“Called to Follow”

“I have to ask myself,

does being a Christian mean following the rules?

Or does it mean following Christ?

Wherever that may take me,

even if it means breaking the rules sometimes?

For a rule-follower like me,

that honestly sounds somewhat terrifying,

but I when I look at the life and teachings of Jesus Christ,

I don’t really see a way around it.”

Meditation by Rebecca Avery-Quinn, preacher

Sunday, August 24, 2025

“The Things that Make for Peace”

The world is full of frightful violence, oppression and cruelty. Even Jesus looked at it and cried. Why shouldn’t we?

However, we –of all people -- cannot be hopeless or cynical. When we move from lamenting violence – as Jesus did -- to trying to prevent violence by entrusting our hope to the power of rulers, to superior force, to strong defenses, to political power, then we have left the way of Jesus. The myth of redemptive violence is not true. ... we are not saved by the powers that be in this world. We may not be saved from violence – as disciples of Jesus should well know. A crucified Christ is a mind-blowing oxymoron. We may not be saved from violence, but we will most certainly not be saved by violence. We may suffer, but even so, we know there is a better way.

What are the things that make for peace? Loving our enemies, welcoming outcasts, healing diseases, feeding the hungry, offering forgiveness, repenting and accepting forgiveness, the power of love to transform our lives and culture. Peace does exist – here and there, in unexpected places, in surprising circumstances, for a moment in passing, now and again. We witness it. We experience it. We make it happen. We are peacemakers. We are justice jockeys. We are pacifist but not passive.   

Meditation by The Rev. Valerie Coe Lowder, preacher

Sunday, August 17, 2025

“Fear: The Opposite of Love”

"This teaching from Jesus points to a radically different way we are meant to live in this world. What Jesus teaches us is always in direct opposition to our society’s cultural wisdom. Even the brief phrase, 'fear not' is countercultural. We often call this spiritual wisdom of Jesus unconventional wisdom or upside-down wisdom. What dawned on me is that WE are the ones who have it upside-down! Jesus was trying to tell his 1st century CE audience that they had it all wrong-valued the wrong things, ignored the right things, were afraid because they had strayed so far from God’s vision for humanity.

Here we are 2000+ years later, still valuing the wrong things (wealth, power), ignoring the right things (connection, compassion), living more in fear than in love. As followers of Jesus, we have the mandate to be countercultural, to live out of more love than fear. We can recognize our connectedness to all creation and to God and arrange our lives to reflect that. When we are occupied with being the fate of each person we meet - and seeing them as our fate - our hearts will be too full of the treasure of each moment to leave much room for fear. May it be so."

Meditation by The Rev. Tonya Barnette, preacher

Sunday, August 10, 2025

“The Way We See the World”

“I invite you this week to be consciously looking for God’s masterpieces that exist beyond your sphere of comfort.

Pay attention. Look with the eyes of reverence. See differently. Act differently. Life is hevel. Dare to be transformed. May it be so.”

Meditation by Ceil Sheahan, preacher

Sunday, August 3, 2025

“The Disarming Nature of Forgiveness”

“For the relentlessly merciful God, forgiveness is far more than something we give to or receive from another person.

Forgiveness transcends transactional exchanges.

Forgiveness, as with Love, is without conditions or expectations.

Forgiveness is a disposition toward others where any sense of blame is eliminated from the equation.”

Meditation by The Rev. William O. Daniel, Jr., Ph.D., preacher

Sunday, July 27, 2025

“The Story of the Compassionate Samaritan: Which Character Are You?”

“Here is what I’m asking: what if the way to begin working toward the Kingdom of God or Beloved Community is right there in this story -- that we are to love and actively care for anyone who needs healing or respite? What if it is crucial that those whom we consider our enemies are the very ones that we need to love? Although I think it sounds impossible, even reckless, I believe that is what Jesus is telling us: that the obligation to love supersedes all boundaries and divisions. And how do we even begin to do that? We show mercy to one person who needs mercy, even and especially one we have perceived as an enemy.”

