COOS Love Podcast

Today’s main point at Summer Celebration, our annual VBS here at COOS, was “God is Our Safe Place.” We want to instill in our children a deep sense of God’s love and mercy so that they can always feel like it is safe to turn to God. We also want that for ourselves as adults, however, and sometimes we struggle with images of God from our childhood which are angry, judgmental, and hurtful. It’s good...

Jesus' invitation to the weary is more surprising than it first appears. Rather than removing every burden, he offers us a different yoke—a different way of carrying the weight of life. As we learn from the One who is gentle and humble in heart, we discover that God  meets us in our weakness and gives us rest for our souls. Watch the video HERE (sermons starts at 33:13) Read the sermon HERE Connec...

Life is often hard for people, but our faith assures us that life in this world is good and meaningful. All that we experience here is preparing us for even deeper love and greater bliss. But the journey can still be agonizing at times, and cultivating trust is one of the ways we mature in faith. Trust is an active virtue which we can practice.  Watch the video HERE. Connect with Church of Our Sav...

Baptism initiates us into a life of expansive love. While the love of family and friends is beautiful and crucial, we are led by the Spirit to grow in love. Our experience of God should always expand our spirits and enlarge our hearts to include all people. The Apostle Paul assures us  that “Christ is all and in all.” We only love Cjrist above all things by loving Christ in all things. Watch the v...

The words of Jesus can sometimes surprise us, especially when he calls us to examine what holds our deepest loyalty and love. Yet beneath these difficult teachings is an invitation to discover the freedom that comes from placing God at the center of our lives. When we love God most, we find that we are able to love everyone else more deeply. Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 34:10) Read the s...

Psalm 19 tells us that “one day tells its tale to another,” which is a beautiful way of saying we are part of an unfolding story. In that story, there are joyful days and sad days, times of celebration and times of devastation. In all times, God is there to teach us what we most need to learn. With a humble spirit, we can be open to what God has for us each day, trusting that we are heading toward...

When Jesus looks at the crowds and tells his disciples "the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few," he doesn't form a committee or take a vote, he just sends people, even ones who couldn't stand each other. The good news is that the call doesn't wait for us to get it right... it shows up again every day, what we are asked to do is answer it. Watch the video HERE . Read the sermon HERE . C...

Prayer can help us deepen our experience of our oneness with God and with all of creation. While intercessory prayer and petitionary prayer are important and have their place, the most basic form of prayer is just being with God. Meditative prayer is a simple and accessible way for people to connect with God who is already within them, and through God, connect with other people as well.  Watch the...

Jesus calls sinners to follow him because this is what God does. God sees past our sin and sees how capable we are of love and goodness. This is the mercy of God in action. Having faith means trusting in that mercy and seeing ourselves the way God sees us. Saintliness is not about perfection but about saying yes and trusting that God will bring forth the best in us as we follow Christ. Watch the v...

The Holy Spirit makes us one with God, other people, and the whole of creation. Awareness of that unity is a gift, but there are things we can do to open ourselves to experiencing that gift more fully. Serving other people and connecting with the natural world are two ways we can easily do this. Both remind us that we are one with the people and the world around us. Watch the video HERE. Connect w...

On Trinity Sunday, we explore one of Christianity’s deepest mysteries by asking a simple question: What difference does it make? Rather than trying to explain the Trinity, we discover how the church came to understand God as Creator, Christ, and Spirit. If God’s deepest nature is relationship and love, what might that mean for how we live with one another? At the heart of the Trinity is an invitat...

The Holy Spirit makes us one with God and each other, giving us a unity that runs deeper than feelings or our rational minds. Many mystics and others with profound experiences of God down through the centuries have given voice to our oneness in the Spirit. This is an important witness we Christians can offer a world which is so divided and polarized. Rather than beginning with separation and tryin...

