Many of the old Christmas carols, underneath their sweetness and beauty, reflect a theme of weariness, the desperation of many of the world’s peoples, suffering through another year of violence and deprivation. Poverty, war, racism, disease, and environmental degradation all …
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Twenty five years ago, UCG members John Middlebrooks and Dennis Owen proposed that we offer the traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols modeled after the format of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols of Kings College, Cambridge. This …
Continue readingPsalm 56:3 If I only had the nerve, sang the cowardly lion in the movie. If he only had the nerve, he could show his prowess, be a lion, not mouse, oh, he’d roar the way he never roared before, …
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Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 “For everything there is a season. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; …
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Luke 14:15-24, The Parable of the Great Feast We have a new worship theme about throwing parties. My favorite party story in the bible is the parable Jesus tells about the great feast. The host has invited all the big …
Continue readingOctober 23, 2016 – Pride Sunday Psalm 139 For me and I’m guessing maybe for you, too, politics as usual, has been more challenging than usual. The vitriol never seems to stop, but then, in the middle of the myriad …
Continue readingMark 1:14-15 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Praying. By …
Continue readingI love the Sundays when we welcome new members because they remind me to ask again the question that Dar asked in her sermon a couple of Sundays back: why have we come? What are we doing here? It’s good …
Continue readingResignation by J.D. McClatchy “I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.”- Willa Cather. Here the oak and silver-breasted birches Stand in their sweet familiarity While underground, as in …
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THIS IS WHY I HAVE COME By Dar Mikula Mark 1: 32-39 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, And Jesus healed many who had various …
Continue readingI give thanks in every remembrance of you, remembering your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now. That is the Scripture that seemed to fit for us today. For “thank you” may well be the words you …
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