Easter Sunday: The Eighth Day

In Eastertide, we ponder the mystery of resurrection. Like the flowers bursting out again in spring, like the Spirit hovering over chaos and nurturing creation, like the Christ rising from the tomb on the third day—even so, we often bear witness to new, fruitful ways of living coming to life out of the darkest places. In this series, we will explore the way our disintegrated and disregulated attempts to cope with life, can become invitations into wise, honest, human ways of flourishing.

Palm Sunday: "If You Are...:

Today is the Sixth Sunday in Lent, traditionally called “Palm Sunday.” It marks the beginning of Holy Week, which is the final week of Lent. This Sunday commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, before his arrest on Maundy Thursday, and his crucifixion on Good Friday. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the people greeted him by joyfully shouting hosanna–Hebrew for “deliver us”–and waving palm branches–a traditional sign of victory.

This week we hear from Carlos Fernandez, who leads us in reflection on our identity as Beloved of God. In tumultuous times, a good grasp on our identity as God’s beloved is essential to our well-being and capacity to be a presence of restoration in the world.

A Vocabulary of Suffering: Death

In the deconstruction of violent and dominion Christianity we necessarily tear down that which does harm. However, this process can leave us bereft of language that assists us in making sense of our lives and world. This sermon series intends to thoughtfully reconstruct a Christian vocabulary of suffering that can help us to ponder, name, and discuss the very real difficulties that we face. Our hope is that by reconstructing a vocabulary of suffering we can enter more deeply and honestly into that which causes us sorrow and pain. For truly, it is by entering into death that new life is made possible.

A Vocabulary of Suffering: Idolatry

Note: in this sermon, we reference a few different videos which you can watch on YouTube. We recommend you do so before listening, to avoid spoilers!

1. Selective Attention Test

2. Whodunnit?

In the deconstruction of violent and dominion Christianity we necessarily tear down that which does harm. However, this process can leave us bereft of language that assists us in making sense of our lives and world. This sermon series intends to thoughtfully reconstruct a Christian vocabulary of suffering that can help us to ponder, name, and discuss the very real difficulties that we face. Our hope is that by reconstructing a vocabulary of suffering we can enter more deeply and honestly into that which causes us sorrow and pain. For truly, it is by entering into death that new life is made possible.

A Vocabulary of Suffering: Satan

In the deconstruction of violent and dominion Christianity we necessarily tear down that which does harm. However, this process can leave us bereft of language that assists us in making sense of our lives and world. This sermon series intends to thoughtfully reconstruct a Christian vocabulary of suffering that can help us to ponder, name, and discuss the very real difficulties that we face. Our hope is that by reconstructing a vocabulary of suffering we can enter more deeply and honestly into that which causes us sorrow and pain. For truly, it is by entering into death that new life is made possible.