Podcasts about Congregational church

Since at least the time of the ancient psalmists, God has been described as a king... and kings described as gods... and the rest of humanity (and, let's be real: men) as "a little lower than God," and called by God to exercise dominion--power over--creation by "divine right." But with the Spirit's help and Jesus' example, we can imagine a "more excellent way." The key is there in the root of the word "dominion" itself: God and human beings not as tyrants but domestic partners, sharing power with creation and building a commonwealth for all and not a kingdom for some. (Psalm 8)Join us for worship Sundays @ 10am EDT, on-site & online via Zoom. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org—-The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, LGBTQ+ affirming, radically inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA. www.NeedhamUCC.orgChurch is the practice.Love is the point.

This is the sermon preached at Market Harborough Congregational Church.Date: 15th June 2025Leader: Rev Roo MacRaeTheme: Pentecost Two: The Holy Spirit poured out on the usBible readings: Acts 8:1-17 and Acts 11:1-18

This is the sermon preached at Market Harborough Congregational Church.Date: 8th June 2025Leader: Rev Roo MacRaeTheme: Pentecost One: The Holy Spirit poured out on the ChurchBible readings: John 14:15-21 and Acts 2:1-21

This is the sermon preached by Rev Barry Osborne on 1st June 2025 which includes communion.The bible reading is Acts 1:1-11We are having problems with the mhcongregational.church website, the first half of the service is on there, hopefully we will soon be sorted but if not we will continue on here.Don't forget that if you listen to podcasts, you can click 'follow' in the top right of the website and the sermon will be delivered to your device each week.

This is the sermon preached at Market Harborough Congregational Church.Date: 25th May 2025Leader: Rev Roo MacRaeTheme: The Resurrection People - Three Women Brave & BoldBible readings: Luke 7:36- 8:3 and Luke 23:50-24:12

This is the sermon preached at Market Harborough Congregational Church, if you are in the area we would love to welcome you to the church.The full service and more information about is is on our websiteDate: 18th May 2025Leader: Rev Roo MacRaeTheme: The Resurrection People - Bold or Meek?Bible Readings: John 3:1-21, John 13:31-14:9

This is the recording from Market Harborough Congregational ChurchDate:  4th May 2025Leader: Rev Roo MacRaeTheme: The Resurrection People - Grace on the BeachBible Readings: Luke 22:54-62 John 21:1-19

This Earth Sunday, we celebrate not God's gift of the earth to us, but God's gift to us of our interconnected relationship with the earth, God's wider, deeper, higher, and altogether “very good” creation of which we are a part. Our guest preacher will be The Rev. Dr. Chris Davies, one of the executive ministers of our Southern New England Conference of our United Church of Christ denominational family… and an avid beekeeper! She will share with us spiritual lessons for our current moment she's gleaned from caring for bees and the way bees care for each other.About our guest preacher:  The Rev. Dr. Chris Davies is a Celtic spiritualist, Christ-follower, organizer, queer femme, visionary, beekeeper, and liturgist.  An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, she loves faith deeply, and is committed to finding ways to continue to bring the gospel into the world, past this generation and into those to follow.  Chris attended Smith College for her undergrad work and Andover Newton for both a Masters of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry, focusing on queering proclamation.  She is passionate about justice and Jesus, works as the Executive Minister of Programs and Initiatives in the Southern New England Conference of the UCC.  Chris serves on the foundation board of Preterm, an independent abortion Clinic in Cleveland, OH.Join us for worship Sundays @ 10am EDT, on-site & online via Zoom. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org—-The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, LGBTQ+ affirming, radically inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA. www.NeedhamUCC.orgChurch is the practice.Love is the point.

This is the sermon from Market Harborough Congregational Church on 27th April.If you are able to join us in person we meet at 10.30am on Sundays for about an hour, our church is at the top of the High Street in Market Harborough Leicestershire.Date:  27th April 2025Leader Rev Roo MacRaeTheme: The Resurrection People - ThomasBible Readings John 11:1-16, John 14:1-7, John 20:19-31

At last we arrive at Easter Sunday. But oddly enough, Matthew's version of the story of the resurrection begins on Good Friday, with what sounds at first like a ghost story about tombs being opened and the dead walking. But it's a reminder that Easter doesn't belong just to the church and resurrection doesn't belong only to Jesus. Resurrection is for everyone, for the whole wide world, all the dry bones, all the walking dead, all the helpless and hopeless, even for us. (Matthew 27:45, 50-54) Join us for worship Sundays @ 10am EDT, on-site & online via Zoom. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org—-The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, LGBTQ+ affirming, radically inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA. www.NeedhamUCC.orgChurch is the practice.Love is the point.

