Bluegrass United Church of Christ

In our Advent series, we are celebrating the gift of being truly present - to each other and to the call of God to make this world a better place. We believe that we are called to claim the gift of being fully present with all people - those who mourn, those who grieve, those who have suffered indignity and oppression. Mary's Magnificat is prophetic as well. She claimed the overturning of inju...

In our Advent series, we are celebrating the gift of being truly present - to each other and to the call of God to make this world a better place. We can be the gift of presence with those who are experiencing life as less-than-peaceful. But this might also be true of how we are personally feeling in this moment. Our lives can feel a bit chaotic or in need of a makeover. The Good News is that God...

Advent can be filled with worry about finding the perfect Christmas gifts. Deep down we want people in our lives to know they are special and that we love them. But sometimes we overlook the greatest gift of all… our very presence. This season, we are invited to be the gift of presence for our loved ones, for our communities, for those who need it most. Today is about being the presence of Hope in...

This Sunday we will explore the biblical story of ten outcasts who encounter Jesus and in turn, find their healing. In Luke 17, while Jesus is on his journey, he comes across ten lepers who are forced to live their lives on the margins of society because of their disease. When they see Jesus, they cry out for mercy. How might this ancient story invite us to embrace every experience as a possibilit...

Pastor, author and thought leader Josh Scott joins us to talk about the premise of his latest book Bible Stories for Grown-Ups . He encourages us to think about the bible in a larger, more holistic way and view its stories with a more mature lens. He reminds us that it's okay to have questions, and even okay to hold onto some doubts about what we've been told we must believe to be in a rel...

Many of us who grew up around fundamentalist theology are familiar with what it means to be lost. We heard people talk about being lost and undone, lost without Christ, lost as in unsaved. Jesus told three stories in a row that were all about being lost - the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost boy. All three stories end with a party, a sheep party, a coin party, and a prodigal party. MESSAGE:...

There's an interesting story in the bible about a young man named Eutychus who happened to fall asleep while Paul the apostle waxed on what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The young man was sitting on a window ledge and fell three stories to his death. Even though Eutychus was considered to be on the margins, Paul stopped his talk to rush to the young man's aid. He fell on him, held hi...

Rachel Cohn said, "The important People in our lives leave imprints. They may stay or go in the physical realm, but they are always there in your heart." This Sunday we will celebrate All Saints Day. We will light candles and remember those who have been a part of our faith formation. As a special treat, members of our BUCC Writers Group will share personal reflections as they remember t...

This week we begin our new fall series, Think Again. Based on Josh Scott's book Bible Stories for Grown-Ups, and leading up to having Josh with us on November 19th, we'll spend the next few weeks looking at some of the ways our faith has grown and our theology has evolved. We'll give ourselves permission to ask questions and seek deeper meaning in the stories of the Bible. MESSAGE: “Th...

The news this week has been big and hard. The fighting, the screaming, the power struggles, and the subterfuge have left lots of helpless victims in the wake. And that's just Washington, DC. There's also the tragedy in Israel and Gaza that's playing out in our news feeds and on our TVs while the war between Ukraine and Russia rages on. We expect October to be scary, but not like this....

This Sunday we will take another look at the Israelites and Moses on their desert journey. Things are not going the way they expected and they get "fed up with life" along the way. In the least likely place, God hears, God sees, and God provides life-giving hope. But what about us? Does God still see us and hear us in the desert? Is God still life-giving in the year 2023? See you Sunday...

There's always room for one more. Join us this World Communion Sunday as Pam shares Romans 12:8 with the fictional character Grace Ellen. We'll follow along as Grace Ellen drives Fatmama to Cousin Betty's for a family reunion. Along the way, Grace Ellen reflects on the table talk she overheard and asks if there really is room for one more. MESSAGE: "Room for One More: A Fictional...

Have you ever had one of those "no good, very bad, horrific kind of days" that makes you want to just throw your hands up, go back to bed, and pull the covers over your head? Today we explore how the Hebrew people who were led out of bondage and toward the promised land dealt with those kinds of days in their own journey. We'll discover that God never abandoned them, but continued to...

We've probably all said it at some point; "If I knew then what I know now..." One of the great advantages of living a while is the number of opportunities we have to learn and adjust what we believe about our faith and religion, and our understanding of who Jesus is. That means sometimes rethinking some of the ideas, maybe even some of the "truths" that we thought we knew....

It's hard to believe that it's been 22 years since 9/11. Many of us remember the events of that day but had the comfort of viewing it all from safe a distance from the actual destruction. But many didn't, including a man who grew up in Central Kentucky but experienced the horror of the day from his apartment just across the river from the doomed Twin Towers. Listen as we recount his st...

Sometimes it seems like God asks a whole lot from us. Sometimes when we feel that divine nudge, we may feel more confident in God's calling than our own ability to accomplish the end goal. This Sunday our lead elder Deb Core is going to bring us some encouragement for those moments when we desire to live into God's calling, but may not feel wholly equipped. We may even feel it is a Mission...

Many of us spend time wondering how our ordinary life makes a difference or if it really does. We often aren't sure where the Spirit is calling us because we are just trying to make it through the day. Simon was an ordinary person in an ancient land trying to catch a few fish when he was changed by the love of Christ and his life was never ever the same. If it happened for Simon, perhaps, just...

It can be a bit of a challenge these days to know what is authentic and what is not. We hear cries of fake news and seeds of doubt are sown into every bit of information we hear. Then there are the Christians who claim to be deeply in love with Jesus but seem to ignore pretty much every command he gave to love and serve those who are on society's margins. How do we discern what is real and wha...

All of us have times of unrest and chaos in our lives. Sometimes it seems those moments will never end. But it's reassuring to know that when we are in the middle of our personal storms, we are in the company of a God that loves us and would never leave us to survive alone. it's reassuring to know that when we are enduring the wind and rain, we are doing it as one of God's beloved. The...

There is great disparity in our world, just as there was in the world that Jesus lived in centuries ago. There are several stories in the bible that speak to God's provision, but as believers, we count on God's ability to see us through difficult and needy times. Faith in God's radical, extravagant abundance is central to our relationship with God. But God also relies on us to do what...

Have you ever just wanted to hear quiet? With all of the talking and yelling and beeps and honks and commercials and other noises that seem to occupy all of our space, it would feel good to be able to turn it all down and make room for something else. With all the opinions and conflicting voices, we are expected to sort through it all and try to find something that assures us that things will be o...

Some of us are kinda spooked at the thought of God knowing everything about us. But it's probably because we've been warned of a god that gets some kind of strange delight out of taunting us with judgment, then punishing us for whatever kind of "sin" we've been secretly living in. But that's not the God we ever find in the bible. We can take comfort in knowing that God do...

Life is not and will never be problem free. We will know challenges and sometimes struggle to make sense of things. Things that should be simple can become complicated, and relationships that should be full of love can suddenly be in danger of ending. Our very special guest Pam Stevenson reminds us that even as he was about to be crucified, Jesus continued to extend the invitation to eat, to drink...

Many of us carry our pain and our burdens in silence. Even as our internal spirit is being crushed, we make ourselves smile through the heaviness. We try to do it all alone and hold our pain as a secret. What happens when we decide to ask God and others for help? Jesus teaches us that sharing our pain holds the potential for healing. This week Pam helps us discover how we are able to lighten our l...

Every day is an opportunity to make an impression and make a difference. If our goal is to show love and care and patience and concern, how we present ourselves will make the difference in whether or not we succeed. Sometimes we get in our own way without even realizing it. Pam helps us understand how we can be better examples and better neighbors. Because we know people are watching. MESSAGE: &qu...