Meditation by The Rev. Tonya Barnette, preacher

Sunday, July 13, 2025

“Ascension Revisited (Fire Up, Fire Down)”

“Given the evidence that the early church believed that Jesus came to restore paradise on earth, how might the church be different today?

Would our work of atonement move beyond invitation to restoring health to those suffering?

Would faithful works become environmental for future generations?

Would we act as though the Holy Spirit both encourages and empowers us for such a time as this?”

Meditation by The Rev. Dennis Loy, preacher

Sunday, June 29, 2025

“The Plight of the Jailer”

“The plight of the jailer (and all oppressors, especially the cogs in the wheel of larger systems) was that he was both oppressor/tool of the system AND oppressed by the same system. We should remember that those who oppress now are also part of the system and need to be freed from those chains. It may be dangerous to touch their hands gently and offer kindness before they are made ready by some event that opens their eyes. We can, though, hold them in our hearts as human beings - flawed, as we are and trapped in systemic oppression, as we all are.”

Meditation by The Rev. Tonya Barnette

Sunday, June 1, 2025

“God’s Home is With(in) Us”

"It was through that kind of love-agape-that Jesus came into the human world. It was that kind of love that led Jesus all the way to death - I believe so that he could be truly steadfast in “staying with us” all the way through the human experience, even suffering and death. It was that kind of love that proves death is not the end-not for Jesus, not for love, not for us.

When we love in that selfless way, the Kin-dom of God shines through in the midst of us. Jesus showed us what God dwelling among us might look like - not shining glorious victory, not riches and jewels and streets of gold - but humble service, here on earth, bringing God’s presence near. God’s home is with us and within us; we reveal glimpses of that Kin-dom each time we practice agapaic love."

Meditation by The Rev. Tonya Barnette

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Feathers on the Breath of God

I believe that as individuals and as a church community we are called to recognize and resist the addiction to materialism from which our culture suffers. This should be making all of us feel a little uncomfortable. We’ve been taught to believe that we deserve comfort and freedom to choose the best, the latest, the biggest. We’ve been brainwashed to believe that we now need what used to be considered luxuries. Spoiler alert – we don’t need these things. We may want them, but we don’t need them. We need air to breathe, water to drink, clothing for our bodies and shelter to protect us. 

Ceil Sheahan

Sexuality-A Gift from God

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies”

(1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV).

“This scripture has been interpreted in ways that seek to shame us about our bodies and sexuality, but that is not the only -or even the best- interpretation. Yes, my body can be described as a temple of the Holy Spirit; I want to honor God with my body, to treat it as a temple. However, I believe that trying to suppress or hide my sexuality - trying to separate my body/sexuality from my spirit - is the REAL harm done to that temple. God desires wholeness for us: mind, body, and spirit in harmony. Cutting off sexual desires or feeling shame about them does not allow us to be whole - to be the beautiful, EMBODIED creations that God created us to be.”

Sermon Quote April 7, 2024

“Today, when violence and hatred seem to hold sway in our world, there is something crucially important about being part of a spiritual community where we remember the courage and compassion of Jesus, and remember that he offers us a different Way – a different image of God, a different kind of faith, a different way to be human – that is rooted in God’s Boundless, Unconditional Love for the world.”

From “Going Deeper, Together” by Rev. John Gill

Easter Sunday Sermon Quote

After Easter, the question remains: Will we flee, or will we follow? Will we go home in despair, or will we hear our names being called? Will we lose hope in the face of the mystery of our lives, or will we choose to affirm that “the mystery of life is a mystery of infinite goodness,” as the old prayer says. To believe this – to choose to believe this despite all the evidence – is to align one’s life with God’s Boundless Love, come what may, as Jesus did.

from “Between Two Stories” by Rev. John Gill

Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024