Wilderness as Reboot: Finding wholeness in the emptiness of this moment.
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Listen in as we consider the story from Exodus where formerly enslaved people find themselves in a wilderness and suddenly only remember how good they had it before. Sound familiar?
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The habit of forgiveness
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Explore the power and freedom Jesus modeled through his stance on forgiveness. It has the power to transform your life!
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God and your "worst self"
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Pastor Rebecca invites us to consider God's desire to expose our worst self- not to condemn but to transform us!
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Paleo-Christianity: God's prehistoric purpose
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In this survey-style sermon, Pastor Rebecca explores the salvation narrative as a God's counter to the kingdoms and politics of humanity.
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What happens after my "Amen"?
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Pastor Rebecca explores the question what ISN'T prayer? And doesn't find much of an anwser. Or does she?
Scripture Reading: Matthew 15:21-28 The Canaanite Woman who dogged Jesus. |
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Coping with the unexpected
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Engaging the stories of Moses and Jesus-- both who changed in ways that frightened their followers, Pastor Rebecca explores the options we have for coping with unwelcome change. What does God for hope for in those situations?
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What does it mean to trust God?
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Romans 8:32 tells us that God is for us. Do we really believe it? Do we trust God? Can God trust us?
For that matter, what does trust really mean? Listen in and as we piece together some answers. |
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God in the Wilderness
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Jacob fled his home and journeyed a long way to his ancestral home. On the way, he slept in the wilderness. In the in-between place, God met him. What did he learn?
Genesis 28:10-19a |
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God is a profligate seed sower
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Deacon Barbi Click explores the powerful potential of the seeds God sows that we don't want, don't like, but desperately need to grow if we want to be whole. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
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A solution to the burdens of life
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Pastor Rebecca engages the promise Jesus makes in Matthew 11:25-30 and Paul's call to have the mind of Christ (Phil 2) with new develpments in Neuroscience concerning brain synchrony. The answer is mind-blowing!
Article in The Scientific American |
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Voices of the Prophets: Burning in the bones
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Explore the ways in which we usually approach that fire in the belly experience. How do we know that the fire is from God?
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Voices of the Prophets: Hard headed?
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Everybody is harded headed sometimes. How do we know when it's a virtue and when it's a vice?
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Voices of the Prophets: Who's a prophet
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Pastor Rebecca explores the in-between role of prophets - and what that looks like for us in our time and place.
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Faithful Community
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Listen in as Pastor Rebecca explores the meaning of community when there is profound brokenness. What is God's intention for us in those places?
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Catching Fire
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The Right Reverend Deon Johnson, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri preaches a fiery Pentecost sermon and receives new members into the church.
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Holy Spirit Movements of the People
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Pastor Rebecca explores three movements that began with a wave of Holy Spirit leavening of the people and considers the application for our day and time.
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Special Effects: How the 'me' gets to 'WE'
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The messaging of American Culture gives us a definition of what makes us "special", unique, worthy. Jesus offers a different definition that manages to include everyone without diminishing the meaning of worthy. What does that look like? Listen in!
Texts: John 14:1-14 and I Peter 2:2-10 |
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Love more than trust
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Deacon Barbi explores the challenge of trust and the call to love as the central themes of living a life of wholeness. This is a powerful message!
Texts: Acts 2:42-47. John 10:1-10 |
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Living in Resurrection
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Listen in as Pastor Rebecca explores what it would look like if we lived in the reality of Resurrection.
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Thomas and the knowing scars
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How do we know each other? Listen in as Pastor Rebecca explores the power of scars and their meaning after the Resurrection.
The sermon begins at 14:20 - 25:33 |
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Easter Sunday Worship
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Join us for a celebration of the central tenant of Christian faith: The Lord is Risen Indeed!
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Good Friday Blues at the Cross
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Combined service with St. John's Beloved Community, Greater St Louis Metropolitan Congregational Church and St. Paul's. The Rev. Michelle Higgins, preaching, the St. John's Sound performing.
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Our role in raising Lazarus
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Jesus asks us to participate in giving people liberation and new life. Will we accept his invitation? Find out how.
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Change: the door to the deep things of God
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The Rev. Barbi Click invites us to consider our reluctance to change as a choice to stay blind and avoid God's transformative power in our lives. Be challenged!
