014 - Empty Moralism
As we work through the “fasting oracles” in Zechariah 7-8, Mark and Cameron dig into the all-too-human habit of substituting man-made rituals for what God commands. From prescriptive musical pronouncements to prohibitions on smoking, drinking, and dancing, this episode tries to understand the reasons we add to Scripture … and what to do about it.
As we work through the “fasting oracles” in Zechariah 7-8, Mark and Cameron dig into the all-too-human habit of substituting man-made rituals for what God commands. From prescriptive musical pronouncements to prohibitions on smoking, drinking, and dancing, this episode tries to understand the reasons we add to Scripture … and what to do about it.
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
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013 - Confession Interrupted
In this special episode, Mark asks Cameron about the church experience that inspired a poem he wrote: “The End of Confession.” Why is there always more sin left to confess when the moment of silence is over, and what does the interruption of pardon teach us about God’s grace? Our commenters unpack the collaboration between poet and painter embodied in Cameron’s Vanora Project, and tell you how to experience the art for yourself.
In this special episode, Mark asks Cameron about the church experience that inspired a poem he wrote: “The End of Confession.” Why is there always more sin left to confess when the moment of silence is over, and what does the interruption of pardon teach us about God’s grace? Our commenters unpack the collaboration between poet and painter embodied in Cameron’s Vanora Project, and tell you how to experience the art for yourself.
To read Cameron’s poem and see Zach’s accompanying painting, visit the Vanora Project online. The exhibition of their work at Coffea Roasterie in downtown Sioux Falls begins May 2 and runs through Summer 2021.
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
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012 - The Theater of God's Glory
Mark and Cameron comment on ways to observe the season of Easter … after Easter Sunday is done. They also discuss how the world, in John Calvin’s phrase, is “the theater of God’s glory,” and why there is no square inch of creation over which Jesus doesn’t say: “This is mine.”
Mark and Cameron comment on ways to observe the season of Easter … after Easter Sunday is done. They also discuss how the world, in John Calvin’s phrase, is “the theater of God’s glory,” and why there is no square inch of creation over which Jesus doesn’t say: “This is mine.”
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
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011 - The Mountains Are Calling
Mark and Cameron are joined once again by Dan Reed to unpack an unusual topic: mountains. Mountains are a recurring image throughout Scripture, and in this episode we try to understand what these geographical high points have to do with spiritual reality.
Mark and Cameron are joined once again by Dan Reed to unpack an unusual topic: mountains. Mountains are a recurring image throughout Scripture, and in this episode we try to understand what these geographical high points have to do with spiritual reality.
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
010 - Good Friday
In this episode, Mark and Cameron share some music recommendations to enhance your Good Friday devotion, comment on what the crucifixion and resurrection teach us about Christ’s humiliation and exaltation and explain why the Christian hope is not to spend eternity in heaven. They will also ask what it is about Easter that speaks to every human heart.
In this episode, Mark and Cameron share some music recommendations to enhance your Good Friday devotion, comment on what the crucifixion and resurrection teach us about Christ’s humiliation and exaltation and explain why the Christian hope is not to spend eternity in heaven. They will also ask what it is about Easter that speaks to every human heart.
The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross begins at the 1:22:40 mark here:
https://www.facebook.com/SDSymphony/videos/923279091767716/
To listen to Mark’s podcast with SDSO’s Maestro Delta David Gier about Bach’s St John Passion, visit:
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
009 - Prophet, Priest, and King
In this episode, Mark and Cameron review the challenges and lessons of their Lenten fasts, and talk about what happens when physical fasting doesn’t lead to spiritual feasting. Then they comment on how seeing Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King enriches our understanding of the work of redemption.
In this episode, Mark and Cameron review the challenges and lessons of their Lenten fasts, and talk about what happens when physical fasting doesn’t lead to spiritual feasting. Then they comment on how seeing Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King enriches our understanding of the work of redemption.
The conversation references a series of questions and answers from the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q. 23-26). You can find the catechism online in PDF form here:
https://www.pcaac.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ShorterCatechismwithScriptureProofs.pdf
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
008 - The Gift of Repentance
In this episode, Mark calls Dan Reed to follow up on his sermon from last Sunday, exploring a question about how Jesus took the curse of sin upon himself at the cross. Then Cameron and Mark explore the idea that repentance is best thought of, not as a choice, but as a gracious gift from God.
To listen to Dan’s sermon “The Serpent and the Savior,” follow this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-serpent-and-the-savior/id601540290?i=1000512938357
In this episode, Mark calls Dan Reed to follow up on his sermon from last Sunday, exploring a question about how Jesus took the curse of sin upon himself at the cross. Then Cameron and Mark explore the idea that repentance is best thought of, not as a choice, but as a gracious gift from God.
