This Sunday’s Worship: September 17
(Sunday, September 17th At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Romans 14:1-12 and Matthew 18:21-35
Sermon: A Hard Road to Freedom by Pastor Mark Harper
“The great temptation is to cling in anger to our enemies and then define ourselves as being offended and wounded by them. Forgiveness, therefore, liberates not only the other but also us. It is the way to the freedom of the children of God.” -Henri Nouwen
Photo by Kristina V on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: September 10
(Sunday, September 10th At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Romans 13:8-12 and Matthew 18:15-20
Sermon: All God’s People (Dang it!) by Pastor Mark Harper
“We repeat, there is nothing we can do but love, and dear God – please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as well as our friend.” -Dorothy Day
Photo by Mayur Gala on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: September 3
(Sunday, September 3rd At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Romans 12:9-21 and Matthew 16:21-25
Sermon: When the Enemy is Us by Pastor Mark Harper
“God’s absolute power is identical with absolute self-giving.” - Hans Urs von Balthasar
This Sunday’s Worship: August 27
(Sunday, August 27th At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Romans 12:1-8 and Revelations 5:11-14
Sermon: Congregational Hymn Sing from the “Glory of God” Hymnal
“I don’t have a clue what kinds of sounds moles, voles, or earthworms make, but according to Revelation they’re in the choir too – ‘every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea ….’ Is a weeping willow a creature? How about a mountain, or river? I guess it depends on your definition. If a creature is anything made by God, the sky is the limit. Stars, oceans, willows, lava rocks: they’re all in the choir. They all get to sing, the same way the hills sing in the Psalms, while the trees of the field clap their hands.” - Barbara Brown Taylor, “Every Singing Creature”
Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: August 20
(Sunday, August 20th At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Isaiah 56:1,6-8 and Matthew 15:21-28
Sermon: The God of Boundary Crossers by Pastor Mark Harper
“…distinctions (among people) all reveal the unlimited beauty of One who is the source of each of us, so this rich diversity is the very holy ground where God speaks. Bigotry doesn’t happen when we notice other people’s differences.
It happens when we believe or act as if those differences make another less worthy of love or opportunity or compassion or respect.
We need to learn to dance together.” - John Pavlovitz, A Bigger Table
Photo by John Moeses Bauan on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: august 6th
(Sunday, August 6th At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Psalm 145 v. 8-9 and v. 14-18 and Matthew 14; 13-21
Sermon: Tale of Two Banquets by Pastor Mark Harper
And so new life was born in the dark of that pit of hell. And so the midwife died before dawn, still bathed in blood. Let us be midwives! Let us be midwives! Even if we lay down our own lives to do so.”
--Sadako Kurihara, Let Us Be Midwives! An Untold Story of the Atomic Bombing”
This Sunday’s Worship: July 30th
(Sunday, July 30 At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Romans 8:18-27 and Matthew 13:31-33
Sermon: Bird Sanctuary by Pastor Mark Harper
“(God) also showed me a tiny thing in the palm of my hand, the size of a hazelnut. I looked at this with the eye of my soul and thought: ‘What is this?’ And this is the answer that came to me: ‘It is all that is made.’ I was astonished that it managed to survive: it was so small that I thought it might disintegrate. And in my mind I heard this answer: ‘It lives on and will live on forever because God loves it.’” -Julian of Norwich, 14th Century
Photo by Jacques LE HENAFF on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: July 23rd
(Sunday, July 23 At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Genesis 28:10-19 and 2 Timothy 4:1-8
Sermon: The Best of Your Service by Rev. Eugene Eastman
“Blessed are you who have reached a new age – even if it doesn’t seem to fit. It may feel too big. Too reductive. Too limiting. It may be marked by a life you barely recognize. The kids who have all moved out or settled somewhere far away. The work that no longer sets the daily hum. The life partner who is gone and friends you’ve outlived. The body that doesn’t allow for the hobby you love anymore. The monthly check that doesn’t provide the flexibility you’d hoped for … God, give us the eyes to notice the ways life can still be beautiful and rich and full in the midst of so much that has been lost. Remind us that you are not done with us yet.” - Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie, The Lives We Actually Have