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Evangelism: starts with a story
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Jumping off the story of the woman who met Jesus at a well, Deacon Barbi explores the power and purpose of the "E" word.
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No One is Everyone - John 3:1-18
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Jesus invites Nicodemus to enter the profound mystery of Grace where no one is excluded and everyone matters; all of creation.
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U Turn
Returning to the Root of Grace: Your Precious Teacher
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Using the encounter between Jesus and Satan during Jesus's temptations in the wilderness, Pastor Rebecca explores the value of challenging relationships.
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Transfigured
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Irenaeus (2nd Century) said that the glory of God is a human being fully alive; and, a human being fully alive is a vision of God. Let's consider it!
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Changes and Choices: Don't get stuck!
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Using the texts for the Sunday, especially I Corinthians 3:1-7, Pastor Rebecca invites us to move past the binaries and see our lives as a journey toward wholeness.
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Jesus' moral teaching and our lives
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On Friday, February 3, recreational marijuana use was legalized in Missouri. Pastor Rebecca reflects on what Jesus taught and intended and how that might apply to our decision to use or not.
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The Supreme Blessing of Love
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The Rev. Barbi Click lifts up the power of the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. Join us as we consider the underlying blessings in the text, and explore the application to our lives.
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Jesus, our great leader.
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Jesus was a transformational leader. In this sermon, Pastor Rebecca explores a few of his exceptional qualities and ties them into a specific issue facing St. Paul's Church.
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The many of faces Jesus: the one way to live.
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Join us as we consider the call of Jesus to come and see. John 1:29-42. Keeping clear on Jesus' call to us in our time and place is the adventure and task of our lives!
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What is your guiding star? Who is your king?
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Pastor Rebecca reflects on the visitation of the Magi at Jesus' birth. She invites us to consider what we seek in our journey beneath the stars.
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Love as liberation and ethical guide
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In the final sermon of Born Low series, Pastor Rebecca explores the embodiment of liberation in Jesus Christ, which Howard Thurman describes as "the Love Ethic."
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Moving past hatred...
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Howard Thurman names Hate as the third hound of hell. Here we name it the most effective means through which we experience moral disintegration and death. Learn to understand the progression of hate and claim your freedom through love. Jesus is the model and Messiah.
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Moving past deception...
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Here, we consider the second "hound of hell" described by Howard Thurman in his book Jesus and the Disinherited. Deception.
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Fear: how Jesus helps us overcome
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Listen in as Pastor Rebecca puts the fearsome apocalyptic predictions of Jesus in Matthew 26, in conversation with the book, Jesus and the Disinherited, by Howard Thurman, to answer the question: How does Jesus help us cope with fear?
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We are all royals
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The last hours of Jesus' life offer us a model for living as royals - a royal priesthood, a holy people, being our best selves even in the worst circumstances. Learn how.
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Luke's Risky Parable
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There is one call for God's people: invest in the one life we've been given. Let's consider what that looks like.
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The three 'R's of being a child of heaven
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Using a variety of texts from the Gospels, Pastor Rebecca suggests that heaven is much closer than you imagine and more permeable than we have been led to believe.
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Hospitality Jesus' style
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Guest preacher Bren O'Connor, missioner for LGBTQIA+ ministries in the Diocese of Missouri, brings us a message of radical hope and inclusion. What are you so hungry for that you would climb a tree to get it?
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When the Church is the Locusts
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Pastor Rebecca explores Joel 2:25 - 32 with a focus on church trauma and what the prophet names as healing for those who want to recover.
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Luke 18:1-8 Jesus inside of Luke
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The Reverend Barbi Click gives deep insight into the meaning of this text.
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The healing of the 10 folx with leprosy - the deeper meaning
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Luke 17:11-19 tells a story of healing and conversion. But there is more to this story.
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The Kingdom is now.
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Using the text from Luke 12, where Jesus admonishes his followers to not seek after food and drink but rather to seek after God's kingdom, Pastor Rebecca highlights important ways creation reminds us that the Kingdom of God is among us now (Luke 17:20-21).
