Hope Unitarian Church's Podcast

Sermon by Justin M. McCreary APRIL 14TH, 2024 - 11:00 AM Last week, I laid groundwork for my sermons on interdependence and the human need for connection by exploring suffering and the human condition. This Sunday, I will explore the Importance of interdependence during what Douglass Adams calls, “The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul.” 

Rev. Gary McAlpin

 The Gospel of Subversion: Liberation in a Liberal Context REV. JUSTIN M. MCCREARY  FEBRUARY 11TH, 2024 - 11:00 AM You might notice the similarity in titles between this week and last week’s sermon. Last week I focused in on the theme of Justice and Equity through the idea of, Gospel meaning Good News. This week I will continue with this theme, expounding on the idea of preaching good news to the poor. This theological ride will hold in tension expressions of Liberal and Liberation theologies, and what it means for us as a faith. 

  Liberating Love Part 2: Throwing Stones (A Redux)  JANUARY 21ST, 2024 - 11:00 AM  REV. JUSTIN M MCCREARY  This week I will be preaching the sermon I prepared for last week when we got snowed out. I did change the title because there will be no soup this coming week. Love can be complicated, and it has many dimensions. This past week we talked about the importance of Joy and Romantic Love. This week we will focus on an active nature of love, love which is expressed in what we do for one another. It is kismet that this topic comes up during Stone Soup Sunday. A Sunday focused not just on community, but how we provide nourishment for each other. This Sunday we will ask, “How do we express love in our community? 

Understanding Alzheimer's and Dementia Dr. Garrett from Tulsa’s Branch of the Alzheimer’s Association. Speaking at Adult Forum on Feb. 2nd. Feb Generosity Recipient.

 Liberating Love Part 1: Embrace REV. JUSTIN M MCCREARYJANUARY 7TH, 2024 - 11:00 AM As a faith, Unitarian Universalism centers itself theologically around Love. This might sound simple; however, the meaning and expression of love is often debated. From Romantic Comedies to heartbreaking ballads, love is characterized as one of the simplest and most complicated concepts in the human collective unconscious. There is nothing that makes us feel more secure and dangerously vulnerable than love, which is why the writer of the Greatest Song encourages us, “Do not stir love until it is ready.” Rumi ,the 13th century Sufi mystic, would say “Love is a madman,” and, “Someone who does not run toward the allure of love walks a road where nothing lives.” This dichotomy makes me want to ask, “Which is it?” Yet there is no answer. This Sunday I’d like to walk the center line between the mystery and muscle of love, talking about both the desolation and healing power of love. 

Podcast information about our generosity recipient for January 2024 Wild Heart Ranch.

Burning Bowl CeremonyReadings Celebrating Endings and Beginnings

 What the Dickens  This Sunday, Christmas Eve morning we will be celebrating one of Unitarian Charles Dicken’s most powerful stories, A Christmas Carol. Please join us for this live action retelling of Charles Dicken’s classic with special Hope Unitarian Zing!!! This live action service will be one you don’t want to miss. 

Yule Meditation by John SwobodaMeditation in Light for Yule This Sunday you will be invited to explore the changing of the seasons and shortening of days through ritual and celebration while we pray for prosperity in the year to come. 

Hope Singers and thoughtful readings to celebrate the Holiday Season.

Our Generosity Recipient for December is LIFE Senior ServicesLIFE Senior Services specializes in home and community-based services that promote healthy aging and aging-in-place for seniors, as well as services and support for family caregivers who play a critical role in helping their loved ones continue living at home.Learn more or donate at the link below:https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx...

 Hope Unitarian Church and the Mystery of The Mysterious Message BY REV. JUSTIN MCCREARY DECEMBER 3RD, 2023 - 11:00 AM     When I was a child I read Encyclopedia Brown, the Hardy Boys’, and watched Nancy Drew Mysteries I always appreciated the title. The Mystery of the (Fill in the Blank). It was always something that could be solved, figured out, or made sense of. I still love mystery TV shows and movies, I try to figure out the whodunnit before the end. As I grew older, I learned that mysteries weren’t always solvable, as I began to explore spirituality beyond the easy answers, I realized that not only were some of the mysteries unsolvable, but sometimes, it is better that way. Unitarian Universalism does not provide easy answers to the world and the people who act within it, it is about wrestling and often coming to grips with the mysteries we may never understand. 

