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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.**

The Voice of Vocation - The Chorus of Life: A Blessing of the Animals
Monthly Theme: Vocation
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur

February Worship Series: The Voice of Vocation

The spiritual teacher Parker Palmer urges you to “let your life speak” by listening for the voice of vocation, your heart’s calling, in all you do. If your heart could sing, what would it say about your choices in life, work, family, spiritual growth, and community? In a proudly pluralistic community like ours, which includes many unique and differing voices, it can be challenging to build and amplify a common voice to speak courageously on the issues that concern us as a whole – yet this is our mission and our calling as a community. Join Rev. Rebecca and our worship leaders for The Voice of Vocation, a month-long exploration of listening, breaking silence, and amplifying our voices to lift up our deepest values.

February 7 Sermon: The Chorus of Life:  A Blessing of the Animals

 
May I be the person my dog thinks I am, goes the bumper sticker, revealing once again how the play, caregiving, and companionship many of us experience with our animals puts us in touch with our better selves. Join Rev. Rebecca and Catherine Farmer Loya for this all-ages and all-creatures celebration of the animals in our lives; if your gentle pet is comfortable meeting lots of new people, please bring them along. We are also glad to display photos of pets that would not enjoy the service, and/or memorial pictures of animal companions who have died.
The Quest for Truth: True or False
Monthly Theme: Truth
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur
January Worship Series: The Quest for Truth
 
Each week in the words of our covenant, we affirm the quest for truth is our  sacrament. What is sacred or transcendent about the journey to discern, discover, uncover, and recover truth in our lives? Where has the search for truth brought you in your spiritual journey, and where are you headed next? Join Rev. Rebecca as she returns from her sabbatical on a four-part worship series to explore how the quest for truth makes a difference in our lives and our life together.
 
January 31 Sermon: True or False
 
The physicist Niels Bohr tells us “The opposite of a fact is a falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.” Where does paradox belong on our spiritual journey?

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The Quest for Truth: True Sight
Monthly Theme: Truth
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur
January Worship Series: The Quest for Truth
 
Each week in the words of our covenant, we affirm the quest for truth is our  sacrament. What is sacred or transcendent about the journey to discern, discover, uncover, and recover truth in our lives? Where has the search for truth brought you in your spiritual journey, and where are you headed next? Join Rev. Rebecca as she returns from her sabbatical on a four-part worship series to explore how the quest for truth makes a difference in our lives and our life together.
 
January 24 Sermon: True Sight
 
When you are up on the mountaintop, you have a different perspective than those on the ground. 
 

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The Quest for Truth: A Stone of Hope - MLK Sunday
Monthly Theme: Truth
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur, DeReau Farrar, Catherine Farmer Loya,
January Worship Series: The Quest for Truth
 
Each week in the words of our covenant, we affirm the quest for truth is our  sacrament. What is sacred or transcendent about the journey to discern, discover, uncover, and recover truth in our lives? Where has the search for truth brought you in your spiritual journey, and where are you headed next? Join Rev. Rebecca as she returns from her sabbatical on a four-part worship series to explore how the quest for truth makes a difference in our lives and our life together.
 
January 17 Sermon: A Stone of Hope: MLK Sunday
 
How can we carve a stone of hope from the mountain of despair that is the lived reality of white supremacy in our country? 

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The Quest for Truth: First Things
Monthly Theme: Truth
Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur
January Worship Series: The Quest for Truth
 
Each week in the words of our covenant, we affirm the quest for truth is our  sacrament. What is sacred or transcendent about the journey to discern, discover, uncover, and recover truth in our lives? Where has the search for truth brought you in your spiritual journey, and where are you headed next? Join Rev. Rebecca as she returns from her sabbatical with a four-part worship series to explore how the quest for truth makes a difference in our lives and our life together.
 
January 10 Sermon - First Things
 
The poet Philip Levine wrote, “Some things / you know all your life. They are so  simple and true / they must be said without elegance, meter and rhyme / they must be laid out on the table beside the salt-shaker, the glass of water…” Join us as we  welcome Rev. Rebecca home and return to the simple truth of spiritual growth, giving, service to others, and walking together into the new year.
 

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Song of the Community
Monthly Theme: Truth

We say good-bye to Rev. Tera and ready ourselves to say hello to Rev. Rebecca! Rev. Tera will share snippets of the life-affirming “song” she heard during her time at UU Santa Monica.

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Be a Lamp Unto Yourselves
Monthly Theme: Faith
Sarah Caine, UU Ministerial Candidate

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Christmas Eve Services (at 4, 6 and 8 p.m.)
Monthly Theme: Faith

4:00 pm — Family Christmas Eve Service
6:00 pm — Candlelight Christmas Eve
8:00 pm — Candlelight Christmas Eve

This year we welcome our friends from First UU Los Angeles for the 6 pm and 8 pm services.

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Family-Friendly Christmas Eve Service: 4pm. Sanctuary. UUSM Director of Religious Education Catherine Farmer Loya and Rev. Tera Little invite families to this informal and fun afternoon service. Children will rejoice with holiday music from Music Director DeReau K. Farrar and friends, plus a sing-along of old favorites. Early Unitarians promoted the Christmas tree as the symbol of the shared family Christmas, along with the values of love, generosity and the kindly nurture of children. Young visitors may bring an ornament to donate to our community tree, and will take away an ornament to cherish at home.

Christmas Eve Candle Lighting Service: 6pm & 8pm. Sanctuary. UUSM welcomes all as we gather for candlelight services on Christmas Eve. Rev. Tera Little will deliver a message evoking the spirit of the season at these moving services of candlelight and song. A Christmas Eve candlelight service is a wonderful way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. It provides time to reflect and an inspirational and uplifting escape from the hustle and bustle of the season. We also welcome our friends from First UU Los Angeles to join us.

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Winter Solstice Celebration
Monthly Theme: Faith
Rev. Tera Little, DeReau Farrar, and Rima Snyder, facilitators

Join church members and friends for a contemplative gathering to celebrate the longest night of the year. Readings, meditation, music and candle-lighting will help us honor the dark, welcome the return of light, and prepare us for the year to come. Facilitated by Rev. Tera Little, DeReau K. Farrar ad Rima Snyder.

Gifts from the Heart - Winter Holiday Pageant
Monthly Theme: Faith

Audience participation makes this rollicking service so different – bringing the stories of our collective tradition to life before our eyes. At the conclusion of the Christmas story, we celebrate the annual arrival of the Friendly Beasts, a beloved Christmastime tradition of UU Santa Monica children. On-the-spot volunteers from the audience, young and old, will “improvise” key roles and, of course, raise the star on high.