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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.**

December 17, 2017
Holiday Wars
Rev. Greg Ward

Every year just before Christmas religious conservatives announce there is a 'War on Christmas!' Christmas, they claim, is being dishonored and shortchanged because it isn't allowed to reign supreme over other religious holidays. But there is something we all lose in this holiday hoopla. This is an open letter to Fake News agencies and all who lay claim to Christmas as the dominant culture.

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December 10, 2017 - 5:00pm
Heart and Soul: A Contemplative Worship Service (5:00 p.m.)
Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, Joyce Holmen, and Karen Hsu Patterson
Heart and Soul services are led by Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, Joyce Holmen, and Karen Hsu Patterson. With singing and instrumental music, poetry, statements and questions, silence and sharing, we’ll explore monthly worship themes.
Sunday, December 10 – What Does It Mean to be A COMMUNITY OF HOPE?
December 10, 2017
Why the Right Get It Wrong and the Left Just Don't Get It
Rev. Greg Ward
"The world has gotten too big and too complex for a divided people to manage.  The line that runs between Red and Blue, Have and Have Not have polarized us and paralyzed us from needed change.  It has been spiritual and ethical courage that has called forth the moral and courageous conversations around war, poverty, racism, healthcare and the environment.  So where is that conversation?
 
 

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December 3, 2017
What are You Waiting For?
Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins
December 3 is the first Sunday in Advent, the official opening of the Christmas season in the Christian calendar.  It is the week that we put up our advent calendars, and start the count down of shopping days, and holiday preparation routines, and available vacation time.  We spend much of our lives waiting for stuff.  Waiting in line, waiting for appointments, waiting for the big event.  What do you do while you are waiting?
 

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November 26, 2017
A Sunday Kind of Love
Rev. Lee Marie Sanchez
Where can we find a love that, as the iconic singer and songwriter, Etta James sang, will last past Saturday night and is more than love at first sight? Well, my friends, you do not have to look farther than right here in this beloved community for a Sunday Kind of Love that gets you from Sunday to Sunday, every week.

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November 19, 2017
There's a Crack in Everything (That's How the Light Gets In)
Rev. Greg Ward

When things are at their hardest and your facing something painful - maybe even something bigger than you, what do you do?  There's an old trick of embracing our brokenness - and even looking for what there is within us that we're grateful for.  Such a practice reveals our strength and points out our purpose and helps us toward becoming who we really want to be.

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November 12, 2017 - 5:00pm
Heart and Soul: A Contemplative Worship Service - What Does It Mean to Be a Community of Abundance?
Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, Joyce Holmen, and Karen Hsu Patterson
Heart and Soul services are led by Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, Joyce Holmen, and Karen Hsu Patterson. With singing
and instrumental music, poetry, statements and questions, silence and sharing, we’ll explore monthly worship
themes.
 
Sunday, November 12: What Does It Mean to be a Community of Abundance?
November 12, 2017
Power vs. Force
Rev. Greg Ward

All that happens in life is made possible by energy flow and distribution. This includes everything we do as human beings. But do we ever stop to notice the kind of energy we're bringing to each situation? Is it compelling energy or coercive energy? This is a service where we get to stop and take stock of the energy we're experiencing and the energy we're offering.

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November 5, 2017
Dia de los Muertos
Kathleen Hogue

We will gather to honor the Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, a spiritual and cultural holiday informed by the traditions of Mexico as well as those of Christianity and indigenous religions of the Americas. At this time of year, as the seasons change and the year turns, it is right that we, too, turn toward one another to remember those who have died, and to share our stories of love and loss. Please bring a picture of a departed loved one to share.

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October 29, 2017
Spiders, Dragons, Webs, and Churches
Rev. Greg Ward
Certain things scare us. Things that trigger the cascade of mental, emotional and physiological responses to fear are meant to retard our interactions with danger. But preoccupation with fear leaves us with a spiritually disability–unable to exchange love and understanding at a deep level.

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