Church guide

This Sunday, April 7: Part of turning back to God this Lent is turning back to our enemies and those we need to forgive. The hardest part of forgiveness, though, is not knowing we should, but knowing how. How can we actually do the work of letting go of old pains and hurts to live into the abundant life God offers us? And it's a communion Sunday, so come experience forgiveness and reconciliation for yourself around God's table.

Sunday's sermon: How is God calling you to turn back to the stranger this season? How will you turn back to welcome someone who might be new, feeling out of place, or overlooked?

This Sunday, March 31: One of the ways we can turn back to God during the season of Lent (and always) is by turning back to the stranger. Who counts as a "stranger," and how can we extend God's extravagant welcome to others? And, stay after worship for Fifth Sunday Service as we make bag lunches for the Arlington Homeless Services Center.

Sunday's sermon "Turning back to creation isn’t just about turning back to creation. It’s about turning back to each other, turning back to our neighbors near and far, turning back to our children, and turning back to God."

Keeping the church signs up to date

This Sunday, March 24: This Lenten season we're turning back to God, and turning back to God also means turning back to God's creation. God's first covenant was with human beings and all of creation, but we too often forget our covenant obligations to each other and the earth - how can we "turn back" this Lent?

Sunday's sermon "It’s the person who had every reason and excuse not to help who did. And so, with this story, Jesus shatters our excuses for not being a neighbor."

This Sunday, March 17: Last week we talked about turning back to God during Lent, but we can't turn back to God without turning back to our neighbors. Come hear Jesus' classic story of what it means to be a neighbor and how we can re-focus this season on those God has called us to love.

Sunday's sermon: "I learned in seminary that the Hebrew word that gets translated as 'repent' is the same as the word for 'turn': shub. 'Repent,' to me, has all those connotations of hellfire and damnation and locust armies. But 'turn' doesn’t. 'Turn' sounds more like when you are lost and going in the wrong direction and you finally get your bearings and head the other way."

This Sunday, March 10: It's the first Sunday in Lent, the season of reflection, repentance, and discipline leading up to Good Friday and Easter. We'll observe the beginning of the season with the imposition of ashes (in case you missed them on Wednesday) and start a new sermon series, Turn Back. God, neighbor, creation, our enemies - what or who do we need to turn back to this season?

Some words for Ash Wednesday: "I used to think I wasn’t one of those people, until I realized that that was exactly what those ashes meant: that I was."

This Sunday, March 3: Don't miss it! Our previous seminary intern, Barb Schweitzer, will be back to preach a storytelling-style sermon that will take us from creation through Noah's ark, AND we'll welcome special guests from the Vanderbilt University Concert Choir who will bless us with music this Sunday! It's going to be great time to worship God.

Sunday's sermon: "All of us, even those of us who are bearing fruit, have parts that could stand to be cut away to allow that good fruit to grow and flourish. Pruning is not punishment; it’s part of health and the abundant life Jesus wants for us."

This Sunday, February 24: We finish up our "I am" series with Jesus' last I am saying, "I am the true vine." Even if we're not into gardening, we know a branch has to stay attached to the vine to live and bear fruit. How do we stay attached, what fruit are we supposed to bear - and it is possible to avoid getting pruned?

Sunday's sermon: "No one comes to the Father except through me," says Jesus. But this isn't really a passage about who goes to heaven or hell: it's about knowing God.

This Sunday, February 17: Jesus says "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." For many of us, this may be the most difficult of Jesus' seven I Am sayings. In our diverse and pluralistic world, what does it mean to claim that there is one way to God and truth? And is it possible to affirm that statement without condemning others?

Sunday's sermon: "Death, the power of death that Jesus defeats both in the raising of Lazarus and finally in his own resurrection, isn’t just about physical death. It’s about everything – the fear, the pressure, the complacency, the self-doubt, the self-righteousness – that separates us from abundant life."

This Sunday, February 10: Our "I am" series continues with the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead - which Jesus takes as an occasion to tell us "I am the resurrection and the life." What does it mean to have new life in Jesus, not just after we die, but right here and right now?

Sunday's sermon: "Listening to the story of this bakery in a war-ravaged Ukrainian town, where bread has come to mean not just food but life, it’s not surprising to me that one of the ways Jesus identifies himself in the Bible is as bread."

Audrey Abbott’s Baptism! Dec 9, 2018.

Thanksgiving Anthem!