Today, in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we had beautiful music and were graced by the preaching of the Rev. Dr. Diane Johnson. Click on the link above to watch the service.

Last week, in celebration of Epiphany, we all had the opportunity to receive a star word. For those of you who missed it, star words are just that. Words on stars.

We had a chance to prayerfully choose one at random and were invited to think of it as a word from God to guide us into the new year in honor of the magi who used a star to guide them to Jesus.

And let me just say, if you’re sitting out there right now thinking, “dang it, I knew I should have come to church last week.” You’re right.

Just kidding. If you missed last week and you’re disappointed because you didn't get a star word, or didn’t actually take a star last week because you thought it was silly, but now kind of wish you had; don’t worry. I got you. The year is young and there are are still stars for the taking right here in this basket. You can come up after the sermon and take your pick.

But if you were here last week, I’m curious; how many of you chose a star and then immediately felt judged?

Who here picked up a word like enthusiasm or courage or generosity and thought, “Oof, I guess I’m going to need to be a little more enthusiastic, courageous, or generous this year”?

If so, please hear me when I say that you are not alone....

Today we heard the story of the wisemen who followed the star to find the baby Jesus. In honor of their story we chose star words to guide us on our own spiritual journeys as we travel into a new year. Click the link above to view the whole service. If you missed it, you are welcome to visit the church office to pick out a star. To read the sermon click "read more"

One of my earliest memories of Christmas is my Dad fast asleep on the couch by like 9am. Anyone else remember a parent “resting their eyes” by midmorning or been that parent?

My Dad taught elementary school by day, but always picked up extra shifts at Holly’s liquor store before Christmas to bring in a little extra cash.

In whatever free time was left, he and my uncle would meet in their workshop to make gifts for us, the most beautiful of which I still have; a wooden stable he built for my Breyer horses.

My parents didn’t have the time or money to buy and wrap gifts ahead of time. Much of what we received from Santa was acquired at the last minute, finished the night before, and wrapped in the wee hours of Christmas Day after we’d gone off to bed. So my Dad was tired on Christmas morning, and rightfully so.

But friends, as I look out at all of you, I know a lot of us our tired these days too. And it’s not just the tired of trying to make Christmas come alive for the people we love.

I think we’re tired of ...

Today's worship included a Christmas miracle in the announcements, beautiful music from the choir, and the annual no muss, no fuss, no rehearsal Christmas pageant. A glorious time was had by all.

The places in which we are seen and heard are holy places.
They remind us of our value as human beings. They give us the strength to go on. 
~ from “The Meeting Place” in “Stories That Heal,” by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD


I have a story for you today. A story of faith and perseverance, generosity and love, small miracles and big surprises. It is a story that reminds me of Mary and Elizabeth, but actually begins with two women named Patience and Caroline and a little boy named Stephen.

Way back in August of 2022, I got an email from Patience asking if she could come in and see me. Patience is an immigrant from Nigeria who had taken shelter here at our church during the pandemic. We had gotten to know each other a bit during her time here in part because she is a woman of deep and abiding faith.

Well, Patience needed help and she figured that First Churches was the place to turn to in her time of need. She came to my office, sat down, and told me all about her nephew, Stephen, who still lives in Nigeria....

Some people are peacemakers and some people are homemakers. There are taste makers, king makers, rain makers, and matchmakers. But I, my friends, am a list maker, and proud of it.

Anyone else here a list maker? How many of you have a list on you right now? Than maybe you can relate when I say that lists are the primary tool that enables me to function in this world.

If it’s not on the list, it doesn’t get done, so much so that if I do something that wasn’t on the list, I add it to the list after the fact just to be sure. That doesn’t make sense does it? Not even grammatically. But that’s what I do.

I typically have multiple lists running on my phone at any given time: laundry lists, grocery lists, short lists, bucket lists, to-do lists, packing lists. You name it, I can list it.

I actually need to keep lists of ....

I love that the first Sunday of Advent always begins with lighting the candle of hope followed by the most apocalyptic reading we can find in Matthew, Mark, or Luke.

