Sun, 5 February 2023
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Sun, 22 January 2023
You get what you get, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get upset. |
Sun, 15 January 2023
When you don't know what you think you should know, it's hard to learn what you need to know. |
Sun, 8 January 2023
You can't always get what you want. But with Jesus as beloved, we get what we need. |
Sun, 18 December 2022
Christmas has become a monster of a season, but what it comes down to is almost embarrasingly basic. |
Sun, 11 December 2022
Jesus is painfully, disappointingly local in his saving work. And the woirld's need is massive, endless. How will this possibly do?
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Sun, 4 December 2022
John helps us anticipate Jesus. But he didn't get everything about the one for whom we wait quite right. |
Sun, 27 November 2022
Advent present us with the challenge of hope--a full recogntion of what's dreadful about the world while also fully assured that God is coming, while also here, to restore, renew, and reign in love. |
Sun, 20 November 2022
We've reached the end of the church year, Christ the King Sunday, a tricky feast day. |
Sun, 13 November 2022
Jesus warns that the world won't go easy on us. Isaiah envisions a new reality that will have worked all that out. Ours is to persevere toward this point. |
Sun, 6 November 2022
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Sun, 23 October 2022
Prayer is a moemnt alone with your God, and sometimes that's as hard a things as there is. |
Sun, 16 October 2022
Jacob made progress, leaving Esau behind. Are we okay with that? |
Sun, 9 October 2022
God's presence shows up in places least expected and places where we perhaps we least want to be. |
Sun, 2 October 2022
Where there is, turns out, either nothing or everything. |
Sun, 25 September 2022
Look for hopeless causes for the right of redemption might be yours. |
Sun, 18 September 2022
The church has squandered our wealth. What now to do? |
Sun, 11 September 2022
Freedom is a terrible bruned. No wonder so many seek a cage. |
Sun, 28 August 2022
The old ship of Zion moves slowly, but there's room for everyone. |
Sun, 21 August 2022
Keeping the sabbath is as much about liberation as it is about rest. |
Sun, 14 August 2022
Jesus is tough to match moods with in August. Let's see if we can try,. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
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Sun, 24 July 2022
A moment arrives, and all your readying must be done. Now you just receive. |
Sun, 24 July 2022
Teach us to pray, the disciples said. Not how, or why, what to pray. Instead simply, Teach us to pray. |
Sun, 10 July 2022
Be the Good Samaritan. Be the man who set out. There will come opporutnities for you be one or the other, and both make for good. |
Sun, 3 July 2022
...and the what is the why. Sharing Jesus' love isn't a means to an end, it's the manifestation of the end. You don't get a rpize for doing it, it is itself the prize. Love. Love in action. |
Sun, 26 June 2022
The end is decided but how you get there is another question. |
Sun, 19 June 2022
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Sun, 5 June 2022
The church is more weed than wheat, as if right.
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Sun, 22 May 2022
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Sun, 15 May 2022
Peter is pulling a thread that could unravel the whole garment... |
Sun, 8 May 2022
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Sun, 1 May 2022
You aren't that. So listen in peace and reassurance. |
Sun, 24 April 2022
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Sun, 17 April 2022
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Sun, 10 April 2022
Palm Sunday is supposed to be a plesant celebration. I'm sorry to say, however... |
Sun, 3 April 2022
Embarrassing, intimate, smelling is indiscrimate--but also exclusive. With its insistence on the body, smelling demands, "You had to be there." |
Sun, 27 March 2022
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Sun, 20 March 2022
Time to get serious. No more Airbnb for us. Time to plant roots and bear fruit. |
Sun, 13 March 2022
What do you want?
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Sun, 6 March 2022
Bread and circus, please! But we don't live by bread alone. |
Sun, 13 February 2022
Jesus and the twelve were hardly the gods they were enacting to be--and this is very much the point. |
Sun, 6 February 2022
A close encounter with the holy can really leave us feeling ugly. Best to avoid it then? |
Sun, 23 January 2022
It would come to be called the "fullness of time." More coloquially, it's the 1st century AD. So, why now for God to act so radically in Christ? What made it the right time?
