Bluegrass United Church of Christ

New years bring new opportunities. We can choose to look back, or we can choose to look ahead. With those opportunities, we can resolve to use our gifts, our time, and our resources to make our world better, or at least easier, for those who are in need. If we count our opportunities as we count our days, we have a chance to make our world better 365 times this year. MESSAGE: "365 Times" by Kenny...

Christmas is a special time for many. Today we are joining you from our homes and with prerecorded clips from our Advent series, "Reflecting the Sacred." Enjoy music from our own Brenda Gardiner, a special song by Timmy Smallwood, a reading by Stacy Greene, a song written and recorded by our founding pastor Marsha Moors-Charles, and a special Christmas message by Pam Lee-Miller. MESSAGE: "The Best...

Our Christmas Eve service is always a special time to settle into the story of the coming Hope. It is a hope and a promise brought to us by the child who would grow to bring a message of peace, deliverance, and love. The story of that sacred night was captured by an unlikely pair - a poet and a composer neither of whom were devoted to the Christian story but wrote one of the most beloved Christmas...

The busy-ness of the holiday season can overrun the sense of the sacred. The irony is that setting apart time for connection with the sacred gets pushed aside in order to create the trappings of what is supposed to be the season of celebrating the incarnation of the Holy! We will begin our Advent journey toward Christmas by emphasizing the gift of being awake to the “now”… the gift of sacred time...

The pregnancy of Mary is connected to the promise of justice and joy in the readings this week. Mary’s womb becomes a sacred space for the gestation of grace that moves into, and is transforming, the world. We will ponder the spaces we inhabit at home, work, and community, asking whether they are feeding, nurturing, and reflecting the freedom and joy that is so desperately needed. MESSAGE: "Sacred...

When we look through the lens of the sacred, we prepare our senses to recognize the holy in all people–to come to know them in a “steadfast and encouraging” way. Our world is crying out for harmony, and being able to see the Christ reflected in each other makes a path for this to be accomplished. We are inspired this week to see our own walk upon this earth as part of the call to be sacred people...

The busy-ness of the holiday season can overrun the sense of the sacred. The irony is that setting apart time for connection with the sacred gets pushed aside in order to create the trappings of what is supposed to be the season of celebrating the incarnation of the Holy! We will begin our Advent journey toward Christmas by emphasizing the gift of being awake to the “now”… the gift of sacred time...

Most of us have more things, more stuff than we could ever need. Our attics, basements, and garages are filled with things we've collected, admired, then boxed away. The plan is to come back to them and admire them, but the truth is, they often just sit there out of sight and taking up space. These boxed-away things are part of who we are, but what do they mean to everyone else? MESSAGE: "Treasure...

NOTE: Because of technical issues during recording, the audio quality of this episode is not up to our usual standard. All of us are gifted differently, which means we all are able to give differently. This week, Pam talks with us about the joy of being able to help others with our varied and abundant blessings.  MESSAGE: "Abundantly Blessed" by Pam Lee-Miller Learn more about us at www.blueg...

November is Native American Heritage Month, and our special guest today is Landra Lewis (Cherokee). Landra shares with us some of her own stories of growing up in a community and a culture that realized both the earth's strengths and fragilities. She helps us better understand some of the misconceptions and mistruths that have been culturally accepted about the Indigenous people of North America....

Today we honor our saints - those who have walked ahead of us, made paths for us, created spaces for us. We thank them for their faithfulness and their example, and we encourage one another with the messages of hope and promise they left for us. We pray for the courage to live by the faith we feel because of them... in our bones. MESSAGE: "The Faith in Our Bones" by Pam Lee-Miller SCRIPTURE: Hebre...

Before there was religion, a church, or even the bible, there was the earth and nature. The very first words ever known of, according to the Christian tradition, were uttered by the creating God. Those words spoke nature into being, set the planet into motion, and immediately set humanity up with the perfect sanctuary. We haven't respected it much or treated it well, but when we find ourselves in...

There once was a farmer who went out to scatter seed. He was either really sloppy about it or just didn't mind that a lot of it was going places it could never survive. As a matter of fact, most of the seed was landing on unfriendly ground - only about a quarter of it made it to healthy ground. However, that does not mean that all the other ground was not holy. God's presence can be found even in...

