience.

SeminaryNow.com is a streaming video platform with short courses from leading authors and professors. The Pastor’s Table listeners can get 25% off full access to the courses by using the code TPT.

Our theme song for The Pastor’s Table is Radiant by eleven eleven worship. LISTEN NOW on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your music.

What Does The Incarnation Mean For Pastors? | PT 9 Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

We don’t need to forsake our humanity to be Pastors.

There are so many sources pastors use to help establish their identity. Tara Beth and Mark explore the depths of what it means to truly consider the incarnation of Christ to form our identities as Pastors.

We have a right to be confused. We have a right to have a crisis of faith, even as pastors.

Discussion Questions:

After listening to this episode, what does the incarnation mean for you as a pastor?
Tara Beth and Mark shared how Pastors often struggle with the feeling to have it all together. Can you identify what drives that for you in your life?
Is being honest with your congregation something you’ve been able to do with your congregation? If so, what was your experience like sharing honestly with your church?
Mark confessed he wakes up despondent on many mornings. What do you do when you experience the weight of humanity?

Check out Mark’s new course on Seminary Now: Pastoral Ministry: Calling and Resilience.

SeminaryNow.com is a streaming video platform with short courses from leading authors and professors. The Pastor’s Table listeners can get 25% off full access to the courses by using the code TPT.

Our theme song for The Pastor’s Table is Radiant by eleven eleven worship. LISTEN NOW on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your music.

The Inefficiency of Incarnation | Jay Y. Kim (Part 2) | PT 8 Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

Fruit takes time to produce. You can’t microwave the experience.

Jay Y. Kim talks with Mark & Tara Beth about the realization that incarnational ministry like Jesus can often feel “inefficient” and slow. However, it’s in that approach to ministry that God does His most profound work. Could it be that in our efforts to stay relevant in our digital age, we've begun to give away the very thing that our age most desperately needs: transcendence? Could it be that the best way to reach new generations is in fact found in a more timeless path? Could it be that at its heart, the church has really been analog all along?

Jay, Mark, and Tara Beth talk about all these questions and more on this episode of The Pastor’s Table.

Discussion Questions:

Jay talks about how they create “lingering spaces” around their services. What are the lingering spaces present in your church?
Jay, Mark, and Tara Beth talk about how the church is not to be a content generator. Rather, the church is an embodied faith where a community of people are formed. How do you feel about the church being called away from being a content generator and suggesting it should be focused on fostering a community of faith?
Jesus participated in “inefficient” ministry work. Do you feel in your ministry context you can participate in ministry like Jesus?

Check out Mark’s new course on Seminary Now: Pastoral Ministry: Calling and Resilience.

SeminaryNow.com is a streaming video platform with short courses from leading authors and professors. The Pastor’s Table listeners can get 25% off full access to the courses by using the code TPT.

Our theme song for The Pastor’s Table is Radiant by eleven eleven worship. LISTEN NOW on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your music.

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