Community Universalist Church: Recent Episodes
Community Universalist Church
In the third part of my introduction to Christianity and Christian Universalism, I look at the bible, its structure, its history, and its importance to us today as Christian Universalism. I discuss issues around biblical literalism, biblical inerrancy, and how we should read the bible to best understand it in light of Jesus's teachings.
If you would like to learn more about us, check out our website. or one of the links below:
- Our regular Sunday services are posted to our YouTube channel.
- Our community discusses sermons and other topics on our Discord server.
- If you would like to donate to our community, you can do so through Patreon.
Community Universalist Church is an inclusive and welcoming community. For more details on our stance towards the LGBTQ+ community, please see the following link: https://bit.ly/3343Fay
We are grateful to Oleg Kirilkov for providing our intro and outro music.
In the second part of my introduction to Christianity and Christian Universalism, I look at the life and death of Jesus Christ and discuss the political and religious environment in which he lived. The goal is for us to better understand who Jesus was, why he was important to the people of Judea during his lifetime, and why he continues to be the central figure in Christianity today.
If you would like to learn more about us, check out our website. or one of the links below:
- Our regular Sunday services are posted to our YouTube channel.
- Our community discusses sermons and other topics on our Discord server.
- If you would like to donate to our community, you can do so through Patreon.
Community Universalist Church is an inclusive and welcoming community. For more details on our stance towards the LGBTQ+ community, please see the following link: https://bit.ly/3343Fay
We are grateful to Oleg Kirilkov for providing our intro and outro music.
In the first part of my introduction to Christianity and Christian Universalism, I look at the reasons that people search for a religious home and the reasons why I believe people come to Christianity and Christian Universalism. If nobody will be punished for all eternity for their mistakes, as Christian Universalists believe, then why even be Christian?
If you would like to learn more about us, check out our website. or one of the links below:
- Our regular Sunday services are posted to our YouTube channel.
- Our community discusses sermons and other topics on our Discord server.
- If you would like to donate to our community, you can do so through Patreon.
Community Universalist Church is an inclusive and welcoming community. For more details on our stance towards the LGBTQ+ community, please see the following link: https://bit.ly/3343Fay
We are grateful to Oleg Kirilkov for providing our intro and outro music.
Baptism is a cornerstone of the Christian faith and is demonstrated by both Jesus and the apostles in the scriptures. Many Christians believe that those who are not baptized will not go to heaven. Others believe that the unbaptized may still enter heaven if they are baptized after death. As a community who believes that all will be eventually reconciled with God, how do Christian Universalists understand the meaning and purpose of baptism? These are the questions that Rev. Andrew looks at in this sermon on the most central of Christian rituals.
If you would like to learn more about us, check out our website. or one of the links below:
- Our regular Sunday services are posted to our YouTube channel.
- Our community discusses sermons and other topics on our Discord server.
- If you would like to donate to our community, you can do so through Patreon.
Community Universalist Church is an inclusive and welcoming community. For more details on our stance towards the LGBTQ+ community, please see the following link: https://bit.ly/3343Fay
We are grateful to Oleg Kirilkov for providing our intro and outro music.
In this sermon, Rev. Andrew talks about what motivates us to be Christians, given our belief in universal salvation. When we don't fear eternal punishment in hell, why should we follow the teachings of Jesus?
This sermon was originally recorded on June 25th, 2023.
If you would like to learn more about us, check out our website. or one of the links below:
- Our regular Sunday services are posted to our YouTube channel.
- Our community discusses sermons and other topics on our Discord server.
- If you would like to donate to our community, you can do so through Patreon.
Community Universalist Church is an inclusive and welcoming community. For more details on our stance towards the LGBTQ+ community, please see the following link: https://bit.ly/3343Fay
We are grateful to Oleg Kirilkov for providing our intro and outro music.
In this sermon we look at Romans 2:1-16 in which Paul discusses the universality of God's judgement and the fact that we will all be repaid for our actions in this life. Rev. Andrew talks about our need for a just universe and a just God and how the concept of God's justice and judgement is often misunderstood by those who are new to Christian Universalism.
In this week's sermon we look at he reading in Acts that discusses Saul's persecution of the early Christians and his conversion to Christianity after seeing a vision of Jesus Christ. What does it mean to convert to Christianity and how do we share that experience with others when it is so deeply personal?
In this week's sermon we look at the stories of the risen Christ that we find in the gospel, especially his interactions with the apostle Thomas. In the person of Thomas we can often see ourselves, doubtful of the stories we've heard and always questioning what we haven't seen with our own eyes. If we doubt, does that mean we don't have faith? How can we hear the story of the risen Christ and understand it in a way that makes sense to us in our modern context? How can we embrace the mystery of the risen Christ without the need to rationalize and explain away everything that we're taught?
How should we understand the story of the empty tomb and the death of Jesus as Christian Universalists. Reading: John 20:1-18 (CEB)
In this Good Friday sermon we examine the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus and how John's version of the story has led to problematic interpretations of the events by Christians over the years. As Christian Universalists, how can we understand Christ's crucifixion as an event that proved God's victory over sin and death instead of a sacrifice to an angry God?
Palm Sunday celebrates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem for Passover and the procession that occurred when that happened. The original hearers of this story would have understood this procession differently than many modern hearers because they would have been familiar with the processions of those in power during the Roman Empire. In this week's sermon we look at this context and the ways that Jesus subverts people's expectations as he asks us to become servants of others rather than conquerors.