This is the sermon from Easter Day 2025 in Market Harborough Congregational Church, it begins with the Easter Creed written by Rev Andreas Wagner Date:  20th April 2025Leader: Rev Roo MacRaeTheme: Easter Day: The Lord is RisenBible Readings: John 20

Our purpose in this Lenten series has been to slow down and spend significant time reflecting on each step of the story of Jesus' last days during what we call Holy Week. But he dies on Good Friday. So what happens, if anything, on Holy Saturday? What even can happen? Or should we just jump ahead to the Easter we know, 2000 years later, is coming on Sunday? Our special guest preacher, The Rev. Dr. Mary Luti, will help us sit with those questions and those feelings.This service is part of our "Step by Step: A Slow Walk Through Holy Week" series for Lent where we're spending an entire Sunday with each of the days of Holy Week, listening not just for the "what" happens to Jesus by the "whys" that take him there. This Sunday represents "Holy Saturday."Join us for worship Sundays @ 10am EDT, on-site & online via Zoom. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org—-The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, LGBTQ+ affirming, radically inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA. www.NeedhamUCC.orgChurch is the practice.Love is the point.

This is the recording of the Palm Sunday service from Market Harborough Congregational Church.11th April 2025Leader: Rev Roo MacRaeTheme: Palm Sunday: Praise King Jesus?Bible Readings: Matthew 20:23- 21:11, Matthew 27:11-26Through the week we are meeting:Good Friday 18th April 11-1pm the town churches will be meeting on The Square for EASTER LIVE a mini festival with live music, stories, drama, Children's activities and food stalls.5pm Passover Meal in the Jubilee HallEaster Day 20th April9.30am Easter breakfast in the Jubilee Hall which will include communion after 10am.10.30 Praise for Easter Day, all are welcome as we celebrate our Risen Lord.

