The Semi-Seminarian

Pastor Jim Wilhelm

Welcome to The Semi-Seminarian—where we talk about the Bible like grown-ups. Maybe you were taught the Bible as a child… or by folks who never really moved past children’s church themselves. That might’ve left you with a Vacation Bible School version of scripture in a world that demands something deeper. This podcast is for the ones asking honest questions, carrying quiet wounds, and still hoping there’s more. Around here, we wrestle with the text, laugh when we can, and tell the truth even when it stings. Because the gospel is better than you were told—and you’re not alone in wanting to believe that again.

  1. Oct 8

    The Most Dangerous Question in the Book of Acts | Acts 28:17-31

    Why does the book of Acts end without an ending? No trial before Caesar, no verdict, no word on how Paul died. Luke stops on one Greek word, and it answers a question a stranger asked back in Acts 8. This is the final message in our verse-by-verse series through Acts: Acts 28:17-31, Paul under house arrest in Rome, chained to a soldier in a rented room, preaching the kingdom of God to everyone who comes up the stairs. Luke's last word is akōlytōs (akolutos): "unhindered." Take the "un" off and you have kōluō, the word hiding in three questions earlier in the book: "What is keeping me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:36) "Can anyone forbid the water?" (Acts 10:47) "Who was I, that I could withstand God?" (Acts 11:17) Stones and prisons never stopped the gospel. The harder question is the one Luke hands back to the church. CHAPTERS 0:00 Paul chained in Rome, the gospel unhindered 0:42 Forty sermons through Acts: how we got to Rome 1:43 Rome when Paul arrives: Nero, the synagogue, the chain 3:38 Inside the rented room 5:11 Scripture reading: Acts 28:23-28 6:36 Why this is just a Wednesday night Bible study 7:41 Some believed and some did not (Acts 28:24) 8:34 Why Paul quotes Isaiah 6 10:27 "Sent to the nations": the word that nearly got Paul killed 11:08 Why Luke never shows Paul's trial before Caesar 12:24 Persecution never stopped the word of God 13:28 The most dangerous question in Acts: the Ethiopian eunuch 14:13 Cornelius and Peter: "Who was I to withstand God?" 15:35 The last sentence of Acts (Acts 28:30-31) 16:08 Akōlytōs: what "unhindered" means in Greek 17:54 What "unhindered" does not mean 19:20 "You will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8) 20:25 If you are the one in the chariot 21:28 Unhindered 22:02 Luke puts down the pen: benediction 23:17 Closing blessing Preached live at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Cushing, Oklahoma. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible. The Semi-Seminarian is a digital church bell for the exiles: live preaching for people who were told there was no room. No money asked here. Just tithe your subscribe. Acts 28 explained | Acts 28 sermon | Acts 28 Bible study | end of the book of Acts | what happened to Paul in Rome | Paul under house arrest | without hindrance meaning | akolutos | koluo | Ethiopian eunuch | Cornelius | Isaiah 6 | Book of Acts series | Disciples of Christ sermon #Acts28 #BibleStudy #BookOfActs

    The Most Dangerous Question in the Book of Acts | Acts 28:17-31

  2. Oct 4

    Paul Survived the Shipwreck. Then a Snake Bit Him. (Acts 28 Sermon)

