Hummelstown UCC Podcast

Ezekiel 47:9-12; Revelation 22:1-7; John 7:37-38 OPENING MEDITATION In the beginning, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God called  them good. Come Holy Spirit and cleanse the waters. The prophet saw a  river flowing from the Temple, and wherever the river flowed, everything  lived. Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the Earth. Jesus cried out, “Let  anyone who is thirsty come to...

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 6, 2026 2 Kings 5:1-4, 6, 8-14; Mark 1:4-11; Psalm 104:1-13 OPENING MEDITATION Lily Graham“Living on the water took away the boundaries created by land and customand introversion. Without fences and driveways, the water provided aconstant thread of connection and dependency.”

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost August 30, 2026 Genesis 15:5-6; Psalm 36:5; Psalm 19:1-6; Matthew 16:1-3 OPENING MEDITATIONWe remember the skies where God chose to reveal God’s presence. Weremember the saints of old who cried to the heavens in pain and hope. Weremember praying to God in the heaven above. We remember the blueskies, the wild winds, and the life-giving rain falling from the sky ont...

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Isaiah 65:17-19, 24-25; 121: Assurance of God’s Protection A Song of Ascents OPENING MEDITATION “Song of the Wild”, Norman HabelWill you come back with Me to the birth of the Earth, Before all its life forms evolved? Will you sing with the heavens amazed at the sight A planet with secrets to unfold? Will you sleep with your God in the desert one night And wake wit...

Job 38.1-18; Psalm 104.24-26; Luke 5:1-11 OPENING MEDITATION Norman Habel "View anew the dark blue ocean, whales cavorting, spraying foam; god at play withdeep sea monsters, feeling very much at home. Sing a song of laughing waters,pulsing through the veins of earth."

Matthew 14:22-33 OPENING MEDITATION Rev. Curt Weber “Many times we have missed opportunities because of fear of what might happen ifwe try. But when we trust that God is with us and step out in faith, we overcome fearand realize our full potential.”

Judges 9 7-15: The Parable of the Trees; Numbers 24:5-7; Isaiah 55:12-13 OPENING MEDITATIONJesus Christ, teach us to empathize with Earth. Make our spirits sensitive to the cries ofcreation, cries for justice from the hills and the trees. Jesus Christ, make our faithsensitive to the groans of the Spirit, groans from the deserts, the plains, and the winds. Jesus Christ, make our souls sensitive to...

Genesis 9:7-17; Jeremiah 17:5-8 PRAYER OF INVOCATION  One: Holy and Liberating God, You gather us in all our colors, all our names, all our  bodies, all our beauty. You gather the loud and the quiet, the certain and the  questioning, the joyful and the grieving, the healed and the healing. This Sunday, we  gather in your rainbow of commitment and covenant to seek our way forward to  heal the plane...

Psalm 96:1-4; Genesis 1:1-13 OPENING MEDITATION Norman Habel“Born of this planet, I'm an Earth child. One with all beings, born of this planet, onewith the wild. Born of this planet, baptized with moisture, rising from oceans, flowingthrough rivers, Earth's sacred waters pulse through my veins. Born of this planet,flowing with breezes, children inhale Earth's infinite breath; Earth's holy breathin...

Matthew 21: 28-32; Philippians 2:1-13 OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFeeToday we conclude our worship series, “Come to the Table,” There is great joy to befound at God’s table: joy in the vibrant relationships that nurture and sustain thiscommunity, joy in the sharing of our gifts and resources, joy in the journey as we worktowards a more just and equitable world.

Matthew 20:1-16; Philippians 1:21-30 OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFeeAt the table of grace, there is always more than enough to go around. Everybodymakes mistakes, and we have all needed forgiveness at some point and gentleguidance to adjust and make amends. Grace doesn’t keep track of how manytimes we’ve messed up, and it doesn’t hinge on the condition that next time, we’lldo better. Grace exi...

