Texts: “I Am the Rain” by Avijeet Das * Mark 9:38-41 (“Whoever is not against us is for us”) Video of complete service * Order of service Today on P.I.E. Day, we are focusing on Mill Woods United’s status as an Affirming community, one that welcomes people from sexual and gender minorities. There are many reasons for … [Read more…]
Texts: Mark 3:20-21, 31-35 (“Who is my mother?”) * “Revolutionary love” by Valarie Kaur Video of the complete service * Order of service The word “family” refers not only to our biological relatives. Our work colleagues sometimes come to feel like a family. Our school friends may become more of a family to us, at least for … [Read more…]
Texts: Mark 9:2-9 (the Transfiguration) * “Fear” by Kahil Gibran Video of complete service * Order of service Dreams sometimes seem to contain important messages. The difficult part is interpreting them. For example, does the appearance of a grandparent in a dream point to one’s attachment to family traditions; to a desire to move beyond those traditions; … [Read more…]
Texts: Mark 8:27-36 (“take up your cross”) * “A Deeper Awareness” by Cynthia Bourgeault Order of Service * Video of complete service Church, for me, is a serious business; and no church season is more serious than Lent. It is six weeks in which we confront the fragility of life and the dangers of upholding sacred values. … [Read more…]
Text: Mark 1:29-45 (Jesus heals many people) * Video of the complete service * Order of service (PDF) How should we view Jesus? The Biblical scholar Marcus Borg suggests five different lenses: seeing Jesus as a mystic; a healer; a sage; a prophet; and a movement-founder; and this winter as the global pandemic enters its second year, we might … [Read more…]
Text: Mark 1:21-28 (Jesus teaches with authority) Video of the complete service * Order of service Has a sermon ever changed your life? Or can you barely remember most of them one hour after church has ended? Sermons rarely stick with me. My late father was a minister, and he must have delivered more than 2,000 sermons … [Read more…]
Order of service (PDF file) * Video of the complete service Preamble to worship Today as we read further into the Gospel of Mark, we encounter the first time that Jesus mentions the central symbol of his movement: “the kingdom of God.” Today, I will reflect on what this symbol might mean and its implications … [Read more…]
Text: Mark 1:1-13 (the baptism of Jesus) * Video of complete service * Order of service “Here begins the Good News of Jesus Christ.” So writes Mark as he starts his narrative of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. This is not the first sentence in the New Testament, but it should be. When the Roman Empire made … [Read more…]
Text: Matthew 2 (the visit of the Magi; the flight to Egypt) * Video of complete service * Order of service (opens PDF) What was revealed on Epiphany in Washington DC this past Wednesday? On January 6, a day in which the church celebrates the story of a journey by magi to Bethlehem, a mob of white supremacists stormed … [Read more…]
Text: John 1:1-18 (“In the beginning”) * Video of complete service * Order of service How are we supposed to feel after Christmas? During the season, we celebrate the birth of Jesus and rejoice in the rebirth of love within our hearts. But what if Christmas didn’t really pan out for us this year? On … [Read more…]