May 24, 2020 Online Worship. Sermon: A Solid Foundation

The Covid-19 pandemic is testing our society right now, showing where its cracks and weaknesses are. The foundations of our society aren't strong, and it shows in the number of deaths from this virus, which becomes more deadly among people already suffering from housing insecurity, poverty, economic insecurity, and health care systems that discriminate against people of color, poor people, and queer people. This pandemic serves as a coming preview for what life would be like in the fullness of climate change, where the lack of a strong foundation will exacerbate the damage that climate change will do. Jesus tells us that our communities and our world need strong foundations of care and communal connection, not only to survive the coming struggles, but also to build the world in new ways so that these injustices cannot come again. 

Music inspires our preachers and worship leaders in the creation of their messages and worship time. Check out some of these songs that helped give shape to our time together!

Copyright permissions notifications

“Blest Are They,” Text: Matthew 5:3-12. Tune: David Haas, vocal arrangement: David Haas and Michael Joncas © 1985 GIA Publications Inc. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-730247. All Rights Reserved. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from ONELICENSE with license #A-730247. All Rights Reserved.

“Matthew 7:24-27” are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

May 17 2020 Online Worship. Sermon: How We Love Our Enemies

Communities of faith have experienced "Zoombombing" attacks that disrupt and do violence to their communities. This virtual violence isn't isolated, but part of a long history of faith communities being targeted for violence or terrorism. One example is the white supremacist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, an act of racist terrorist that killed Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair. Zoombombing aren't at the same level of violence as acts of physical terrorism, but they share the same root: People seeking to harm or terrorize others in order to silence, frighten, and destroy.

In our scripture reading this week, Jesus invites his followers to address the violence that his followers faced. In his words and in his life, Jesus shows us that we have a choice to live in fear and hatred, or to live following the path of the God of love. And when we choose this path of a loving God, we participate in creating a society of justice and peace, where we meet those who commit violence with love and respect, and invite them to make the choice for the God of love as well. In loving our enemies, we recognize their humanity and live out our humanity in refusing to fear and hate them.

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“World Peace Prayer,” Refrain Text: Upanishads, © Satish Kumar. Verses and music: Marty Haugen © 1985 GIA Publications Inc. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-730247. All Rights Reserved. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from ONELICENSE with license #A-730247. All Rights Reserved.

“Matthew 5:43-48” are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Music inspires our preachers and worship leaders in the creation of their messages and worship time. Check out some of these songs that helped give shape to our time together!

May 10 Online Worship. Sermon: Don't Worry, Take Action

There's a lot to be worried about, and a lot of reasons to be afraid, especially right now. Fear can keep us safe, but sometimes that safety can make us close ourselves away from the world, and keep us from connecting. When Jesus tells his disciples to be like the birds of the air and stop worrying, it sounds so appealing! It would be nice to turn a switch in our heads and turn off the fear and the worry. But Jesus's words are a call to action. He reminds his followers that a God of love asks us to build love with the world. By focusing on building love, and by focusing on serving others, we often find that our fear and our worry get replaced by care, courage, and hope.

Music inspires our preachers and worship leaders in the creation of their messages and worship time. Check out some of these songs that helped give shape to our time together!

Copyright permission notifications

“Be Not Afraid,” Text: Isaiah 43:2-3, Like 6:20ff, adapted by Bob Dufford. Tune: Bob Dufford, SJ; acc. By Sr. Theophane Hytrek, OSF © 1975, Robert J. Dufford, SJ, and OCP. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-730247. All Rights Reserved.

“Matthew 6:24-34” are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

May 3 2020 Online Worship. Sermon: Compassionate Transformation

The story of the Acts Community who shared everything in common with one another is a powerful example of the Gospel. It's a story of a community, moved by the teachings and love of Jesus, to live guided by values that ran against those of the world around them. Instead of competing for resources, they shared them. Instead of making the powerful the most important people, they valued the most vulnerable. Today as we struggle to follow the Gospel during this time of pandemic and climate change, which are making our societal inequalities worse, we, too, have the ability to live like this Acts Community, guided by the values centered on peace, compassion, and God's justice.

Copyright permission notifications

“Abundant Life,” Words: Ruth Duck © 1992 GIA Publications Inc. Music: Marty Haugen © 1994 GIA Publications Inc. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-730247. All Rights Reserved.

“Acts 2: 42-47” are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Music inspires our preachers and worship leaders in the creation of their messages and worship time. Check out some of these songs that helped give shape to our time together!

April 26, 2020 Online Worship. Sermon: At a Distance

This year is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and one of the most enduring symbols of this day is a picture of the Earth, taken from one of the first US astronauts in space. This picture showed the Earth in a different way, and it caused people to think about our planet and its environment differently. It was a disorienting picture, but it was a disorientation that opened people up to the idea of transformation. The disciples on the road to Emmaus, in their encounter with the stranger who turned out to be Jesus, also were disoriented in this meeting, but they, too, found great change and hope in that moment of disorientation. As we fight for our climate against climate change, and as we fight for each other in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, we're all feeling disoriented, but we also have an opportunity for great societal and spiritual transformation of our entire world.

Copyright notices

“God Beyond All Names,” Words and Music: Bernadette Farrell © 1990 Bernadette Farrell, published by OCP Publications. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-730247. All Rights Reserved.

“Luke 24:13-35” are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

"Earthrise" by Bill Anders, 1968. Shared by the Johnson Space Center of the United States, National Aeronautics and Space Agency. Public Domain.

