Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast: Recent Episodes
Rev. Eric Ogi
Hear weekly Sunday messages from Pastor Eric as he reflects on scripture and our world to cast a vision for—and invite us to live—a more just, generous, and authentic version of our faith.
In this message on Father's Day, Pastor Eric uses the shortest verse in the entire Bible (at least in English): "Jesus Wept" (John 11:35) to reflect on the kind of masculinity Jesus embodied. Looking at Jesus, he then contrasts these with the ways we imagine what it means to "be a man" in our own society, and asks: how does the socialization process from "boys to men" end up cutting us off from core parts of what it means to be human? If Jesus was fully human--and lived fully into his humanity--then how does the way he embodies his masculinity call us beyond the boundaries of what our society offers us? Are we willing to commit to a masculinity that liberates us into the fullness of our humanity? How can we build such a community here at Federated Church and support such a movement in our wider world? These are questions this sermon is meant to inspire and provoke in us. How will we respond?
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the bold and counter cultural community found in the Book of Acts—a community where everyone gave what they had to share with all such that “there was no one in need among them.”Drawing on a quote from the influential theologian, Jurgen Moltmann, that “the opposite of poverty is not property. The opposite of both poverty and property is community,” Pastor Eric reflects on what such a boldly countercultural and extravagantly loving community might look like here and now. How are we already living this out? What might become possible if we commit to doing so with even greater intentionality?
This message given on Pentecost, known as the “birth of the church” 50 days after Jesus’ death and resurrection, reflects on the famed story of The Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 alongside the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 to explore the vision of community, diversity, and belonging they offer us and our world—and how it contrasts with how our world tends to operate. Is it possible that these ancient texts offer a vision that our world desperately needs and that the church has largely missed entirely? What might it look like for us to open ourselves to this life-giving Spirit individually and collectively; to embody and model a way of being together that heals and restores our fractured world? Are we willing to let go of control and see what this Spirit makes of us?
In this message, Pastor Eric explores the overlooked and undervalued images of God in scripture as a mourning woman, mother, and midwife. The foundational understanding of God in the Old Testament--the tradition in which Jesus was raised--was not a philosophical construction as God became after the Enlightenment (with a focus on omnipotence, omniscience, etc.). Rather, as a people who knew immense suffering, God was fundamentally the Liberating Power for Life, for Love, for Justice, for Collective Flourishing.Drawing on this deep commitment to a God who wills life, Pastor Eric explores how they looked around at their everyday world and drew on images of life making a way out of no way. "This is what God is like," they were saying.This remains an open invitation for us today. Where do you see God? Who is the God of Liberating Power, of Life and Love and Justice and Mercy and Flourishing you need? What might it mean for you to draw near to the God who is a mourning woman, a mother, and midwife? How might such images shift how we live, and the world we are creating?
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on how our habits—things we do regularly and without thinking—shape us and our world, shape our reactions to everything from receiving good news to dealing (or not dealing) with pain and grief. What might happen if we added intentional rituals to our everyday lives? What might this look like and how might it shape us and our world differently?With these questions in my, Pastor Eric explores how the rhythm of gathering through rituals that connect us to God, self, others, and creation shaped the earliest followers of Jesus amidst their own chaotic and uncertain times. It was being regularly grounded in these connections that they were able to garner the courage and conviction to boldly bear witness to a countercultural and world-changing Love—to “raise the dead”—even as the world was hostile and violent against them and their message.Looking at how the rituals of the early church shaped them, we ask ourselves: how might we ground ourselves through the use of these or other rituals so that we might also have the courage and conviction to “raise the dead,” as Jesus calls us to?
In this message, in the early weeks after Easter, Pastor Eric invites us to reflect on Judas:How is it that scripture remembers him? How much of this negative image may be a projection of the rest of the disciples own shame for having deserted and denied Jesus during his greatest hour of need? Does Judas become a sort of scapegoat?And similarly, how have we done that--projected our own shame onto others; turned individuals or groups of people into scapegoats as a way of trying to not confront our own failures and mistakes?How far does God's love go? Does it extend to Judas? Does it extend to even the "worst" among us? Does it extend to the "worst" that you've done? Can you imagine God's love turning the world upside down and blessing even Judas--even the "Judas" in you?
As we continue in the season of Easter, Pastor Eric reflects on one of the primary ways that the earliest followers of Jesus came to understand the resurrection: they were now called to be his living body. As they opened themselves to receiving his life-giving Spirit, they found themselves animated and empowered to love boldly and courageously, just as Jesus had loved (and in spite of their grief, guilt, shame, and fear).Still, this was not a “happily ever after” story. The early church continued to navigate heated differences amidst its growing diversity. In this message, Pastor Eric uses the story of Paul and Peter’s famous heated exchange to explore what the resurrection means for how we navigate conflict and creating communities of true belonging amidst our diversity.
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the mysterious nature of Jesus' resurrection appearances. Drawing on the Apostle Paul's description of the "risen Lord" as a "life-giving Spirit" rather than just a "living being," he explores the resurrection story of Jesus feeding the disciples breakfast in John 21 and three times asking Peter, "Do you love me?"
This scene invites us to consider how the disciples don't just "see" a resurrected Christ, but rather encounter Jesus' Life-Giving Spirit, which also raises them up to new life. What might this mean for us as we are invited to encounter Christ's Life-Giving Spirit today? How might God raise you up to new life, and with you all the world?
In this Easter message, Pastor Eric helps us differentiate between "fact" and "truth" as we consider what it is that we are invited to believe, encounter, give ourselves to, and proclaim when it comes to Jesus' resurrection.While we don't know all the facts of that first Easter, or the precise "nature" of Jesus' resurrection, we do know that something powerfully life-altering happened. A day that begins in grief and despair ends in joy, even as "Mary and the women" and Peter have no verifiable proof that Life has overcome Death. According to Luke 24, at the empty tomb, they do not see a "raised Jesus." They are simply told that it is true.So, what enabled them to believe this truth in the face of the brutal facts of the world around them? What might it mean for you to tether your heart in hope to this truth in the face of the disfiguring, dehumanizing, and debilitating forces at work in your own life and our world?
In this message*, Pastor Eric invites us to imagine the unfolding events of "Palm Sunday" from the perspective of Jesus's disciple, Peter. The challenge is that Peter and the disciples, while constantly at Jesus' side during his ministry, are nowhere to be found in this moment.But scripture is clear: Jesus's entry into Jerusalem on a donkey and his actions in the Temple--flipping over tables and causing a stir--are the very events that push the political and religious leaders leaders over the edge and lead them to crucify him. We can't understand how we get to the cross without these events. And yet, it is strange that at such a climactic moment, Peter and the disciples are absent.So, where was Peter? This message considers what we might have to learn from entering into the tensions that he would have been wrestling with that day in his quest--and failure--to follow Jesus to the end?
