Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast

In this Lenten message, Pastor Eric explores the common dichotomy of spirituality vs. social justice, contemplation vs. action. Many of us feel pulled to identify with one vs. the other, and to place value judgments on which one is better. Some churches emphasize "faith alone," and thus see any influence of social justice as separate from faith--and, sometimes, dangerous to "true" faith. In reacti...

In this message on the First Sunday of Lent, Pastor Eric invites us to consider how our world's tendency to categorize the world into binaries leads us to miss out on so much of the glory of God and creation. It also makes it difficult for us to honor the fullness of others and ourselves. Using the "Parable of the Good Samaritan" and the story of "would-be followers of Jesus," we explore the tensi...

In this final message of our series exploring “The Lord’s Prayer,” Pastor Eric ties together the final line in the version Jesus gave us as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew (“lead us not into the time of trial, but deliver us from the evil one”) with the final lines added later by the church (“for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever”). This final exploration also falls on Tra...

In this message, Pastor Eric invites us to consider what it would mean to take Jesus's words here seriously: Is it significant that Jesus uses economic terms to describe forgiveness? Are these simply metaphorical, or are they meant to be taken at face value? What would have led him to use this kind of language? To explore these questions, we go on a journey both into the turbulent times in whi...

In this message, Pastor Eric continues exploring "the Lord's Prayer" with the line: "Give us today our daily bread." By exploring the economic instability of Jesus' day--95% or more of people in Galilee were poor or destitute--especially for those who relied on fishing in the Sea of Galilee for income, like many of Jesus' disciples, this simple prayer takes on whole new meaning. As we begin to ima...

In this message, Pastor Eric continues exploring the prayer that Jesus taught us, this time with the phrases: "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done--as in heaven, so on the earth." As he explores the meaning behind these words, he shares some surprising historical facts about how the Bible--or parts of it--have been banned by authoritarian rulers around the world throughout history. Why? you ask....

In this message, Pastor Eric continues our sermon series exploring the meaning behind "the Lord's Prayer." This message explores the larger story behind the traditional phrase: "Hallowed by thy name;" or, as we're re-translating it: "May your name be recognized as holy." What do we mean by God's "name"? What IS God's name? What does it mean f...

This is the first message in Pastor Eric's sermon series, "The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the World-Altering Message of the Prayer Jesus Gave Us." Why, of all the names and metaphors used for God in the Bible, did Jesus choose to use Father? What larger tradition, history, and values would this have evoked for its original hearers? Is it just about seeing God as male? Or can we pray in the way...

In this message--an addendum to our Advent-Epiphany sermon series--Pastor Eric adds one more "reminder for new seasons": Beloved is where we begin—and end. It's as simple as it is difficult to trust and live within. God loves you. Reflecting on the baptism of Jesus and the meaning of baptism for us, Pastor Eric reminds us that the foundation of our faith is the insistence that Love is after you--a...

In this message Pastor Eric explores the "reminder for new seasons" that "the road is not straight." We all know that life is two steps forward, one step back, a step to the left, then to the right, and so on; still, especially at the beginning of a new year, we plot and we plan for how we are going to get from "here" to "there" as if life will in fact unfold in this way. So, what does this final...

In this Christmas Eve message, Pastor Eric reflects on the meaning of Christmas and the proclamation that God is Emmanuel--"the God who is with us." What did it mean for this God to "be with" Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and others 2,000 years ago, and what does that mean for how God seeks to "be with us" here and now? How does this grand story speak of a God who knows your name; who knows you inti...

In this Advent message, Pastor Eric explores how the story of Mary and Joseph speaks to this week's reminder: "Hope is worth the risk." While it may seem obvious--we all know we want and need hope--actually moving forward in hope amidst the endings and new beginnings woven throughout our lives can be immensely difficult. When we've been worn down by suffering, disappointment, loss, rejection, or b...

