First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on May 5, 2019. As a people who have always been seekers of truth and askers of questions more profound than answers, following our curiosity can be a spiritual discipline for Unitarian Universalists.

April 28, 2019 service. Our Senior High Youth Group lead the service and invite the congregation on a journey in self-reflection, how we've grown, and who we've become over our lives.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on April 21, 2019. If you were planted, what would grow? What is left in a room when you leave the room? What is left in a group when the group scatters? What would be left here on Earth when you leave?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on April 14, 2019. In advance of a church storytelling event the first weekend in May, we will talk about the power of our stories. We will talk particularly about the stresses put on us by the stories told about people with our particular identities, women, LGBTQ, people of color, white men, Etc. How do those stories shape us and put pressure on our thinking?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on April 7, 2019. Using the music of Townes Van Zandt, combined with the April Soul Matters theme of Wholeness, we will talk about how we need one another in order to be whole. How can we care for one another? Is there a way to be loving and challenging at the same time? How do we reach out with compassion? Is compassion always the best approach to another per...

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on March 31, 2019. How do we nurture our whole selves, especially those parts of ourselves that we may have been taught were no acceptable? How do we create communities and a society that are more whole?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on March 24, 2019. Using the children's book Zen Ties, by Jon J Muth, we will tell the story of the summer when Koo, a young panda bear, came to visit his Uncle Stillwater. Uncle Stillwater encourages the neighborhood kids to help an elderly neighbor in need, and friendships blossom. All ages service.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on March 17, 2019. The Celts developed a Christianity that was intricately intertwined with the earth based faith of the land. Friendlier toward the body, toward women, and celebrating good beer, the Celts' version of Christianity might be a delightful and refreshing insight into other possibilities than those some of us were raised with.

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on March 10, 2019. We often talk about our spiritual path. But is that journey inward or outward or both? Sometimes to become our truest self, we also have to unbecome who we are not.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on March 3, 2019. James Baldwin said "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." On this Sunday we will be lifting up one chapter of our Unitarian Universalist history, the black empowerment controversy of 1969. What can we learn from these ancestors, if we can call them that when many of them are still lively a...

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on February 24, 2019. Unitarian Universalism has historically been a faith that questions and can even be skeptical. Yet, we call ourselves a faith, which implies a trust that we are a part of something larger than ourselves. What does it mean to trust and to be trustworthy? How do we rebuild trust when it gets broken and is it healthy som...

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on February 17, 2019. Music can change the way your brain behaves, it can change moods, it can bring people together, Inspire and comfort us. Tyrants often fear the songwriters more than the rebel soldiers, as songs have toppled unjust regimes.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on February 3, 2019. Join us for an All Ages service to bless the beloved animal companions in your lives. All friendly, well-behaved creatures young, old, great and small, furry and scaly are invited to this cherished annual tradition.

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on January 27, 2019. How do we ground our social justice work, our struggles against racism, oppression and the destruction of our environment? Where do we find reliance and even joy? We will examine a theology that grounds this work in our collective interdependence or as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Junior put it, "We are tied together in...

Guest speaker Bear Qolezcua's sermon delivered on January 20, 2019. In the midst of so much civil turmoil and violence, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. marched hand-in-hand with others. His life and his ministry of reckless love taught us what it meant to truly care for others through the works of our hands and hearts. Let us explore the possibility that lives within us to do the work of nour...

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on January 13, 2019. Though Unitarian Universalists are a people of many theological or philosophical perspectives, the human possibility, our potential for doing good in our world has always been central to our world-view. What are the ways in which we are being called toward our full potential. What lures us toward creative, life-fulfill...

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on January 6, 2019. We begin the year by thinking about elements in our lives which are doing us a disservice, and what possibilities might become open to us if we let them go. We whisper these things into flash paper and burn them together, scattering the ashes to the wind.

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on December 30, 2018. As we close out this year and look forward to the new year, the mystery and uncertainty of what is to come also opens up almost unlimited possibilities and creative potential.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 24, 2018. Readings and carols, candlelight on Christmas Eve. One of the church community's favorite services of the year.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 16, 2018. Everybody else's life looks glowy and great. How do they do it? Perfectionism can really get its claws into us at this time of year. We compare our insides with other people's outsides and it makes us feel bad. How can we see beneath the surface, grow our roots, and strengthen our core?

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on December 9, 2018. As we celebrate the holiday season, it is good to remember the origin of these traditions and rituals, why they still matter to us, and how they may ground us in wonder, awe, and mystery.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 2, 2018. Meg, Chris, Jules, and Brent will be live-streaming from Meg's house while you worship from your own cozy spot of choice since the church building is closed with no entry until Saturday, December 8th. We will be talking about mystery, family, and whatever else comes up as you call in on the live-stream page.

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on November 25, 2018. The path that led us to where we are now informs all the possibilities of our continuing journey. We will explore how our memories, both those in our mind and those buried deeply within our DNA, ground as well as challenge our human potential.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on November 18, 2018. As Thanksgiving approaches, let us talk about gratitude in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on November 11, 2018. Persistence, endurance, resilience, grit - is it a mistake to be goal-oriented? Is there a better way to think about forward movement?