- Pastor Eric's microphone got knocked off as he got changed for the sermon and didn't realize it, hence the muffled sounds. Our apologies!
Continuing our Lenten journey of figuring out faith with Peter, in this message Pastor Eric reflects on Peter's hunger to learn; his willingness to stay open, keep showing up, and learn--even after last week when Jesus rebuked him quite strongly.What is it that Peter is hungry to learn about in this scripture? Something many of us are hungry to learn about--and struggle with: forgiveness. What role does forgiveness play in our relationships? What's the relationship between forgiveness and accountability? If you forgive, then does that let someone off the hook of facing consequences for their actions? Are there "nonviolent" consequences that do not include verbally, emotionally, or physically assaulting someone? If you forgive, does that mean you won't be angry anymore? And if you're still angry, does that mean you haven't forgiven?What's clear is that: while authentic forgiveness--the kind Jesus models and invites us into--is powerfully transformative and life-giving, distorted versions of forgiveness--the kind common in our society--are powerfully destructive.So: what is forgiveness and what role does it play in healing and repairing our relationships? This message is Pastor Eric's attempt to answer that question.
In this message, Pastor Eric continues exploring the scripture story began with last week's message where Jesus asks his disciples: "Who do YOU think that I am?For a moment, Peter and Jesus see, name, and bless one another in a powerful exchange.However, it quickly becomes clear that while Peter gives the "right answer," he has the wrong understanding. His understanding of what it meant for Jesus to be "the Messiah, the son of the living God" is rooted in scripture and tradition. It's what many around him were thinking. And yet, that understanding was far from who Jesus understood himself--and thus his mission--to be.Which raises the question: What if, like Peter, the understanding that was handed on to us is also misguided? What if Jesus isn't who we were taught that he was? Are we willing to let go of what we think we know in order to let something--someone--altogether different reveal themselves to us?And--by extension--we might also ask: what about with one another? Have you put someone in a box of understanding that they are calling--demanding--you let them break free of? What would it mean for you to listen?
In this message, we continue our journey of figuring out faith alongside Simon Peter and his winding, wandering heart. Over the first two weeks for his series, we've reflected on the very human and relatable qualities of Peter. We've seen him question, doubt, give in to fear, and mistake courage for bravado.But this week, for at least a moment, we pause as he alone among the disciples has the courage, clarity, and capacity to see Jesus for who he really is. In response, Jesus gives him a new name--Peter (which means "rock")--which functions as a blessing, a new identity, and a calling. In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on Peter and Jesus truly seeing, naming, and blessing each other, and ponders what it might mean for us to do the same.
This week, as we continue our Lenten series following the Apostle Peter, Pastor Eric explores how Peter reacts when caught in a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee, and in doing so invites us to consider how we tend to react when faced with forces beyond our control that threaten to "swamp our boat" and "sink" us, and how these reactions--and our understandable desire to control things and make them go away as quickly as possible--often make matters worse; or, at best, get in the way of real healing and truly moving forward. If that's so, then how ARE we invited to respond when faced with the violent "storms of life"? Pastor Eric invites us to consider a response to that question.
With this message, Pastor Eric launches us into the season of Lent. Introducing us to our theme, "Wandering Heart: Figuring Out Faith with Peter," we are spending the season following Peter's journey. In Peter, we see a person who is both steadfast and unsteady, a dear friend and a betrayer, a follower and a wanderer. In Peter, we are invited to see something of ourselves. By following Peter’s journey, we watch the story of Jesus unfold through the eyes of a very normal human trying to figure it all out—just like us. More specifically, in this message, we are introduced to Peter the fisherman, the person Jesus walked up to on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Who was he? Why did Jesus seek him out? What did Jesus see? What might all this reveal about the Jesus who is also seeking you out?
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the story of Jesus' transfiguration--a "coming out" story of sorts. Atop a mountain with his three closest disciples, Jesus reveals a truth about him that up to this point had not been fully seen or understood, even by them. The question that follows--for the disciples is how will they respond. Will they "listen to him," as the voice of God calls them to? Or will they react by trying to put Jesus back in the boxes/understandings they're familiar--and more comfortable--with?This story of transfiguration isn't just about Jesus. Moments of transfiguration--of unveiling--happen to each and all of us throughout life. We learn a profound truth; we see someone in the fullness of their glory; we have "mountaintop experiences" where we see life with such clarity. But then, like the disciples, we have to go back down the mountain. We have to figure out how to honor this truth, honor what we've seen and know in the midst of the stresses, overwhelm, and messiness of everyday life. This is the challenge for the disciples, and for us.
In this message, Pastor Eric explores a passage from the Gospel of Mark that includes a story of "casting out demons" and physical healing. How are we to understand these stories? What are we to make of demons? Is this just ancient superstition? Does this just reflect an antiquated worldview that we, with modern medicine, no longer have? Introducing us to the wider context of Jesus' world and ministry, Pastor Eric explores these questions and invites us to consider the hope, possibilities, and challenge they offer us in our own lives and world.
Oftentimes, when we imagine God, we imagine a sort of superhero Being far beyond humanity. We imagine One who is "all powerful" and "all knowing."
And yet, at the center of Christian faith is the God of incarnation--a God who is neither of these, but rather a God who is "all-vulnerable." A God who is not "self-sufficient" or "self-reliant," but a "powerless" God who is utterly dependent on others: to be cared for, to be fed, to be held, to be loved--heck, this God even had to learn how to walk and probably needed his boo-boos kissed when he got hurt!
In this message on the first Sunday after Christmas, Pastor Eric invites us to continue reflecting on the incarnation and how dwelling on the utter vulnerability of a God who enters the world in the ways Jesus does might transform not only how we understand God, but how we understand what it means to be human--and therefore how we seek to live and honor our own humanity.
In this Christmas message, Pastor Eric explores not only the meaning of God's incarnation--"God with us"--but what kind of "flesh" God took on: where, when, and to whom. How does the particularity of the story of God's incarnation illuminate the meaning of God with us in new ways? How might we hear the "good news" of God's salvation and peace and joy for all the world when we hear it in this way? How might this help us to see and experience this good news in our own lives and in our own world?
