That’ll Preach

We continue our series on Brother Lawrence’s classic work Practicing the Presence of God by focusing, no pun intended, on the topic of attention. One of the great insights that Brother Lawrence brings to the table is the reality that attention to God is something we train through discipline and practice. It’s not something that happens over night which challenges us to consider the ways distraction prevents us from awareness of God. We also talk about how what we pay attention to either forms or deforms us based upon what we focus on as well as how a lack of attention may lie behind every sin. Show Notes Support us on Patreon Website: thatllpreach.io IG: thatllpreachpodcast YouTube Channel

Our Christmas gift to you: the long-awaited return of Paul Rezkalla. In this episode we begin a new series on Brother Lawrence’s classic “Practicing the Presence of God”. We’re going to talk about what we mean by “presence of God” over against modern conceptions. We also discuss the ways distraction and worldliness draw us away from God. There’s no better time to think about practicing the presence of God than Christmas when we celebrate the coming of our Lord in human flesh. Merry Christmas to you all.  Show Notes Support us on Patreon Website: thatllpreach.io IG: thatllpreachpodcast YouTube Channel

Rhys Laverty and Mark Hamilton join us to discuss their new book Augustine: Advent Homilies, a collection of seventeen sermons by Augustine on the topic of Advent. We talk about how Augustine’s sermons give insight into the ways his theological understanding, pastoral wisdom, and rhetorical skill combine to draw the hearts of his hearers upward to God. He uses paradox and imagery to illuminate the divine mysteries of the Incarnation, eternal generation, and virgin birth of Christ. In doing so, he provides a template for modern reflection on the season of Advent. We also discuss the role of the sermon in a liturgical context as well as the danger of only focusing in Christ as Savior.  Show Notes Purchase Augustine: Advent Homilies Support us on Patreon Website: thatllpreach.io IG: thatllpreachpodcast YouTube Channel

Multiple times a year Christians around the globe take part in one of the central rituals of the faith: the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist. This central symbol of unity also serves as a battleground between various traditions within Christianity about the nature and meaning of this ritual. Matt Colvin enters the fray to discuss his book The Lost Supper: Revisiting Passover and the Origins of the Eucharist which unravels the mysteries surrounding the Lord’s Supper by connecting this ritual to the Old Testament Passover meal. Specifically, we discuss the coded communication Jesus implements to communicate his Messianic identity to his disciples, the nature of the “fellowship” with Christ experienced in the Supper as described by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians, and the ignorance of first century Judaism by many Christians throughout church history that led to critical misunderstandings of the Eucharist. Matt also describes the “narratival” way in which we participate in the events of the death and resurrection of Christ through the sacraments as well as the relationship between the church and Israel.    Show Notes Get Matt's Book — The Lost Supper: Revisiting Passover and the Origins of the Eucharist Support us on Patreon Website: thatllpreach.io IG: thatllpreachpodcast YouTube Channel