My Story  Talk 13 Ministry at Colchester (1962-68) Part 1 Our time at Colchester saw the arrival of our first two children, Deborah in 1964 and Sarah, fifteen months later in 1965. Apart from the birth of the girls, the most significant aspects of our time in Colchester were the growth of the church, my ministry beyond the local church, and the lessons the experience taught me.  In this talk I'll be dealing mainly with the growth of the church, but first a word about practical things like employment, housing, holidays, and transport.   Employment, housing, holidays, and transport Before we were married, Eileen had been working in the Dagenham education office, and on moving to Colchester she found an excellent job in the education office there, which was within walking distance of our new home. She was soon promoted to a highly responsible administrative position which she held until shortly before Debbie was born.   As for me, although the church was contributing £5 a week towards the rent of our bungalow, it was essential that, for the time being at least, I find full-time secular employment. For the first year, the nearest RE (Religious Education) teaching post available was in Braintree which necessitated a thirty-mile round trip every day.   However, a year later a post became available in Colchester at the Alderman Blaxill Secondary School, a little over a mile from our church and a similar distance from our home. In those days the RE syllabus was based almost entirely on the Bible, so lesson preparation was not difficult, and I became very much aware that teaching 300 children every week was an important part of my ministry. I will say more later about how the Lord remarkably blessed that work, but how in 1966 the Lord called me to give up the teaching job and give myself full-time to the work of the church.   The rent for the bungalow we were living in was about £28 a month, which sounds ridiculously low by today's prices, but it didn't seem so then bearing in mind that my monthly salary as a teacher was only £60!  However, we soon discovered that some new houses were being built nearer to our church and that as a schoolteacher I could get a 100% mortgage to buy one. The monthly repayments would be just £18, £10 less than we were already paying in rent.   The only problem was that the builders required a £20 deposit to secure the plot. Eileen had £20 saved up to buy a hoover, which we desperately needed, and we were wondering what to do, when my mother, not knowing anything about our plans to buy a new property, phoned to say that she was buying a new hoover and asked if we would we like her old one, which was in perfectly good condition. We saw this as a clear sign that the Lord was prompting us to make the move, and we paid the £20 deposit and moved into our new home in August, 1963.   My parents also moved in 1963. They had been living in Hornchurch since before I was born, and now I was married they decided to move to a new bungalow in Eastwood, not far from Southend-on-Sea. So when the children came along we were grateful for our holidays to be visits to our parents who were equally pleased to have an opportunity to spend time with their grandchildren. Eileen's parents were still living in Hornchurch, and it was always good to see them, but my parents' home in Eastwood, with its proximity to the sea and the beautiful view of open countryside to the rear of the property was especially inviting. We usually travelled there on a Monday and returned on the Saturday so as not to leave the church unattended on Sundays.   But that brings me to the subject of transport. During the course of my ministry, I have owned or had the use of some fifty different vehicles, ranging from my first car, a Ford Prefect, which I bought during my final term at Oxford, to my recently acquired nine-year-old Mercedes E-Class saloon. The Ford Prefect broke down in the cold winter of 1963 when the snow lay on the ground throughout January, February and most of March.   I was on my way to school in Braintree when it happened, and I quickly decided that I needed something more reliable. That was when we bought our fourth Lambretta scooter, reliable because it was new, but extremely uncomfortable and at times difficult to control in that freezing weather. So it wasn't long before I was back in a car again.   In the summer I borrowed an old Bradbury van from the father of some of the children coming to our meetings. He said we could have it for the day to take them to the seaside. Unfortunately, it broke down on the way home and I was left with about a dozen kids on the roadside. As I was wondering and praying what to do, a man came by in a Humber Hawk and asked if he could help. It was a large car and somehow he bundled all the kids on to the back seat and, with me beside him in the front, kindly drove us all back home.   But that gave me an idea. Maybe I should get a Humber and use it for children's work! I looked in the local paper and saw an ad for a Humber Super Snipe, even larger than the Hawk. It was over ten years old, but I had read somewhere that if you're buying a second-hand car it might be wise to get a big one. It might cost a bit more in fuel, but the engine was more likely to be reliable! Which has been my excuse for buying big cars ever since!   So I bought it for £80 and discovered that it did 11 to the gallon in town and, if you were lucky, 19 on a run! But it did the job, and I remember on one occasion squeezing eighteen kids into it to get them to Sunday School! It was only a short distance, and I realise now how potentially dangerous that was. But in those days ‘risk assessment' had not been invented and there was no requirement to wear a seatbelt. In fact, there were no seatbelts. Piling people into the back of a van or lorry was quite common, but of course there was far less traffic on the roads back then. And if it did enter our head that something might be risky, we just trusted the Lord to take care of us!   But it soon became obvious that we needed something more suited to the task, and I traded in my Humber for a 12-seater minibus. And before long we were running four minibuses to bring people to the meetings as one person after another, following my example, exchanged their car for one. Everything we have belongs to the Lord, and if changing our car for a minibus will lead to more people coming to Christ, we should surely be prepared to do so. The commitment of such people was undoubtedly one of the reasons for the growth of the church while we were there, and that's where we turn to next.   The growth of the church The Full Gospel Mission, Straight Road, Lexden, was nothing more than a tin hut with the potential to seat at most eighty people. When Eileen and I arrived, there were only twelve regular attenders, and that included a family of four who emigrated to Australia not long after our arrival, leaving us with a congregation of eight. By the time we left, the church was packed every Sunday with eighty regular attenders, which, in the 1960s was considered rapid growth, and my main purpose in this section is to explore the reasons why. But first, a word about the church programme.   Church programme When we arrived in Colchester we inherited what was a typical programme for AoG churches in those days. On Sunday mornings there was the Breaking of Bread service, otherwise known as Communion. There was a Sunday School for the children in the afternoon, and on Sunday evenings there was the Gospel Service where all the hymns and the sermon were designed to bring people to Christ, and after which there would be laying on of hands and prayer for the sick.   Midweek on Tuesday evenings there was a Children's Meeting from six to seven followed by a Prayer Meeting at nine, and on Thursday evenings there was Bible Study. There was no meeting for young people until we started one on a Friday, but more of that later.   The attendance at these meetings was far from encouraging. In fact, during our first year at Colchester, the Sunday School and Children's Meeting were attended by only a handful of children, and the midweek meetings for adults were hardly better. On Sundays, if we had visitors, numbers might rise to fifteen. I faithfully preached the gospel every Sunday evening, but in that year we saw not one single decision for Christ, largely because most Sundays everyone present was already a Christian.   Apart from the weekly programme, there was the church's Annual Convention when a guest speaker would be invited for the weekend and friends from surrounding Pentecostal churches would come for the two meetings held on the Saturday. It was good to see the building full and to hear some of the pioneers of the Pentecostal Movement like Howard and John Carter. But while these occasions were a real encouragement, they hardly made up for the weeks throughout the year when so few were attending. So what made the difference in the remaining years where we saw our numbers multiply significantly?   Reasons for growth It is the Lord who builds his church, and in my view, the major reason for the growth of the church was, without a doubt, the fact that he strategically placed me as an RE teacher in a local school where I was free to teach the young people about Jesus. That, combined with the fact that he sent me key people to help me start a Youth Meeting on a Friday night, resulted in dozens of decisions for Christ, many of whom started to come on Sundays.   It all started when I received an invitation to preach at the Youth Meeting in the Colchester Elim Church. After the meeting a couple of people in their early twenties asked me if we had a Youth Meeting at our church, and I said that I'd like to start one but that I had no musician. To which they responded by offering to help me. David Fletcher was an able guitarist and John Ward an excellent accordion player. Together with their fiancées, Jean and Sandra, who were good singers, they made a great group for leading worship and were, quite literally, a Godsend.   All this, in the providence of God, coincided with my starting teaching in the local school and with a girl called Corinne, one of the children from a family in our church, starting there too. She provided the link between my RE lessons and the local church. I told the children about Jesus, and she told her friends where they could find out more.   So we launched our new Youth Meeting by hiring a couple of coaches to provide transport to the church from just outside the school gates. My new friends from Elim provided the music and I preached. In school I had been able to tell them about Jesus, but I couldn't make a gospel appeal in RE lessons! Now, in church, I had complete freedom, and on the very first night, when I made the appeal forty-one children made a decision for Christ.   And when a number of them started coming on Sundays, on one occasion eleven of them being baptised in the Holy Spirit, there was a new sense of expectancy among the older members. They were thrilled to see young people in their meetings, and that began to attract people from other churches too, including David and Jean, John and Sandra, who decided to join us because of their work with the youth.   Of course, our attempts to reach people with the gospel were not limited to the young people. I produced a quarterly newsletter which we called The Full Gospel Mission VOICE. We distributed thousands of these to the homes in the area, using my minibus on a Saturday morning to transport ten or so young people to deliver them street by street throughout the area. I can think of only one person who came to Christ through that ministry, but at least we knew that people had had an opportunity to read the gospel even if they never came to church.   After I had given up my teaching job, I also conducted two evangelistic missions in our church. Each mission lasted from a Saturday through to the following Sunday. We leafleted far and wide, each leaflet containing a message about healing as well as salvation, and, of course, details of the meetings. The meetings were well attended, but mainly by Christians who wanted prayer for healing, and although there were a few decisions for Christ and some healings, I have no memory of anyone being added to our church as a result.   And an SPF mission we conducted in Wivenhoe, a village near Colchester next to which the new University of Essex was about to be built, fared little better. It was a great experience for the students who participated, but there were very few local people who attended. Apart, that is, from Ian and Janet Balfour, a couple from a Strict Baptist background, who came to support us, got to know us, were baptised in the Spirit as a result, and decided to move to a house less than five minutes' walk from our church. They had four children all under the age of five, one of whom was Glenn, later to come as a student to Mattersey Hall, and, for a time after my principalship, its principal. The Lord clearly had a purpose in our going to Wivenhoe, even if, at the time, we felt rather disappointed with the results.   And Ian and Janet were not the only people added to our church as a result of receiving the baptism in the Spirit. Alan Coe, who was a work colleague of John Ward and had recently become a Christian, came along to our meetings, received the baptism, and joined our church. He proved a very faithful member, and when I was in contact with him recently was still attending regularly. David Littlewood, a former Methodist, later to become an AoG minister and a member of Mattersey's Board of Governors, was also baptised in the Spirit in our church while he was a student at the University of Essex.   But the ministry the Lord had given me of praying for people to be filled with the Spirit was not limited to those who would become members of our church. I had the privilege of laying hands on Reginald East, the vicar of West Mersea, and on Mike Eavery, the minister of the local Congregational Church and seeing them both baptised in the Spirit in their homes.   So the Lord was blessing us in ways that perhaps we had not expected, and if the results of the evangelistic missions we conducted were rather disappointing, he was showing us that the key to growth was to follow the supernatural leading of the Holy Spirit. Miracles happen as he determines, and I was certainly not expecting what happened one Saturday evening.   But I'll tell you about that next time.  