    Paul survived 14 nights in a storm and a shipwreck off Malta. Then, while he was gathering firewood for everybody else, a viper came out of the kindling and bit him. The islanders had him figured out in about four seconds: he must be a murderer, and Justice finally caught up with him. When he didn't die, they changed their minds. He must be a god. Paul never changed by one hair. If you've ever thought "the worst is behind me" right before something came out of the kindling, this one's for you. If you've ever had somebody's "everything happens for a reason" run on you, by strangers, by family, by people holding Bibles, or by yourself at three in the morning, this one's for you too. Jesus gave Paul the destination, not the itinerary. He never promised that nothing would bite him. He promised that nothing gets to finish the sentence but Jesus. And forty miles outside Rome, the church walked out to meet a prisoner on the road, and Paul took courage. "So we came to Rome." 📖 Acts 28:1–16 (World English Bible) Preached live at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Cushing, Oklahoma CHAPTERS 00:00 Snakebit on the Way to Rome 00:32 The Shipwreck Didn’t Cancel the Promise 02:15 Uncommon Kindness on Malta 05:53 Acts 28:1–6 — Scripture Reading 06:59 Fourteen Nights of Storm… Then the Snake 09:38 “I’ve Had My Storm” 10:23 The Crowd Decides Who Paul Is 11:31 The Snake Goes Into the Fire 12:26 Murderer. God. Same Paul. 13:31 When People Holding Bibles Do the Math 14:09 Jesus Gave Him the Destination 15:40 Don’t Build a Snake-Proof Gospel 16:48 The Same Hand That Got Bitten 17:19 Grace Has Fingerprints 18:11 The Journey Starts Again 19:15 Courage Comes With Faces 21:33 So We Came to Rome Part of our verse-by-verse walk through the Book of Acts. Previously: "What Has to Go Overboard?" (Acts 27, the shipwreck) Next: the last chapter of Acts, and the last word Luke ever wrote. 🎙️ The Semi-Seminarian: The Podcast Your Pastor Probably Listens To A digital church bell for anybody listening alone in the dark. We'll never ask you for money. Just tithe your subscribe. 🔔 #Acts28 #ApostlePaul #Sermon

    Paul Survived the Shipwreck. Then a Snake Bit Him. (Acts 28 Sermon)

  3. Oct 1

    God Never Promised to Save the Ship Acts 27

    Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27 throws everything overboard: cargo, tackle, the wheat, the anchors, the ship itself. Everything but the people. "All hope that we would be saved was now taken away." Luke wrote that, and Luke was on the boat. Then a prisoner stood up in the middle of sailors, soldiers, and chained men and told them the truth: "There will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship." Out in the middle of the sea, the ship is the only floor they've got. A Wednesday night Bible study on Acts 27:13–44, from the soft south wind to the beach: sailors praying for morning, a lifeboat cut loose in the dark, a prisoner breaking bread on a deck that won't hold still, 276 heads counted after breakfast, and the ones who couldn't swim coming ashore on pieces of the ship that couldn't carry them whole. For the preachers and Bible nerds: the jettison word hidden inside Paul's promise (apobolē), the Jonah storm Luke runs backward, why Paul eats the bread instead of passing it, and diasōzō — not saved from the storm, saved through it. What did you come ashore holding? CHAPTERS 0:00 — WHAT HAS TO GO OVERBOARD? 0:47 — Paul Warned Them Before They Sailed 2:11 — Then the Wind Came Down Off Crete 2:44 — Come Aboard the Ship 4:35 — The Reading of God’s Word | Acts 27 5:59 — “No Loss of Life—Only the Ship” 7:12 — Paul Stands Up in the Storm 9:07 — The Promise Cannot Sink With the Ship 10:34 — “God Has Granted You All Who Sail With You” 11:40 — Twenty Fathoms & Four Anchors 12:33 — The Sailors Try to Abandon Ship 13:35 — Jonah’s Storm Runs Backward 14:37 — Paul Begs Them to Eat 16:27 — He Took Bread, Gave Thanks, and Broke It 17:58 — Luke Counts Heads 18:49 — Daylight: A Bay With a Beach 19:13 — The Soldiers Decide to Kill the Prisoners 20:15 — Julius Stops Them 20:56 — The Ones Who Never Made the Beach 21:09 — Some Swam. Some Came on Planks. 21:36 — Saved THROUGH the Storm 22:06 — Your Ship Mattered 22:28 — What Did You Come Ashore Holding? 22:52 — Counting Heads on the Beach 23:24 — The Ship Is Gone. You Are Not. 23:29 — Rome Can Wait One More Night 23:42 — Land Is Enough Part of our verse-by-verse walk through Acts. Previous: The Ship Has Already Sailed (Acts 27:1–12) Full Acts series The Semi-Seminarian: live preaching from First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Cushing, Oklahoma. No offering plate here. Just tithe your subscribe. #Acts27 #BibleStudy #ApostlePaul

  4. Sep 27

    He Could Have Walked Free |Regret, Grace & the Road You're On (Acts 27)