In this message, Pastor Eric takes us more fully into the world of Mary in order to better understand who this young woman is that sings out in the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-56) about God toppling tyrants from their thrones and lifting up the lowly. It is only in understanding the context in which she lived that we can truly understand what it means--how profound and world-altering it is--that God would choose her of all people. What does it mean to say that HER child--who will be shaped by her vision of love and justice, by her God, will be the one to bring salvation and liberation, to bring true and lasting peace to the world?And what does it mean for us to hear and honor Mary's full-throated freedom song ringing out in our own lives and world today?
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the story of the birth and naming of John (the Baptist), within the larger story of both Elizabeth and Zechariah's journey of grief, suffering, shame, weariness, and hopelessness and that of the brutal world in which they lived.The words and actions of Elizabeth and Zechariah reveals a profound transformation from where they began. How did that transformation happen? Namely, what role might wonder and awe have played in it for them--just, as scripture says, it does for the crowd gathered for the ritual circumcision and naming ceremony? What role might it play for us and our world as we journey through our own weariness in search of joy?
In this message, Pastor Eric invites us to hear the story of the first Advent in Palestine—the story leading up to the birth of Jesus—by drawing us deeper into the story of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. By helping us imagine their lives—their hopes and fears, their struggles and weariness—he invites us to consider our own.In a world so focused on self-help and individualistic journeys of healing, this scripture and reflection invite us to consider its limits. Instead, we reflect on the role that Mary and Elizabeth's deep connection with each other during their difficult pregnancies played in their capacities to hold/experience joy alongside their weariness. Through their story, we are invited to consider what role it might play in our own journeys--and what it would take for us to cultivate it and open ourselves to it.
In this message, Pastor Eric invites us into the Advent season with this question: "How does a weary world rejoice?" What does hope look like in the face of the devastations of war? In the face of griefs that can't be wished away or fixed?Through the ancient story of a simple couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth, we are reminded that true joy and hope can only grow from this soil. Our invitation is to meet God here, in the very places where God feels most absent and silent and to discover the shape of joy and hope in a way that we cannot buy our way to; that we cannot know if we try to run away from such realities and feelings.The Gospel of Luke begins the grand story of God's healing and repair of all the world not through the story of the mighty and powerful, but through the downtrodden and easily overlooked--along with the last places in our own lives we would look for it to begin.How does a weary world rejoice? It begins by simply acknowledging our weariness for ourselves, before God and before one another. So let us begin.
In this message, Pastor Eric invites us as individuals and as a church to consider: what is it that you primarily see yourself as stewarding and passing on to the next generation?Many of us probably think of material things. We pass on buildings/homes, collected treasures, money. We often think of our primary focus as ensuring that we have something of this sort to pass on. And yet, this is not what Jesus calls his followers to focus on as he prepares for his death. As he prepares them to carry on the movement he's started without him, he calls them to steward something much more important--and also much more difficult--Love. Namely, the Way of Love that he has offered to them and modeled for them. Other things--a building, money, etc.--that may come and go. They are not ends in and of themselves; they are not the goal. Their only purpose as followers of Jesus is to serve the real purpose: building a community committed to learning and practicing the Way of Love.How might such a focus shift how you live in your own life? As a partner or parent? As a church member or wider community member?
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the historical shift that took place in the centuries after Jesus--from actively following Jesus and the Way of Love that he modeled to building and maintaining an institution. Going back to the early church, he invites us to imagine what it might look like for us to boldly and courageously embody this Way once again, to keep growing as a dynamic movement of Love, rather than merely focusing on maintaining a building and the traditions handed on to us.
"So, you say you love the poor? Name them." These words from the great Latin American Liberation theologian, Gustavo Gutierrez, remind us that love cannot be lived out at a distance. It is not merely about "being on the right side of history," believing the "right" things, or voting a certain way. It is a call to build authentic and deep community with one another; to get involved in the beautiful, complicated messiness that is life.At the end of the day, if we are not in community with--if our church is not comprised of--those who experience marginalization and dehumanization, those from different cultural or religious backgrounds, those who carry different stories in their bodies--then we cannot actually claim to be agents of God's love.This is the challenge--and the life-giving invitation--that Jesus offers us; we cannot simply think ourselves into understanding God. Rather, if "God is Love," as scripture says, then we must live ourselves into new ways of understanding just what this love means. We cannot love others as Jesus has loved us if we have not opened ourselves to experiencing this love; if we have not let it wash over us. Reflecting on Jesus washing his disciples feet in the Gospel of John, Pastor Eric reminds us that this is where we begin, and where we are sent out from--for our healing, for the healing of all the world.
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the story of Elias Chacour, a Palestinian Christian who, as a child, experienced the trauma of his family and entire village being rounded up and violently forced to flee their homes in the founding of the State of Israel--and who yet would go on to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize two times, while receiving several other international peace awards.
How did this traumatized child go on to be a visionary person of audacious love and courageous peace-building?
In exploring Jesus's call to his followers--to love others as he loved them--Pastor Eric discusses the role that such stories from scripture and the community of faith that Elias Chacour was a part of played in his journey. In doing so, he invites us to consider: how might seeing ourselves as a "school of love" call forth visions of transforming love bold and daring enough to transform our little corner of the world?
In this message, Pastor Eric explores how the Gospels portray Jesus' relationship with his family, and in doing so invites us to reflect on our own--especially with regards to how we learned to give and receive love as children. By inviting us to see our families as our first "school of love"--where we are taught through words and actions what love is--Pastor Eric invites us to consider how these patterns continue to shape how we give and receive love as adults, even if that "love" was and is a distorted version of love.What might it look like for our families--in an expansive sense of that term--to become more intentional schools of love?
In this message, Pastor Eric invites us to consider the ways that we use spiritual beliefs and practices to avoid certain parts of the human experience. Sometimes, we can believe that being "spiritual" means rising above emotions (namely the ones we don't like, such as fear, anger, grief, pain or shame). Rather than seeking a spirituality that calls us to move through these "wildernesses"--that helps us embrace the fullness of what it means to be human and journey through them toward new life--we too often turn to platitudes and practices to bypass being honest with ourselves about them.But there is no human being who has ever lived who did not experience these "difficult" emotions--not even Jesus. And if authentic spirituality is about facilitating a journey toward true life--toward "aliveness"--then we must find a way to embrace the fullness of what it means to be human.
In this message, Pastor Eric invites us into a playful practice of imagining possible futures; of imagining what’s possible without getting bogged down in whether or not it’s realistic or how to do it, etc.Too often in our own lives and in the church, we can get stuck, and we lose the ability to imagine anything else to be possible other than what is or has been—or perhaps that, but slightly better. But the future is not fixed; it is not “out there” waiting for us to arrive. The future emerges from our present; what’s possible is directly connected to what we can imagine here and now.Centering all authentic spirituality on the pursuit of aliveness—true, abundant life—Pastor Eric challenges us to consider what a spirituality truly committed to aliveness, to flourishing for all, might look like? What kind of spirituality would be needed to move our world in that direction, and how might the pursuit of such a vision re-shape everything we’re doing—and how we’re doing it—now?