This is the recording from Market Harborough Congregational Church, the final sermon on the book of Ruth and communion.Date: 4th April 2025Leader: Rev Roo MacRaeTheme: Redeeming Love 5: Gutter to GloryBible Readings: Hebrews 2:5-18 and Ruth 4 (The Voice)  

In this episode, Matt welcomes SHARE Fund chairman Jerry Rainville, who introduces LeeAnn Bruneau as the organization's new executive director. LeeAnn first joined SHARE Fund as a volunteer and later became Assistant Director under Skip Smith, who is now stepping into a new role as pastor of the Congregational Church in York, Maine. LeeAnn is eager to lead the organization and help people in need.

This is the recording from Market Harborough Congregational Church in Leicestershire UK.Leader: Rev Roo MacRaeDate: 30th March 2025Theme: Redeeming Love 4: The cost of redemptionBible Readings: 1 Peter 1:3-21 and Ruth 4 (The Voice) 

A guided meditation:  Did you know that before there was a Last Supper, there was a First Supper, when Jesus was prepared to endure the terrible events of the rest of Holy Week by the love of his friends. In particular, one woman anointed him with costly perfume, tears and laughter, intimacy and grief mingling together as it ran down, and the house was filled with the odor of holiness, of love. It's good to remember as we face our own hard choices, our struggle for justice is fueled best not just by righteousness but by love. Who do you love so much? (Mark 14:3-9)This service is part of our "Step by Step: A Slow Walk Through Holy Week" series for Lent where we're spending an entire Sunday with each of the days of Holy Week, listening not just for the "what" happens to Jesus by the "whys" that take him there. This Sunday represents "Holy Wednesday."Join us for worship Sundays @ 10am EDT, on-site & online via Zoom. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org—-The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, LGBTQ+ affirming, radically inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA. www.NeedhamUCC.orgChurch is the practice.Love is the point.

This is the sermon preached at Market Harborough Congregational Church in Leicestershire UK. If you can join us in person any week we would love to welcome you at 10.30am, or if you follow these podcasts they will appear in your feed most weeks.Date: 23rd March 2025Preacher: Rev Roo MacRaeTheme: Redeeming Love 3: Resting at the Redeemer's FeetBible readins: Leviticus 25: 8-13, 25-28, 47-55 NLT and Ruth 3 (The Voice) 

Jesus continues to wear out his welcome in Jerusalem. The various power blocs within the religious leadership of the day pepper him with questions, often trick questions, hoping to discredit him and his disciples in the eyes of the faithful without drawing the attention of the occupying Romans. But Jesus is never one to shy away from controversy for the sake of a larger and more loving Gospel, which angers those powers enough they begin to look for a way to shuffle him off the public stage, permanently. (Mark 11:27-12:40)This sermon for "Holy Tuesday" is part of our "Step by Step: A Slow Walk Through Holy Week" worship series for Lent, where each Sunday in Lent we focus on one of the days of Holy Week, Jesus' last week on earth... before Easter. Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

