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.
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The NorthWord
Sit Down | Valley of Fear
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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.
Good morning, this is Northword.
SPEAKER_00I want to come back to how I closed my sermon on Sunday, because I don't think we're done with it just yet. Good morning, this is Northword, the Word of the North, your week, a daily podcast from St. John's Fort Smith, in collaboration with the Anglican family. I'm your host, Father Aaron. I close Sunday with a challenge. I asked people to sit down, and I meant it exactly the way it sounds. Not a five-second prayer, not a quick journal entry between meetings. I asked you to actually sit with your fear, to let it take up space, to stop moving long enough to feel what's underneath. Spiritually blind people don't stop moving. They fill the calendar, they show up, they look fine, they're always in motion and never actually arriving because they can't see where they're going. And I think a lot of us heard that and agreed with it in principle, and then got in the car and went on with the week. So I'm asking again this weekend. Find 30 minutes. Not with the phone, not with the TV in the background. Sit with one honest question. What am I afraid of? And what do I keep doing because of it? Let it get specific, let it get uncomfortable, and when it does, stay there. Don't reach for something to fill the silence. Because here's what I keep coming back to all week in that passage. The man born blind had one testimony. Just one. I was blind, and now I see. He didn't have a theology degree. He didn't read a commentary. He hadn't cleaned up his life before he came to Jesus. He just told the truth about his condition and brought it. Jesus doesn't heal the blindness you deny. He heals the blindness you bring him. That's all. Sit down, be honest, and bring it. This has been Northword, the word the North your week, a daily podcast from St. John's Fort Smith, in collaboration with the Anglican family. Follow us, share this with someone who needs to have that nudge to sit down this weekend, and text us through the link in the description to let us know how it's going. Until tomorrow, God be with you.
SPEAKER_01Amen.