To listen to Dan’s sermon “The Serpent and the Savior,” follow this link:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-serpent-and-the-savior/id601540290?i=1000512938357
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
007 - Preparation
In this episode, Mark and Cameron are joined by Dan Reed to talk about how to prepare for worship—especially for hearing a sermon. We’ll also share some eureka moments from seminary education, and explain why you should always take the Order of Worship home with you after a worship service.
In this episode, Mark and Cameron are joined by Dan Reed to talk about how to prepare for worship—especially for hearing a sermon. We’ll also share some eureka moments from seminary education, and explain why you should always take the Order of Worship home with you after a worship service.
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
006 - All About Baptism
In this episode, Cameron asks Mark about how the sacrament of baptism in the Reformed faith works as a means of grace. They unpack how this differs from both the stereotypical Roman Catholic and Evangelical/Baptist perspectives. This leads to some commentary on the Lord’s Supper, too — particularly how to think about Christ’s “real, but spiritual” presence at the Table.
In this episode, Cameron asks Mark about how the sacrament of baptism in the Reformed faith works as a means of grace. They unpack how this differs from both the stereotypical Roman Catholic and Evangelical / Baptist perspectives. This leads to some commentary on the Lord’s Supper, too — particularly how to think about Christ’s “real, but spiritual” presence at the Table.
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
005 - Fasting to Feast
In this episode, Cameron and Mark comment on the way that fasting physical fasting can make room in your life for spiritual feasting. They also discuss why Christians need to recover an understanding of ourselves as sojourners and exiles. And, if you’re looking for some extra reading between now and Easter, they make a challenging suggestion: Dostoevsky.
In this episode, Cameron and Mark comment on the way that fasting physical fasting can make room in your life for spiritual feasting. They also discuss why Christians need to recover an understanding of ourselves as sojourners and exiles. And, if you’re looking for some extra reading between now and Easter, they make a challenging suggestion: Dostoevsky.
Mentioned in this episode …
Stop Reading the News: A Manifesto for a Happier, Calmer and Wiser Life, by Rolf Dobelli
Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan: With Texts
“The Grand Inquisitor,” from The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
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004 - The Christian Calendar
In this episode, Cameron and Mark comment on what “the day of small things” in Zechariah’s prophecy should teach us about our own humble circumstances, about how liturgy in worship and the church calendar can shape us for discipleship, and what the transfiguration revealed about who Jesus really is.
In this episode, Cameron and Mark comment on what “the day of small things” in Zechariah’s prophecy should teach us about our own humble circumstances, about how liturgy in worship and the church calendar can shape us for discipleship, and what the transfiguration revealed about who Jesus really is.
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
003 - We Adore A Good Mystery
Mark and Cameron comment on what the concert hall can teach you about prayer, how Grace incorporates the psalms into every worship service, and why it’s so important in theology to cultivate a sense of mystery … without using mystery as a veil to obscure what the Bible actually reveals.
Mark and Cameron comment on what the concert hall can teach you about prayer, how Grace incorporates the psalms into every worship service, and why it’s so important in theology to cultivate a sense of mystery … without using mystery as a veil to obscure what the Bible actually reveals.
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
002 - Life Without Walls
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church. In this episode, Mark and Cameron talk about the interesting connections between prophecy and history in the Old Testament, what it means to “live without walls,” and whether the prophet Zechariah, who said the New Jerusalem would have no walls, actually got it wrong — since Revelation 21 definitively mentions those walls!
In this episode, Mark and Cameron talk about the interesting connections between prophecy and history in the Old Testament, what it means to “live without walls,” and whether the prophet Zechariah, who said the New Jerusalem would have no walls, actually got it wrong — since Revelation 21 definitively mentions those walls!
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
001 - In Too Deep?
In the debut episode of THE COMMENTARY, Pastor Mark and co-commentator Cameron Brooks discuss changing the lyrics of questionable songs, why the Apostle Paul thought “the present form of the world” was passing away, how to go deeper in our current sermon series on Zechariah, and what to do if you’re already in over your head.
In the debut episode of THE COMMENTARY, Pastor Mark and co-commentator Cameron Brooks discuss changing the lyrics of questionable songs, why the Apostle Paul thought “the present form of the world” was passing away, how to go deeper in our current sermon series on Zechariah, and what to do if you’re already in over your head.
THE COMMENTARY is a weekly conversation about vision, worship, and life at Grace Presbyterian Church.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify