Monday To Sunday

Joe Stein
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Ever feel like the Bible is a bit of a mystery? You're not alone.   Monday to Sunday is a faith-based podcast written by Joe Stein that reads scripture without denominational labels and asks what it actually means for the week ahead. Every episode sits with a passage — sometimes a story you've heard since childhood, sometimes one you've never noticed — and walks through it slowly. No agenda. No politics. Just the text, read carefully, and the honest question: what does this have to do with Monday morning, or the part of your life nobody at church sees?   I'm not a pastor, and I'm not here to represent a denomination. I'm a software developer who picked up the Bible, started reading, and couldn't stop.   The goal is to bridge Sunday inspiration with weekday life. To take the Bible seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. And to make space for people who love scripture, people who are unsure about it, and people who walked away from it a long time ago and are quietly listening again.   Whether you've read the Bible a dozen times or are opening it for the first time, there's room here.   New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.   🌐 mondaytosunday.life   Written by Joe Stein. The voice you hear is synthetic. How the show is made: mondaytosunday.life/about

  1. 4d ago

    Our Own Selves — 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 · Proper 25, Year A

    Pharmacies sell a small plastic box with seven lids in a row, one for each day of the week. If you've ever filled one for somebody else, you know it takes longer than it looks, and nobody gives you credit for it. It's one of a hundred small jobs that come with taking care of someone who used to take care of you. In this past Sunday's second reading, Paul reaches for a picture of exactly that kind of care to describe himself, and it's the last picture you'd expect an apostle to use. This is the midweek show. You heard three readings on Sunday and a sermon on top of them, and by now most of it is gone. That is what a week does to things. So we go back and sit with the same readings again, slower. Proper 25, Year A: Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18, Psalm 1, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Matthew 22:34-46. The Greek is homeiromai, 1 Thessalonians 2:8, where most Bibles say "so deeply do we care for you." It appears only once in the entire New Testament. It means to long for someone, to yearn after them, the ache of wanting someone near who isn't. And look at what that ache produces in Paul: "we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves." He gave them the message and his own life along with it. Also in this episode: Paul arriving in Thessalonica still bruised from the beating at Philippi; the right to be supported that he chose to set down; trophos, a nursing mother caring for her own children; thalpō, to keep warm, the word used of a mother bird on her eggs; the one-letter difference between ēpioi, gentle, and nēpioi, infants, that you can find in your Bible's footnotes; and caregiving, the stretch of life when the direction of care reverses and the list gets done but the person gets very little of you. One thing to try this week: if you're caring for someone, plan one visit where you do nothing on the list. Sit down and ask about something from before. If you're not the caregiver, find the person who is and take one task off their list without asking them to explain it. Monday to Sunday is hosted by Joe Stein. New episodes Tuesday and Thursday. Full archive and written companions at mondaytosunday.life.

    Our Own Selves — 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 · Proper 25, Year A

  2. 6d ago

    Everything Hangs On Two — Matthew 22:34-46 · Proper 25, Year A

    Most workplaces have a handbook that almost nobody has read all the way through. Ask anyone who's been there a while what actually matters and they won't quote it. They'll give you two or three things. This past Sunday somebody asked Jesus to boil the entire law of God down to its single most important line. He gave them two, and he didn't write either one himself. This is the midweek show. You heard three readings on Sunday and a sermon on top of them, and by now most of it is gone. That is what a week does to things. So we go back and sit with the same readings again, slower. Proper 25, Year A: Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18, Psalm 1, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Matthew 22:34-46. The Greek is kremannymi, Matthew 22:40: "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." It means to hang something from a fixed point so its whole weight is held from above. It's the same verb Jesus uses for the millstone hung around a neck in Matthew 18, and that Luke uses for the viper hanging from Paul's hand on Malta. Picture a wall with two pegs in it. All six hundred and thirteen commandments hang from those two. Take the pegs out and nothing else stays up. Also in this episode: the lawyer who asked for one commandment and got a second he didn't ask for; Rabbi Simlai's count of 613 in the Talmud; Leviticus 19, where holiness looks like paying a day laborer before sundown and refusing to be partial in court; kamokha, the Hebrew behind "as yourself," which means "like you"; and Psalm 1, which pictures the law not as a cage but as a tree with its roots in running water. One thing to try this week: pick one rule you keep without thinking and hang it on one of the two pegs. If it won't hang on either one, ask why you keep it. Then treat one coworker's problem the way you'd want yours treated: their deadline, their credit, their name in the room. Monday to Sunday is hosted by Joe Stein. New episodes Tuesday and Thursday. Full archive and written companions at mondaytosunday.life.

    Everything Hangs On Two — Matthew 22:34-46 · Proper 25, Year A

  3. Oct 22

    The Mark It Leaves — 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 · Proper 24, Year A

    A coin starts out as a plain metal disk. At the mint they call it a blank: no face, no date, no value. Then two dies close on it with enormous force, and in a fraction of a second the design is in the metal for good. Every line on a coin is there because the metal was hit. This past Sunday's second reading has a word that comes straight out of that moment in the press. This is the midweek show. You heard three readings on Sunday and a sermon on top of them, and by now most of it is gone. That is what a week does to things. So we go back and sit with the same readings again, slower. Proper 24, Year A: Isaiah 45:1-7, Psalm 96, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Matthew 22:15-22. The Greek is typos, 1 Thessalonians 1:7, where most Bibles say "example." It comes from a verb that means to strike. A typos is the mark a blow leaves behind, the stamp a die presses into metal, and it's the root of our word "type." John uses the same word for the mark of the nails in Jesus's hands. Paul uses it for a church of brand-new believers he had to leave by night after a riot, a church formed under thlipsis, pressure, and stamped clearly enough for two whole provinces to read. Also in this episode: how Paul left Thessalonica in Acts 17, with a mob shouting that there was another king named Jesus; why many scholars think this letter is the oldest piece of the New Testament we have; faith, hope, and love together years before 1 Corinthians 13; hypomone, to remain under a heavy load; execheo, "sounded forth," a word that appears nowhere else in the New Testament; turning from idols to a God who is alive; and what a hard season at work presses into a person. One thing to try this week: name the pressure you're under right now and ask one question about it: what is this pressing into me? Then do one small, deliberate thing inside it, like thanking someone who's carrying more than their share. Monday to Sunday is hosted by Joe Stein. New episodes Tuesday and Thursday. Full archive and written companions at mondaytosunday.life.

    The Mark It Leaves — 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 · Proper 24, Year A

  4. Oct 20

    Whose Face Is On It — Matthew 22:15-22 · Proper 24, Year A

    Pick up any coin from the cup holder in your car and it will tell you three things without being asked: whose face is on it, what it's worth, and who stands behind it. This past Sunday somebody held up a coin like that in front of Jesus and asked him a trick question about taxes. He answered with a question of his own, and two thousand years later it is still harder to answer than theirs. This is the midweek show. You heard three readings on Sunday and a sermon on top of them, and by now most of it is gone. That is what a week does to things. So we go back and sit with the same readings again, slower. Proper 24, Year A: Isaiah 45:1-7, Psalm 96, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Matthew 22:15-22. The Greek is eikon, Matthew 22:20. Most English Bibles say "head," the King James says "image," and the King James is closer. It's the word behind our "icon": a likeness that carries the identity of the one it shows. The coin was most likely a denarius of Tiberius, stamped with his portrait and a line calling him son of the divine Augustus. And in the Greek version of Genesis, God makes humankind kat' eikona theou, in the image of God. It's the same word. The coin goes back to Caesar because his face is on it. You go back to God because his is on you. Also in this episode: why Jesus has to ask for the coin while the men trying to trap him have one in their own purses; the census tax and the revolt it started; apodidomi, the "give back" verb behind "render unto Caesar"; Cyrus of Persia, the only foreign ruler in the Hebrew Bible to be called mashiach, anointed; the clay cylinder in the British Museum where Cyrus credits a different god; and why money behaves like a god, right down to handing out verdicts. One thing to try this week: take one coin or bill out of your pocket, read the face and the words, and ask what you've been letting it tell you about yourself. Then give God something from the first of your week instead of the last of it. Monday to Sunday is hosted by Joe Stein. New episodes Tuesday and Thursday. Full archive and written companions at mondaytosunday.life.