11/26/23   JoAnn Hause    The Attitude of Gratitude we can cultivate for the Holiday Season can show us the best way to make new and wonderful memories. It is only when we accept that we cannot control anything but ourselves that we can truly move forward to holiday joy.

 Divine Generosity BY REV. STEVEN WILLIAMS NOVEMBER 26TH, 2023 - 11:00 AM     In a world of seemingly relentless strife, war, and division, generosity can be a challenging attitude to take towards humanity. What might God(de/ss)(s) tell us about such a posture? How can our divine nature help us meet each other with open and generous hearts? 

 By the Grace of God: An Auction Sermon REV. JUSTIN MCCREARY NOVEMBER 19TH, 2023 - 11:00 AM      Welcome to this year’s Auction Sermon. Rebecca Jones, the auction winner, offered me a quote from an old UU World Article. The quote, by Rev. Sarah York, says, “Some people might say of those they serve at a soup kitchen, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ I think what they really mean is, ‘There by the grace of God am I,’ “The interplay between these phrases is intriguing, the difference between them rests in how we define generosity and how we relate to the people to whom we are generous. This Sunday I will start with this quote then integrate some theological concepts by UU Minister Rev. Rebecca Parker to talk about kindness and concepts of paradise in a complicated world, that is many things but paradise. 

 Resting in an Interdependent Web: A Sermon About Gratitude BY REV. JUSTIN MCCREARY NOVEMBER 12TH, 2023 - 11:00 AM       When I heard the phrase, “Let’s give thanks,” as a child I knew we were about to pray. Giving thanks was a holy practice, it was a sacrament, it was the moment when we communed with the almighty before something else happened. Thankfulness was a precursor to eating, asking for help, going into surgery, begging for intersession, and as the one who was often asked to give thanks, it became a box to be checked before I could do the thing I wanted to do. When I became a Unitarian Universalist, I wondered if I had any room left for prayer, especially since my faith in the almighty was and still is often in flux. I found a lot of excuses not to pray, because I realized I didn’t know how to anymore. It was easier to just simply, not check that box. But I also felt like I was missing something, so I began to listen when the UUs I looked up to would pray, and something bloomed inside me because pray

“Generosity on an Interdependent Web” Justin M. McCreary     We oversimplify the practice of generosity, by focusing most often on the practice of giving, which is important. However, what we then leave out is the importance of receiving gifts. It is easy in a culture that idealizes the myth of the Self-made Man, to forget that giving and receiving are both part of the same practice. We cannot teach our children that giving is a positive value while repudiating the one who receives. Brene Brown puts it this way in her book The Gifts of Imperfection, “When we attach judgement to receiving help, we knowingly or unknowingly attach judgement to giving help.” It is important that we teach our children to be generous, but it is just as important to model the other side and learn to graciously receive help, regardless of how self-made we feel. 

 Samhain is a holiday that many of us know about, but by another name Halloween. Children of many different Faiths love to dress up in costumes and collect candy. Adults also like to dress up. There is more to Halloween than just Costumes and Candy. Come with us on an Adventure to the Shining Isle between the Worlds! 

 As I close out my sermons on Heritage this month, I want to take some time, not just to explore the gifts but what also seems like the curses of heritage. Heritage gives us the opportunity to draw from the power of our ancestors and our identity, but turned inward, it becomes an excuse for the destructive tribalism behind racism, sexism, and anti-LGBTQ sentiments. This Sunday I’d like to reflect on the world around us when heritage hurts… SUNDAY SERVICES STREAMED EACH WEEK: https://zoom.us/j/95346408780?pwd=UkpSOVEyQUdaYjNmL1o0TTloSGFDQT09