(Sunday, March 26 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Lenten Choral Offering: Requiem by James Bingham (1998)

“What would happen to our faith if we believed that God reigns sovereign over both our celebration and our suffering?” -Soong-Chan Rah, Prophetic Lament

(Sunday, March 19 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Psalm 22:1-11,16-21,25-31 and Lamentations 1:17-22

Testimony: Lamentation and Living by Madline Morsha-Taylor and John Peacock

“Stories of suffering can never be buried when lament is an important and central aspect of the church’s worship life. Lamentations reminds us that the proper response to tragedy and suffering is lament.” -Soong-Chan Rah, Prophetic Lament

Photo by Danie Franco on Unsplash

(Sunday, March 12 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Exodus 17:1-7 and John 4:1-30, 39

Sermon: Water Flows to the Lowest Places by Pastor Mark Harper

“Well, Sojourner, did you always go by this name?”

No, ‘deed! My name was Isabella; but when I left the house of bondage, I left everything behind. I wa’n’t goin’ to keep nothin’ of Egypt on me, an’ so I went to the Lord an’ asked Him to give me a new name. And the Lord gave me Sojourner, because I was to travel up an’ down the land, showin’ the people their sins, and bein’ a sign unto them. Afterwards I told the Lord I wanted another name, ‘cause everybody else had two names; and the Lord gave me Truth, because I was to declare the truth to the people. -Sojourner Truth

Photo by Kitera Dent on Unsplash

(Sunday, March 5 At 11 AM, Hybrid Communion Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Genesis 12:1-4a and John 3:1:21

Sermon: Snakes, Saviors, and Secret Disciples by Pastor Mark Harper

“When the voice of the historically disenfranchised is privileged, what happens to the voice of those who are used to being heard? How will those communities process their discomfort of no longer being the sole voice?” – Mary Dana Hinton

Photo by Jan Kopřiva on Unsplash

(Sunday, February 26 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Matthew 3:13-17 and Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon: Hungry Jesus by Pastor Mark Harper

“I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus … I must wash him and tend him. I serve because I love Jesus.” Mother Teresa

Photo by Zachary Olson on Unsplash

(Sunday, February 19 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:16-21 and Matthew 17:1-9

Sermon: Before We Go Down the Mountain by Pastor Mark Harper

“You are at the beginning of something new. You are learning a new way of being.” – International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

(Sunday, February 12 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 and Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon: The Liturgy Before the Liturgy by Pastor Mark Harper

“Black history has always been treated by white people as a subtext to the nation’s real history … I grew up 50 miles from where Emmett Till was murdered. I knew nothing about it. I was raised 25 miles from the scene of the Elaine, Arkansas white race riots where hundreds of Black folk were chased into the woods and killed by white mobs. I was oblivious … Today it is very possible that young people will grow up not knowing of George Floyd or Brianna Taylor. Our nation has a short memory for such matters. For these reasons, Black History Month is still vital and current.” - David Billings, Hospitality

Photo by Haley Truong on Unsplash

(Sunday, February 5 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Isaiah 58:1-12 and Matthew 5:13-16

We will be celebrating Holy Communion

Sermon: Salt and Light by Pastor Mark Harper

“Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” -Anne Lamott

Photo from Unsplash

(Sunday, January 29 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12 and 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon: The Message About the Cross by Pastor Mark Harper

“The cross is a paradoxical religious symbol because it inverts the world’s value system with the news that hope comes by way of defeat, that suffering and death do not have the last word … .” - James Cone

Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash

(Sunday, January 22 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Corinthians 1:10-18 and Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon: After John Goes to Jail by Pastor Mark Harper

“Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we must all take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, just society.” - John Lewis

Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash

(Sunday, January 15 At 11 AM, MLK Sunday, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Isaiah 43:16-19 and John 1:29-42

Sermon: Four O’clock in the Afternoon by Pastor Mark Harper

“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.” - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Photo by Raffaele Nicolussi on Unsplash

(Sunday, January 8 At 11 AM, Communion Sunday, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Ephesians 3:1-12 and Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon: Finding the Way Home by Pastor Mark Harper

“For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” - Amanda Gorman 

Photo by Lee Young on Unsplash

(Sunday, January 1 At 11 AM, New Year’s Day, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Isaiah 63:7-9 and Matthew 2:13-33

Sermon: Rachel is Weeping by Pastor Mark Harper

Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Humanity has nowhere to lay his head.- Jesus of Nazareth

“He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” -John 1:10-11 (NRSV)

Photo by Inbal Malca on Unsplash

(Sunday, December 25 At 11 AM, Christmas Day, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: John 1:1-14

There will be a congregational carol sing this week.

“Behold I bring you good news of a great joy; for to you is born in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” -Luke 2:10-11

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

(Saturday, December 24 At 5 PM, Christmas Eve, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Time with all God’s Children: Cloth for the Cradle by Pastor Mark Harper

“Into this world, this demented inn in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with the others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power, because they are weak, those who are discredited, who are denied status of persons, who are tortured, bombed and exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world.” -Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable

Photo by Carlynn Alarid on Unsplash

(Sunday, December 18 At 11 AM, Fourth Sunday of Advent, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Psalm 81:1-10 and Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon: A Man of Few Words by Pastor Mark Harper

“ … when God shows up, it’s in the thick of things.” - Peter Enns, The Bible Tells Me So

Photo by Daniel Seßler on Unsplash

(Sunday, December 11 At 11 AM, Second Sunday of Advent, Hybrid Choral Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Passages from Isaiah, Zechariah, Luke, Matthew, and Revelation

Proclamation: Selections of Handel’s Messiah, performed by the TPPC Choir and friends under the direction of Dr. James Bingham

“It’s like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can’t stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.” - Anne LaMott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Photo by David Beale on Unsplash

(Sunday, December 4 At 11 AM, Second Sunday of Advent, Hybrid Communion Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Matthew 3:1-12 and Acts 10 (selections)

Sermon: Radical Inclusion by Mark Charles

“What is decolonizing? It’s hearing a different story and changing your mind.” - Rev.Dr. Cheryl Bear, Nadleh Whut’ en First Nation

Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash

(Sunday, November 27 At 11 AM, First Sunday of Advent, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Romans 13:11-12 and Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon: The First Church by Pastor Mark Harper

“Advent isn’t just a season in the Christian calendar. Advent is a state of being … it means to live in hopeful anticipation during a season of suffering and fear and uncertainty. When we just don’t quite know when it’s going to be okay, Advent reminds us of the discipline of hope.” - Kate Bowler

Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash

(Sunday, November 20 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Colossians 1:11-20 and Luke 23:33-43

Sermon: The First Church by Pastor Mark Harper

“Success and failure, ultimately, have little to do with living the gospel, Jesus just stood with the outcasts until they were welcomed or until he was crucified – whichever came first.” - Greg Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion

Photo by Paul Zoetemeijer on Unsplash