    Whose Face Is On It — Matthew 22:15-22 · Proper 24, Year A

  5. Oct 15

    Two Names In The Letter — Philippians 4:1-9 · Proper 23, Year A

    Every town has two people like this. Both have given years to the same good thing, both work hard, and somewhere along the way they stopped being able to stand in the same room. Paul had two of them in Philippi. He named them out loud, in a letter read to the whole church. This is the midweek show. You heard three readings on Sunday and a sermon on top of them, and by now most of it is gone. That is what a week does to things. So we go back and sit with the same readings again, slower. Proper 23, Year A: Isaiah 25:1-9, Psalm 23, Philippians 4:1-9, Matthew 22:1-14. The Greek is epieikes, Philippians 4:5, and translators have never agreed on it. The King James says "moderation," the RSV "forbearance," the ESV "reasonableness," the NRSV "gentleness." The closest English is the give in a person: the willingness not to press every advantage, even when you're right. Paul never says who was right between Euodia and Syntyche. He asks them to stop needing to win. Also in this episode: synathleo, "struggled beside me," a word that appears only twice in the New Testament, both times in this letter; the peace of God standing guard like a garrison over a Roman colony; logizomai, the accounting word behind "think about these things"; why the king's hall in Matthew 22 is full of people who didn't choose each other; and the one word the king says first to the man without a wedding robe. One thing to try this week: think of someone on your own side of something good whom you've stopped being able to stand, and find one thing to give on that isn't essential. Monday to Sunday is hosted by Joe Stein. New episodes Tuesday and Thursday. Full archive and written companions at mondaytosunday.life.

    Two Names In The Letter — Philippians 4:1-9 · Proper 23, Year A

  6. Oct 13

    Swallowed Up — Isaiah 25:1-9 · Proper 23, Year A

    Tucked inside most wedding invitations is a small reply card with its own stamped envelope. It asks one question: will you attend? A lot of those cards spend weeks on the refrigerator, and almost nobody who has one is against the wedding. This past Sunday Jesus told a story about a king whose invitations went exactly the same way, and Isaiah told us what was on the menu. This is the midweek show. You heard three readings on Sunday and a sermon on top of them, and by now most of it is gone. That is what a week does to things. So we go back and sit with the same readings again, slower. Proper 23, Year A: Isaiah 25:1-9, Psalm 23, Philippians 4:1-9, Matthew 22:1-14. The Hebrew is bala', to swallow, to gulp something down whole. Isaiah uses it twice in a row: in verse 7 God swallows the shroud cast over all peoples, and in verse 8 he swallows up death forever. Most English Bibles give it two different words, so you'd never notice. Everywhere else in the Old Testament, death is the one doing the swallowing. The ground swallows Korah, the earth swallows Pharaoh's army, and Sheol swallows the living. At Isaiah's feast, the swallower gets swallowed. Paul quotes the line in 1 Corinthians 15: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." Also in this episode: the moment Psalm 23 turns from shepherd to host, and why the enemies at the table can't touch you; the Greek ameleo, "made light of it," the word for letting something slide; why most of the guests in Matthew 22 weren't hostile, just busy; the guests gathered from the streets, "both good and bad"; and the man without a wedding robe, who made it into the room and still didn't care. One thing to try this week: pick one invitation you've been letting slide and answer it, before the week swallows it. Monday to Sunday is hosted by Joe Stein. New episodes Tuesday and Thursday. Full archive and written companions at mondaytosunday.life.

