Hope Unitarian Church Podcast

Yule Meditation by John Swoboda Meditation in Light for Yule  This Sunday you will be invited to explore the changing of the seasons and shortening of days through ritual and celebration while we pray for prosperity in the year to come. 

Hope Singers and thoughtful readings to celebrate the Holiday Season.

Our Generosity Recipient for December is LIFE Senior Services LIFE Senior Services specializes in home and community-based services that promote healthy aging and aging-in-place for seniors, as well as services and support for family caregivers who play a critical role in helping their loved ones continue living at home. Learn more or donate at the link below: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/w...

 Hope Unitarian Church and the Mystery of The Mysterious Message  BY REV. JUSTIN MCCREARY DECEMBER 3RD, 2023 - 11:00 AM      When I was a child I read Encyclopedia Brown, the Hardy Boys’, and watched Nancy Drew Mysteries I always appreciated the title. The Mystery of the (Fill in the Blank). It was always something that could be solved, figured out, or made sense of. I still love mystery TV shows...

11/26/23   JoAnn Hause     The Attitude of Gratitude we can cultivate for the Holiday Season can show us the best way to make new and wonderful memories. It is only when we accept that we cannot control anything but ourselves that we can truly move forward to holiday joy.

 Divine Generosity  BY REV. STEVEN WILLIAMS  NOVEMBER 26TH, 2023 - 11:00 AM      In a world of seemingly relentless strife, war, and division, generosity can be a challenging attitude to take towards humanity. What might God(de/ss)(s) tell us about such a posture? How can our divine nature help us meet each other with open and generous hearts? 

 By the Grace of God: An Auction Sermon  REV. JUSTIN MCCREARY  NOVEMBER 19TH, 2023 - 11:00 AM       Welcome to this year’s Auction Sermon. Rebecca Jones, the auction winner, offered me a quote from an old UU World Article. The quote, by Rev. Sarah York, says, “Some people might say of those they serve at a soup kitchen, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ I think what they really mean is, ‘Ther...

 Resting in an Interdependent Web: A Sermon About Gratitude BY REV. JUSTIN MCCREARY NOVEMBER 12TH, 2023 - 11:00 AM        When I heard the phrase, “Let’s give thanks,” as a child I knew we were about to pray. Giving thanks was a holy practice, it was a sacrament, it was the moment when we communed with the almighty before something else happened. Thankfulness was a precursor to eating, asking for...

“Generosity on an Interdependent Web” Justin M. McCreary       We oversimplify the practice of generosity, by focusing most often on the practice of giving, which is important. However, what we then leave out is the importance of receiving gifts. It is easy in a culture that idealizes the myth of the Self-made Man, to forget that giving and receiving are both part of the same practice. We cannot t...

 Samhain is a holiday that many of us know about, but by another name Halloween. Children of many different Faiths love to dress up in costumes and collect candy. Adults also like to dress up. There is more to Halloween than just Costumes and Candy. Come with us on an Adventure to the Shining Isle between the Worlds! 

 As I close out my sermons on Heritage this month, I want to take some time, not just to explore the gifts but what also seems like the curses of heritage. Heritage gives us the opportunity to draw from the power of our ancestors and our identity, but turned inward, it becomes an excuse for the destructive tribalism behind racism, sexism, and anti-LGBTQ sentiments. This Sunday I’d like to reflect...

 October 22nd, 2023, 11:00 AM “Our Prophetic Heritage of Peace” by Rev. Gary McAlpin While war continues to rage in many parts of the world, our UU faith guides us to be the prophetic voice of reason and peaceful resistance. With Israel declaring war on Hamas and the continued invasion of Ukraine, we must stand firm in our faithful allegiance to peace. Our heritage speaks to this resistance in our...

Last week we explored our human heritage as we took a walk down our genetic memory lane. This week, we will reduce that circle and spend some time with our Unitarian Universalist Heritage. Livestream each Sunday   https://zoom.us/j/95346408780?pwd=UkpSOVEyQUdaYjNmL1o0TTloSGFDQT09

 September 24th, 2023, 11:00 AM “Living on the Edge: being Prophetic in a World of Injustice,” by Rev. Gary McAlpin       Central to our Unitarian Universalist faith is living in a prophetic way, not necessarily as seers, but of being a light pointing the way in darkness, showing the injustices and needs of our world. Being a prophet can be lonely and dangerous because it requires us to live on th...

 October 1st, 2023, 11:00 AM “The March of a Common Heritage,”  by Rev. Justin McCreary    What is your heritage? When you think of it, what do you think of family, culture, or religion? It is important when we reflect on our heritage to feel pride, but to also understand the inherent biases. Heritage is a double-edged sword, it can bring people together or build walls, because heritage is not jus...

 *Radical is a term that gets thrown around a lot lately. When I was a kid the term Radical meant something different. Radical had become a term that had synonyms like, awesome, fly, or dope. Which are generally considered affirmations of positivity in relationship to something, for example: That blouse is radical. But I am aware of the original meaning of this term, which involves revolutionary c...

 The church is important and because it is important it is dangerous. When confronted with the vastness of the mind and the brutality of life, the church offers a safe place to explore who we are, and what we want to become. Not just the part of us that is seen but unseen, thusly we are confronted with the danger of church. For many the church becomes a place that lulls people into false security...