The Book of Psalms ends on praise, and praise that includes the joy of music in that praise. We will top this series off with the end of the book of Psalms and a communal celebration of singing praise to the Lord.
Folk music may well be the most diverse music worldwide. All over the world, humans sing and create music in response to their feelings of love, joy, grief, loneliness, and longing. Psalm 119, with its parallel stanzas, is clearly meant to be song lyrics. We can read all the shades of emotion of a folk ballade or great country song in this Psalm. While folk music is deeply personal and embedded in our variety of languages and cultures, we may still recognize the underlying emotions expressed in the song even if the language and culture are completely unknown to us. Music can reveal the inner heart of the singer to assure us that we are not alone in our feelings.
This sermon will explore the poetic nature of jazz and the Psalms. We will look at how jazz dances in both the high halls of academia and the street gatherings of the oppressed.
This Sunday, we will recognize our graduating seniors. As we begin our sermon series "Playlist," we will discuss how the Psalms encapsulate the life and faith stories of people. This is similar to songs we think of as "Senior Songs." What song do you think of when you remember high school graduation?
This week, we look to Job to ask the question, "Is it okay to question God?"
Saturday was Earth Day and we will be celebrating God’s good creation today in worship. We will also be looking at Esther and the courageous decision she faced and what we can learn from her actions today.
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah serve as a historical recounting of the Jewish people coming out of the Babylonian Exile. This unification for the Jewish people is beautiful, but the fine print is ugly - causing us to wrestle with the tensions of scripture that can be named as nothing but exclusive. How do we respond – with a higher wall or a longer table?
We will look at Solomon’s triumphant building of the Temple up against Jesus’ proclamation that he would tear down the Temple and rebuild it. We will affirm the power of the resurrection to overcome all things.