This Sunday’s Worship: July 16th
(Sunday, July 16 At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Luke 6:20-38 and Jeremiah 6:13-16
Sermon: His Eye is on the Sparrow by Matt Kaiser
“There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests – look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.” - Eugene Peterson, The Message, Luke 6:26
Photo by Jacques LE HENAFF on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: July 9th
(Sunday, July 9 At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Zechariah 9:9-12 and Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Sermon: Love and Liberation by Rev. David Ensign
“Sometimes I feel lost,” said the boy. “Me too,” said the mole, “but we love you, and love brings you home.” - Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse
This Sunday’s Worship: July 2nd
(Sunday, July 2 At 10 AM, Hybrid Communion Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Psalm 89:1-4 and Matthew 11:2-6
Sermon: Sighs and Wonders by Pastor Mark Harper
“ ‘Isn’t love enough?’ (Jesus) asks John. ‘No,’ John answers angrily. ‘The tree is rotten. God called me and gave me the ax, which I then placed at the roots of the tree. I did my duty. Now you do yours: Take the ax and strike!’ ‘If I were fire, I would burn,’ Jesus says. ‘If I were a woodcutter, I would strike; but I am a heart, and I love.’” - Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptation of Christ
Photo by Brigitte Tohm on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: June 25th
(Sunday, June 25 At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Matthew 10:40-42 and John 11:1-6, 17-27
Sermon: Unbinding Mary by Pastor Mark Harper
“Like it or not, the gospel is a story unleashed. Even Jesus had trouble keeping a lid on it … And that makes some people nervous. That makes me nervous. Because it means every Christian gets a testimony, every Christian gets a ‘gospel according to …’ whether you’re Desmond Tutu or Tim Tebow.” -Rachel Held Evans, Inspired
This Sunday’s Worship: June 18th
(Sunday, June 18 At 110AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Isaiah 35 and John 11:1-3,17,32-44
Sermon: Lazarus Unbound by Pastor Mark Harper
“Ain’t gonna let nobody, turn us round,
Lord, turn us round, turn us round,
gonna let nobody, turn us round,
just keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’,
on to freedom land.”
-Freedom Song of the Civil Rights Movement
Photo by Oladimeji Odunsi on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: June 11th
(Sunday, June 11 At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Psalm 50:7-15 and Matthew 9:9-13
Sermon: Where We Sit by Pastor Mark Harper
“Where you stand depends on where you sit.” - Nelson Mandela, Rufus Miles
This Sunday’s Worship: June 4th
(Sunday, June 4 At 10 AM, Hybrid Communion Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Mark 1:35-39 and Matthew 28:16-20
An Invitation to Contemplation
“Renewal cannot come to the church unless its people are on an inward journey.” - Elizabeth O’Connor
This Sunday’s Worship: May 28th
(Sunday, May 28 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Acts 2:1-21
Testimony: The Bagpipe as an Instrument of Lament by Bob Mitchell
Sharing: Where Do We Need the Spirit Now?
Photo by Hisham Zayadneh on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: May 21st
(Sunday, May 21 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34 and Luke 24:36-49
Sermon: Dressed for Discipleship by Pastor Mark Harper
“Shrouds are not a permanent Christian costume.” - Dan Berrigan
Photo by Dušan veverkolog on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: May 14th
(Sunday, May 14 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 and Acts 3:1-10
Testimonies: What Has Happened to Us
“From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence vindicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of council. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take council with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after his own kind the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.”
-Julia Ward Howe, “Mothers’ Day Proclamation,” 1870
Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: May 7th
(Sunday, May 7 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Psalm 31:1-5 and 1 Peter 2:2-10
Sermon: The Church of Rejected Stones by Pastor Mark Harper
“God’s mark and spirit are upon us. We are not God’s elite or God’s favorite or pampered people, but we are claimed by God for God’s purposes.”
-Yvonne V. Delk
Photo by Tobias Keller on Unsplash