(Sunday, November 14 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Psalm 24:1-6 and 1 Kings 21:1-21, 27-29

Sermon Preview: "The Earth is the Lord’s" by Rev. Mark Harper

“We don’t own the land that we live on … It’s impossible to own the land that sacredly lives and breathes beneath our feet or to own the sky that holds the clouds and sun and moon over us. We build our homes over land that was never meant to be owned, and we forget. We pull out our checkbooks and we pile up our debt because we are consumers. We are entitled. We miss out on the reality that the water and the ground, this Earth that is capable of such rich relationship, have always been teaching us.” Kaitlin Curtice

(Sunday, November 7 At 11 AM, All Souls Sunday, Communion, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Hebrews 11:29-34,12:1-2 and Genesis 28:10-17

Sermon Preview: "Choosing Our Ancestors" by Rev. Mark Harper

“After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying: Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10

(Sunday, October 31 At 11 AM, Reformation Sunday, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-20 and Exodus 15:19-21

Sermon Preview: "Music for the Movement" by Rev. Mark Harper

“Won’t you help to sing these songs of freedom? ‘Cause all I ever had: Redemption songs. Redemption songs.” - Bob Marley

“How could we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” - Psalm 137:4

(Sunday, October 24 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: Mark 3:31-35 and Exodus 1:8-11,15-22

Sermon Preview: "Birthing a Movement" by Rev. Mark Harper

“It’s the heat that drives the light.
It’s the fire it ignites.
It’s not the waking, it’s the rising …

Power has been cried by those stronger than me
Straight into the face that tells you to rattle your chains
If you love bein’ free.”

Hozier, featuring Mavis Staples, “Nina Cried Power”

(Sunday, October 17 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: James 1:19-25 and Exodus 3:1-12

Hymns: Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah; Goodness Is Stronger than Evil; The Church of Christ Cannot Be Bound

Sermon Preview:

Sermon: "Paying Attention" by Rev. Mark Harper

“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” — Mary Oliver

(Sunday, October 10 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)

Scripture: John 1:1-5 and Genesis 1:1-5

Sermon: "Shaped By Story" by Rev. Mark Harper

For the remainder of the church year, I want to try something a little different, at least for me. I will be drawing on foundational passages from both the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament to help us try and listen for the ways God introduces the idea of new, alternative life and a Beloved Community into creation as well as into the lives of those who are paying attention (and maybe even some who are not!). The Bible is complicated, but I think I hear an ongoing hum throughout that is inviting a new song and a new way of life in resistance to the death-dealing Powers of our world. I hope that the passages we listen to together will inspire you to think about others that tell the same story and might speak to you even more powerfully.