Pet Blessing Sunday 2022 |
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Lazarus and the Rich Man: the chasm
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Listen to the poem called "How to Go to Hell" by Steve Garnass Holmes, and then hear Pastor Rebecca reflect on the story from Luke 16:19-31
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You and God: Dating or Committed?
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Pastor Rebecca reflects on how we evaluate our relationship with God.
Text: Luke 16:1 |
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Hope for the Lost and the Found
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The Rev. Barbi Click explores the ways in which God seeks us even in the bleakest times and even when we can't imagine why.
Jereimaih 4:11-12, 22-28 and Luke 15:1-10 |
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Potter and Clay Discernment
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Using the text from Jeremiah 18:1-11, Pastor Rebecca helps us think about God's purposes for us as vessels for the Divine. How do we use that framework as we make decisions together?
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Jesus, Beastie Boys, and Emily Post
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The Reverend Whitney Rice, Canon for Evangelism and Discipleship Development explores the common denominator in Jesus' tendency to hang out at parties, Emily Post's ettiquette rules, and the Beastie Boys claim, "You have to fight for your right to party." Luke 14: 7 - 18
When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable... |
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Bent and Healed: Jesus' double vision
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Pastor Rebecca invites us to identify the bent places within, to God where God is, See what God sees, and take the risk of transformation. Luke 13:10-15
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Heard it through the Grapevine
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The Bible compares humanity to a specific animal and a specific plant. In this sermon, Pastor Rebecca reflects on being compared to a vine...
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The Substance of Faith
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Listen as guest preacher, the Rev. Al Jewson reflects on Sunday's readings, challenging us to live with a substantial faith.
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Cosmic Christ and the Big Bang
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For millennia, the church understood and celebrated the cosmic nature of Christ. We seem to have forgotten that. Here, Pastor Rebecca begins to explore what it might mean to remember.
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Both Mary and Martha in Me
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The Rev. Barbi Click, Deacon and Diocesan Jubilee Ministry coordinator, reflects on the challenges presented to us in the persons of Mary and Martha (Luke 10).
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Who is who in this story?
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The Very Rev. Whitney Rice, Canon for Evangelism for the Diocese of Missouri preaches on the story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan.
The sermon was preached the Sunday after the Rector/Pastor was forced to evict someone the congregation love and supported who lived in an apartment on our property. |
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Will there be another Civil War? Part 2
Are we headed for another Civil War? Part 1
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This sermon was given on July 4, 2021. It considers the factors that caused the American Church to be anemic in the face of the conflict between the states over Slavery. Using that backdrop, Pastor Rebecca offers a method for strengthening our Christian witness and our democracy.
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God in your GOoD Decisions
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Using the stories from I Kings 19;15-16; 19-21 and Luke 9:51-62 where folks had to make decisions, Pastor Rebecca invites us to consider the criteria for making a decision faithfully.
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Who's your daddy?
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Guest preacher, The Reverend Al Jewson, reflects on the meaning of God as Father/Parent.
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Another way of thinking about the cross...
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On Trinity Sunday, Pastor Rebecca considers the power of the cross as the key to unleashing the deep longing of the people and the power of God's Spirit.
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Pentecost Sunday - the profound openness of Ecclesia
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There's more to this story than you might have considered! And there's amazing good news!
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Exodus Part 4
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What can we learn from the many years that formerly enslaved Israelites wandered in the wilderness? They could have walked from Egypt to the Promised Land in 11 Days (Exodus 13: 17)! Why did God take them home the long way? And what does that mean for us?
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The Risen Lord says "Get up and Go"
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Join us as Rev. Thomas Skilling explores the conversion of Paul and the encounters of the disciples with the risen Lord.
What do we do when we encounter a spiritual wonder? What happens next? |
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Grabbing up Goshen: Exodus part 1
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In Genesis 45:20, Pharaoh invites Joseph and his family to come to Egypt. He assures them, "all of Egypt is yours." Three hundred years later, they are oppressed and enslaved. What happened?
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The Power of Empty
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The power of an empty tomb lies in the ability of God to bring life even where death abounds. What can we learn about the virtue of emptiness in a world that insists on staying full?
If you are interested in seeing our church's 'culture', this would be a good video to check out! |
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From Stench to Sweet Aroma
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Each of us is the hero of our story. We all face the stakes of success or failure with every problem. Who will be our guide? Consider the story of the woman who anointed Jesus feet. Her story is still being told thousands of years later. What can we learn from it?
