First Congregational Church of Southington

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.~ Psalm 46:1 Few bands have endured—or reflected the turbulence of their times—quite like The Rolling Stones. From the anxieties of the Cold War to political protests, social upheaval, and cultural change, their music often captured a world that felt restless, uncertain, and constantly in motion. Songs like ‘Gimme Shelter’...

The Gospel According to... Simon & Garfunkel In 1 Kings chaper 19 Elijah finds himself standing on the mountain top waiting for the Lord to pass by. Even though God is powerful and mighty, Elijah does not find the Lord in displays of power. He finds God in the silence.  There is a sacredness to silence. It is a sacredness that in today’s world is difficult to find. We are sarrounded by th...

P e n t e c o s t   2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other l...

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself… ~Philippians 2:5-7a Writing to the church at Philippi, Paul describes how Christ, though equal with God, “emptied himself,” taking on the form of a servant. It is one of the most astonishing images in the New Testament. A...

Confirmation Sunday “Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted, but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” ~Isaiah 40:30-31 On Confirmation Sunday, we celebrate ten youth taking an important step in their faith journey at First Congregational Ch...

…so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for [God] and find [God]—though indeed [God] is not far from each one of us. 28 For ‘In [God] we live and move and have our being’… ~Acts 17:27-28a The Athenians had a god for everything — war, love, the sea, the sun — and, just to be safe, a shrine to the god they might have missed. Religion as a cosmic insurance policy...

After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely... About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ~Acts 16.23, 25 Paul and Silas, even at midnight, even in the darkest cell of the darkest prison in all of Philippi, were singing.  And the other prisoners were li...

On this first Sunday after Easter, we continue to hear the story of that Resurrection morning.  We hear,  “Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles  from Jerusalem.” It’s a story of grief and doubt, of dreams seemingly destroyed, and an uncertain future as two disciples returned to their village after Jesus’ death.  We hear of th...

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb... ~John 20:1 Each of the Gospels tells the story of Easter morning—but not in exactly the same way. In John’s Gospel, the story begins in darkness. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb alone, before dawn, carrying grief, love, and a longing she cannot quite explain. Many of us know something about that k...

“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.” ~John 19:7b In John’s account of Jesus before Pilate, fear fills the room.  The religious authorities fear that Jesus’ way of love will disrupt the order that protects their power.  Pilate fears what might happen if the rumors are true—if this beaten and mocked man really is the...