We don’t like to be commanded. We do not like to be told what to do—except when we find ourselves in over our heads. Before they receive the 10 Commandments the Hebrews find themselves in a place that outstrips all their resources. For 400 years they have lived in Egypt as a part of a mighty empire. Pharaohs came and Pharaohs went but the empire continued. And they had been shaped by that ongoing empire and its culture. They had learned the lessons of empire well, without even trying. Life is cheap. Power is everything. Work is ceaseless. Might makes right. Exploitation is normal. Conformity i ..read more

On Easter we proclaimed, Christ is risen indeed! Perhaps the complexity of these past few days makes you ponder what the risen Christ means for you. For us. Thanks be to God that Easter is not a one and done. It is a beginning! The next few weeks we are journeying with people who asked a lot of questions after Jesus rose from the dead. Are you a question asker? A doubter? A wonderer? An explorer? You are in good company. Let’s live into resurrection together! On Sundays in April, we will focus on the Risen Jesus, who walked, talked, listened, explained, encouraged, and made breakfast! Our Soul ..read more

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. Luke 15:20 Imagine the judgement, scorn, and ridicule the young man who had gone so far astray expected when he returned home to his father! His only desperate hope was that he might be treated like a “hired hand.” Instead, his father saw his long-lost son in the distance, lifted his robe, and ran to embrace the child that he loved and had always loved. During the season of Lent (which means the time of lengthe ..read more

Prayer is one of the most intimate, powerful, active, transforming gifts that each human being is created with capacity to dialogue with our Creator – to have access to God through conversation.   You do not need to get a degree in PRAYER in order to begin praying.  There is no pedigree required. To pray is to interact with God with sharing all your desires, wishes, hopes, dreams, heartaches and to take time to LISTEN to God’s desires, hopes, imagination for CREATION. Prayer is simply communicating with God, talking with God, thinking with God—all of which become easier the more ..read more

Four week Sabbath Study An Invitation to Sabbath Rest. Is this possible?  A four-week study of scripture in dialogue with others Week One:  Sabbath Rest as RECEIVING & REJOICING.   Week Two:  Sabbath Rest as REMEMBRANCE Week Three:  Sabbath Rest as RESISTANCE Week Four: Sabbath Rest as RESTORATION Introduction to your Invitation to Sabbath Rest Sabbath [Shabbat in Hebrew]: To cease from work/labor, to pause, to rest, to celebrate.  To keep Sabbath in our culture of 24/7 commitments and technology that can keep us incessantly linked to anyone anywhere in t ..read more

2023 Daily Lent Readings Daily Readings for Lent, 2023 from the Revised Common Lectionary During the season of Lent, in which we journey with Jesus toward his death and resurrection, we remember and acknowledge that through Jesus Christ, God revealed steadfast love (HESED) for humanity and commitment to a New Covenant in which the Spirit will be given to guide each human heart.  In Lent we peel back the accumulated messages that deny our identity as God’s beloved and our need for a Savior. We join with Jesus’ disciples to receive this good news of Lent. We cannot save ourselves. We need ..read more

Know the Big Picture: God is loving everyone into wholeness, through Jesus Christ, so that we can enjoy and participate in God’s reign forever.  See Jesus as Central Character: the Old Testament is preparing our understanding of who Jesus is and why he comes; New Testament reveals Jesus and what it means to bear witness to Christ participating in God’s reign.  Read With: Holy Spirit—we trust Spirit to guide and teach,   Questions—What questions does the passage prompt?   Others- we read with community and for community; not just for ourselves   -ho ..read more

UNEXPECTED PAIRING Advent Sermon Recordings LINK Unexpectedly, the Word became flesh and made home among us. This is not what people EXPECTED of God–to condescend to human form and become one of us! Heaven meets earth. How does this change us, our relationships, our choices, our lives? Where are we invited to be OPEN to the unexpected? Where is God doing a new thing in and through us when we open ourselves to pairing ourselves with God’s gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love? The unexpected pairing of Advent is mind-boggling and beyond any palatal sensation or eye-popping look…  God, Creato ..read more

ADVENT DEVOTIONAL TITLE  We’ll All Be Free Time To Revive Hope Imaginary Borders An Advent Prayer for Guatemala  Climate Justice Praying for the Savior Rain  What Border is God Asking You to Cross?  Amira’s Story  A New Dawn Preservation...or Isolation? A Prayer  With Suffering Community Bridging the Divide with Art Borders: Danger or Safety  When It’s Brother Against Brother A Crisis After a Crisis The Space Between Breaking Down Internal Borders Connecting Across (Mental) Borders Reflections on Iran, Ancient Persia, and the “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” (Women, Lif ..read more

Living Merciful God, we confess our need to be forgiven. You love us and fill us like no other yet we are distracted and enticed by that which does not satisfy nor sustain us.  You love us but we place our trust in political parties, bank accounts, technology-- things capable of good but not qualified to bring wholeness and instead feed fear and isolation from others, ourselves and You.  You love us and yet we do not love as you have loved us. We keep score of wrongs against us, ignore the plight of others and discount the injustice around us.  You love us yet we doubt your word ..read more