Pentecost is rightly an exuberant celebration which highlights the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit. But we do not want to forget that a primary role of the Holy Spirit is to comfort us. Jesus tells his disciples that he will send the Spirit to console them after he is no longer visibly present. The Spirit continues to comfort us today, as we deal with sadness, loss, and the inevitable challenge...

While Pentecost often brings to mind the various gifts of the Holy Spirit, we don’t want to lose sight of the fact that the greatest gift of all is the Spirit herself. We all have the Spirit by virtue of our baptism, which means that we have the fullness of the Blessed Trinity living within us. Growing in faith means learning to trust in that gift, living as if we have the infinite love and power...

On this Ascension Sunday, we reflect on what it means to live with hearts lifted toward God in the midst of ordinary life. Exploring the ancient Christian invitation, “Lift up your hearts,” we consider how worship, prayer, and daily moments of trust can draw us more deeply into the life and love of God. Because the Ascension is not simply an event in Christ’s life, but a way of living for us as we...

On this Ascension Sunday, we reflect on what it means to live with hearts lifted toward God in the midst of ordinary life. Exploring the ancient Christian invitation, “Lift up your hearts,” we consider how worship, prayer, and daily moments of trust can draw us more deeply into the life and love of God. Because the Ascension is not simply an event in Christ’s life, but a way of living for us as we...

Christ has been raised into heaven, and we who are one with Christ have been raised with him. Heaven is not a distant reality, but the Ultimate Reality we are connected to even now. Our life of faith, when lived with the right intent, increases our capacity to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is.” Rather than hellish realities of anger, hatred, and fear, we can grow in our capacity to...

Human beings can be religious in a wide variety of ways, but the aim of all religion should be love. This is the message the Apostle Paul gives when he tours Athens and sees how religious the Athenians are.. Unfortunately, religion can sometimes get in the way of love when people become fixated on outward forms or on being right. We have a rich religious life at Church of Our Saviour, but the goal...

In addition to seeking first the kingdom of God, Jesus also instructs us to live in the present: tomorrow will bring worries of its own, Jesus says, so today’s trouble is enough for today. Being present in the moment is a lifegiving spiritual practice. The more we can be in the here and now, without stewing over the past or fretting over the future, the more peace we will feel. Jesus calls us to b...

Anxiety afflicts countless numbers of people. In some cases it has biomedical causes, but always it is a spiritual malady as well. Jesus teaches that worrying never does any good and bids his followers not to be anxious. He says we must seek first the kingdom of God, because when we focus on God over time, anxiety loses its grip on us. Watch the video HERE. Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE...

12 Step programs have helped countless addicts to regain their lives because these programs are inherently spiritual. People in recovery develop a relationship with God and come to intimately know the power of God to save. 12 Step programs, in fact, resonate strongly with Christian spirituality. Just as Christian spiritual practice influenced the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous and the many grou...

When Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light, he is not only saying that he can help us carry the pain of life that comes from illness, stress, and loss. He wants to remove from us the great burden of self-justification, the need to prove ourselves to God and others in order to feel valued and loved. By humbly trusting in God’s unconditional love and providential care as Jesus...

In the resurrection stories, Jesus has to break through the grief of his friends before they can recognize him and know he’s alive. The Risen Christ can lead all of us to know a joy that is deeper and greater than any sadness. The way for us to experience this is to keep showing up to pray, to care for others, and to worship. By showing up regularly, we give Christ more ways to reach us and reveal...

In this season of resurrection, we often talk about new life. Dramatic occasions often come to mind, like weddings, the birth of a child, or recovery from a life-threatening illness, but most of life does not consist of big events but rather the mundane realities of daily living. It is in the ordinary course of our days that we most need to practice resurrection. Newness of life is a gift of God,...

On Easter morning, the first witnesses to the resurrection are filled not only with joy, but with fear—and yet they move forward anyway. Although fear is a natural human response, it can quietly keep us bound. Yet the risen Christ meets us right in those places. Resurrection is not only about what happened to Jesus, but about the new life breaking open in us even now. Wherever life feels sealed or...