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God wants you at the Party
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Using the story Jesus told about the man with two sons (often called "The Prodigal Son", Pastor Rebecca considers the way the Scriptures tell us of a God who longs to bring us to richness and joy in Christ and Community.
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You are Worthy
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You are invited to go deep in the fullness of life that has nothing to do with how you look, where you live, or what you accomplish. You are invited to enjoy your own worthiness as a child of God. What does that look like?
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Fox and Hen Theology
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The problem of evil as a problem about God. Should God be a fox (powerful and decisive) or a hen (protective and present).
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Temptation in a world of Temptations
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Guest preacher, Erin O'Rourke, corps member at Deaconess Anne House, Episcopal Service Corps and leader at Rockwell House Campus Ministry at Washington University gives our sermon.
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Hidden in Plain Sight: Resurrection Part 2
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How would you live your life if you knew that it had a happy ending?
If you are sampling to see if Pastor Rebecca is a good preacher, check this one out. |
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Hidden in plain Sight: Resurrection Part 1
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In seasons of discouragement and pain, it's really important to remember to look for the hope all around us. Resurrection is embedded in the fabric of creation. Where do you notice it? How does it shape you? Listen in as we hear the words of scripture about it; as we learn about the conceptual history, and as we claim our little resurrections right now. Sermon: 22 minutes in.
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Imagine the Kin-dom of God
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The Rev. Barbi Click preaches on the leveling power of the beatitudes in Luke 6.
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What is your shoreline? What is your Lake?
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Luke uses landscape for metaphor a lot in his gospel. Join him is digging deeper into the story of Jesus instructing some fishermen to lower their nets into the deep.
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How do we become mature Christians? By becoming children!
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Listen in as Pastor Rebecca explores the call to Child like faith. All of the assigned texts are referred to in the sermon. So, just in case you want them, Click here.
Ephesisans 4 |
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A Message to the church: Follow!
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Listen in as Pastor Rebecca talks about the history of our neighborhood, church, and the power of God to move us from the margins into the center of God's will. Sermon begins at 20 min.
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Is your wine watery? How to be the people we want to be no matter what.
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In the Gospel of John, chapter 2, Jesus does the first miracle that is a sign of his identity as the Son of God. Explore how Jesus' act of changing water into wine could inform our own decisions to respond to need with goodness.
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Where is Home?
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Listen to The Right Rev. Bishop Johnson as he asks the question, "Where is Home?" and invites us to find our home together in the life of God.
Baptism, Confirmation and Receptions of Karin Moore, Cari and Matt Schroeder |
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Child Jesus in the Temple
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How did Jesus de-colonize himself at such a young age? Listen in to find out!
Luke 2:41-52 |
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O Christmas Tree
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Join us for this Christmas Service as we consider the trees that deepen our knowledge of the love of God and decorate our lives with the fruits of grace.
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Seeking Sanctuary
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Where do you find Sanctuary? Where are whispered prayers received and honored? Listen to the story of Hannah and again proclaim the greatness of the Lord in the Sanctuary.
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A Home for All
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Listen in as we consider the Story of Ruth. A woman who chose to make her home with her mother in law. Ruth teaches us the power of finding our home in God's great story, rather than the small boxes the culture tends to put us in.
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Building the Foundation
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Consider the meaning of Building the Foundation - using the story of Ezra and the Israelites. What do we need to do the work of repair in our world? Ezra 3:10-11 |
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Homesickness as a sign of hope.
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Join us for the first in our sermon series, Close to Home. For the four weeks prior to Christmas, we'll hear letters written from four people from the Old Testament. Today, we hear from the sage, Daniel. Listen in as he tells of the alchemy of homesickness.
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Is Jesus your ruler?
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Listen in while Pastor Rebecca explores Jesus as a different kind of ruler. The kind to measure your life by!
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Honoring the First Nations of our Nation
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Join us for a service honoring the Osage and Lakota tribes. Be reminded of our history and our call in Jesus Christ to cherish one another and creation. Deacon Barbi Click, preaching.
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Bearing Witness to the Witnesses
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Using the story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead, we consider how Jesus models our role in the lives of others.