This is the sermon from Market Harborough Congregational Church, our Minister Roo Macrae has begun a new series on the book of Ruth.Date: 9th March 2025Theme: From famine to fullness Bible readings: Psalm 146, Ruth 1

This is the recording from Market Harborough Congregational Church on 1st March led by our new minister.  The recording includes communion and Roo and Gwen being brought into church membership.Date 1st March 2025Led by Rev Roo MacRaeBible readings Isaiah 25:1-9 Matthew 21:1-14

“C” is for Circular Congregational Church (Charleston)

This is the first service led by our new minister Rev Roo MacRae on Sunday morning, 23rd February at Market Harborough Congregational Church.Date: 23rd February 2025 Minister: Rev Roo MacRaeBible Readings Psalm 77 2 Timothy 1:1-14Theme: In the footsteps of giants.

Our guest speaker for our February Family Night service is Rev. Colin McFarland. Rev. McFarland became a christian at the age of 9 & even as a boy wanted to be a Missionary. As a singer in a Quartet taking meetings, Colin mainly did the preaching. The Lord led him into the Belfast City Mission during the troubles & in 1974 into the Congregational Church. At 91 he's still singing & speaking for The Lord having released 2 CDs, 1 at 85 & 1 at 90 years old.We would like to invite you to attend our Family Night service as Rev. McFarland gives a personal word of testimony, sings, and preaches from God's Word. Everyone is welcome, please plan to attend.

This is the sermon from Market Harborough Congregational Church, if you are in South Leicestershire on a Sunday morning, we would love to welcome you to our church building on a Sunday morning.Date: 9th February 2025Leader:  Janet SmithTheme: Costly forgiveness Bible Reading: Matthew 18:21-35

This is the recording of the service from Market Harborough Congregational Church which includes communion.Date: 2nd February 2025 Leader: Rev Jacquie GavinTheme: Nothing lost that can't be found Bible reading: Matthew 20:1-16

This is the sermon from MH Congregational Church, you can listen to the full service on our website.Date: 26th January 2025Leader: Rev Dr Janet WoottonTheme:Treasure beyond priceBible readings: Matthew 13:45-53 Job 28

This is the recording of this morning's service at Market Harborough Congregational Church.Date: 12th January 2025 Leader: Georgina Licquorice TeeTheme: The New Kingdom Bible Readings: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43Next week our service is a United Service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at the Methodist Church on Northampton Road.

Show Notes: In this inspiring episode, Lorraine sits down with Reverend Dawn Adams, Senior Minister at 1st Congregational Church, Wolfborough, UCC. Dawn shares her profound journey into ministry and leadership, offering valuable insights into self-perception, personal growth, and the importance of finding one's true calling in life. Together, they explore:

Welcome to In Sacred Spaces, a three-episode series in which we visit spaces around NewClick here for more about the episode...In Sacred Spaces 2: Grace Congregational Church of Harlem (with Nigel and Lisa Pearce)

In the wake of this election's seismic shift, we're spending time grounding ourselves once more in the core message of 1 Corinthians 13:13—“Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three”—in ways that speak to our current situation, beginning with faith. This week it's hope. We talk about having hope, which sounds lovely... until you lose it. Then what are we supposed to do? But as peoples who've lived through the end of their own worlds--and still are--remind us, hope is something we do, something we make. What's revealed in apocalyptic moments (apocalypse means "revealing") is that the hope we forge, the vision we cast, together, into the future is what gives the present meaning and purpose beyond our present troubles. In a very real way, hope has us, not the other way around. (Mark 2:1-12). Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

The gospels are full of miraculous stories of  Jesus healing people, but they're never told from the point of view of the people he heals. The (temporarily) able-bodied Church today is only beginning to understand how problematic that really is, whether we take these stories literally or metaphorically. Because nobody's body is just a metaphor, and, as disability justice advocates like author Amy Kenny remind us, nobody's body is just a prayer request. Our disabled God loves all our bodies just as they are.  (Mark 10:46-52)Originally preached 10-27-2024Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

“God's love and kindness will shine upon us like the sun that rises in the sky” (Luke 1:78-9, CEV). A celebration more than a decade in the making! Come join us for a special worship service dedicating the new solar panel array on our sanctuary roof. This giant leap forward was made that much more possible through donations given in loving memory of Deb Baldwin, a founding member of our Environmental Ministries Team and a prophetic voice for climate action, following her death in the spring of 2023. Rev. Maddie Foster, preacher. (Matthew 5:13-16)Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

*With apologies for the poorer than usual audio quality. A subtitled video is available at https://youtu.be/QOpgyCGCVf8In Mark 10:17-31, an insider--the rich young ruler--and an outsider--Simon Peter--both ask Jesus essentially the same question: "What must we do to be saved?" Jesus' answer disappoints them both. He's not interested in what will set either man apart in God's eyes but what will bring them together here on earth. While the would wants to divide and subtract, the Gospel is all about addition and multiplication. God's will is to take all our pieces and stitches us up together in one "seamless garment of destiny" (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)Originally preached October 13, 2024Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