    Paul could have walked free. A king said so. Then they put him on a boat anyway. A sermon for anyone who keeps driving back to the intersection where it all went wrong. In Acts 26:30–27:12, the hearing is over, the royals have swept out, and the one expert in the room admits there's no charge. Nothing worth death. Nothing even worth chains. But Paul appealed to Caesar, and once that switch throws, it doesn't throw back. This sermon stands at the switch with Paul, then follows him onto a prisoner ship he didn't choose, under a centurion he didn't appoint, after a sailing vote he flat argued against. Along the way: the little Greek word dei, "must," running like copper wire from a Jerusalem barracks to the harbor at Fair Havens. A friend from Thessalonica who bought a ticket just to ride along. And the question most of us carry late at night: What's the intersection you keep driving back to? The gospel isn't a time machine. It isn't a cover story either. It's better than both: God is able to meet you on the road you are actually on. The ship has already sailed. And Rome is still ahead. 📖 Acts 26:30–32; 27:1–12 (World English Bible) Preached live at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Cushing, Oklahoma CHAPTERS 0:00 The Ship Has Already Sailed 0:30 “Might Have Been Set Free” 2:36 Rome: The Destination Without the Itinerary 4:11 Come Down to the Harbor 5:26 Click — The Switch Throws 6:31 Scripture 9:08 The Road Paul Could Have Taken 11:18 “I Appeal to Caesar” 14:25 Dei — The “Must” Beneath the Journey 16:43 Paul Becomes a Passenger 18:35 Fair Havens — When the Weather Turns 19:41 Count the Voices 20:16 The Intersection You Keep Driving Back To 21:47 The Gospel Isn’t a Time Machine 23:23 Grace Got on the Boat 24:34 There’s Weather Out There 25:38 Go Out as Passengers 26:17 The Ship Has Already Sailed — Rome Is Still Ahead Part of our verse-by-verse walk through the Book of Acts. Previously: "The King Who Knew the Bible" (Acts 24–25) Next time: the wind gets a name. 🎙️ The Semi-Seminarian: The Podcast Your Pastor Probably Listens To A digital church bell for anybody listening alone in the dark. We'll never ask you for money. Just tithe your subscribe. 🔔 #Acts27 #ApostlePaul #Sermon

    He Could Have Walked Free |Regret, Grace & the Road You're On (Acts 27)

  5. Sep 24

    King Agrippa ND the Question He Tried to Dodge Acts 26

    King Agrippa knew the prophets. Paul knew he knew them. So the prisoner looked at the king and asked the question Agrippa never directly answered: “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?” This is where Acts 25–26 gets dangerous—not for people who have never heard the Bible, but for people who already know it. Agrippa knew Jewish Scripture, Jewish customs, messianic expectation, and the arguments surrounding resurrection. He understood things Festus simply could not. Paul did not need to teach Agrippa the vocabulary. He needed Agrippa to answer. And when Paul moved the conversation from what Agrippa knew to what Agrippa believed, the king changed the subject. In this episode of The Semi-Seminarian, we follow Paul from two years of waiting in Caesarea into one of the strangest courtroom scenes in Acts. We trace the bloody Herodian dynasty from Bethlehem to Caesarea, watch Rome accidentally become transportation for the Gospel, and discover why biblical knowledge can become dangerous when knowing the story keeps us from letting the story address us. Herod the Great tried to kill the child. Herod Antipas killed the prophet. Herod Agrippa I killed the apostle. And now Agrippa II sits down across from a prisoner carrying nothing but chains and a story about a risen Jesus. A hundred years of Herods—and the Word is still in the room. This is Acts 25–26, King Agrippa, the Apostle Paul, the resurrection of Jesus, and the moment Scripture stops being something we study and starts talking back. From the porch to the palace, through the static and the Scripture— Theology Thru The Static. #Acts #KingAgrippa #ApostlePaul #BibleStudy #BookOfActs #Christianity #SemiSeminarian

