Presence
I started writing this sermon last week while I was with the UCG team on spiritual pilgrimage in Ireland. My computer was perched on the window sill facing the mountains in the sweet sitting room of the house where we …
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A Kind of Joy
Over the past year, I’ve listened to the oral arguments of a couple hundred Supreme Court cases. I know; I’m obsessed. It started last April with Obergefell, the equal marriage case, and it took off from there. At first I …
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The Current Error of the Current Era
About a month ago UCG member Doug Whalen asked me if having been through the civil rights movement of the 60’s, was I a little surprised and perhaps dismayed to be going through what seem like the same issues all …
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Dig In
Over the last month I’ve been leading a small group, teaching members of our congregation what I know about preaching in preparation for UCG’s first lay preaching festival. This Wednesday you are invited to come hear 10 wonderful new preachers …
Continue readingHappy Choices
Last Sunday, driving home from church I was listening to the TED radio hour. The featured speech was a reprise of one offered several years ago by social scientist Barry Schwartz on his book The Paradox of Choice. In …
Continue readingAwake Awhile
For many people, it’s the most wonderful time of the year–the beginning of summer and the end of the semester. The traffic patterns in town alter with the season. Grads leave town, vacations begin, milestones of all sorts are marked. …
Continue readingThe Sound of One Hand Clapping
You know that feeling you get when you’re trying to come up with the name of a book you read or figure out where else you’ve seen that actor? It’s a gnawing feeling. You know the answer is right there, …
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Senior Sunday 2016
Our High School youth group hosts “Senior Sunday,” where out graduating seniors share thoughts on their UCG experience. In this service our youth choose every song, write every prayer and lead our hearts to a deeper appreciation of who …
Continue readingWiseacres
This Sunday at UCG we continue our worship theme, “Be Now My Wisdom.” The service includes music by the Hogtown Strutters and Shelly’s sermon, “Wiseacres.”…
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Natural Default Setting Reset: The Joys and Sorrows of the Pursuit of Wisdom
Ecclesiastes 2:11-14-“My thoughts turned to all the fortune my hands had built up, to the wealth I had acquired and won—and oh, it was all futile and pursuit of wind; there was no real value under the sun! For what …
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The Wisdom of Flowers
The Board of Parish Ministry kicks off our new worship theme “Be Now My Wisdom” with their beautiful, artistic, and fascinating service, “The Wisdom of Flowers,”offering lovely music and thoughtful presentations by various church members.…
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Be Specific
I have bad luck with neighbors. The first apartment I ever rented was a basement in Bloomington, Indiana. I found out on the day I moved in that the 1st and 2nd floors were occupied by a brass …
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