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the famous passage from Ecclesiastes—“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, a time to die…”—and the central struggle on the author’s heart and mind: that life is filled with absurdities; the cause and effect “order” that we often want, simply doesn’t exist: bad things happen to good people.
How does one live within these absurdities? Within this life that is but a vapor? How might we live within the overlapping of these seasons--when there is not just new life, but death; not just joy, but deep grief; not just gain, but loss? How might our faith call us--and sustain us--as we seek to live within the fullness that is life, so that time doesn't just pass us by? In sharing some personal stories from this season of new parenthood, Pastor Eric invites us to consider these tensions.
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on how Moses encounters God in the strangeness of a "bush that is burning, but is not consumed" in order to connect how the ways we imagine God especially shape the way we respond/react to "strange" situations or "foreign" ideas or people. Does our theology open us to such moments and encounters or close us off from them? Do we allow such things, ideas, or people to touch us and possibly even change or transform us, or do we try to control them, suppress them?
After exploring the ways that God speaks to Moses, this message explores the story of Peter and Cornelius in the New Testament Book of Acts. How does Peter's understanding of God open him to "strange" new ideas and encounters? How might this once again be the very place where God is calling him to expand his his imagination, his vision, and therefore his life? And if this is true for Peter, how might it also be true for us?
In this message, Pastor Eric follows up his two previous messages reflecting on "where is God?" in order to reflect on what our answers to that question mean for the kind of community we can imagine--and therefore the kind of world we can work to create.
Through the story of Philip's encounter with an Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, he explores what it meant to be a eunuch in the biblical world, and how this encounter was--and remains for us today--a beautiful, controversial, and world-altering invitation to follow in the Way of Jesus as the Spirit of God continues breaking down barriers that divide and hostilities that exclude and marginalize (Eph. 2). Indeed, just as God refuses to be reduced to our boxes or categories--always transcending them--so too the Spirit of God will break even the rules of scripture itself wherever they lead to marginalization in order to build a new humanity, and a new community of true belonging.
In this message, Pastor Eric takes us on a journey through the story of creation’s beginnings in Genesis 1, inviting us to allow its familiar words to surprise and even challenge us toward a deeper encounter with the Divine Creator who is always drawing forth goodness and new life from the chaos of the world.
Beyond the binaries of light and dark, land and sea, earth and sky, and so on, is God not present in sunrises and sunsets? In dawn and dusk and in marshes or swamps?
Looking at Genesis 1 and then drawing on images of God used throughout scripture—Our ancient ancestors in the faith engaged in this very practice, seeing God in a mother giving birth and nursing her newborn; in a midwife delivering new life; in a shepherd guiding his flock and in a bakerwoman making nourishing meals; in a large rock in the desert for seeking shade from the noon sun; in bread and wine and water; in cloud and sun and much more.
Following them, Pastor Eric invites us to likewise be drawn more intimately into the life of the world around us and look for that which illustrates and opens us to God’s life-affirming presence and life-altering power, allowing these “images of God” to re-shape our lives and world, while refusing to reduce God to only one of them.
In this message, Pastor Eric invites us to encounter the Divine Mystery we name "God" in new ways.
Many of us have grown up with an image of God as a distant, angry, judging, old white-haired man whose approval we need to seek. The consequences of this image of God--even when we stop intentionally believing in it--not only negatively shapes our individual lives, but also the world that we imagine to be possible--and therefore are able to build.
In contrast to this, Pastor Eric dusts off the ancient Christian image of God as three and yet one--a singular unity and yet a community of multiplicity, of diversity. Rather than an antiquated rigid and patriarchal doctrine we should believe intellectually, he invites us to hear it as a fresh and transformational vision, as a timely call that our disconnected world deeply needs. Pastor Eric references the image on the cover of the bulletin in his sermon. You can view that here: bit.ly/FCSbulletinTS
In this Pentecost message, Pastor Eric reflects on the strange, confusing, seemingly absurd ways that God shows up in our world and in our lives. But all too often, we try to domesticate God, we try to control how and where “god” shows up and what happens as a result. In short, we get stuck in our own patterns and ways.
Pentecost is an invitation to open oneself to God’s Spirit, trusting that even when things seem chaotic, confusing, and beyond our control God can still be found. Which is to say that love and life are still present and unfolding; there is a future with joy and goodness that is still possible; mercy and healing are on their way. The invitation—and spiritual challenge—for us is to trust this truth enough that we can find it, can live into it even here and now amidst the uncertainty; to trust it enough that we can lives as thought it already were true. And inasmuch as we do, it is; it becomes real in and through us. This is good news not only for Christians or the church, but for the whole world!
Indeed, the future toward which God’s Spirit is collectively calling us is far beyond, more than, different from anything we could make for ourselves.
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the Apostle Paul’s radical transformation from a person of privilege to someone who chose a path that didn’t shy away from suffering when it resulted from boldly living out God’s love in a world of injustice. What came over him? What prompted this profound change of mind and heart and empowered him to live in this way? During the Guatemalan civil war and genocide of the indigenous Mayan people, the Guatemalan theologian-poet and peace activist, Julia Esquivel, wrote a provocative poem of hope. Amidst grave injustice and suffering, she proclaimed that the people lived “threatened with resurrection.” What a strange phrase! Isn’t resurrection good? Doesn’t new life look like being healthy, wealthy, and successful? What is resurrection in the face of death?Challenging us to think more expansively about what real, true life is, Pastor Eric connects the Apostle Paul’s transformation on the road to Damascus to the struggle in Guatemala, and to our own lives and world, asking: “what might it mean for us to also be a people who live ‘threatened with resurrection’?”
Continuing our Easter theme of celebrating a “season of Resurrection,” in this message Pastor Eric reflects on Jesus’ words to his disciples—and to us—when he says: “I tell you, the one who trusts in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” Can Jesus really be serious here? We’ll do greater things than him, if we trust in him??From these seemingly absurd words from Jesus, Pastor Eric reflects on the bold, courageous, and radical witness of the early church to suggest that Jesus really meant what he said. Which is to say: What “greater things” is God longing to do in and through us, Christ’s resurrected body, if only we would truly open ourselves to God’s life-raising power?