Queen Elizabeth was regarded as one of history's greatest characters. She had a huge impact on history, culture, and entertainment, and her death was big news around the world. Loretta Lynn was known as country music's queen. Her songs and lyrics did more than entertain, they challenged male dominance and masculine culture. Rita Swan would never think of herself as a queen. But those who knew her...

Today is World Communion Sunday, a time when Christian congregations around the world gather around the table and extend God's welcome. Some churches exercise their ability to limit who has a place at the table, but we believe the invitation is not ours to withhold - it is not our table, but God's. Rev. Diane Vego reminds us of the joy and specialness of that invitation and the meal that God invit...

In whatever currency we use, our economy is often unlike God's. Grace, compassion, worth, righteousness, sin... we all have notions of what all of those mean, but all of our notions are based on something very earthly and often not very "godly." Pam takes us to that place of trying hard to understand our misunderstandings about who is welcome at God's table of love. MESSAGE: "Rich, Poor, Crumbs an...

Some people are likable, but some folks take a little more effort. Then there are those who are just near impossible to hold any likable regard for. Today we talk about two great examples of how to be likable and to be someone who looks beyond the unlikable person's worst parts - Jesus and Mr. Rogers. NOTE: This episode contains audio from the 1991 Television Hall of Fame induction ceremony. MESSA...

The world changed on the morning of September 11, 2001. In New York, Washington, DC, and Shanksville, PA, hijacked planes were used as instruments of mass destruction, but at an unassuming airport in a small town in far eastern Canada, dozens of planes bound for the U.S. were forced to land. When they did, they found a community that would come together and take on the largest challenge imaginable...

According to the beginning verses in the Bible, the earth's inhabitants got off to a pretty rocky start, at least after the first several pages. It seems it didn't take long into God's new creation before humans and human relationships turned God's new paradise into a sea of mistrust and doubt and turmoil. The good news is that Genesis was the beginning, not the end. BUCC Elder Deb Core reminds us...

We believe in angels. They don't necessarily look like the traditional version most of us have heard about. As a matter of fact, we rub shoulders with strangers most every day, people we don't know with stories we don't know, and origins we don't know. Could those people really be angels sent to help and protect us? MESSAGE: "Who Was That Masked Spirit?" by Pam Lee-Miller SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 13: 1-...

Just like many of the people in the scriptures that God called into the good work of ministry, we sometimes find reasons to say "no" to that call. We feel inadequate, unprepared, and ill-equipped to take on the challenge of being God's voice, hands, and feet in the world. We often say something like, "God, I'd be happy to do my part, but I"m just a _______." God knows who we are, and God knows wha...

You never know who God may use to teach you about yourself. Several years ago Kenny met a young lady on a flight to Minneapolis who changed his life. It wasn't until sometime later that he realized just how impactful that chance encounter had been on his attitude and his spirit. Relating his story to one Jesus taught to the preachers of his day, Kenny was reminded that God often chooses those we s...

Life isn't fair. Do we honestly want it to be? Do we want to reap the results of our sowing when we know we've sown some pretty bad seed? Thinking further, do we want God to be fair with us, or do we want God to be merciful to us? MESSAGE: "It isn't fair... thank God!" by Kenny Bishop SCRIPTURE: Matthew 15: 21-28 Learn more about us at www.bluegrasschurch.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/bluegrasucc...

You may have heard it said, "You may be the only bible some will ever read." Maybe you've heard, "You may be the only Jesus some will ever see." If either of those is true, it's important that those who profess to be followers of Christ make the effort to live into his compassion, his mercy, and his intentions.   MESSAGE: "ACT Like Christ?" by Pam Lee-Miller SCRIPTURE: Colossians 3: 1-4, 11 L...

Gratefulness is an important ingredient in our peace. It directs our perspective and reminds us of how blessed we are, even when all we have to hold onto is God's presence. Expressing our gratefulness is important for our spiritual well-being, and for the well-being of those we encounter.   MESSAGE: "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" by Pam Lee-Miller SCRIPTURE: Psalm 138: 1-3 Learn more abou...