In this week's sermon we look at the story of Jesus's trial before Pontius Pilate as it is described in John's Gospel. What did it mean when Pilate called Jesus the King of the Jews? How can we read this text in a way that does not breed antisemitism in our community? What was the context of the author and how did that affect the way the story was told? These are the sort of questions that we will attempt to address.
In this sermon we look at Elijah’s escape to Mount Horeb and how God helps him overcome his fears by giving him a new task and showing him that he is not alone.
In this sermon we look at the story of David and Saul and what it can tell us about God’s plans for us.
This sermon looks at the story of the Israelites’ jouney through the wilderness and their unwillingness to trust that God will provide for them. Human beings like to be in control of their own lives, and letting go and trusting in God can be very difficult.
In this sermon we look at the story of Moses and the Burning Bush and what it means to be called by God even when we think we aren’t good enough.
In this sermon we look at God’s command to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and what it tells us about the nature of God and the nature of faith.
This sermon looks at the creation story in Genesis and talks about what it is trying to tell us about the nature of reality and what it means for us to be created in the image of God.
This sermon looks at the parable of the lost sheep and how it might apply to us in our modern context.
We often hear individual bible verses used to support various positions, but it can be dangerous and even harmful to quote bible verses without understanding the context that surrounds them.
In this sermon we look at John’s description of Jesus as the bread of life and what that means to us as Christian Universalists.
In this sermon we look at what the church is and at what God asks of us as members of a local church community.
How do we deal with all of the evil and pain and grief in the world? What do we do when we find ourselves overcome with guilt? How do we reconcile the realities of life with our trust in a loving God?
When we are told by God to “do justice”, what does that mean exactly? What did justice mean to the biblical authors and what does God expect of us when we are told to do justice?
In this week’s sermon we look at baptism and why it is important from a Christian Universalist perspective. If all are forgiven, why do we still need baptism?
In this sermon I discuss some of the history of the Lord’s Supper, also called Communion or the Eucharist, and the meaning it has to us as Christian Universalists.
The Book of Acts describes the arrival of the Holy Spirit as it descended on the apostles like fire. It was an event that changes the early community and brought the church into being. What does it mean for us today to say that we have received the Holy Spirit?
In this sermon we continue our previous look at Paul's letter to the Galatians and what Paul says about justification through faith and the role of the law in Christian life.
In the first of three sermons on Paul’s letter to the Galatians and what Paul says about the gospel, his own authority to preach the gospel, and what the gospel says about justification by faith and God’s grace.
The parable of the prodigal son and the two parables that precede it, the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin, are central to the gospel message of God’s love and forgiveness, and yet that message was offensive to the original audience and is often offensive to us today. What does it tell us about the nature of God and where should we look for ourselves in the story?
In this week’s sermon I look at the time that Mary and Joseph lost Jesus and found him at the temple and what the story says about the humanity of Jesus.
This week we look at the book of Joel and the how he was preparing the Judeans for the coming of the Messiah and the forgiveness that the Messiah will bring with him.
In this sermon I look at the faith of Daniel and our own faith in God during both good times and bad.
In this week's sermon I compare the experience of the Judeans in exile to our own communities in this pandemic and the new covenant that Jeremiah announces and what it means to us as Christians as we head into the advent season.
In this week’s sermon we look at how our own feelings of worthlessness can keep us from living into the calling that God has placed on our life.
In this sermon I look at the Book of Jonah and how we can see Jonah in ourselves during this time of worldwide political turmoil.
In this week’s sermon we look at Elijah, his interaction with the widow of Zarephath, and how this interaction demonstrates God’s love for all people.
This week we talk about how sometimes God works on a very different time scale than we do. Often we have to accept that God may take longer to answer our prayers than we hope for.
This week we look at the prayers and faith of Hannah. How do we embrace a spiritual practice of prayer in our lives? How do we know that God hears our prayers?
In this sermon we look at the story of the golden calf and what it means to us today to worship idols.
Should we pray for the death of our enemies? We start by looking at the narrative of the Passover and the Death of the Firstborn of Egypt. Then we look at the biblical narrative as a whole and what it tells us about divine judgement, retribution, and oppression.
In this sermon we look at the story of Joseph and his brothers and look at how God was able to turn an act of betrayal into an act of salvation. We also look at what it means to repent and to forgive.
Who was Abraham and why was he important? What does it mean for us as Christians and Christian Universalists to say we are descendants of Abraham?
Paul tells us that it is not through the wisdom of the world or through signs that we come to have faith in God and the saving work of Jesus Christ but through the foolishness of preaching that God's anointed one has been crucified and resurrected. What does Jesus's death on the cross mean to us today, especially as Christian Universalists?
This is sermon we look at Paul's understanding of the Law and how the redeeming power of Christ has freed us from the Law of Moses. How does this affect us as Christian Universalists and how do we understand the idea of God's justice and punishment with this verse in mind?
This week we look at Paul's letter to the Romans and how he describes how the Christians in Rome should behave towards one another and towards those outside the church.
Paul describes the church as one body with many members. Each member has something different to contribute to the whole, but without all of those different members the church would not be complete. How can we contribute our gifts to the church? Can we embrace diversity in the church and in our lives?