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Sun, 16 January 2022
It might be a tough thing to manage these days, but moments of joy will find us, enlighten us. Look for these moments and treasure them in your hearts. |
Sun, 9 January 2022
The magi were expecting probably something quite different...? |
Sun, 19 December 2021
Christmas isn't a holiday for nostalgia, it's a holiday to press us more deeply into today and the future that how live now will bring. |
Sun, 12 December 2021
John was great at being a herald. He fell short of being the messiah. |
Sun, 5 December 2021
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Sun, 28 November 2021
The coming of the son of man coincides with a lot of trouble. So, is it good news that we've got a lot of trouble these days? |
Mon, 22 November 2021
The last Sunday of the church year is a good time to wonder whether we're up for another trip around the calendar. |
Sun, 14 November 2021
Numbers are down in congregations across the county, maybe across the country. Endurance is the name of the game for the faithful. So, who's with me? |
Sun, 7 November 2021
The widow might have been happy to give her last penny to the Temple. Jesus wasn't happy for her. |
Sun, 24 October 2021
Jesus urges us to be as children. So what's stopping us from doing that? |
Sun, 17 October 2021
Revolution? Resignation? Some mysterious third way? |
Sun, 10 October 2021
Hell is other people--or maybe that's the kingdom of heaven. |
Sun, 3 October 2021
Pay attention to the things that make your stumble on your way to God, and the things that help you get close. |
Sun, 26 September 2021
The church isn't designed for efficiency. That said, there's no better time for manifesting the reign of God than now. |
Sun, 19 September 2021
Power is meant to serve the good. Beware when power is put to serving power. |
Sun, 12 September 2021
Repentance, which is a change of mind, comes with repetition. |
Sun, 5 September 2021
The moment when Jesus learned he was Christ for the world is an ugly one. Brace yourself for a moment when Jesus was't "the good guy." |
Sun, 22 August 2021
Empires rise and fall, but the word of the Lord speaks as ever. |
Sun, 15 August 2021
Jesus invites us to bring our worst--and our worst is pretty bad. |
Mon, 9 August 2021
Remember that old summer camp song, "They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love (by our Love)"? Turns out that was pretty good stuff. |
Sun, 1 August 2021
In this age of kitsch, where can we can find what's true, authentic, bearing an aura as almost halo? |
Sun, 25 July 2021
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Sun, 18 July 2021
In Jesus we meet someone worthy of our essential followership. |
Sun, 11 July 2021
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Sun, 4 July 2021
Langston Hughes got it right. Nearly a century ago, he knew America is aim and aspiration. He was right: it was then, and is still. America dies when our aspiration to be America dies. |
Sun, 27 June 2021
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Sun, 20 June 2021
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Sun, 13 June 2021
What if God really is at work in all things for good? |
Sun, 6 June 2021
As we set off into ordinary time, we've got quite a challenge to live out. |
Sun, 23 May 2021
Pentecost, the event, comes after a protracted period of waiting for apostles. Sound familiar? |
Sun, 16 May 2021
This is a weird Sunday for celebrating. On the other hand, it might really speak to our moment. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) With thanks to Nappy Roots' for their song, Good Day. |
Sun, 9 May 2021
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Sun, 25 April 2021
When you lay down your life for your friends, you're dangerous to the status quo, but you're close to the kingdom of God. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Thanks to Nahkane's "New Brighton" for inspiring the mantra that is the title of this sermon. |
Sun, 18 April 2021
When astonishing truth claims is all you've got--that and a Resurrecting God. |
Sun, 11 April 2021
Are we hoping God will turn back time, or are we good with God redeeming time? Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Shout out to The Call for use of their song, "I Still Believe." |
Sun, 4 April 2021
Resurrection Day! Or might we prefer Insurrection? There's a lot these days to rise up against... |
Sun, 28 March 2021
Palm Sunday reminds us of the two choices we grace, and encourages us to take the way of Jesus. Thanks to Thievery Corporation for their terrific song Forgotten People. |
Sun, 21 March 2021
Considering last week's Godly Play story in the light of this week's terrible events. |
Mon, 8 March 2021
What the ancient way of sanctifying time might mean for us in the age of Zoom worship. |
Sun, 21 February 2021
The rainbow signals a shift, if not in God then at least our perception of God. Jesus' coming confirms it. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) This features Guster's great song Two At a Time. |
Sun, 14 February 2021
Here we take a big breath before diving into the depths of Lent. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) This episode features Regina Spektor's great song "Laughing With." |
Sun, 7 February 2021
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Sun, 31 January 2021
Ours isn't to fight. It's to wirthstand. We're not amidst a battle. We're amidst an arrival and an occupation of good and true. |
Mon, 25 January 2021
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Mon, 18 January 2021
Storming the Capitol is a bad idea. Can we say that? Can we say there are bad ideas? |
Mon, 11 January 2021
Words describe and create, so be let's be careful with them--careful with what you say, careful about to whom you listen. |
Sun, 3 January 2021
Logos became flesh and lived among us? Really? Why? |
Sun, 27 December 2020
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Sun, 27 December 2020
The gift of the say after Christmas is sometimes the simple blessing of getting back to ordinary life. This year, even that simple blessing was a bit much to hope for. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
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Sun, 20 December 2020
Do we need to worry about Mary? Or can we take her at her word? |
Sun, 13 December 2020
Advent is waiting, preparing, and waiting. What gives? |
Sun, 6 December 2020
Preparing for Christmas might cause us to recognize there's no getting ready for what's actually to come. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
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Sun, 29 November 2020
COVID makes hospitality for all practical purposes impossible. But the guest we await in the world is coming anyway, and coming to take over. Before you know it he'll be the host. So get ready. |
Sun, 22 November 2020
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Sun, 15 November 2020
We're nearing the end of the church year, and we're heading into a dark season dominated by the pandemic. Maybe these are labor pains...? |
Sun, 1 November 2020
This one goes out to all you saints in thanks and praise. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Thanks to Alchemy for their music! |
Sun, 1 November 2020
Take your time with this one--shorter than usual, but longer than it needed to be if this were simply a matter of information and not inspiration. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Thanks to Alchemy for their music! |
Rev. Liz Goodman, Lenox & Monterey UCC (general)
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