In this message, Pastor Eric continues his Easter series reflecting on resurrection and inviting us to look beyond "can I really believe that happened?" Instead, he invites us look for truth in what happens when the resurrected Jesus appears--namely, this week, when he appears to Peter. Peter, the one who had denied knowing Jesus, who had abandoned him in his greatest hour of need. What happens when the resurrected Jesus appears to Peter, to one overwhelmed with grief and shame?Through this story, what are we being invited to pay attention to? And, importantly, how are those who, like Peter, have hearts to recognize and receive resurrection themselves raised up to new life? How is the world transformed? How is history itself broken open in new ways? This is what resurrection is about, and what these stories invite us to ponder--and give ourselves to.
In this Easter season message, Pastor Eric explores how “believing in the resurrection of the body” doesn’t mean what most of us think it means! It isn't merely about proving that certain facts of history did or did not occur. It is a truth we are called to embody ourselves; it is a pattern, a reality, that we are invited to give ourselves to. What does it mean to believe in resurrection here and now? What does it mean to say one believes that bodies as good as dead can be raised anew? In fact, the earliest Christians--building on their Jewish roots--believed that the resurrected body of Christ wasn't merely the resuscitation of his former body, but a new body altogether; it was THEM! They were now called to be the hands, feet, ears, mouth, and heart of Jesus blessing and healing the world. "As the Father sent me, so now I send you," Jesus says to his disciples.What might happen to us, to our weary and hurting world if we truly believed that the resurrection of bodies was possible? It might just change history!
The resurrection is not merely something to be believed. Like Love, it is a truth that can only truly be known through a lived encounter, through opening ourselves to its transforming flow.Still, most of us have expectations and assumptions about Easter and what the resurrection “means”—or what we think it’s supposed to mean. Building on the Apostle Paul’s emphasis that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you—will also give life to your mortal bodies—this Easter reflection goes beyond Jesus’ resurrection to reflect on how Mary’s encounter with this life-giving power also raised her up to new life.Who are you looking for this Easter? What are you expecting to find? Don’t forget: the New Life God offers might come from where you least expect it!
Howard Thurman, the great African American theologian, mystic and mentor to Martin Luther King Jr and the Civil Rights movement, once wrote that the most important question we must ask ourselves is: "Where are you going?" That is: What are you after? What are you really chasing or being drawn toward? Where we are going--what we are really after--will shape the choices and actions we make each day.The Jesus we encounter on Palm Sunday seems out of place at first. After making a dramatic entrance, he makes his way to the Temple complex and starts flipping over tables and driving people out in a fit of holy indignation and judgment against a corrupt religious and political leadership. Pastor Eric challenges us to consider: rather than being an aberration, or "out of place" for Jesus, perhaps this is where Jesus has been going the entire time; perhaps this is the capstone of Jesus' ministry; perhaps this is one more outflow of Jesus' deeper calling, perfectly consistent with the rest of his ministry. Perhaps we can't truly understand Jesus and his purpose--and certainly we cannot understand why he was crucified--apart from his actions at his fateful Passover entrance.The question at the heart of this message for us to consider as well is: "Where are YOU going?"--more than a job, or a family, or a career, or security, or being well-liked... what are you really after? What is it that can really give your life meaning--can continue to live on even when you are no longer physically here? How might asking this question of ourselves change the choices and actions you make each day?
In this message, Pastor Eric weaves together reflections on two seemingly very different passages--one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament--to reflect on God's presence with us and call to Life even when we find ourselves in "the valley of the shadow of death." In our Lenten series: "Seeking: honest questions for a deeper faith and more authentic life," the question posed by this message--"Can these dry bones live?" is a question about radical hope. Can we trust; can we believe that there is still life to be found even when our lives have fallen apart?
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the misguided assumptions that often undergird the questions we ask--questions that lead to judgment and isolation. Too often, we focus on theoretical or theological understanding; on being "technically" right, even if that comes at the expense of people's dignity.Through the story of Jesus and the man born blind, this message challenges us to reflect more honestly and deeply on our own assumptions. As Jesus makes clear, it is often those who think they can see clearly--including the religious folks who think they "get it"--who do not. And it is oftentimes those they've maligned and marginalized--who they think don't get it--who in fact possess greater insight into wisdom, into God.
In this message, Pastor Eric explores the profound and challenging invitations present in the simple exchange between Jesus and an “unnamed woman from Samaria”—a life-altering exchange that becomes possible only because both parties choose to enter into the shared vulnerability that marks its beginning: Jesus—a man, a Jew, tired from a long journey, wandering through a place that his religion and culture had taught him to despise, had taught him to think were lesser—asking for help from a woman of that region. Jesus, scripture it says, was nourished by this exchange in a way he wasn’t with his disciples; likewise, this woman leaves with her own deeper thirst quenched. What might they have to teach us as we wander through our own wilderness seasons seeking greater purpose, hope, and peace; as we also seek new life?
What is your first reaction when you are thrust into something new; something difficult; something painful? Are you inclined to just keep barreling forward—leave the past in the past? Do you grieve hard? Do you grieve at all? Do you cling to platitudes like “just gotta stay positive” or “everything happens for a reason”? Do you despair?In this message, Pastor Eric invites us to face our wilderness journeys with honesty, intentionality, and with earnestness. As the great farmer-poet-prophet Wendell Berry writes: “It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work. And when we no longer know which way to go that we have begun our real journey.”Rather than barreling forward, getting lost in the grief, not grieving at all, or clinging to superficial platitudes, Pastor Eric reflects on how, in these seasons, God invites us to begin again; to begin anew. How do we do that? Well, that’s the challenge; that’s the invitation; wrestling with this is the transforming journey we are invited to travel down trusting that, just as spring buds push through the dirt even as snow remains on the cold soil, so too our pain, our grief, our hurts, our loss is not the end. Spring comes. New life is waiting. And just like literal pregnancy, our new life begins in the darkness before any signs of it are even visible.
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on two familiar passages: Adam and Eve being tempted by a cunning snake in the Garden of Eden, and Jesus being tempted by a devilish voice in the Wilderness.
Reading these two passages alongside each other helps us to hear the story of Adam and Eve in a new light. Rather than being about “original sin” that now makes all of us inherently “bad” from birth, these stories flow from “original blessing.” Throughout Genesis 1, as God creates the world, God looks out and says, “That is so very good!” Similarly, the verse immediately before Jesus finds himself in the wilderness, is the story of his baptism and the proclamation of his belovedness. So it is for us: belovedness is our birthright.
The challenge for them—and for us—is that our world is filled with other voices trying to draw us away from this truth: voices that try to convince us that we’re not enough; voices that aren’t really even interested in our well-being tell us to prove that ourselves; voices that tell us we’ll only be enough if we have THAT THING—whatever it may be; voices that tell us to take charge, hoard resources, control others, and dominate. When we live from these fear and ego-based places, we spin our lives and world into chaos and create disconnection and destruction. In short, we create “death.”