In the wake of this election week's seismic shift, we're going to spend the next three Sundays looking to ground ourselves once more in 1 Corinthians 13:13—“Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three”—in ways that speak to our current situation.Faith isn't a laundry list of six impossible things we have to believe before breakfast. Faith is trust (literally, in the New Testament Greek), and the basis of trust is truth. The Church has to be willing to embrace the truth of our and our neighbors' pain, fear, anger, and grief in this moment, our why should anyone trust us or the God we preach? Saccharine may be sweet, but it's artificial. (1 Corinthians 13:13)Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

But [the widow] said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.” ~1 Kings 17:1-16 An “election sermon” is actually a very old tradition in the Congregational Church. As best I can tell, the first one was preached by John Cotton in Boston in 1634, and they continued consistently all the way through the 18th century. And they were long—more than two hours. This will be my fourth election sermon here at FCC, and this one will not be that long. Though maybe it should be because our scripture for Sunday is about never running out. A widow in Zarephath looked at the world and saw that there wasn't enough for her and her son to live. It was a scary prospect. There is lots of fear as we face another national election day too. But Elijah says, “Do not be afraid! God has enough for everybody—especially when we put someone else first.” On Sunday I'll be reflecting on what it means to always have enough, no matter how bleak the future seems.

Shalom Auslander's book, Beware of God, is full of cautionary tales about faith, including the short story “Waiting for Joe,” in which two hamsters from very different theological viewpoints try to cope with the absence of their owner. It may seem farcical on the surface, it's a powerful call to interrogate our own faith (or lack thereof) and our image of God and remember that the God somebody hands you is never the only option.Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

To combat the current epidemic of isolation, loneliness, disaffiliation, and division destroying our physical, mental, and political health, experts prescribe a dose of social connection. Joining, sharing, learning to trust... and to be trustworthy... helps repair our social fabric, and our souls. Because, as the Apostle Paul reminds us, human beings are made for community. So, given how we've failed in the past, how can we make joining church good news for people again? (Romans 12:4-5) Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

In Episode 162 of Theology In Particular, I'm joined by Dr. James Renihan to discuss the ecclesiology and polity expressed in chapter 26 of the Second London Confession and to make a case for congregationalism from the Scriptures.   Contact: For information about International Reformed Baptist Seminary, go to irbsseminary.org. For feedback, questions, or suggestions, email Joe Anady at tip@irbsseminary.org.    Announcements: Southern California Reformed Baptist Pastors' Conference Dates: November 4-5, 2024 Location: Trinity Reformed Baptist Church, La Mirada, CA Topic: Second London Confession Chapter 10: Of Effectual Calling For more information and to register, go to scrbpc.org.

“Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.” Every creature, all of creation, has a home in the heart of our Creator. Why is it often so hard for us to feel we do, too? (Psalm 84)Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

In mathematics, a fractal is “a visual expression of a repeating pattern or formula that starts out simple and gets progressively more complex.” We see fractals in nature, in the patterns of pinecones and the spirals of sea shells, where, when we look closely, we see the signature of those basic building blocks repeating themselves throughout the whole. For us, God is that basic building block. If we look closely, in faith, at the “breadth and length and height and depth” of all creation, we can see the fingerprints of God on everything, from single-cell organisms to entire ecosystems to our neighbors to our enemies. Now if only we would. (Ephesians 3:14-21)Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

Even since the time of King David, church buildings have been a mixed blessing–well, not exactly, but you get the idea. Religious communities, churches, need places to gather for worship, but all too often, we can end up worshiping the building, when really it's just a tool, a gathering place and a base of operations for the broader ministries to our neighbors to which God calls us. So how do churches like ours who possess buildings keep them from possessing us? How do we use this tool well for the glory of God in the support of our community? (2 Samuel 7:1-11)Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

The Church of Jesus Christ started out as a counter-cultural movement, a vision of how things ought to be to challenge the way things were, particularly for the people the powers of this world consider “the least of these.” But thanks to its adoption by the Roman Emperor Constantine, the church became one of those powers, kicking off the “captivity of the church,” the subjugation of the Gospel of liberation to the very domination system it was created to critique. So under whose sign does the Church gather today? The cross of Christ? Or the flag of the United States? (Matthew 5:13-16; 13:33)Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

Part of our Lay Preaching Series, members of our Open and Affirming team share reflections on the "whys" of their ministry with our congregation. Offered by Stephanie, Cheryl, and Barbra. Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

Marina was born in 5th Century Lebanon and assigned female at birth. When, after their mother died, their dad decided to enter a monastery, Marina went with him—as a man, Brother Marinos. But one day, he was unjustly accused of a crime he could not have committed and expelled from the community. It was only upon his death that the world learned the truth about Marinos: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual, queer, transgender and non-binary folk have always been here and always will, part of God's marvelously diverse design for life. Now wouldn't it be amazing if we recognized their inherent worth before they die?Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom @ 10am ET. Connect at www.NeedhamUCC.org.---The Congregational Church of Needham strives to be a justice-seeking, peace-making, love-affirming, LGBTQ-welcoming, radically-inclusive congregation of the United Church of Christ in Needham, MA.Church is the practice.Love is the point.