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What keeps getting pushed down.
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Bartemeus was a beggar who refused to be silenced. What in us, and who near by is getting silenced in our world? Tune in to learn what we can do about it.
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From Sin and Self-deception to Salvation.
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Join us as discover how sin and self-deception as the starting place for honesty and personal growth.
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Poking Adam's Ribs: Gender and Jesus's Teaching
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Guest Preacher, Bren O'Connor explores the text of Genesis 2:18 - 24 and Mark 10:2-16 to challenge us to think more broadly about our categories for gender, gender roles, and inclusion.
Corroborating resources: Adam as Earth Creature Bible Odyssey Wikipedia (many references at bottom) Washington Post |
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Returning to Wonder
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As we celebrate the Feast day of St Francis, Pastor Rebecca explores the option we have to savor the gifts of creation all around us. Jesus invites us to rest and be restored, but we so often chug ahead with our own agenda. Listen in and be reminded of your purpose.
Full of wonder then are all the things which people never think to wonder at, because...we have, by habit, become dull to the consideration of them. --Pope Gregory the Great (c 680) |
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Distractions
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And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!” Numbers 11: 24-29 When our narrow definitions are challenged, our call is to refocus. The Rev. Barbi Click , preaching.
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Words create Worlds
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Mark 8:38-37 reads: Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
The sermon begins at 14 minutes. |
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Favoring the Poor
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Using the text of James 2, and the stories in Mark's Gospel Mark:24 -37, we explore the call to favor the poor and imagine what that looks like in our context.
Due to technical difficulties, the sound and image are not in perfect synch. |
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God's Sexuality
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Using the lectionary text from Song of Solomon, we name God's values for human sexuality as found throughout the ethos of the Bible.
Song of Solomon 2:8-13 |
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Where do we go from here? Together, into the dark.
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In the final sermon in our sermon series, Pastor Rebecca invites us to imagine the future as a cave. The "thick darkness" of God's presence from Exodus 20, the armor of God from Ephesians 6, and the guidance of Jesus give us the guidance we need for the mystery and terror of the unknown.
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Jesus keeps it real. So should we.
Where do we go from here: We go as bread for the world.Postulant for Ordination to the Priesthood, Carol Brazeale, explores John 6:24-35 and the meaning of communion.
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What do you need? A grand adventure
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Using the story of the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:1-15) and the Hebrew Scripture story of Nabul and David (1 Samuel 25:2-28), Pastor Rebecca explores the three things we need to join Jesus' in the grand adventure of meeting the deep needs of the world.
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What do you need? Finding freedom in Surrender
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Join us as we consider what Kind David got right, and what King Herod got wrong. The answer is at the heart of every human need.
2 Samuel 6:12b -19, Mark 6:21b-29 |
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Where does it hurt? At the intersection of Jesus's suffering and our own.
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Join us as we consider the power of Holy Communion as a place of preparation, lamentation, and re-creation.
Ezekiel 36:24-28, Psalm 121, 2 Cor 12:2-10, Mark 4:21-25 Download Readings |
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Where does it hurt? Exploring the pain of gender.
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Join us as we consider how the curse of Eve and Adam has shaped our perceptions of gender.
Genesis 2-3 and Mark 5:21-34 |
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Where are you from? A Broken Foundation & Messed up Map
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Join us as we consider how our roots damage our wings and what God can do about it. Job 40:1-14 and Mark 4:35-41
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Where are you from? The Broken American Church
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Join us as we consider the legacy of the American Church and embrace the opportunity to heal through the grace and power of Jesus Christ!
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The Holy Trinity: An invitation to accept your limitations
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The mystery of the Trinity is an invitation to acknowledge all that we cannot know, and accept the things we cannot control. Will you accept the invitation?
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The Holy Spirit: God's Way
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This may be quintessential St. Paul's Worship. Watch for the chaos of Pentecost, the sweetness of balloons and children, the sound of snoring, and a sermon about the power of the Spirit to overcome the grave.
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God's Architecture
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Explore the meanings between the Temple, Jesus, and the church building of today.
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Speaking God's Love Language
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Sermon begins at 24 min.
Consider the depth, measure and cost of divine love. Are you ready for the demands of love? |
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