Through this reflection, Pastor Eric challenges us to reflect on our own lives: Firstly, where are you going? What are you seeking after? How is that shaping the decisions you make each day? Secondly, which voices do you listen to? Who shapes your perspective on the world? On how things should be? On social issues and politics and faith? Which voices do you not listen to (including, perhaps, your own)? Might God be calling you to expand, shift, deepen, or change these voices so that, in living from your belovedness, you have the courage and resolve to likewise affirm the belovedness of every other person (even when the world--or churches--do not)
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the story of Jesus' transfiguration as the mother of all epiphanies--a moment where he dared to "shine forth" as he truly was. In some ways, the transfiguration can be seen as the story of Jesus' "coming out" moment as he shares with his closest disciples and friends his true identity, which he had not revealed up to that moment. It's also a moment where the voice of God reminds the disciples that Jesus is both a Beloved Child of God, and has a special calling.
The disciples don't understand, and even try to fit Jesus and this experience into a comfortable, familiar box. But the voice of God makes the proper response clear: "Listen to him." As in, "When Jesus tells you who he is and what this means, listen to him."
In this story, then, we hear about what happens when we allow ourselves to be fully claimed by God's love for us exactly as we are and to let that light shine, as well as a call for how to respond to others and honor them when they do the same, rather than forcing them back into our more comfortable boxes and definitions.
Many people think that the point of "being a Christian" is to be a good person. Pastor Eric says that is not really the case. What?
Most of us spend much of our lives trying to prove to others that we are good. Underneath this lies an almost DNA-deep fear that if we are not seen as "good" then we won't be loved; we'll be excluded. In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on how our struggle to be seen as good actually gets in the way of our ability to build families, relationships, and communities where growth, forgiveness, accountability, and healing are all possible.
How and why is this? And what is the "Christian" alternative? Listen in and see what you think!
In this message Pastor Eric explores liminal seasons in life—seasons of transition and change, like: dating or marriage or moving in with someone; moving; going to college or graduating; losing a loved one; retiring; coming out or transitioning (or your child coming out or transitioning).Rather than just “getting through” these seasons or waiting for things to “go back to normal,” the work of mature spirituality is for us to be made new in and through them. How?That is what this message is about!
Everyone hates conflict. And yet, every real and authentic relationship has it. Conflict simply means that we have differences--different opinions, backgrounds, expectations, assumptions, cultures, etc--and now we have to learn how to move through those differences as we learn to live together. The challenge lies in the fact that most of us have learned unhealthy ways of dealing with conflict: we learned to yell in order to be heard; we learned to run away because it was unsafe; we learned to shrink ourselves to make things stop; we learned to be violent because we were never taught any other tools for dealing with our emotions.Because of this, most of us remain caught in unhealthy patterns when conflict/differences. We might even wonder: is it even possible to navigate conflict in any other way?The goal is not that conflicts--or differences--are erased. But that rather than leading to hurt, frustration and feeling unheard and unseen, they become opportunities to practice our deepest values; which is to say that they become the very means by which we actually heal, repair, grow and are transformed.In this message, Pastor Eric begins exploring the kind of foundation that is needed in order for this hard work/heart work to be possible.
Before Jesus has done anything significant in his ministry; before he has any followers, has preached any public messages, performed any healings; before anyone looks at him and calls him "the Messiah," he joins the ranks of people being baptized by John in the Jordan River. At that moment, a voice from the heavens makes public what has always been true: Jesus is God's beloved child, with whom God is so well pleased.
So it is with us. Before--and apart--from anything that we do or don't do, God's love washes over us and claims us. Nothing can separate us from this love. No failure or mistake. Nothing. No matter how big.
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on what kind of life would grow in us if we lived from this place--rather than living as we so often do: in the anxiety of trying to prove that we are worthy; that we're enough--good, smart, beautiful, strong, etc. enough. When we live from this place of fear and insecurity, which are sisters of un-love, we become judgmental. If we find ourselves pointing out all the failures and imperfections of others, it's a sign that we've been unable to love those things within ourselves.
It turns out that the life that flows from one rooted in it's irrevocable belovedness is a stark contrast to one rooted in un-love. So, as you move into the new year, what might grow in and through you if you dared to keep returning to this love as your center?
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the surprising, unsettling and often overlooked fact that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were forced to seek asylum as refugees in Egypt shortly after Jesus’ birth. It is in this context that the meaning of the magi gains it’s significance, and both the invitation and challenge that they hold out for us as we move into a new year and consider our own intentions in the year ahead.
Pastor Eric continues reflecting on the Christmas stories in this message, inviting us to consider what "birthing God" and "raising Jesus" would have required for Mary (much like any parent). At the heart of this invitation--for Mary and for us--is an invitation into all those small, every-day moments that are required to raise an utterly dependent newborn into an adult. It's an invitation into noticing and tending, small acts of love and compassion, and responding with love and grace to all the challenges, frustrations, and overwhelm. It's an invitation not only to offer our own bodies for the life of the world, but to receive that same offering from others--and in this giving and receiving to be transformed by the love of God from this inside out.
In this Christmas message, Pastor Eric reflects on the Light that shines in every darkness, and that no darkness can put out. More than the "power of positivity," what is the heart of the Christmas message than is capable of providing hope in even the most dire of circumstances: for one hiding from Nazi soldiers; for a refugee; in the face of a serious health diagnosis or a divorce or job loss or family strife? The light of this hope born amidst the most silent of nights is the promise we claim this Christmas, and every day.
In this Advent message, Pastor Eric reflects on the story of Joseph finding out that Mary is pregnant with a baby that is not his, his response, and God's intervention to call him to a better way. In this brief story, we see a Joseph who would have had to process some difficult feelings in order to make some incredibly hard decisions. Given the challenge that many of us have with sitting with feelings of grief, fear, betrayal, anger and shame, Joseph--who would have felt all of this at the news of Mary's pregnancy--invites us to do just that in our own lives so that we can also make the hard, but necessary decisions to move into a new future with God and not remain stuck where we are.Beyond the specific circumstances of Joseph's story, when have you found yourself with a deep conviction that you need to do something--need to act, to speak up, to tell the truth, to say what you really need--but struggled to do that thing because you were afraid? Afraid of the consequences? Afraid knowing there'd be no going back? Afraid of losing relationships or status or privilege? This, at its core, is the challenge facing Joseph. And it's the space into which this story invites each of us in our own Advent journeys.
