Hummelstown UCC Podcast

Matthew 20:1-16; Philippians 1:21-30 OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFeeAt the table of grace, there is always more than enough to go around. Everybodymakes mistakes, and we have all needed forgiveness at some point and gentleguidance to adjust and make amends. Grace doesn’t keep track of how manytimes we’ve messed up, and it doesn’t hinge on the condition that next time, we’lldo better. Grace exi...

Matthew 18:21-35; Romans 14:1-12 OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFeeThe Table of Peace can take almost any shape. Our table this week is a conferencetable, perhaps depicting where two or more parties meet to negotiate the terms ofa contract, a settlement, or a ceasefire. For Jesus, peacemaking was often found inthe act of sharing a meal with people who would have been considered “outsiders.”We lik...

Matthew 18:15-20; Romans 13:8-14 OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFeeThis week, we explore how love is baked into the bread we break each time wegather in Jesus’ name, around God’s table. But we don’t need to save this love onlyfor the times when we partake in the ritual of communion. We invoke love every daywhen we sit down at our kitchen tables for home-cooked meals or takeout, forgame nights, or...

Romans 12:9-21; Romans 12:9-21 OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFee“Jesus’ lesson at the last supper was clear: the meal of the kin-dom of God is for ALL.Saints, strangers, those who persecute and betray you, those who are joyful andthose who weep. The author of the epistle letter to the Romans reminds us andinvites us to do as Jesus did. This requires that we follow God’s way in offering a goodmea...

Psalm 8: Divine Majesty and Human Dignity; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20 OPENING MEDITATION Living Psalm 8 by Sam HouserHoly MysteryCreator, Christ, and Spirit- how wondrous your presence is in all the earth. You echo through expanding galaxies, through oceans breathing against the shore,through every living thing still learning how to belong to one another. You speakThrough children an...

Acts 2:1-8, 12-14, 22-24, 43-47;  OPENING MEDITATION From the Constitution of the UCC Preamble The United Church of Christ acknowledges as its sole head, Jesus Christ, Son of Godand Savior. It acknowledges as kindred in Christ all who share in this confession. Itlooks to the Word of God in the Scriptures, and to the presence and power of theHoly Spirit, to prosper its creative and redemptive work...

Esther 4:13-17; Leviticus 19:9-13; Mark 12:28-31 OPENING MEDITATION Proverbs & Psalms“Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind tothe needy honor God.” (Proverbs 14:31)“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and will be repaid in full.”(Proverbs 19:17)“Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with thepoor.” (Proverbs 22:9)“Speak out for...

Isaiah 56:6-8; Samuel 16:7; Galatians 3:26-29 OPENING MEDITATION Ephesians 4:14-16“We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about byevery wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitfulscheming; but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every wayinto him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joinedand knit together by every ligam...

From “Balloons Belong in Church”, Ann Weems OPENING MEDITATION Imagine Together Try to write or draw for the whole prelude, without stopping. Work to get all of your thoughts on the page, without worrying about what you are writing, or how. Follow wherever your mind leads. 1. Think of something that exists in and/or moves through the sky. A featureof nature or something manufactured, or something...

Leviticus 25:1-7; John 1:1-5 OPENING MEDITATION Psalm 148: Praise for God’s Universal GloryPraise God! Praise from the heavens; in the heights! Praise God, all angels;all the host! Praise God, sun and moon; all you shining stars! Praise God,you highest heavens and you waters above the heavens! Let them praisethe name of God for God commanded and they were created. Godestablished them forever and e...

Matthew 6:9-15; Luke 6:27-30, 36-38, Colossians 3:12-14 OPENING MEDITATION Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my sibling sins against me, howoften should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Notseven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”

Acts 4:31-35; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 OPENING MEDITATION Mark 12:30 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul  and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Matthew 28:1-10  OPENING MEDITATION Sarah Speed  Every morning the sun rises, majestic and steady. She is greeted in all her strength  with the joyous cacophony of birdsong. I like to believe this holy chorus is the birds  telling each other— I’m here. We made it through the night. You’re not alone. What  good, good news. I think the resurrection is a bit like that. God is here. We made it  throug...

Mark 11:1-11 “If you possess enough courage to speak out what you are, you will find you are not  alone.” - Richard Wright

John 8:2-11 Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cuminand have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. Itis these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. How do you see justice, mercy, and faithfulness prioritized in your laws and religious policies? In what ways are these values neglected?

John 9 What actions, practices, or prayers help you turn away from status-seeking and grabbing for power? What actions embody the humility of a child?

Mark 6:32-44 Ephesians 3:20-21“Now to those who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantlyfar more than all we can ask or imagine, be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus toall generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Where do you see examples of God’s still, small voice moving amongst your community, perhaps multiplying “the smallest offerings” into abundance?

Luke 7:36-50 Matthew 25:35-40 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me somethingto drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave meclothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’Then the righteous will answer, ‘when was it that we saw you hungry and gave youfood or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And w...

John 2:1-11 Matthew 13:31-32“Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustardseed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, butwhen it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds ofthe air come and make nests in its branches.”When have you witnessed something flourishing unexpectedly? What stories...

Luke 14:15-24 the good news is… all are invited. This lent, we are grounding ourselves in the good news of Jesus’ teachings. Over thenext 7 weeks, our objective is not to simply examine some of the core tenets of Jesus’ministry, but to truly embody them in our daily lives. This text for ash Wednesday wasselected primarily to focus on invitation and Jesus’ emphasis on radical inclusion; inthis para...

Exodus 24:12-18; Matthew 17:1-9 Desmond Tutu “God places us in the world as fellow workers- agents of transfiguration. We workwith God so that injustice is transfigured into justice. So there will be morecompassion and caring. That there will be more laughter and joy. That there will bemore togetherness in God’s world.”

Exodus 1:15-21 #15 from “Thirty Poems of Courage”By Tina Datsko de SánchezMusic is my courage, for my soul is only a wooden flutesounded by the breath of God. Dancing is my courage, for these legs and arms are a windmilltwirled by the playful gusts of God.

Luke 19:1-10 Poems of Courage, Tina Datsko de SánchezIt is no surprise we feel more courageous in the company of friends. The truth of our being can only be seen when we are united togetherPlugged into the Friend, we become a net of light illuminating the world

Genesis 33:1-11 Winston Churchill “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sitdown and listen.”

DANIEL 6:1-23; Acts 16:16-34 #1 Poems of Courage, Tina Datsko SánchezIt is not your strength,it will never be your strength,that gives you courage. It will only be your abilityto lean on the Friend,to trust the arm that will never let you go.