This week wraps up our sermon series on Awe. Awe requires our attention—it's hard to experience awe if you don't notice the amazing sunset or you don't listen to the incredible speech. Awe also requires us to stay awake and alert in the present. In worship, we’ll connect this idea with Ecclesiastes 3, that poetic reminder that there is “a time for everything.” We’ll reflect on how awe often shows up when we recognize the season we’re in, resist rushing past it, and allow God to meet us right here, right now.
I've been reading the book Awe by Dacher Keltner. How fun to hear the wisdom of scientists who have studied awe for their work. With concrete evidence, they reveal how the emotion of awe is critical for our well-being and connection. Thousands of years ago, the writers of Job must have known this as well. This week we'll hear Job 38, when God speaks to Job after 37 chapters of questioning. The response leaves Job in a place of awe at the Creator and creation. I hope you join us this week, as we cultivate more awe in our own lives.
This week we will have our first children's interactive service of the new year. We'll be focusing on awe and wonder as a whole faith community, with children helping lead us in worship. Given the events of this week, I hope that this practice can be a healing and uniting one for all of us. Research shows that the number one instance of inspiration for the emotion of awe is moral beauty. There is a great wisdom to digging deeper into that and searching for moral beauty around us. I hope you'll join us as we explore this together.
The story of the birth of the Christ child named Jesus comes to an end this week with the arrival of the magi; we Christians call it Epiphany celebrated on January 6th. A question for discussion around your table: How many magi/kings/wise men are there? Random answers first then read Matthew 2:1-12. Yes, you will be asked for an answer in worship this Sunday! Epiphany has other meanings such as (1) a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being, (2) any moment of sudden revelation or insight. This story ends with an upside-down revelation that is still changing the world. What seems to be an end is really a beginning or maybe it's the middle: only in this time zone.
Join us for a Christmas Hymn Sing where we’ll lift our voices together, hear the surprising story behind a beloved hymn, and make space for the songs that matter most to you.
Join us for Christmas Eve service as we welcome the light, sing with joy, and hear the story that still changes the world.
This Sunday we’re celebrating Christmas with joy, laughter, and a whole lot of heart at our Children’s Pageant and Christmas Fest. Cheer on our kids as they share the story of the Grinch and remind us that Christmas is about love, generosity, and hearts that grow.
Finding Our True Song Advent is a season of waiting, longing, and hoping. It's a season that we can relate to, no matter the time of year. There is plenty to long for in our world and in our lives, and not just in December. This week, we'll hear Isaiah paint a picture of peace that feels impossible. Would a lamb ever live with a wolf, or a leopard and goat befriend each other? A small child spending time with a lion and a calf, and no one gets hurt? The famous last scene of the story of the Grinch is the residents of Whoville all singing together on Christmas morning. They realize by being together what the true meaning of the season is. Together this week, we'll ask ourselves, what is the true song we are meant to sing? What is at the heartbeat of who God made us to be?
The Grinch's heart is cold and hard, at least to begin. As much as we'd like to distance ourselves from him, we each know what it means to have our hearts beat with bitterness or fear, making us distant and cynical. Scripture is full of images that challenge our stories of despair and hardness. Isaiah imagines a wilderness bursting into bloom, and Ezekiel promises hearts of stone turning into hearts of flesh—promises that are revealed when fear finally loosens its grip. This week we will follow the Grinch, looking at the redemption of a cramped, defensive heart. I hope you will join us as we explore this together.
Throughout Advent, we'll be using lessons from The Grinch to remind us of what the meaning of the season really is. Advent is the season of preparing and waiting for the coming Messiah. We'll hear the words of Isaiah preparing his people for the kind of leader they need: one who brings joy to lives of the people. The Grinch is determined to ruin joy, remove joy, prevent joy. Many things in the world are doing the same. What does it mean to hold to the promise of joy in a world that wants to dampen it? How can we claim joy, even as we wait for the light to be born? Join us as we explore this together.