In this Advent message, Pastor Eric reflects on the stereotypical images many of us have of Mary, the mother of Jesus: sweet, serene, docile, submissive. He then peels back the layers of the story of Mary in Luke 1 to reveal how distorted this image is from the one that actually appears, for there we meet a young woman who is bold and dares to question God; we meet a prophet with the courage to act as God's partner knowing that it will come at a cost; that it will bring challenge and loss, knowing that she will be denigrated.It is in this prophetic way that Mary is a model of faithfulness for all of us. What might it look like for you to have the courage to say "Yes" to God to? What is that call that you can't shake, but also are afraid to fully step into? Are you willing, like Mary, to move through the fear and uncertainty in order to partner with God in bringing forth new life?
Whose stories get told when we tell the story of “us”—in our families, in our church, in our society? Whose stories get silenced, lost to history? And how does the way we tell these stories—whose is included and what we know about them—reflect our own values, prejudices, and limits? Pastor Eric reflects on these questions as he explores the names of the four women specifically named in the genealogy of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Matthew. The answers of whose stories the story of Jesus includes might just surprise you—and both inspire/challenge you to think about your own story anew.
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the question of what makes for a vital church? Is it having a large choir and Sunday school attendance? Is it lots of butts in the pews? Or is it possible to have all of these and to still not experience true vitality? Is it possible to be a small and vital congregation? Similarly, in our own lives, can we experience vitality, true life, even amidst hardship or suffering? If so: what is it that makes vitality possible?
Many of us live our lives seeking to please our parents and ancestors—those who have gone before us. But what if we lived with the awareness that WE are ancestors? How might we live differently if we focused not on pleasing those who have gone before us, but on creating a better world several generations from now? What is the world that we dream of for our grandchildren’s grandchildren? What is it that we could possibly steward—could nurture, sustain, and pass on—that could last that amount of time? Rather than focusing our efforts on specific forms and things—like a building or heirlooms or a specific “right” way of doing things—it might shift our focus instead to the qualities of life—a world where we seek to treat each other with dignity and fairness and justice and grace; with mercy and accountability; with boundaries and second chances. Imagine what could bloom from this soil and how different it would be from what is.In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on these questions as he continues exploring the vision behind our Season of Stewardship and the story of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus in Luke 19.
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the mission that Jesus gave his disciples just hours before he was crucified: "Just as I have loved you, so you must love one another." In this season of stewardship, he invites us to reflect on how churches have at times lost sight of this mission and focused instead on buildings, membership, dogmas, and/or doctrines. But our mission remains the same: to love one another and this world that God so loves just as Jesus did. Pastor Eric invites us to reflect on how we've each been "fed at Federated"--spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally--and how this then strengthens us to courageously, boldly, and humbly "feed the world," to live this out in the year ahead. Exciting things to come at Federated Church!
In this message, Pastor Eric begins our new sermon series reflecting specifically on stories about Jesus that take place at/around the table/meals. Jesus always seemed to be going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal. More than just a setting, it represents a crucial image of Jesus' mission and God's dream for the world. This message reflects on Jesus' parable of the Great Dinner Banquet in Luke 14 to reflect on questions about who is invited, welcomed, and honored at God's Table... and how it might not be who you think it is. In fact, it may just be all the people that Christians and churches have long told they are not welcome! The question for us, then, is how this image of God's Table challenges us to reorient our own relationships and communities. Who has been excluded--told they don't belong--in our community and how might we reach out to form relationships with them that invite all of us to be changed.
In this message, Pastor Eric explores one of the most famous of all biblical passages—John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world…”)—and the verses surrounding it. This message brings together the new understandings explored in previous messages of this series—a reframing of what it means to “believe” and to be “saved”—in order to explore how Jesus speaks about eternity life. Importantly, deconstructing these words at the heart of our faith in order to see them anew as if for the first time allows us to see that when Jesus speaks of “eternal life” in passages like this, he isn’t speaking about believing ideas about him in order to go to “heaven” when we die. Rather, he speaks about a quality of life, a depth of life, that God desires for us to experience in this life. As Jesus says in Luke 17, “the Kingdom of God is in your midst/within you.” It’s just that most of us miss it most of the time because we live life on autopilot, live life on the surface.Are you tired of living life on the surface? Do you ever think: “there’s got to be more to life?” These senses are inclinations of what Jesus is speaking about—that there is more. This “more”—what one scholar calls “eternity life”—doesn’t mean more material wealth; it might, in fact, mean the opposite; but it does mean a deeper sense of purpose and greater meaning and connection in life. And, in the end, isn’t that what we all really want? The challenge for all of us is, as Jesus says over and over, to have “eyes to see” this eternity life, this depth of life, that is all around us, if only we opened ourselves to it. The challenge is to see it, and then to choose it. Herein lies the greatest challenge of life.
In this message, Pastor Eric deconstructs what most of us have been taught it means to be "born again." In doing so, he invites us to hear it anew, as if for the first time, and the powerful invitation it actually offers us. This is not about accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior so as to secure your ticket to a heavenly afterlife. This is an invitation to a journey of transformation in this life here and now.
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the concept of salvation in Christianity. Most of us were taught that "to be saved" means that one has accepted Jesus as their Lord and is therefore going to heaven. They are saved from sin and hell. Whether you cringe at this or agree with it, most of us think that this is the foundation of Christianity; that without this notion of salvation, there is no Christianity.But there's just one problem... this notion of salvation is nowhere in the Bible! So...what does salvation mean? What is the hope that it offers us? Why is it still so important to our faith? Listen in to find out!
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the surprising history of the words “faith” and “belief.” Did you know that they didn’t always mean what they do today? How were they used and what difference does it make? Well, it makes a world of difference! Find out how in this first message of Pastor Eric’s new series: “Meeting Christianity Again…For the First Time.”
"Don't be a Jerk." That's one way some have said you could summarize the gospel. But in a time of historic disruptions and climate change, in this message Pastor Eric invites us to consider a vision for our faith, our lives, our church--for the world--that meets the magnitude of our moment; the kind of vision that Jesus offered his world 2,000 years ago amidst its own great disruptions.What dreams and visions does his inspire for you? What does your soul long for in these tumultuous times? How will you give yourself to this vision in the year ahead?
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the kinds of rhythms that undergird our society--namely excessive busy-ness that leads to constant exhaustion--and how these rhythms are leading not to flourishing, but to burn-out; are leading not to better well-being, but rather tearing at the seams of our families, friendships, community bonds and--well, many of those things that actually matter the most.How is this true in your own life? How are your own daily rhythms shaping you? What do you spend most time oriented around--how does it lead to flourishing, and what does it force you to sacrifice? What would it look like to reorient your daily schedule around--or to better integrate into it--those rhythms that restore and reconnect you to that which matters most, rather than fragment and distort it?
