A Greener Faith
Slow-Paced Practices of Gratitude
May ~ June 2023
“When Something Comes to Me From My Window” by Rainer Maria Rilke
How surely gravity’s law, strong as an ocean current, takes hold of even the smallest thing and pulls it toward the heart of the world. Each thing – each stone, blossom, child – is held in place. Only we, in our arrogance, push out beyond what we each belong to for some empty freedom. If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees.
Instead we entangle ourselves in knots of our own making and struggle, lonely and confused. So, like children, we begin again to learn from the things, because they are in God’s heart; they have never left him. This is what the things can teach us: to fall, patiently to trust our heaviness. Even a bird has to do that before he can fly.
May 14, 2023
Mothers’ Day and Sixth Sunday of Easter
“Walking Barefoot, Every Day”
Pastor Sam preaching
Previous Sermon Series
Searching for Wholeness
A Series in the Gospel of Mark
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus announces the good news that the reign of God has arrived (1:14-15). Is this announcement still good and timely news for us today? The reign of God means liberation, healing, and wholeness for individuals and communities. Jesus invites anyone who will listen to join him in witnessing the reign of God. Ched Myers has observed, “Mark’s Gospel…is a story by, about, and for those committed to God’s work of justice, compassion, and liberation in the world.” The Gospel of Mark is the oldest and shortest of the four gospels in the New Testament. In this sermon series, we will explore Jesus as the physician and the church as a field hospital.
From Generation to Generation
Advent and Christmas
Our world and our lives often leave us feeling discouraged, fearful, lonely, and even hopeless. The season of Advent anticipates the arrival of hope, peace, joy, and love in our lives. Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” Each week, as we will reflect on what and who bring us hope, peace, joy, and love, we will orient our hearts to the ways in which God enters our world and our lives.
Humble Beginnings
During the fall months, we will follow David’s life in the Old Testament. David’s story is a story of humble beginnings, and his story holds a central place in the imagination of the Old Testament. The Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann has asserted, “More than any other person [in the Old Testament], Israel is fascinated by David, deeply attracted to him, bewildered by him, occasionally embarrassed by him, but never disowning him.” As we follow glimpses of David’s life, we will discover a person “after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). David got a lot of things wrong, to put it mildly, but he also acted with humility and courage.
Made for Peace
The New Testament letter of Ephesians narrates the drama of God’s salvation of the world, God’s making peace with the world in Christ. Michael Gorman asserts, “Perhaps the world might actually sit up and take notice of the Christian faith if Christians really did embody the gospel of peace,” and Gorman says, “Ephesians is a letter about the gospel of peace.” While the church in Ephesus is a missional body clothed in the essentials for a real-life struggle in the world, the church in Ephesus is also culturally situated in the first century. Our reading together of the letter of Ephesians will seek to be faithful to the spirit of the letter while also engaging our contemporary life experience.