Matthew 22:34-40 “Okay For Another Day” When I moved into my house two years ago, I hung a bird feeder outside the windows of my back porch. It is an ideal spot – under an overhang, so it doesn’t get wet with rain or snow. And, so far anyway, it has been inaccessible to […]
Worship for October 18, 2020
Matthew 22:15-22 “The Kingdom of Heaven is Like a Shared Armrest” In my previous ministry before starting here at 1st Congregational, I spent much of my time traveling around the country working for the health and human service organizations affiliated with the United Church of Christ. I spent a lot of time on airplanes, […]
Worship for October 11, 2020
Worship for October 4, 2020
Matthew 21:33-46 “Our Vineyard” In April of this year, National Geographic published a “flip” issue of their magazine — basically, two issues in one — to explore two starkly different futures for our planet. One half of the magazine presented the worst case scenario: what Planet Earth will look like in fifty years if we do nothing substantive about […]
Blooper Reel
Worship for September 27, 2020
Matthew 21:23-32 “Good Trouble” Jesus was unafraid to speak truth to power. And in the city of Jerusalem, he seemed to be determined to create, what Rep. John Lewis might call, ‘Good Trouble.’ We are entering into a series of Gospel lessons that take place after Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem – essentially, these […]
Worship for September 20, 2020
Matthew 20:1-16 “God’s Economics” Jesus has an irritating habit of taking the systems of the world and smashing them to bits. In the parable we just heard, indeed in nearly every parable that Jesus teaches, we are left trying to reconcile how we understand the world with the world that Jesus is pointing us […]
$2 Million of Medical Debt Eliminated!!!
Working together, we have forever changed the lives of over one thousand people by purchasing and forgiving medical debt across MN and WI! Share the below video and spread the good news. And below, look at the raw numbers and marvel at what we have accomplished!
Worship for September 13, 2020
Psalm 26 “Six Months” Today we are marking another anniversary in this strange year. This week marks six months since we last gathered together as a worshipping community. Six months of trying to figure out online worship, me struggling with earbuds and the sanctuary Wi-Fi. Six months of Zoom calls, which have gone well […]