From Your Pastor

We kick off our Fall sermon series "Spiritual Practices for Everyday People" with TIME. We've only got so much, how to use it (or not use it)?

We lay some groundwork for a new understanding of God's world that is big enough for Rilke's famous "beauty and terror."

You asked questions about forgiveness...and now I think we also need to talk about good apologies, reparations, and reconciliation. Maintaining relationships is rewarding, but hard work.

For our week exploring prayer, we had different folks from the congregation offer their own testimonies about prayer--what they like to do, how they experience the Divine, what they've tried. To keep the pressure off our responders, we didn't record this. However, Rev. Jenelle offered a guided meditation at the end of service which we've recorded here for you. Find a comfortable place where you won't be interrupted and prepare yourself to be present to Presence!

We take a look at church hurt through the lens of Family Systems Theory...and take some deep breaths.

This week we talk about how to talk about God. Is God close and cuddly? Distant and mysterious? A bit of both?

This is an advertisement for our July book read: Faith after Doubt by Brian McClaren. It's also a sermon about how when our beliefs are up for grabs that doesn't mean our faith has nothing left for us.

Starting with an apology. The recording is not ideal. In fact, it's pretty lame quality. Apologies!

Friend and fellow Candler Alum Christina Toney-Schmitt joined us this week to tackle the Kingdom of Heaven. Despite my phone garbling the recording, I think her wise words on the topic are definitely worth a listen.

The Rev. Dr. Chris Holmes (he's very cute, even if you can't see him on this recording) joined us for our second sermon on the Bible. Listen in!

Basically a midrash on Peter Enns' book How the Bible Actually Works. What is in this Bible that makes it so unruly? Because it is.

Also, Jenelle's longest sermon to date. Ever.

The wonderful Laura Jean Truman joins us as we explore your questions about being Christian and being LGBTQIA+. You can also find Laura Jean at her blog at https://laurajeantruman.com and on Instagram @laurajeantruman.

Stop looking at heaven say the angels. Start looking at the world.

A sermon one part Nickel Creek and one part Paul the Apostle.

Join us as we echo Rabbi Steve Leder: If you go through hell, don't come out empty handed. Also, I'm angry about gun violence.

The confession "Jesus is my Lord and Savior" has had some rough patches in recent decades. Can we reclaim it?

From Peter's first sermon to the words of our children 2,000 years later: who is Jesus?

We explore the differences between approaching Holy Week in a frame of fear or a bedrock of love.

We do not walk our faith journey alone. Jesus didn't. Moses didn't. No one does.

We talk today about the complicated-ness of beliefs and behaviors that our ancestors and family have offered us.

We explore the difference between traditions or beliefs and faith. If you set aside one, do you lose the other? Let's hope not. 

We explore how fear sidelines our faith journey and ways to breath our way through it. 

*Also includes a bonus guided breathing meditation at the end.* 

We explore how the call to repent is a call to deconstruct. And God's got our back while we do it. 

We explore a great framework for talking about who Jesus is and what Jesus reveals about God. 

Your new identity, affection, and responsibility in Christ.

We've gotten bogged down in our tradition with predestination. Perhaps we got it a bit wrong.

What is at the heart of leadership (despite the denomination).

Get caught up with us in the paradoxical nature of God!

We explore the Reformer's commitment to that Latin phrase: the church reformed and always reforming. 

Glory. Glory. Glory in our midst. 

You will know it is God (or Jesus) by the good fruit. 

Only if there are angels in your head, will you ever possibly see one. -Mary Oliver

What do we do with a passage or sermon that seems to lack good news?

We ask questions of discernment about how we spend our time--so that rest can actually happen!

Why does Jesus have to tell his disciples to rest twice? Turns out the real world is good at interrupting.

This is the first sermon for Ormewood Church as we switched to weekly worship in October of 2017. We started with a five Sunday sermon series on Sabbath and Rest. Revisit what (unfortunately) still needs to be said: rest is not weakness, a mistake, or a misstep. It's built into our DNA as images of God. 

This is the first Sunday of three where we'll look at the blessing of rest. This week we particularly look at its healing nature as we grapple with grief on All Saints Sunday. 

With some help from Anne Lamott, Rev. Jenelle takes the leap from perfection to mercy as the prerequisite for church. 

No man is an island. Even Jesus. 

We get some help from Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way in this episode!

God gives us a new way of seeing. 

Our imaginations help us bridge the gap between the difficult and the everyday. 

We explore the power of stories and their ability to "teach" us through indirectness, surprise, and everyday life. 

Join Job in being in awe of God's creativity. 

When the weight of impossibility is too heavy, throw it off. 

Sacred spaces matter, so get creative with them!

This sermon introduces the summer series on Imagination and Spirituality. We explore the grand creative endeavor that is Genesis 1 and reflect on how this imaginative telling of the beginning of the world helped exiled people stay afloat. 

Power can be used for good or bad. We celebrate its transformative nature on this the church's birthday!

The body is a handy metaphor for valuing all the parts of Jesus' community. Even the butt.

In Eastertide we're exploring the unexpected places we encounter Jesus. Looks like Jesus prefers the messy people and a good party to the Pharisees' ways of perfection.