This message by Pastor Eric explores how the Book of Deuteronomy describes the call to "honor the sabbath" by recalling how God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. What does this experience of oppression and liberation have to teach us about the meaning of sabbath for our lives? Why ground the vision of sabbath and honoring it in a memory of exploitation?With such questions in mind, Pastor Eric explores how the invitation to "practice sabbath" is not merely about one day a week or individualistic practices or "thou shalt not's!" Rather, it calls us to reimagine ways to structure our world that lead to wholeness; to reimagine structures grounded in the common good, in abundance; and to work together to reorder these structures wherever they are dis-ordered away from such things.
What comes to mind when you think of sabbath? When you think of the weekend and rest? Most of us think of a time to catch our breath after a busy week, a time to regain our energy so we can get "back to the grind." Work is what matters most. Work is what shapes our schedules, what we orient our lives around.But, while work is necessary, our faith calls us to reconsider what matters most in our lives and to try to find ways to orient our days around that. Sabbath isn't about resting just enough to go back to work. It's a time where we are reminded that we were created for wholeness, for goodness. Think about those times in your life where you have the spaciousness to relax; to wonder; to listen to the birds or watch a bee cover itself in pollen; when you eat not merely to stave off hunger, but delight in the flavors; when you get caught up in the laughter and stories of friends or family.Too many of us get to the end of life only to realize that we prioritized the wrong things; we regret giving too much time to things that, in the end, don't really matter, and missing those moments that do.Sabbath is a picture of a world where there is enough. As we imagine that world, that lives for ourselves, we must ask: what is needed for me to reorient my life? What do I need to let go of or walk away from? What do I need to say Yes to? What do I need courage to risk doing?This is the call to live toward the vision of Sabbath: a life and a world of flourishing.
In this final message of Pastor Eric's summer sermon series--"What the Faith?!"--he reflects on the question: Why Christian? Why be/remain a Christian in light of scripture's inconsistencies? In light of the fact that the Bible contains texts that are sexist and xenophobic--are violent in various forms? Why be Christian in light of the epic and tragic failures of Christians and churches throughout history, and still presently? Why not just go it alone? What is to be gained by participating in a Christian community? As Pastor Eric explores these questions, he shares some of his own faith journey--from experiencing spiritual abuse and being rejected by Christians to being loved back to life by another Christian community; from journeying out of one way of being Christian to finding and being found by another Christian community. Along the way, he invites us to reflect on these questions and our own journeys for ourselves.
In this message from Pastor Eric's "What the Faith?!" sermon series, he moves from last week's exploration of our individual anger/rage in response to being wounded or violated ("How to Destroy Your Enemy") to exploring collective / communal responses to this, for instance those whose nation or city is invaded by a foreign military, enslaved communities, and other marginalized communities. Is it OK to be angry/filled with rage? If so, in what was is it constructive and when is it destructive? If we cannot skip over anger in our journey of healing, how do we move beyond anger/rage? It turns out scripture may have some surprising answers for us--and they may just come from the passages we least expected.
In this message from Pastor Eric’s “What the Faith?!” sermon series, he explores Psalm 137 and others that call upon God for violent vengeance. If we believe scripture is somehow instructive and revelatory for us as people trying to follow Jesus, what do we do with such passages? How are we to read them? How are we to understand them when we lift them up alongside Jesus’ call to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” and the many passages that tell us, in short, not to be angry? To help us understand the harsh words in Psalm 137 and others like it, Pastor Eric reminds us that these are words upon the mouths of people who have themselves experienced the ravages of war, who have watched helplessly as they were invaded and decimated by the military of a global superpower of the day. In that context—and the parallels in our own world—we are invited to read this psalm and others like it while asking: How does one heal from trauma? How does a community, a nation heal from collective trauma? What role does expressing anger and even rage at such violations play in the healing process? And when/how does our anger get in the way of that healing? These are the kinds of questions that shape Pastor Eric’s exploration in this message as we consider how we heal today from our many wounds—individually and collectively.
This is the fourth message in Pastor Eric's summer 2022 sermon series, "What the Faith," exploring pressing issues in our larger culture and the surprising, conflicting things the Bible says about them. How do we read the Bible if it doesn't offer a straightforward answer? How do we live faithfully today as God's people if we can't just do/apply what the Bible says? In this message, preached in the weeks after the US Supreme Court overturned the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade that made it legal for people to choose to have an abortion, Pastor Eric explores this question in relation this long-standing "culture war." What if scripture isn't as clear about when life begins as some Christians have insisted? As he explores this topic and these questions, Pastor Eric invites us to consider that the faithful response as followers of Jesus may be to go beyond the overly simplistic and reductionist binary that our society has created of being either "pro-life" or "pro-choice."
In this third message in Pastor Eric's "What the Faith?!" sermon series, we read and reflect on what to make of the fact that scripture contains both passages that tell women to remain silent in church, to be subordinate to their husbands, and to have no authority over men with the fact that other parts of scripture describe a reality in early churches where women were encouraged to speak up, were prophetesses and teachers, and did have authority. What do we make of this inconsistency? How have these scriptures been used and abused throughout history to silence and marginalize women? If scripture contains them both, what does it mean to read scripture faithfully and have it inform and shape our lives today?
Were you taught that the Bible is perfect in every way and that, in order to be a "good Christian," you must obey everything in it? Well, in this second message of Pastor Eric's summer sermon series--"What the Faith?!"--he challenges this idea. After all, he asks, "how do we obey scripture when scripture doesn't even obey itself?!" So... if "obedience" isn't the most faithful way of reading scripture, then what is? Listen in for a fuller exploration, and check out other videos in this series as Pastor Eric continues to explore questions like this.
In this message, the first in our summer sermon series, "What the F@!+H?!" (What the Faith), Pastor Eric reflects on the different ways that God is imagined and depicted throughout scripture: As a father, shepherd, and a mighty warrior, but also as a mother, a midwife, and a baker woman; God is our rock and light, a cloud, fire, bread, wine, and water and much more. God is each of these, all of these, and yet none of these. In exploring this vast diversity of images in scripture, Pastor Eric challenges us to think beyond "God the Father," to ask ourselves: what does it mean that God is comfortable presenting as both male and female, and yet refuses to be reduced to either one of these? If we worship a God who presents in these ways, what does that mean for how we treat others who are "made in the image of God," especially our transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming family, friends, and neighbors? What images of God speak most powerfully to you? Have you reduced God to a single image or metaphor? If so, how might you begin finding God in other images, places, and faces?