Sunday, April 20, 2025 | Easter Sunday | Everything in Between: Grief and Hope

Today, we celebrate Christ’s resurrection with the flowered cross; the music of choir, organ, and brass; communion; and a message of hope from Pastor Julie. Pastor Julie will conclude the Lenten sermon series with the Easter message, Everything In Between Grief and Hope based on Luke 24:1-12. Accompanying text is Acts 10:34-43.

Easter Sunday is meant to be jubilant and joyful—a chance to begin again in a weary world. And yet, for too many, grief can feel like a heavy weight tugging at our hearts. For too many, shame encroaches if we can’t find our way to joy. This Easter, we are invited to make space for grief and joy, mourning and hope—for all these feelings can coexist.

No matter how you arrive this Easter morning—whether steeped in grief, stunned in disbelief, or running in the direction of hope—resurrection is for you. This story is for you.

Friday, April 18, 2025 | Good Friday | Service of Silence and Sorrow

Remember and reflect on Christ’s suffering and crucifixion in this “Service of Silence and Shadows” led by our choir and readers from the congregation. The sanctuary moves from light to darkness as we mark Christ’s suffering and death.

Sunday, April 13, 2025 | Palm Sunday | Everything in Between: Shouting and Silence

Today, Pastor Julie preaches the message, Everything in Between: Shouting and Silence from Luke 19:29-40. Accompanying text is Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29.

 Jesus embodies divine silence as he rides the colt through the cloaks and crowds. This event marks a pivotal turning point as Jesus enters the holy in-between of his final days before he departs from this world. His entry marks the beginning of the end. Did his silence helped steady and prepare him for what was to come? Did the praise from the disciples gave him strength?

Have you ever experienced divine silence, or silence that restored you in some way? Have you ever felt fortified by shouts and praise?

Sunday, April 6, 2025 | Pastor Eric Preaching | Everything in Between: Compassion and Justice

This Sunday, we celebrate communion and collect a benevolence offering in worship, and fellowship together at our First Sunday potluck after worship. Pastor Eric will preach the message, Everything in Between: Compassion and Justice from Luke 19:1-10. The accompanying Scripture text is Psalm 126.

The Luke 19 passage is the familiar story of Zacchaeus, and the crowds who grumble at Jesus’ self-invitation to stay with Zacchaeus. Their desire for justice isn’t without cause. As a tax collector, Zacchaeus has extorted money and acted in collusion with the empire, using his position to oppress his own people. It is important to call out oppression and seek justice, and yet, Jesus offers compassion. That compassion then begets more compassion as Zacchaeus, unprompted, offers to return what he took, and then some.

Sunday, March 30, 2025 | Fourth Sunday in Lent | Everything in Between: Lost and Found

Today Pastor Julie preached the message, Lost and Found, from Luke 15:1-7. Accompanying Scripture text is Psalm 32.

Herding sheep is a never-ending task. As soon as one is found, another may go missing. Our lives have a similar ebb and flow—in one moment we might feel like we have it all together, and in the next, we’re struggling to survive. But no matter how “lost” we feel, the Good Shepherd is on watch.

Sunday, March 23, 2025 | Third Sunday in Lent | Everything in Between: Rest and Growth

This Sunday, Pastor Julie will preach the message “Everything in Between: Rest and Growth" based on Luke 13:6-9. Accompanying scripture text is Psalm 63:1-8.

The gardener in the vineyard knows the fig tree needs rest, nutrients, and time—and it also needs to produce fruit. Both things are true, which is also true for us. If we are always striving for more growth without taking time to rest, we will burn out. But if we are only ever resting, we won’t bear fruit or grow. The fig tree also teaches us that the in between time—of nurture before fruit—can be where transformation begins.

Sunday, March 16, 2025 | Second Sunday in Lent | Everything in Between: Faith and Works

The story of Mary and Martha often seems to create a divide between “spiritual” types and “practical” types, between thinkers and doers, and between contemplatives and activists—as if the faithful must choose one over the other. But what if prayer and action depend on one another to make sense in the world? Today’s story from Luke 10 is about more than just a spat over who’s going to get supper on the table. Accompanying scripture text is Psalm 23.

Sunday, March 9, 2025 | First Sunday in Lent | Everything in Between: Stranger & Neighbor

This Sunday, March 9, we continue the journey through Lent that began on Ash Wednesday.

Our Lenten theme, “Everything In Between,” will invite us to navigate the polarities in our lives with more faith, intention, and openness to be transformed. We will explore supposed binaries, like “faith & works” or “rest & growth,” or “grief & hope.” These ideas often seem to oppose one another.

However, as we explore these concepts within the scriptures, we find nuance and complexity. We find that these dichotomies are false. We might begin to see a full spectrum instead of black and white. We might find that God is present in between.

Today, Pastor Julie will preach the message “Everything in Between: Stranger and Neighbor.” The sermon text will be Luke 10:25-37 and the accompanying scripture passage will be Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16.

Wednesday, March 5, 2025 | Ash Wednesday | 6:30 PM

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of Lent. We hosted two 30-minute Ash Wednesday services at 12:30 pm and 6:30 pm.