This is prob simultaneously the most deranged, idiotic... & inspired ep yet in this last year of podcasting. Speaking of which, PPM just turned 1 yr old: pls make sure to rate & review it on Spotify in celebration & get the word out as yr able! We sure do appreciate it. Sub to the Patreon b4 Sermon #2 drops: ⁠patreon.com/ParaPowerMapping⁠ In which yr faithful ParaPower Mapper assumes an inverted Baby Billy Freeman from The Righteous Gemstones persona, donning an anti-Prosperity Gospel & anti-Z****st preacher mask, in order to deliver a lengthy sermon decrying the exploitive televangelist ministry of the Osteen dynasty & an alt history of the House of Usury known as Lakewood Church, culminating in an examination of the sus interlocks & inconsistencies that shed a diabolical light on the highly publicized "shooting" that took place at said repurposed Houston Rockets arena some weeks ago.  We call upon the Holy Spirit to guide us as we humbly seek to speak in sus-olalia (not glossolalia), setting the possible contours of this false flag conspiracy alight... Fill us w/ sus tongues of Holy Fire, Lord, as we consider whether this "domestic terrorist attack" was an op to shitcoat the popular pro-Palestinian movement as antisemitic & Hamas-affiliated, providing further genocidal justification for the hasbara-artistes. We're talking:  Prosperity Gospel; Charismatic Movement; televangelism; Azusa St. Revival; William J. Seymour; Charles Parham; John Osteen's conversion story & early ministry; his son Joel Osteen; Lakewood Church attack; Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship Int'l; Demos Shakarian (capitalist evangelist & Kardashian clan relative); the faith healer & fraudster William Branham, one of John Osteen's primary mentors; the Branhamite cultic tree & various sects that have branched from it; Jim Jones & the People's Temple; Colonia Dignidad & Paul Schafer; recent spate of (Israeli lobby-organized?) bomb hoaxes on college campuses; Christian Z****sm; Joel Osteen's friendship w/ Bi*bi Netan*yahu; an earlier parcel bombing at the Lakewood Church that may serve as a skeleton key to understanding this false flag; Houston shooter Genesse Moreno's diagnoses of dissociation, schizophrenia, & PTSD; her schizo "antisemitic" screeds on social media; her repeated telegraphing of the attack; the possibility her M*I*L is either her programmer or else played a precipitating role in her psych breakdown by attempting to sic CPS on Moreno & steal custody of her son Samuel; the fact Moreno's husband is imprisoned over failing to register as a sex offender in FL; Genesse's apparent connections to Lakewood via her bio mother, which make her decision to target the Church all the more curious, as the primary motivation she professed online for the attack in the lead up was her desire to exact revenge on her mom-in-law, who, curiously enough, happens to be a Rabbi & whose connection to Lakewood Church is unclear... Genesse's incoherent political statements, her obsession w/ "Ham_s", & her repeated intimations that her MIL in driving her mad. All meaning her actions & self-professed rationale behind the attack appear incongruent. Her allegations that her Mom-in-Law has the F*B*I surveilling her & certain paranoiac behaviors & pathologies highly reminiscent of James Yoo (not to mention her stimmed-out writing style verging on illegible, which is also comparable). Finally, Moreno's MIL assertion her son was the victim of repeated CSA as a child. And much more. Songs: | "Jesus Paid It All" organ instrumental |  | Dr. Shantram Hawkins - "Because He Lives" Organ Solo |  | Loretta Lynn - "Just A Little Talk With Jesus" |  | TACTlacker feat. Dog Vorbis - "Pretty Thump" (Thank you PPM patron Neener for yr generous gift) |  | Demajor77 - "What Can Wash My Sins Away, Nothing But the Blood of Jesus" Organ Solo |  | Cory Henry - "The Revivalist Project" |  | Sounds for the Supermarket - "5" (1975) |  | Dolly Parton - "I'll Keep Climbing" | 