I love the raw honesty of it, because it is a stark reminder that our faith, to paraphrase James Finely, “protects us from nothing even as it sustains us in all things.”

Beyond these doors, every retailer from Saks 5th Avenue to your local Cumberland farms would like you to tune out reality and tune into the idea that this is the hap-happiest time of the year; the better to sell you something like a triple mocha peppermint latte with extra whip and a cherry on top so red it could rival Rudolph’s nose.

But not here in the church. Here in the church, as we move through these four Sundays before Christmas, we will hear from Jesus and John the Baptist, Mary and Elizabeth, sages and angels: prophets one and all who show up and tell us the truth about ourselves and our world:

The truth that how....

Today's service is full of beautiful music and centers around a conversation Sarah has with the Rev. Dr. Diane Johnson... a conversation about how we navigate this moment we find ourselves in. How do we lovingly hold the profound contradictions that exist between us right now? Diane shares her antidotes for worry, her thoughts about the opportunity this moment holds for us as progressive Christians, and her deep belief that our job right now is to stay connected and shine bright. May her words give you the encouragement you need to navigate the holy days ahead.

A Zen master once received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. The professor arrived, full of knowledge and opinions, eager to impress the master with his understanding of Zen Buddhism.

As they sat together, the master offered him tea. He poured the professor’s cup full and then kept pouring and pouring. The tea spilled over the cup and onto the table, but the master continued pouring.“Stop! The cup is full!” the professor exclaimed.“Exactly,” the master replied. “You are like this cup—full of your own ideas and preconceptions.

How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

(Thanks to Cameron Trimble for sharing this story in her Piloting faith newsletter this week. Click here to read and subscribe https://mailchi.mp/4168c1935e45/wcyrz8ckz9-11194444?e=4f5c74eca4 ).

Friends, I don’t know about you, but I’m not very zen these days. My cup is pretty full on a good day, but I confess that these last days have left me overflowing with...

God, hear our cry and help us. Hear our pain and mourn with us. Hear our rage and fight with us. And through it all, speak to us the truths we need to hear. Amen.

Here we are again, friends. Here we are again, as in, the man who became our president in 2016, who brought chaos and fear and dealt devastating blows to human rights, is about to be president again. And also, here we are again, as in, a man with ambitions of tyranny gains power with the support of people who believe that a tyrannical leader is a strong leader. This is not a new story. This is a story as old as human civilization, played out in various ways across the span of history. And on the one hand, that makes me sad, because, damnit, we _have history books, can't we learn anything? And on the other hand, it gives me a kind of reassurance. People have been where we are. People have fought and survived what we are facing. And there isn't one, set script that we are destined to follow. We still have agency, and power, no matter what anyone else says....

I woke up Wednesday morning, turned to Andrew, and said: “we’re now less than a week from the election; it feels like the countdown to Christmas except not as much fun.”

You all know what I mean? It’s like the same level of stressful waiting and wondering with none of the joyful anticipation. I don’t know what we are going to get but it’s not new shoes.

As I stand here now, we are just two days away, and it’s hard to think about anything else. Given that today is All Saints Day, we are gathered here to remember the ones we have loved and lost, and I don’t want to lose sight of the holiness of this moment.

But I also know that we are only human, and that even as we sit here in all of our grief and gratitude, we are also juggling feelings of fear and uncertainty, faith and hope, loathing and love.

The truth is that we have no idea what is coming. We have no way of knowing what will happen on Tuesday or if we will even know anything on Tuesday. This may well be the closest election in the history of our nation, which means that all we really know is that whatever happens, roughly 49% of registered voters will be disappointed or worse when the results are made known.

Now we could spend our precious time this morning lamenting how we got to this place of deep division, but given that we are looking at the book of Revelation this morning, what I’d really like to focus on is where we’re going.

I don’t know the future, but I know that whatever the future brings, all of the people who vote one way or the other on Tuesday will still be with us on Wednesday, we need to figure out how we are going to live together,
and I don’t just mean for the next 4 years...