Wednesday, March 5, 2025 | Ash Wednesday | 12:30 PM

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of Lent. We hosted two 30-minute Ash Wednesday services at 12:30 pm and 6:30 pm.

Sunday, March 2, 2025 | A Liberation Story | Transfiguration Sunday

Transfiguration is one of those five-syllable stained-glass words that only gets trotted out every once in a while in Sunday School or on Jeopardy. But the account of Jesus on the mountain with some disciples and Moses and Elijah, two rock stars of the Hebrew faith, is a story brimming with mystery, hope, and freedom.

Today Pastor Julie preaches the message, “A Liberation Story,” from Luke 9:28-36. Accompanying scripture passages are Exodus 34:29-35 and 2 Corinthians 3:17-4:2. We share communion together and collect a benevolence offering.

Sunday, February 23, 2025 | Encountering the Holy: Action

Today in worship, Pastor Julie completes a three-week sermon series, Encountering the Holy, based on Isaiah 6:1-8. Each week in worship we  read a different translation of that passage. Today, we will hear the Isaiah 6 text from The Inclusive Bible.

Accompanying scripture passages are 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 and Luke 6:27-38.

Sunday, February 16, 2025 | Encountering the Holy: Repentance

This Sunday in worship, Pastor Julie continued a three-week sermon series, Encountering the Holy, based on Isaiah 6:1-8. Each week in worship we will read a different translation of that passage. This Sunday, we will hear the Isaiah 6 text from the NRSVue (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition). Accompanying scripture passages are Luke 6:17-26 and 1 Corinthians 15:12-20.

Sunday, February 9, 2025 | Encountering the Holy: Wonder

To live in wonder is to be alive to the signs of the sacred all around you. Frederick Buechner said, “To speak of [something] as holy is to say that it has something of God’s mark upon it. Times, places, things and people can all be holy—and when they are, they are usually not hard to recognize.”

This Sunday in worship, Pastor Julie begins a three-week sermon series, Encountering the Holy, based on Isaiah 6:1-8. Each week in worship we will read a different translation of that passage. This Sunday, we will hear the Isaiah 6 text from Eugene Peterson’s translation, The Message.

Accompanying scripture passages are Luke 5:1-11 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.

Sunday, February 2, 2025 | Fulfilling Your Divine Assignment | Aqueelah Ligonde

Today in worship, we continue the season of Epiphany. Epiphany walks through the “firsts” of Christ such as his baptism, his first miracle, his first sermon, and this Sunday, his presentation in the temple.

Pastor Julie will be back from Orlando and in worship, and guest preacher Aqueelah Ligonde will preach the message “Fulfilling Your Divine Assignment” based on Jeremiah 1:4-10. Accompanying scripture passages are Luke 2:22-40 and 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. 

We will celebrate communion together, collect a benevolence offering, and enjoy our First Sunday potluck after worship.

Sunday, January 26, 2025 | His Inauguration Address

This Sunday in worship, we continue the season of Epiphany. Epiphany walks through the “firsts” of Christ such as his baptism, his first miracle, and in this week's Gospel text, his first sermon. Pastor Eric will preach the message “His Inauguration Address” based on Luke 4:14-30.

In Luke 4, we encounter Jesus in his hometown temple beginning his earthly ministry by reading the prophet Isaiah's words and instructing those gathered. Many biblical scholars and theologians describe this moment as the inauguration of Jesus' ministry, because he lays out his earthly mission in explicit terms for the first time. It is not received well by those who hear it, and they try to run him out of town. Yet for Jesus, this moment proceeds from a foundational "yes" to God, which is ultimately a "no" to all injustices and forms of hatred - none of which are of God.

Accompanying scriptures are Psalm 19:7-14 and 1 Corinthians 12:18-31a.

Sunday, January 19, 2025 | The First of His Signs

Today in worship, we continue the season of Epiphany and celebrate the first of Christ’s miracles: turning water to wine at the wedding of Cana. Pastor Julie is preaches the message “The First of His Signs” from John 2:1-11. Accompanying scriptures are Isaiah 62:1-5 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

Sunday, January 12, 2025 | Baptized and Beloved

Who tells you who you are? Your family? Your friends? Your enemies? Your conscience? Your boss?  

This Sunday in worship we continue the season of Epiphany by remembering the baptism of Jesus and the Divine affirmation: “You are my beloved, my own. In you I am well pleased.” To be baptized in Christ is to claim one’s identity: “I am a child of God.”

When we’ve lost our way, become confused or forgotten who we are, it helps so much to go back and look into those waters and see our face reflected there. 

Accompanying scriptures are Psalm 29 and Acts 8:14-17.

Sunday, January 5, 2025 | Service of Prayer and Reflection Honoring Jimmy Carter

Sunday, January 5, 2025 | All Things New

This Sunday in worship, we welcome the new year and celebrate Epiphany. Epiphany marks the revelation of the Christ child to the magi who traveled from afar to worship and present gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It reminds us that from the beginning of his life, Jesus shone forth as God’s great reveal to the whole world.

Pastor Julie preaches the message “All Things New” from Isaiah 43:16-21, with the accompanying scripture of Matthew 2:1-12. We will take communion together in worship, and collect the first benevolence offering of 2025. After worship, we will catch up from the holidays with a potluck downstairs in the Fellowship Hall.