Blue Ocean Church Ann Arbor Sunday Sermons

  The incarnation is a mystery that pulls us in to awe and wonder. Christ entered in to experience humanity in all its vulnerability. Mary, the archetype of the feminine […]

  Today, we continue our discussion of bedtime prayer rituals, and explore a Jewish prayer that begins in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord Our God is One.” A […]

We are preparing for a “long, difficult winter ahead”—a time when Advent takes on more significance. Advent is a season of spiritual practices that offer a portal into hope. Today […]

One of our more complicated national holidays is coming up this week. It can be hard for us as followers of Jesus to figure out how to handle a holiday […]

Ken gives an update on newcomers and becoming a members during our virtual mode and we hear a faith journey story from Amy MacNeil, connecting to Blue Ocean from Indiana. […]

We enjoy a lighter sermon today, talking about how to help our bodies process emotions that lead to exhaustion and burnout. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church at a2blue.org, watch […]

Trees figure prominently in indigenous and Hebrew spirituality. Those who “don’t walk in the counsel of the wicked” are regarded as trees by streams of water whose roots run deep, […]

We all have election distress. Much election talk is analysis, and doesn’t help us metabolize the anger, fear, hope, and other emotions that we carry. For that an ancient prayer, […]

  Environmental scientist Carl Safina, author of Becoming Wild, on The Greatest Story is that All Life is One. At the end of Dr. Safina’s talk, join Cassie in a […]

  With such a strong anti-Empire streak, it’s not surprising that our most common ritual speaks to that. We talk about various ways it does so. Learn more about Blue […]

The idea of apocalypse (which means, “unveiling”) is used most often in the Bible in relation to the fall of Empires or to significant historical shifts. We talk about how […]

  When religion seeks power and tries to use Empire to further its gains, it becomes counter-Jesus. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church at a2blue.org, watch virtual service recordings, and […]

The voice from the burning bush was a God of Becoming: I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. Just what Moses and the people of Israel needed—a dynamic, not a […]

National religious-cultural politics created a hostile environment for Jesus in his village and in his family. He had to cut off family ties for a time and experience kinship with […]

We talk about why we use the term kin-dom of God instead of kingdom of God, influenced by Mujerista and indigenous American theologians. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church at […]

Offering midrash on Jesus’s response to Peter, “Get away from me, Satan,” AnaYelsi asks us to ponder what it means when traumatized people and groups interact with one another, and […]

The ancients told certain truths in myth form—like the truths that come to us in dreams, which don’t abide by the rules of the waking world. And one of the […]

When Moses saw a bush burning in the wilderness, his whole life became about freeing an enslaved people from oppression and reimagining a world away from injustice. His questions and […]

In prayer we hear the voice of the Divine telling us that we are enough. Telling us to trust and to rest in the Creator. Telling us that we are […]

From Cassie, our worship pastor: “This pandemic and its effects are taking a toll on all of us. How can we envision a reality beyond our current circumstances?” Learn more […]

James refers to Torah and the Exodus liberation story as the “law of liberty” He likens it to a mirror we need to look at long and hard, lest we […]

Exodus is the oldest story of liberation we have. And while the particulars are very different, the dynamics of oppression and liberation are very much the same. The Exodus story-teller […]

This week we take a look at the prophet Miriam and how she was on the alert, looking for God to act to liberate the oppressed. Learn more about Blue […]

Midrash is the Jewish way to tell stories about the stories of Scripture and connect these stories to our story today. It’s an expansive and Spirit-led way to engage sacred […]

Five sisters demand they be allowed to inherit their father’s land. Moses concedes but later bows to existing power structures. The sisters surface in the narrative again two books later, […]