Sermons

This is a full list of sermons presented at UUCCSM since mid-1999. Links to sermon texts are included when made available by their authors. Audio recordings are also available for most sermons presented after September, 2007 by our staff ministers and others directly affiliated with our church (just click the speaker icon next to each sermon where it's available*). Audio from guest speakers is posted only when we have their permission to share it.

Hard copies of sermons by Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae are available in the church office. Contact office assistant Sibylla Nash at office@uusm.org if you have a request.

"Leaving Room for Hope: Sermons for Uncertain Times," a book of Minister Emerita Judith Meyer's sermons, is available here.

**Please Note: Video recordings are available for sermons with a small TV icon showing at the bottom of the sermon listing. Just click the icon to watch the service.**

What Do I Stand For?
Monthly Theme: Freedom
Leon Henderson-MacLennan
 
Please join us for a take home message TBD from our late winter "BYOT-Ethics Meets the Fifth UU Principle" group.
 
Using ethics as a way of articulating one’s current beliefs and practices – in a word, “theology” – we explore connections to our Fifth Principle which calls us to “affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process.”

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Darwin, Natural Faith and the New Story
Monthly Theme: Freedom
James Witker
Darwin, Natural Faith, and the New Story Darwin's legacy transformed modern scientific understanding *and* liberal religion, upending prior certainties that were thousands of years old; and both challenging and expanding concepts of god(s) and the divine. Emerson and Thoreau, Transcendentalists who came out of the Unitarian tradition, had already helped to kindle a new ethic of interconnectedness with nature, and they accepted Darwin's work when it was shocking and brand new. But it’s still shocking today. Evolution is accepted scientific fact, but a significantly large (nearly half, according to surveys) number of people in our country still don’t accept it. Why are science and religon still so often at war? As Unitarian Universalists, are we attuned to the New Story that is emerging?

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Heart and Soul: A Contemplative Worship Service @ 5 p.m. - "What Does It Mean to be a Community of Freedom?"
Monthly Theme: Freedom
Dorothy Steinicke
Heart & Soul is a contemplative worship service series that occurs on the second Sunday of each month. It is a shorter, more intimate service, with singing and instrumental music, statements, and questions, silence, and sharing. Readings, poems, quotes, and music are drawn from a variety of sources, including the UU Soul Matters Sharing Circle, our hymnals, and popular/folk music. 
 
Please note audio is currently unavailable for Heart & Soul services.
A Path Appears
Monthly Theme: Freedom
Catie Grasso
Lu Xun says,  "Hope can be neither affirmed nor denied. Hope is like a path in the countryside: originally there was no path—yet, as people are walking all the time in the same spot, a way appears."
The Unitarian Universalist Church calls us to take action in the world to live out our Seven Priciples.  How do we approach change in a process-oriented way that we can sustain so that a path appears for us and for others?
 

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Nonviolence as a Spiritual Practice
Monthly Theme: Freedom
Abby Arnold
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught non-violence as a philosophy, a spiritual practice, and a strategy. A key principle was that "nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people." Activists often overlook the final step of the King strategy, which is reconciliation. How do we practice Kingian nonviolence in all parts of our lives?

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Sabbath Moments
Monthly Theme: Blessing
Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins
You may be familiar with the idea of Sabbath Keeping -- setting aside a particular day in the week to worship and to rest. Have you ever noticed the sabbath moments in your life? These are the small windows of peace cause you to smile, take your breath away, or invite you to breathe deeply. By honoring sabbath moments, you allow your soul to rest. 
 

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Abraham and the Peach Seed Monkey
Monthly Theme: Blessing
Rev. Greg Ward
A child will always determine the level of importance they have in their father's eyes by comparing what their father gives to them versus what their father gives to others. When a child sees that their father values something more than them, it can hurt. Through examining one story of great pain and one story of great promise, we find our place value in our father' eyes. And maybe, we find out how to convey to our children the value they bring us.

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Heart and Soul: A Contemplative Worship Service @ 5 p.m. - "What Does It Mean to be a Community of Blessing?"
Monthly Theme: Blessing
Kikanza Nuri-Robins, Karen Hsu Patterson & Joyce Holmen
Homily by Catie Grasso
 
Heart & Soul is a monthly contemplative worship service series that occurs on the second Sunday of each month. It is a shorter, more intimate service, with singing and instrumental music, statements, and questions, silence, and sharing. Readings, poems, quotes, and music are drawn from a variety of sources, including the UU Soul Matters Sharing Circle, our hymnals, and popular/folk music. 
 
Please note audio is currently unavailable for Heart & Soul services.
 
Marlon Bundo: What You Need to Know about Lessening Shame
Monthly Theme: Blessing
Rev. Greg Ward
When counting our blessings, a very important one to remember is the blessing that teaches us to rise above doubt and beyond shame. We all hope for a life where we see clearly and learn to call ourselves – and teach others to call us – by our true names. It is only after we begin to see and call ourselves as beloved that we begin to write the real story of our life. This is a service about getting to the starting line in the journey toward Love. We will welcome new members into our congregation during this service.

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The Blessings of Tone-Deafness and Arrhythmicism
Monthly Theme: Blessing
Dr. Zanaida Robles
Dr. Zanaida Robles, our Director of Music, shares personal experiences related to "tone-deafness" and "arrythmicism." We listen to stories, songs, and singing experiences that reveal theological truths about how everyone has a singing voice and how every singing voice matters.

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