Matthew 18:21-35; Romans 14:1-12 OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFeeThe Table of Peace can take almost any shape. Our table this week is a conferencetable, perhaps depicting where two or more parties meet to negotiate the terms ofa contract, a settlement, or a ceasefire. For Jesus, peacemaking was often found inthe act of sharing a meal with people who would have been considered “outsiders.”We lik...

Matthew 18:15-20; Romans 13:8-14 OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFeeThis week, we explore how love is baked into the bread we break each time wegather in Jesus’ name, around God’s table. But we don’t need to save this love onlyfor the times when we partake in the ritual of communion. We invoke love every daywhen we sit down at our kitchen tables for home-cooked meals or takeout, forgame nights, or...

Romans 12:9-21; Romans 12:9-21 OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFee“Jesus’ lesson at the last supper was clear: the meal of the kin-dom of God is for ALL.Saints, strangers, those who persecute and betray you, those who are joyful andthose who weep. The author of the epistle letter to the Romans reminds us andinvites us to do as Jesus did. This requires that we follow God’s way in offering a goodmea...

Psalm 8: Divine Majesty and Human Dignity; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20 OPENING MEDITATION Living Psalm 8 by Sam HouserHoly MysteryCreator, Christ, and Spirit- how wondrous your presence is in all the earth. You echo through expanding galaxies, through oceans breathing against the shore,through every living thing still learning how to belong to one another. You speakThrough children an...

Acts 2:1-8, 12-14, 22-24, 43-47;  OPENING MEDITATION From the Constitution of the UCC Preamble The United Church of Christ acknowledges as its sole head, Jesus Christ, Son of Godand Savior. It acknowledges as kindred in Christ all who share in this confession. Itlooks to the Word of God in the Scriptures, and to the presence and power of theHoly Spirit, to prosper its creative and redemptive work...

Esther 4:13-17; Leviticus 19:9-13; Mark 12:28-31 OPENING MEDITATION Proverbs & Psalms“Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind tothe needy honor God.” (Proverbs 14:31)“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and will be repaid in full.”(Proverbs 19:17)“Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with thepoor.” (Proverbs 22:9)“Speak out for...

Isaiah 56:6-8; Samuel 16:7; Galatians 3:26-29 OPENING MEDITATION Ephesians 4:14-16“We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about byevery wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitfulscheming; but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every wayinto him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joinedand knit together by every ligam...

From “Balloons Belong in Church”, Ann Weems OPENING MEDITATION Imagine Together Try to write or draw for the whole prelude, without stopping. Work to get all of your thoughts on the page, without worrying about what you are writing, or how. Follow wherever your mind leads. 1. Think of something that exists in and/or moves through the sky. A featureof nature or something manufactured, or something...

Leviticus 25:1-7; John 1:1-5 OPENING MEDITATION Psalm 148: Praise for God’s Universal GloryPraise God! Praise from the heavens; in the heights! Praise God, all angels;all the host! Praise God, sun and moon; all you shining stars! Praise God,you highest heavens and you waters above the heavens! Let them praisethe name of God for God commanded and they were created. Godestablished them forever and e...

Matthew 6:9-15; Luke 6:27-30, 36-38, Colossians 3:12-14 OPENING MEDITATION Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my sibling sins against me, howoften should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Notseven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”

Acts 4:31-35; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 OPENING MEDITATION Mark 12:30 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul  and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Matthew 28:1-10  OPENING MEDITATION Sarah Speed  Every morning the sun rises, majestic and steady. She is greeted in all her strength  with the joyous cacophony of birdsong. I like to believe this holy chorus is the birds  telling each other— I’m here. We made it through the night. You’re not alone. What  good, good news. I think the resurrection is a bit like that. God is here. We made it  throug...

Mark 11:1-11 “If you possess enough courage to speak out what you are, you will find you are not  alone.” - Richard Wright

John 8:2-11 Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cuminand have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. Itis these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. How do you see justice, mercy, and faithfulness prioritized in your laws and religious policies? In what ways are these values neglected?