” Love never gives up. ” ~ I Corinthians 13:4 We’re better than this. I have heard a lot of people say that lately. Especially in response to the bullying, name calling, trolling, body shaming, and hate speech that happens every day and is escalating. The attack this week on Jussie Smollett, star of the…
“In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative…
“To hope in Jesus is to see the vision of his coming presence, and thus one is required by hope itself to live as if the vision is already realized in the present.” ~James Cone This Sunday is “Hope Sunday.” We anticipate the Christ Child, the embodiment of hope. Like the magi of Matthew 2:1-12,…
“O God, all the nations that you’ve made will come and bow down before you; they will glorify your name, because you are awesome and a wonder-worker.” ~Psalm 86:9-10 With shepherds quaking, glories streaming, and heavenly hosts singing-the second verse of the beloved hymn “Silent Night” is the most spectacular. The song goes from calm…
“. ..we each have the agency to reach out across divides and connect because we are humans with common human needs and, deep down, we all have the desire for peace for ourselves and our children.” ~Marcia McFee Music holds transformative power. Songs like “Amazing Grace” and “We Shall Overcome” have inspired countless people in…
“There’s a video I like of someone doing laundry in North Africa’s Atlas Mountains. It’s just a man doing the wash on the bank. There’s nothing traditional or artistic about it, but the way he treads on the clothes looks like he’s dancing. There’s no sound, but you almost hear the sound of the clothes…
“God’s people live out of the past and into the future, a future that has been promised but is yet to be fully realized. We always need to offer thanks and praise to God, to acknowledge gifts graciously given, and to hope in God’s continuing and surprising provision for the future.” ~M. Pasquarello Our worship…
“Hope isn’t wishful thinking, but absolute certainty about the future because it is grounded in God’s faithfulness to keep promises. What God will do for us is grounded in what God has already done!” ~Elizabeth Shively, alt. Hope is centered in the character of God. Hope is the heartbeat of Scripture. This Sunday we’ll take…
“Be bold! The powers of hate may cause us pain, sorrow, some suffering, but the power of love will and is already overcoming. Arise as we have not arisen before! Proclaim God’s millennial, timeless pride in us, in our communities — the eternal, sacred pride that comes with lovers, justice-makers and peace-seekers.” ~Rev. Elder Hong…
The historic inaugural Metropolitan Community Church worship service on October 6, 1968 was an act of trust. When Rev. Elder Troy Perry opened the doors into his little pink house in Los Angeles, he trusted that people would show up. He also trusted that God loved him unconditionally as an openly gay, defrocked Pentecostal Pastor…