Inspired by Pastor Rich’s Earth Day visual reference of the rising Earth and the disorientation this image and the experience of meeting the resurrected Jesus brings, Pastor Yuki shared a poem by Dr. Katie Mack as part of the benediction.

Music inspires our preachers and worship leaders in the creation of their messages and worship time. Check out some of these songs that helped give shape to our time together!

April birthdays!

We also celebrated April birthdays during our time after the service! Click below to sing along with Elliot and wish our April stars a happy birthday!

April 19 Online Worship: Sermon: Rise Up

Stories give us our sense of who we are and what's important in the world, and our sense of values and direction. Stories like the one about Thomas the Doubter from John's Gospel don't have to be interpreted as a choice between scientific facts and religious faith, but instead teach us about how we can imagine the world differently and how to believe that life can conquer death and love can triumph over hate. Stories about Jesus's resurrection teach us how to rise up again and again to fight for God's justice.

Copyright notices

“Sing to the Mountains”: Text based on Psalm 118: 24, Isaiah 6:3. Text and music: Robert J. Dufford SJ ©1975 Robert J. Dufford, SJ and OCP; Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-730247. All Rights Reserved

"John 20:19-31" are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ in America. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Music inspires our preachers and worship leaders in the creation of their messages and worship time. Check out some of these songs that helped give shape to our time together!

Easter Sunday (April 12, 2020) Online Worship. Sermon: Resurrection People Have the Power

Easter Sunday is the most important date on the Christian calendar, and the reason why is it is a reminder that God is always making the world new, and does so using our hands, feet, hearts, and heads. The gospels stories of Jesus's resurrection reminds us that our faith is one of opposing the injustices that go against God's commandment for community and life, and teaches us that we don't have to be afraid because we have the power as resurrection people. We choose courage, hope, and justice. Easter isn't about whether we believe a specific set of dogma, but whether we believe that life and love have the last word, and that choice is the choice of this Easter Day. How we make that choice determines whether we become a people of good news.

Copyright license notifications “All Things New”: Words and music: Rory Cooney ©1993 GIA Publications Inc.; Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-730247. All Rights Reserved

“Matthew 28:1-10” are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Palm Sunday (April 5, 2020) Online Worship: Sermon: Protest for Fun and Transformation

Jesus's entry into Jerusalem was an act of resistance to the forces of empire and oppression. And in that act, Jesus teaches us that resistance is creative and always involves the energy, imagination, and dedication of people acting within a movement. Part of what makes Progressive Christianity prophetic is this solidarity and commitment to the energy and spirit-led power of the movements gathered together to enact and live out God's justice.

We closed our worship singing along with Ben Grosscup’s performance of TR Ritchie’s song “Somewhere to Begin,” an apt reminder that the work of God’s justice begins anywhere, including the creative work of music, stories, art, and writing. People say to me, “If changes are to come there are things that must be done/And a song is somewhere to begin/”

OneLicence notification: Words: Psalm 146:3-4, 8-9, 6b-7, 8c-10, Marty Haugen ©1987 GIA Publications Inc.; refrain translation ©1969, ICEL. Music: Marty Haugen © 1987 GIA Publications Inc. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-730247. All Rights Reserved.

NRSV permission notification: “Matthew 21:1-11” are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

March 29, 2020 Online Worship: Sermon: "Sacrificing So That ALL May Live"

The story of Ezekiel and the dry bones begins with the feeling of hopelessness and desolation. It's the experience of exile and domination that so many people around the world have faced and are facing right now. It's not just the current pandemic that leaves people in deserts of dry bones, but people living under colonialism, racism, homelessness, and environmental degradation are all fighting to make the dry bones in their communities live. Ezekiel's message calls attention to the different ways of living together that don't rely on taking advantage of those who are already vulnerable and at risk, but are centered on justice -- on taking care of each other. We do not sacrifice to secure profits, but sacrifice for the lives and the well-being of one another.

"Let Justice Roll Like a River": Words & Music: Marty Haugen ©1991 GIA Publications. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-730247. All Rights Reserved

“Ezekiel 37:1-14” are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

During our prayers, Rita shared a prayer she has written for this moment in our world:

Sunday Prayer

 In the time before us,
In the time within us,
In the time among us,

 we hold our lives
in new ways
with our God
ever-present
ever-longing
to lean with us
into unavoidable unknowns. 

God, you are still speaking
as we question everything.

 You are minding us
in the tedium,
embracing us
in the weariness and waiting,
shadowing the shadows
of our doubt and judgment
with your tender acceptance. 

In this time of distance
shepherd us from illusions
of being apart from one another. 

In this great pause
let the song of your morning bird
do what it wants to do
for our souls.

 Moisten our hearts to extend and receive compassion.
Freshen our resolve to stand with the stranger.
Nudge us from apathy and indifference.

 Steady us in our deepest fears.
Ready us to love in the moment.

 As you are, so we must be.

 We belong to you, you belong to us
now and forever.   

Amen.

To close our worship, we sang along with Emma’s Revolution and their song “Better Days,” which you can find here. After worship we also celebrated March birthdays!

March 22, 2020: Online Worship, Sermon: "Choosing the Path of Justice"

Choosing to follow God often can mean having to make a decision about what way of life you will follow. Christian tradition often frames this choice in terms of turning our backs on the world in order to align with heaven. But a Progressive Christian -- and prophetic Christian -- understanding of this choice doesn't pit the world and heaven as against one another, but making a choice for peace, justice, and hope with and for the world, and opposing the systems of greed, exploitation, and violence.

Scripture: James 4:1-8

Music inspires our preachers and worship leaders in the creation of their messages and worship time. Check out some of these songs that helped give shape to our time together!