This is prob simultaneously the most deranged, idiotic,... and inspired ep that I've prod. in this last year of podcasting. Speaking of which, PPM just turned 1 yr old: pls make sure to rate & review it on Spotify in celebration & get the word out as yr able! We sure do appreciate it. To access all 2+ hours of this fire & brimstone Paranoiacostal sermon & the full index, sub to the PPM Patreon: patreon.com/ParaPowerMapping In which yr faithful ParaPower Mapper assumes an inverted Baby Billy Freeman from The Righteous Gemstones persona, donning an anti-Prosperity Gospel & anti-Z****st preacher mask, in order to deliver a lengthy sermon decrying the exploitive televangelist ministry of the Osteen dynasty & an alt history of the House of Usury known as Lakewood Church, culminating in an examination of the sus interlocks, inconsistencies, & myriad connections that shed a diabolical light on the highly publicized "shooting" that took place at said repurposed Houston Rockets arena some weeks ago.  We call upon the Holy Spirit to guide us as we humbly seek to speak in sus-olalia (not glossolalia), setting the possible contours of this false flag conspiracy alight... Fill us w/ sus tongues of Holy Fire, Lord, as we consider whether this "domestic terrorist attack" was an op to shitcoat the popular pro-Palestinian movement as antisemitic & Hamas-affiliated, providing further genocidal justification for the hasbara-artistes. We're talking: Prosperity Gospel; Charismatic Movement; televangelism; Azusa St. Revival; William J. Seymour; Charles Parham; John Osteen's conversion story & early ministry; his son Joel Osteen; Lakewood Church attack; Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship Int'l; Demos Shakarian (capitalist evangelist & Kardashian clan relative); the faith healer & fraudster William Branham, one of John Osteen's primary mentors; the Branhamite cultic tree & various sects that have branched from it; Jim Jones & the People's Temple; Colonia Dignidad & Paul Schafer; the recent spate of prob Israeli lobby-organized bomb hoaxes on college campuses; Christian Z****sm; Joel Osteen's friendship w/ Bi*bi Netan*yahu; an earlier parcel bombing at the Lakewood Church that may serve as a skeleton key to understanding this possible false flag; Houston shooter Genesse Moreno's diagnoses of dissociation, schizophrenia, & PTSD; her schizo "antisemitic" screeds on social media; her repeated telegraphing of the attack; the possibility that her M*I*L is either her programmer or else played a precipitating role in her psych breakdown by attempting to sic CPS on Moreno & steal custody of her son Samuel; the fact Moreno's husband is imprisoned over failing to register as a sex offender in FL; Genesse's apparent connections to Lakewood via her bio mother, which make her decision to target the Church all the more curious, as the primary motivations that she professed online for the attack in the lead up were her desire to exact her revenge on her mom-in-law, who, curiously enough, happens to be a Rabbi & whose connection to Lakewood Church is unclear... Not to mention Genesse's incoherent political statements, her obsession w/ "Ham_s", and her repeated intimations that her MIL in driving her mad. All meaning that her actions & her self-professed rationale behind the attack appear incongruent. Her allegations that her Mom-in-Law has the F*B*I surveilling her & certain paranoiac behaviors & pathologies that seem highly reminiscent of James Yoo (not to mention her stimulant-quickened writing style verging on the illegible, which is also comparable). Other revelations include: that Moreno's Rabbi MIL maintains her son was also the victim of repeated CSA as a child and that Moreno refers to her MIL as the source of her insanity. And much more. | TACTlacker - "Pretty Thump" (Thnx PPM patron Neener for yr generous gift) |  | Demajor77 - "What Can Wash My Sins Away..." Organ Solo |  | Cory Henry - "The Revivalist Project" | 

"Natural Magick" Formed in the mid '90s in London, Kula Shaker emerged as one of the most dynamic and engaging musical acts around. Mixing psychedelia with traditional Indian music and pop, Kula Shaker tore it up right out of the gate, with their debut album K hitting #1 and making them immediate superstars. Over the course of their career they played Glastonbury, T in the Park, the V Festival, and they supported Oasis at their legendary Knebworth shows. Singer Crispian Mills is the grandson of the Academy Award Winning actor Sir John Mills and the son of director Roy Boulting and actress Hayley Mills, who you might remember from the 1961 film The Parent Trap. Mills got into ancient Sanskrit texts as a young man and carried their wisdom into his adulthood. He also got into psych music as well as The Doors. He's played with X-Ray Spex and appeared on the Prodigy's The Fat Of The Land album and when Kula Shaker were on hiatus, he played in a band called The Jeevas. Also, he's a writer and director; he wrote and helmed the Simon Pegg film A Fantastic Fear Of Everything and has other projects in the works. With Kula Shaker he's put out six marvelous albums, including K, Pilgrim's Progress, 1st Congregational Church of Eternal Love and Hugs and their brand new one, Natural Magick. A riveting return to form, Natural Magick finds the original Kula Shaker lineup reunited and the results are stunning--this album is an energetic blast of psych pop redolent with rich hooks, textured instrumentation and melodies galore. It's fabulous work. www.news.kulashaker.co.uk www.stereoembersmagazine.com www.bombshellradio.com (http://www.bombshellradio.com) www.alexgreenbooks.com (http://www.alexgreenbooks.com) Twitter: @embersditor IG: @emberspodcast Email: editor@stereoembersmagazine.com (mailto:editor@stereoembersmagazine.com)

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. The guys begin with Fisher describing his recent eBay score… an invitation to a New York City firemen's “hop” in 1860, sponsored by his great grandfather's volunteer fire company. It also notes the name of his great grandfather's brother who was also a member of the company and on the dance committee. David then describes his strange journey to the specific place he was born. In Family Histoire news, a UK man is spearheading an effort to identify all the soldiers who served in The Great War… aka World War I… in his village. Then, hear about the recent efforts to recover a sunken boat tied to Benedict Arnold… back when he was playing for our team! And, why are Victorians the official haunted houses of Halloween? David explains. In Segment Two, Fisher chats with Dr. Tricia Peone. Dr. Peone is using Congregational Church records from centuries ago to reveal “hidden history” in New England. Next, Carolyn Tolman visits from sponsor Legacy Tree Genealogists. Carolyn had a brick wall in her family research dating back to the days when her great grandmother was the family historian. And Carolyn has finally broken it. Hear the story and learn about the different tools she used to find it. David then returns for Ask Us Anything answering your questions. That's all this week on Extreme Genes, America's Family History Show!