    King Agrippa ND the Question He Tried to Dodge Acts 26

  6. Sep 21

    Acts 23 How Paul Got Out Alive

    Acts 23:12–35 records one of the wildest rescue stories in the Book of Acts: more than forty men swear not to eat or drink until Paul is dead—but Paul’s unnamed nephew overhears the murder plot, and everything starts moving. In this Acts 23 sermon and Bible study, Pastor Jim Wilhelm follows Paul from a Roman barracks in Jerusalem toward Caesarea and eventually Rome—and asks a bigger question: What does the providence of God look like when there is no obvious miracle? No earthquake breaks the prison open. No angel unlocks the door. Paul does not devise an escape plan. Instead, a young man overhears a conversation. A centurion listens. Claudius Lysias acts. A letter gets written. 470 Roman soldiers are mobilized. Horses get saddled. And Paul gets carried another mile toward the promise Jesus made. Acts 23 shows us that God’s promises do not always remove the plot against us—and God’s providence does not always arrive looking supernatural. Sometimes the hand of God looks like somebody doing the next right thing. Sometimes faithfulness means standing up. And sometimes faithfulness means getting on the horse somebody else saddled for you. In this episode: Acts 23:12–35 explained The forty-man conspiracy to kill the Apostle Paul Paul’s unnamed nephew and the assassination plot Claudius Lysias and the Roman military escort Paul’s transfer from Jerusalem toward Caesarea God’s providence through ordinary people Why God using Rome does not mean God endorses Rome Grace, courage, receiving help, and trusting the next mile Jesus’ promise that Paul would testify in Rome Chapters 00:00 Forty Men Swore to Kill Paul 00:24 Paul in the Roman Barracks 01:01 Jesus Promises Paul Rome 02:02 Morning Comes—and It Gets Worse 04:25 Acts 23:12–16 | Scripture Reading 05:25 The 40-Man Murder Plot 07:11 Promise Doesn’t Remove the Plot 10:19 The Quietest Earthquake in Acts 10:44 Paul’s Unnamed Nephew 12:15 The Warning Reaches Claudius Lysias 13:34 “Not a Miracle. A Relay Race.” 14:54 470 Roman Soldiers—and Horses 16:09 Rome Is Still Rome 16:39 God Is Transporting a Witness 16:56 Claudius Lysias Writes the Letter 17:59 Paul Gets Carried 19:36 Faithfulness Can Mean Receiving Help 20:57 “I Was Looking for the Angel…” 21:33 God Was Already Moving 22:04 Grace First. Then Paul Climbs Aboard 23:31 Not Rome Yet—but Moving “Sometimes, beloved, moving is the miracle.” Paul has not reached Rome yet. But the horse is moving. The Semi-Seminarian Theology Thru The Static Beaming from the borderlands ’tween the Wild and the Word. If this episode helped you, throw the like in the offering plate, tithe your subscribe, and be blessed. #Acts23 #ApostlePaul #BibleStud

  7. Sep 17

    TAKE COURAGE. YOU’RE NOT FINISHED YET.

    Paul spends the day preaching resurrection. That night, the risen Jesus stands beside him and says: “Take courage.” In this Acts 23:1–11 Bible study, Paul stands before the Sanhedrin, gets struck in the mouth at the command of the high priest Ananias, watches the council erupt over the resurrection of the dead, and is dragged away by Roman soldiers. Then night falls. And Jesus comes near. Acts 23 turns one chaotic courtroom scene into something much bigger: a story about resurrection hope, Christian courage, faithfulness, failure, religious power, Paul the Apostle, the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the presence of Christ when the road ahead makes absolutely no sense. Paul spent the day telling them there is a resurrection. That night the Resurrected One stood beside him. And Jesus does something remarkable: He interprets Paul’s apparent failure differently. The crowd rioted. The council rioted. Paul ended up back in the Roman barracks. From the outside, Jerusalem looks like a catastrophe. Jesus says: “You have testified about me in Jerusalem.” Faithfulness is not always identical to immediate effectiveness. Then comes tomorrow: “You must testify also in Rome.” Paul cannot see Rome. He does not know the route. He does not know about the conspiracy, the soldiers, the hearings, the ship, the storm, the shipwreck, or the island still ahead of him. He gets the destination without the itinerary. And maybe that is part of faith. Not knowing every turn. Not pretending everything is easy. But hearing the risen Christ say: I’m still here. You are not finished. Take courage. CHAPTERS0:00 Paul Stands Before Power 0:27 From the Roman Stairs to the Council Chamber 2:51 The Reading of God’s Word — Acts 23:1–11 5:39 Paul Before the Sanhedrin 8:07 They Strike the Mouth of the Witness 10:04 Paul, Ananias & Accountability 11:30 The Hope and Resurrection of the Dead 14:15 “What If God Actually Spoke?” 15:41 The Hearing Falls Apart 16:40 Verse 11 Turns to Night 17:55 The Lord Stood Beside Paul 19:30 Faithfulness vs. Visible Results 20:38 Paul Isn’t Trapped — He’s En Route 21:12 Destination Without the Itinerary 22:56 “The Doctrine Walked Into the Room” 24:18 You Are Not Finished Yet Welcome to The Semi-Seminarian — Theology Thru The Static, beaming from the borderlands ’tween the Wild and the Word. If this episode helped you hear the text differently, throw the like in the offering plate, tithe your subscribe, and send it to somebody who needs to hear: You’re not finished yet. Until next time, friend — be blessed. #Acts23 #BibleStudy #PaulTheApostle

    TAKE COURAGE. YOU’RE NOT FINISHED YET.

