The NorthWord
NorthWord is a daily Christian podcast from St. John's Fort Smith in collaboration with the Anglican Family. Hosted by Father Aaron from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories.
Here's how it works: Every Sunday we release the full sermon preached that morning. Then Monday through Saturday, you get 3-5 minute daily reflections based on that sermon - one thought you can actually use each day. Every Wednesday we explore the rhythm of Jesus' life and how his followers have lived it out for 2,000 years.
Whether you're Pentecostal, Orthodox, Baptist, Catholic, or just curious about faith - this is for you. Ancient faith. Real life. No fluff.
The Word. The North. Your Week.
Follow @StJohnsFortSmith and @TheAnglicanFamily
Episodes
64 episodes
The Basin and the Towel | Maundy Thursday | "Anchored"
Tonight Jesus washes the feet of the man who will deny him — knowing exactly what Judas has done and what Peter is about to do. Father Aaron reflects on what devotion looks like when it's made flesh. From St. John's Fort Smith.
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Season 9
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Episode 5
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2:47
Spy Wednesday | Wednesday of Holy Week | "Anchored"
Today is Spy Wednesday — the day tradition marks Judas's quiet arrangement with the chief priests. Father Aaron reflects on how the big compromises rarely arrive as big ones. From St. John's Fort Smith.
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Season 9
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Episode 4
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2:36
Driven and Tossed | Tuesday of Holy Week | "Anchored"
We get swayed in our relationships, our work, our faith — quietly, gently, like a boat we didn't notice had moved. Father Aaron brings the sermon's challenge into the specific places we drift. From St. John's Fort Smith.
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Season 9
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Episode 3
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3:15
The Boat and the Wave | Monday of Holy Week | "Anchored"
The crowd on Palm Sunday didn't fall because they were bad people — they fell because their picture of Jesus was built on what they wanted him to be. Father Aaron re-enters the sermon's central tension as Holy Week begins. From St. John's...
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Season 9
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Episode 2
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3:15
Anchored | Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday opens Holy Week with a striking reversal — the same crowd that cried Hosanna would cry Crucify. Father Aaron preaches on what untethers us from the real Jesus, and what it means to be anchored by devotion rather than driven by...
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Season 9
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Episode 1
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17:58
What Are You Bringing to the Cross? | the Master
Tomorrow the crowds wave palms and cry Hosanna — and most of them don't understand what's coming. Father Aaron gathers the five valleys of Lent and asks: which darkness are your eyes still adjusted to? Bring it to the cross.
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Season 8
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Episode 8
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3:07
Open Hands | the Master
On Sunday Father Aaron closed with this: "Not your resolution. Not your performance. Your surrender." Today he gives the week a specific practice — something physical to do this weekend before Palm Sunday.
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Season 8
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Episode 7
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2:41
Shrunk or Expanded | the Master
What makes you fully yourself! Found out how sin is keeping you from being fully yourself!
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Season 8
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Episode 6
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3:06
The Annunciation of Our Lord
Today the Church pauses Lent to celebrate the feast of the Annunciation — the moment Mary said yes, and the incarnation began. Father Aaron reflects on what her open hand has to do with everything we've been talking about this week.
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Season 8
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Episode 5
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2:41
But Now | the Master
Two words in Romans 6 carry the weight of the entire gospel — "but now." Father Aaron pauses at the midpoint of the week to sit with the turn Paul makes, and to ask: which side of "but now" are you living on today?
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Season 8
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Episode 4
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2:51
Salt Water | the Master
If all you have is salt water and you drink it, you won't be satisfied — you'll be thirstier.
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Season 8
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Episode 3
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3:17
The Mineshaft | The Master
On Sunday Father Aaron opened with a mineshaft outside Yellowknife — a picture of how darkness becomes normal when we adjust to it one step at a time. Today we re-enter that image and ask the week's hardest question: what do you reach for first...
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Season 8
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Episode 2
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3:14
The Master | The Dark Road to Dawn, Week 5
Passion Sunday. We enter the final week of our Lenten series with Romans 6:15–23 and the question underneath every valley: who is your master? Father Aaron preaches on slavery, surrender, and the only gift that wages can never buy.
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Season 8
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Episode 1
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18:02
Come As You Are | Valley of Fear
Tomorrow we gather. This week we walked through the Valley of Fear — the wounds, the walls, the blindness we defend. Here's what to bring with you when you walk through that door on Sunday morning.
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Season 7
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Episode 8
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2:20
Sit Down | Valley of Fear
We closed the sermon on Sunday with one challenge: sit down. Not a five-second prayer — actually sit with your fear. Today we come back to that practice, because I don't think we're done with it yet.
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Season 7
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Episode 7
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2:50
Feast of St. Joseph | NorthWord Holy Day
Today the Church marks a feast day — Joseph, Husband of the Virgin Mary and Guardian of Jesus. Not a single recorded word from him in Scripture. And yet God chose him to raise his Son. A short reflection for the feast.
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Season 7
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Episode 6
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2:52
Blind to Your Blindness | Valley of Fear
At the end of John 9, Jesus tells the Pharisees their sin remains — because they claim to see. On Sunday we looked at Augustine's reading of this passage. Today we go deeper into the most dangerous blindness of all: the kind that calls it...
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Season 7
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Episode 5
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3:06
The Church Calls This the Halfway Point for a Reason | Valley of Fear
This past Sunday was Laetare Sunday — the midpoint of Lent. The Church says rejoice. Not because the hard work is over, but because the dawn is close enough now to feel it coming.
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Season 7
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Episode 4
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3:07
You Called the Wound a Virtue | Valley of Fear
On Sunday we looked at the patterns fear leaves behind — the walls, the performance, the control. Today we slow down and ask the harder question: where did you give the wound a respectable name?
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Season 7
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Episode 3
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3:07
It Knows the Address | Valley of Fear
On Sunday we looked at why we keep going back to what hurts us. The wound is old — but your sinful nature knows the address. Today we sit with that pattern a little longer.
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Season 7
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Episode 2
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3:14
Valley of Fear | The Dark Road to Dawn — Lent 4
Week four of The Dark Road to Dawn. This week we walk into the Valley of Fear — the one that lives in us, not just around us. From John 9, Father Aaron preaches on the blindness we defend, the wounds we carry, and the God who is already in the ...
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Season 7
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Episode 1
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21:32
Valley of Shame | Walking Into Sunday With Less
Tomorrow we gather for worship. This week has been heavy and honest — and today we prepare to walk through those doors carrying less than we came in with. A short reflection to close the week and open toward Sunday.
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Season 6
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Episode 7
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2:23
Valley of Shame | Name It. Confess It. Share It.
Three practices. The woman at the well did all three in about twenty minutes. Today we walk through each one practically — because the Gospel was never meant to stay in your head.
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Season 6
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Episode 6
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2:16
Valley of Shame | Shame vs. Conviction — The Difference That Changes Everything
Shame says I am wrong. Conviction says I did wrong. Three words versus four — but the difference is everything. Today we go deeper on what the Gospel actually says about shame, and why Jesus at the well was convicting, not condemning.&nbs...
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Season 6
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Episode 5
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2:36
Valley of Shame | What Confession Actually Is
Most people have confession completely backwards. It's not how you clean yourself up before meeting Jesus — it's how Jesus cleans you up. At the midpoint of Lent, we look at the discipline of confession and why it's the most powerful thin...
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Season 6
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Episode 4
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2:15