    Swallowed Up — Isaiah 25:1-9 · Proper 23, Year A

  7. Oct 8

    Numbers Aren't Verdicts — Philippians 3:4b-14 · Proper 22, Year A

    Paul had the résumé. Tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews, a Pharisee, blameless under the law, and every line of it checkable. Then he took the whole list and called it a word most English Bibles are too polite to translate. This is the midweek show. You heard three readings on Sunday and a sermon on top of them, and by now most of it is gone. That is what a week does to things. So we go back and sit with the same readings again, slower. Proper 22, Year A: Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 80:7-15, Philippians 3:4b-14, Matthew 21:33-46. The Greek is skybala, Philippians 3:8, the only time it appears in the New Testament. Your Bible probably says "rubbish." It can mean table scraps thrown to the dogs, or it can mean dung. Paul had gentler words available and reached for the rough one on purpose. His numbers were true. He just stopped letting them be his verdict. Also in this episode: the ledger language of gains and losses running under Paul's list; why the tenants in Matthew 21 were good at their jobs, and why that makes the parable land; what Isaiah's mishpat and mispach look like in a comment section; and the little flame icons Joe checks before coffee. One thing to try this week: notice the exact moment a number changes your mood, and ask whether you've let it become your verdict. Monday to Sunday is hosted by Joe Stein. New episodes Tuesday and Thursday. Full archive and written companions at mondaytosunday.life.

  8. Oct 6

    Whose Vineyard Is This? — Isaiah 5:1-7 · Proper 22, Year A

    A man plants a vineyard and does everything right: good hill, stones cleared, a watchtower, a wine vat. At harvest it gives him grapes, just the wrong kind. Sour ones. All three readings this week turn on the same vineyard, and on a question none of us likes to ask out loud. This is the midweek show. You heard three readings on Sunday and a sermon on top of them, and by now most of it is gone. That is what a week does to things. So we go back and sit with the same readings again, slower. Proper 22, Year A: Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 80:7-15, Philippians 3:4b-14, Matthew 21:33-46. The Hebrew is a pun. In Isaiah 5:7 God looks for mishpat, justice, and finds mispach, bloodshed. He looks for tsedaqah, righteousness, and hears tse'aqah, a cry. The words sit a syllable apart, and Isaiah wrote it that way on purpose: counterfeit fruit can sound almost exactly like the real thing. Mispach appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Also in this episode: why the tenants in Jesus' parable weren't lazy, and what they were willing to kill to avoid admitting; how the crowd hands down their own sentence without noticing; Paul's résumé in Philippians 3 and why he's the only one in the three readings who catches himself; and four sour tomatoes on Joe's back porch. One thing to carry until Thursday: look at what you're producing this week and ask who it's for. Monday to Sunday is hosted by Joe Stein. New episodes Tuesday and Thursday. Full archive and written companions at mondaytosunday.life.

    Whose Vineyard Is This? — Isaiah 5:1-7 · Proper 22, Year A
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About

Ever feel like the Bible is a bit of a mystery? You're not alone.   Monday to Sunday is a faith-based podcast written by Joe Stein that reads scripture without denominational labels and asks what it actually means for the week ahead. Every episode sits with a passage — sometimes a story you've heard since childhood, sometimes one you've never noticed — and walks through it slowly. No agenda. No politics. Just the text, read carefully, and the honest question: what does this have to do with Monday morning, or the part of your life nobody at church sees?   I'm not a pastor, and I'm not here to represent a denomination. I'm a software developer who picked up the Bible, started reading, and couldn't stop.   The goal is to bridge Sunday inspiration with weekday life. To take the Bible seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. And to make space for people who love scripture, people who are unsure about it, and people who walked away from it a long time ago and are quietly listening again.   Whether you've read the Bible a dozen times or are opening it for the first time, there's room here.   New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.   🌐 mondaytosunday.life   Written by Joe Stein. The voice you hear is synthetic. How the show is made: mondaytosunday.life/about

Information

  • Creator
    Joe Stein
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    59
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Monday To Sunday
  • Show Website
    Monday To Sunday