  8. Sep 13

    They Listened Until Paul Said THIS | Acts 22

    Paul tells the crowd his whole story—and they listen. The Damascus Road. The voice of Jesus. Ananias. The healing. The Temple vision. They listen to all of it. Then Paul says one word. Gentiles. And the crowd explodes. In this Acts 22 sermon, we follow the Apostle Paul onto the Roman stairs in Jerusalem and ask why a crowd willing to hear about miracles, conversion, Scripture, and Jesus could no longer listen when grace crossed the boundary they had drawn. “They stopped listening when they realized where grace was headed.” Acts 22 is not finally a story about whether we believe in grace in the abstract. It asks a harder question: Do I still believe in grace when Jesus tells me who it is for? Paul knows this crowd because he used to be this crowd. He knows religious zeal. He knows what it is to have Scripture, institutional approval, sincerity, and absolute confidence—and still be catastrophically mistaken about what God is doing. Then grace interrupts him. Jesus meets Paul while he is still carrying the warrants. Ananias walks into the room and calls his persecutor Brother Saul. And years later, standing bruised and chained in Jerusalem, Paul tells the people trying to kill him that the God they worship is bigger than the boundaries they have drawn. The question hanging over Acts 22 is the question hanging over every church, every Christian, and every generation: What is my “up to this word”? And when Jesus says, “Them too,” can I keep listening? This episode of The Semi-Seminarian explores Acts 22, Paul’s testimony, the Damascus Road, Ananias, the Gentile mission, Christian grace, religious zeal, biblical inclusion, Communion, and the uncomfortable generosity of God. CHAPTERS 0:00 — How Far Can Grace Travel? 0:28 — Paul on the Roman Stairs 1:37 — The One Word That Ends the Silence 2:33 — Why Paul Speaks Their Language 4:42 — Scripture Reading: Acts 22:1–5 6:05 — Paul Is Staring Into a Mirror 7:29 — Paul’s Credentials and Religious Zeal 10:09 — Paul Preaches to His Former Self 10:43 — The Damascus Road: Grace Arrives First 12:16 — Ananias and “Brother Saul” 13:46 — Grace Puts on Skin 14:16 — Jesus Speaks in the Temple 15:30 — Sent to the Gentiles 16:38 — The Crowd Explodes 17:27 — They Stopped Listening Where Grace Was Headed 19:04 — “Up to This Word” 20:29 — Every Church Has a Line 22:05 — Grace Gets a Specific Address 23:08 — The Table Settles the Guest List 24:12 — Grace First 24:52 — Can I Keep Listening Past This Word? 25:15 — Communion & Benediction 25:48 — Outro If grace is only good news when I still get to decide who grace is for, it may not be grace I am defending. So pull up a chair. Turn the porch light on. And let’s see whether we can keep listening past this word. The Semi-Seminarian Theology Thru The Static Beaming from the borderlands ’tween the Wild and the Word. Throw a like in the offering plate, tithe your subscribe, and come back for the next stop through Acts. #Acts22 #ApostlePaul #BibleSermon

    They Listened Until Paul Said THIS | Acts 22
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About

Welcome to The Semi-Seminarian—where we talk about the Bible like grown-ups. Maybe you were taught the Bible as a child… or by folks who never really moved past children’s church themselves. That might’ve left you with a Vacation Bible School version of scripture in a world that demands something deeper. This podcast is for the ones asking honest questions, carrying quiet wounds, and still hoping there’s more. Around here, we wrestle with the text, laugh when we can, and tell the truth even when it stings. Because the gospel is better than you were told—and you’re not alone in wanting to believe that again.

Information

  • Creator
    Pastor Jim Wilhelm
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    294
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Pastor Jim Wilhelm
  • Show Website
    The Semi-Seminarian