First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on May 13, 2018. My mother didn't like being called cute. She wanted to be tall and elegant, but she was cute. She tried to teach me to "drive like a lady," and she won all the belching contests when we were camping. There are things we want to keep from our mother's lives and voices, and things that don't help us, things we can let go of.

Guest Speaker Kye Flannery's sermon delivered on May 6, 2018. As a highly educated and progressive denomination, we think often about what should be and what could be. But sometimes our deepest engagement with what "is" creates the best progress - and the best stories.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on April 22, 2018. On this Earth Day, we talk about the life of seeds as they interact with the life of humans, about how diversity is crucial to protection against disease, and how well-meaning people sometimes create unintended consequences when solving short-term problems.

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on April 15, 2018. Why do good people sometimes do really bad things, or allow such things to happen in our name? How do we try to parent this in ourselves or reengage if we need to do so?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on April 8, 2018. The Japanese art of kintsugi, where broken things are repaired using material that has been mixed with gold. This is a way of embracing damage, where a bowl or plate becomes even more beautiful because of its "scars."

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on April 1, 2018. Easter is a time of new beginnings, celebrating babies, renewing our awe at the rampant resurrection of the natural world, turning our thoughts to the life that comes out of death. "All that dies shall be reborn," says the neo-Pagan chant. In the major arcana of the tarot, the Fool is an archetype of the beginning of the journey. What might t...

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on March 25, 2018. We are trying to do challenging and long-term soul work, and it can be overwhelming. How do we find our balance again? (Intergenerational service)

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on March 18, 2018. Spirituality may be even more important to us if we are facing challenges to our quality of life, or even our own mortality. How do we face difficult decisions in ways that maximize our agency, quality of life, and our ability to maintain our spirituality?

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on March 11, 2018. Neuroscience and other research is learning more and more about what is happening in our brains and in our bodies during spiritual - transcendent - flow - peak experiences. Organizations from the Navy Seals to Google have been exploring ways to help their people reach these altered states more easily and more quickly, as...

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on March 4, 2018. When some people use the word faith, they are talking about faith in a personal God, or faith in the trustworthiness of another person. When someone refers to "the Unitarian Universalist faith," what are they talking about?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on February 25, 2018. Fire is one of the central metaphors and symbols of our faith. The fire of commitment, the warmth of community, the spark of truth, the spark of the divine inside us all. What reignites your spark when it is going out? How might we tend one another's spark?

Rev. David Bumbaugh delivered this statement of faith as part of his Keynote Address at SWUU District Meeting on Apr 26, 2008. Text and audio of the whole address can be found on our website at austinuu.org

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on February 18, 2018. We have experiences in life that we remember long afterwards and that often were moments that changed us. Are there common characteristics that create such moments? If so, can we create more such experiences in our lives?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on February 11, 2018. Why do bad things happen? Are there evil people? In the "Question Box" sermon a couple of years ago, this was one of the most frequently asked questions.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on February 4, 2018. As we begin to look for a new Director of Faith Development, how do we describe their job? What do we want our program to look like?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on January 28, 2018. All creatures young, old, great and small, furry and scaly are invited to our intergenerational service honoring our beloved animal companions.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on January 21, 2018. The cover of Time magazine featured the "silence-breakers." Why is this movement so revolutionary?

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on January 14, 2018. Despite his life being taken from him early, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left behind a legacy of human/civil rights advances and a strong call toward justice. What will the legacy of this generation of Unitarian Universalists be?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on January 7, 2018. How are those resolutions? Still holding strong? What might some good ways be of sneaking change past that mule that wakes up and resists everything different?

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on December 31, 2017. We begin the year by thinking about elements in our lives which are doing us a disservice. We whisper these things into flash paper and burn them together, scattering the ashes to the wind.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 24, 2017. Our Annual Christmas Pageant with costumes provided for Angels, shepherds, and more as we hear and perform the famous story and sing beautiful carols.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 17, 2017. Lots of us are studying our DNA these days, finding out about ancestors. Who are the forebears of Rabbi Jesus, and what are their stories?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 10, 2017. If our actions are our only true belongings, as we discussed last week, what about the bad things we've done?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on December 3, 2017. As the days grow darker, nature's energy goes to the roots of growing things. The five remembrances of Buddhism direct our attention to the radical (meaning root) question of what in life has lasting value.

Assistant Minister Rev. Chris Jimmerson's sermon delivered on November 26, 2017. Thanksgiving often brings to mind images of a nuclear family gathered together around the table enjoying dinner. But the reality is that the families we choose to come together with at this time of year take many shapes. In this all-ages service, we hear from several church members about their diverse families and how...