I once heard the quote that “there is nothing so strong as gentleness and nothing so gentle as real strength”. It sounds good, but do we live in this harsh and divided world as if we believe that to be true? How much do we give in to societal pressure to push our way to the front; to assert our rights; to strive for what we want rather than what others need? We need these Beatitudes more than ever before, and this week, we come to Jesus’ invitation to meekness. We tackle together the difference between what we think of as meek and what it really looks like in scripture and in practical, human life. We consider where such meekness comes from and how Jesus helps us to embody it, that we might inherit the land (Matthew 5:5).

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This is also a Communion Sunday, where we acknowledge our need and rely on God to fill us in the empty places of our hearts and lives. We do not meditate on these Beatitudes / Blessings or partake in this holy meal all on our own, but as a community gathered in the sanctuary of COA and in the homes of those we call our members and neighbors. All are welcome!

In this second week of our Beatitudes sermon series, we come to Jesus’ blessing on those who mourn. How is it possible that those who are sad should be happy? What does this mean in a world that does whatever possible to avoid pain and death? What areas of life have led to experiences of loss for us that perhaps we have not fully processed or embraced? Could this be a crucial part of our spiritual growth? We will continue to confront these countercultural, seemingly impossible blessings with our real questions, and think together about how they invite us to brand new way of life in the Kingdom of God; a way of life where we can be our real selves and trust that we are held, accompanied and loved by God.

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This week, we have the excitement of Water Day after church (sprinklers/slip and slide/Kona Ice!!) and all are welcome.

We also are entering into a new sermon series: How to be Blessed: The Beatitudes
Who among us does not want our lives to be happy and blessed? We receive all kinds of advice from our world about how to achieve exactly that, and yet we find that much of it falls short. Jesus has different ideas of what it means to be blessed, and we find those in His Beatitudes. We are going to spend time with each one of His sayings on blessing found in Matthew 5 and consider other places in scripture that affirm the same sources of blessing for us.

This week, we enter into this list of upside down blessings with one that ties them all together: “blessed are the poor in Spirit“. What does this mean? Can any of us relate to poverty in our affluent culture? What does poverty in spirit look like when we have everything that we need? Where do we feel like perhaps we do not have enough or are not enough as people? How in the world does this make us blessed?

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This Sunday is a special one because members of our youth group are away on their annual mission trip in Baltimore with Pastor Jessie and other adult COA members (pray for them please), and this means that we are blessed with a guest preacher. Helen Kelly, who has been a member and lay leader in this church for 35 years, will be delivering the message. Her sermon will focus on the following (her words):

In my message, I will be talking about how God doesn’t give us (or prevent) trials and tribulations, but that He is there to support us and give us tools to help us cope. We have all these issues, but we do need to keep them in perspective within God’s whole world and His actions. Action, Faith and Prayers are tools we can use that can help solve problems and manage our own mental health.

This is the final week of our Dr. Seuss summer sermon series, and this week we come to Christmas in July! 🙂

We will be examining another of Seuss’ most popular stories of The Grinch. This book has been recast as two feature films, broadway musicals, and of course the wildly popular television special aired every single year. Something about this story captures our imagination, but in what ways might it connect to our faith journey? In what ways are we called to respond to those who would be Grinches in our world? And in what ways are we like the Grinch ourselves? What areas of life do we push away and close our hearts towards? In what ways are we missing the point of what is really going on (i.e. what Christmas was all about)? Where is joy awaiting us if we allow ourselves to risk it?

This Sunday will also include our Communion Sunday– an apt week to feast together at the Lord’s Table where absolutely all are welcome! (rescheduled from 7/3 due to Pastor Jessie’s Covid)

Link to readable sermon PDF