This Sunday, we begin another short mini series:

FALL SERMON SERIES: Church is Like That: Exploring Our Witness Through 1 Thessalonians

Using one of Paul’s epistles to the church at Thessalonica (a Biblical book we seldom hear from), we will consider what our witness can be to the world. What are we like in their eyes? What are we like in God’s eyes? Are we communicating what we intend to say about what Jesus means to us? Join us in this ongoing journey of inner and outer transformation.

Because this Sunday is also All Saints Sunday, we will focus on 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 , where Paul reassures the early persecuted church about an unshakable assurance of life in Jesus. All Saints is a good day for us to reflect on areas of life where we have felt grief and loss; to remember all of those who have gone on before us, but to also do as Paul says and grieve with hope! What does that look like?

Link to readable sermon PDF

This week is Reformation Sunday. 506 years ago, Martin Luther made public his 95 Theses, calling the Church to account for abuses of power and ways in which it needed to be TRANSFORMED. We are living once again in an era of Reformation and Transformation of the church as we know it. We have been thinking together as a community about what values ground us as we journey together into an unknown future for our faith. And this week, Pastor Jessie is out of town, but she pre-recorded a dialogue sermon with Rev. Jennifer Barchi, a staff person of Baltimore Presbytery who has guided COA’s Session through months of discernment. Together, they discuss where we go from here, and how we can use our holy imaginations to live into what makes us who we are, and all that we are called to be together.

There is no PDF to read, but please watch and share thoughts with Pastor Jessie and Session Elders.

It is the final Sunday of stewardship and that means Pledge Sunday! If you have not already pledged what you estimate you can give back to the COA community’s 2024 budget, please do so now!

This final week of our sermon series wraps up with our final two values combined into one. COA’s culture is one which really treasures listening to understand. Why? Because that is how we embrace everyone’s unique journey of faith! Because we say we value gathering as an eclectic, imperfect group of people who builds the church culture together, we know that our church is formed by each person’s understanding of God and their questions, doubts, passions and callings. Because we say we value trusting one another to value COA, we allow ourselves to be shaped and formed by each other, and we can only do that if we share openly with each other and listen actively to each other. This is a messy work in progress, but we are on the Way!

Link to readable sermon PDF

We are in our third week of stewardship!

The third core value discerned by COA leadership is that of trusting each other to value the COA community. What that means is that two people in church could have completely different music preferences, completely different ways of getting jobs done, completely different priorities for what matters in church life and still BOTH could deeply love the church and be giving their all to make it better. Sometimes we think that what matters most to us should matter most to everyone, but what is truly essential to agree upon in a congregation? And what might need to sometimes be put aside for the sake of building up the whole body of Christ? Where are we called to self-giving love that “looks to the advantage of others”? This value is one which can help all of us grow spiritually. It is not just for the benefit of COA. None of us lives this out perfectly. It is not something we have achieved, but rather something to which we aspire, with God’s help.

Link to readable sermon PDF

This week in our stewardship sermon series, we come to our second core value discerned by our church Session; another fundamental piece of who we are as a church and that really matters to us. We treasure: building a church culture together.

That means that everyone makes a difference to how we function and how we approach our faith, our mission, and our connection to our larger community. Even when we receive new church members (which we will on October 22nd!!), we ask the congregation to make a promise regarding new folks among us: “will you embrace their gifts, their needs and their dreams? Will you recognize that their presence and participation will change the shape of this body and help it grow in new ways?“. We always answer that “yes we will”, but that is easier said than done. When people bring different ideas about what is sacred to them and what helps make God real to them, we can feel threatened or offended. But church is not meant to be a static, unchanging institution! It is meant to be a living, changing thing that constantly evolves: Reformed and always reforming!

When each of us wholeheartedly and prayerfully engages in community together, God’s Spirit is powerfully at work! We hope that by considering this value, you will be inspired to give more of what matters to this church culture and help us build it stronger together!

Link to readable sermon PDF