In this Advent message, Pastor Eric continues exploring the reminders we need to hear again and again throughout life, especially as we navigate new seasons. This time, amidst the various endings in our lives and world, when it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the world's disasters, uncertainty, and grief we are reminded that we are neither called to be heroes who do it all, who hold...

In this message, Pastor Eric continues our Advent series exploring "reminders for new seasons;" those truths we need to hear again and again throughout life as we navigate endings in order to move toward new beginnings. Drawing in the powerful story of Ruth and Naomi and the Book of Ruth, this message explores the reminder that "You cannot go it alone." It's a message that we can all pretty readil...

Advent, like Lent, is a season that is meant to prepare our hearts to hear and receive the good news of God's incarnate love anew. Advent marks a beginning, a new year, in the "church calendar." As we begin our journey toward the manger, we also consider the beginnings--and endings--in our own lives. As we do, we open ourselves to hearing ancient promises anew, beginning with "YOU are a blessing."...

In this message, Pastor Eric shares a few stories from his own life and faith journeys to help us reflect on small things in life that are actually the big things; the easy-to-overlook moments that are actually the moments that matter the most. The great Medieval German theologian, Meister Echkart, said: "If the only prayer you say in your life is 'thank you,' it would be enough." What if we learn...

In this message, Pastor Eric concludes our Stewardship series on being a Community of Hope. It also being the first Sunday after the 2024 election, he reflects on how Jesus himself lived in a difficult, chaotic, and uncertain social-political time. In the midst of that, he built a community of disciples--students--who were themselves being formed by the gospel of peace and compassion and justice,...

In this All Saints Day stewardship message, Pastor Eric reflects on remembering our ancestors as a way of looking toward a future with hope. In doing so, he invites us to think of ourselves as "ancestors in the making" and reconsider what it is that God is calling us to be stewards of.  Rather than merely passing on possessions, what does it mean to steward "a community of hope" in a world of viol...

In this Stewardship message, Pastor Eric invites us to reflect on one of Jesus' most famous parables--often dubbed the "Parable of the Prodigal Son"--and ask ourselves how God has sought us out, lavished love on us, and invited us into a future where there was hope--just when we were at our lowest and most despairing? How has this church been a space and community that has loved you back to life,...

In this Stewardship season message, Pastor Eric reflects on the Prophet Jeremiah's vision of "a future with hope." What is the relationship between hope and the experience of hopelessness? Between hope and honestly facing reality; honestly facing life's difficulties and hardships? What does it look like to choose hope--to make hope a verb--here and now, and how does doing so transform the future t...

In this Stewardship message, Pastor Eric draws together the story of God calling Abram and Sarai to set out into an unknown future where, despite all signs to the contrary, God promises there will be abundant life, and this quote from Howard Thurman, the great African American theologian, mystic, and mentor to Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement: "There are two questions we must ask ourselves....

In this final message of our "This is Us" sermon series, Pastor Eric uses examples from scripture and our own church history to explore the danger of telling a single story--about ourselves, our communities, and about others. Each of us are made up of many stories. We are complex, messy, inconsistent, changing, and ever-growing. How do we hold the fullness of our stories, of who we are, and honor...

In this third message of our "This is Us" sermon series, Pastor Eric explores Federated Church of Sycamore's long-standing commitment to living out our "love of God and neighbor" in the public realm. Listen in for stories about our church's history with abolitionism and the Underground Railroad as we consider the surprising importance--and power--of small communities to...

In this message, Pastor Eric draws on the Prophet Amos, the Letter of James, and the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" as he traces our denominations' history of being at the forefront of the movement for love and justice in society. By exploring this history within the United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist Association, we are...

This message, the first in our sermon series “This Is Us,” reflects on the value of unity at the heart of the denominations with which we are affiliated (the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)). Unity is a buzzword in our society, and for good reason: we are living through a particularly chaotic and divisive time in history. But what does real unity look...