Hope and Meaning (MP3)
11-2-08

What's Wrong and What's Right about Religion (MP3)
10-12-08
Religion often gets it wrong. Sometimes when it gets it wrong, it can really make a mess. But religion also gets it right.

First Jefferson is a church that ... (MP3)
9-21-08
In preparation for our upcoming Future Search, I thought I'd share how I and others have finished that sentence.

Singing Your Song (MP3)
9-14-08
"Most men live lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." Henry David Thoreau.

Standing on the Side of Love (MP3)
8-31-08
On August 10th, the Unitarian Universalist Association took out a full page ad in the New York Times. The ad was a response to the tragic events that occurred in Knoxville on July 27th. It announced that despite the violence that day, the congregation in Knoxville and all Unitarian Universalist Congregations will continue to proclaim our faith by Standing on the Side of Love.

The Creation of God (MP3)
8-17-08
One of my very favorite books is God, a Biography by Jack Miles. Miles details how the character of God grew and changed over time as the Jewish scriptures, the Tanakh, grew and changed over time.

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? (MP3)
8-10-08

Creating Community (MP3)
7-27-08
Many of us have moved far away from where we grew up. Few of us know our neighbors. It is no wonder that many of us yearn for a sense of belonging, a sense of community.

Question Box Sermon (MP3)
7-13-08
Write your questions down during the first part of the service and Craig will do his best to answer them during the second part. If you've ever wanted a chance to ask the minister about a particular topic related to theology, Unitarian Universalism, or religion in general, this is your chance.

Color and Fragrance (MP3)
6-22-08
I find inspiration and meaning in the lyrics of many of our hymns. One of my favorites is #78, Color and Fragrance. Here's the first verse:
Color and fragrance, magical rhythm,
sweet changing music will change us with them:
life within life, inner light gently glowing,
surely you seem to be God's vision growing.

What They Dreamed Be Ours To Do (MP3)
6-1-2008

Hold Fast to Dreams (MP3)
5-18-08
Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die
life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams for when dreams go
life is a barren field frozen with snow.
- Langston Hughes

We Arrive Out of Many Singular Rooms (MP3)
4-20-08
The sermon title is from one of Ken Patton's many readings for worship. It begins, "We arrive out of many singular rooms, walking over the branching streets. We come to be assured that brothers and sisters surround us, to restore their images on our eyes..."

"When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." (MP3)
4-13-08
Or so said the Skin Horse to the Velveteen Rabbit.

Here We Have Gathered (MP3)
4-06-08

The Uses of Enchantment (MP3)
3-30-08

Radical Criticism (MP3)
3-23-08
"...the compassion of Jesus is to be understood not simply as a personal emotional reaction but as a public criticism in which he dares to act upon his concern against the entire numbness of his social context... Jesus enters into the hurt and finally comes to embody it." - Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination

Choosing to Bless the World (MP3)
3-9-08
Today's title is from a poem by the Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, President of Starr King School for the Ministry. It concludes:
You must answer this question:
What will you do with your gifts?
Choose to Bless the world

The Changing Nature of Ministry (MP3)
3-2-08
In the seminal book, The Once and Future Church, Loren Mead, President Emeritus of the Alban Institute, writes, "In the present age, if there is going to be ministry, the people of the congregations will have to do it. It is no longer the prerogative of the professionals."

Walking Together in Love (MP3)
2-24-08
The title is one of the phrases in the global Ends statement of the Southwest Unitarian Universalist Conference. It expresses the heart of our covenantal faith.

The Human Dilemma (MP3)
2-10-08
One of my favorite quotes is by the Rev. Forrester Church. "Religion is our response to being alive and knowing we will die."

The Mission of Our Faith (MP3)
1-27-08

Religious Education for Adults? (MP3)
1-20-08
We all agree on the importance of religious education for children and youth, but what about religious education for adults?

Star of Wonder Star of Light (MP3)
12-30-07
The three wise men were ancient astronomers. Throughout human history, we have gazed at the heavens, wondering about the stars. But it was until the advent of the telescope that we began to truly explore the heavens above. Come hear what we have learned about the stars and surrounding heavens and how since those days of old.

O Holy Night (MP3)
12-23-07
Christmas is a time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. But though the story of his life is unique, the story, or, more accurately, the legend of his birth, is not. Every religion has its wonder child, conceived and born under miraculous circumstances, whose significance was attested to by stranger and beast. The truth is, the birth of every child is a wonder. Each night a child is born is a holy night.

On Becoming a Positive Deviant (MP3)
12-2-07
In an afterword to his book, Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, Dr. Atul Gawande shares five suggestions he gave in a lecture to medical students on how, in his words, "one might become a positive deviant." All of us, though, could benefit from his wise advice.

Hey Buddy - Can You Spare a Dime? (MP3)
11-25-07
What should we do when some one asks us to give them money? In this season when we spend so much on gifts for family and friends, what is our responsibility to strangers who stand at intersections and beg? What is our responsibility to the victims of natural disasters like the California fires or catastrophic storms?

To Save or Savor (MP3)
11-11-07
"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." - E. B. White

The Celebration of Discipline (MP3)
11-4-07
The Meaning and Value of Spiritual Practice

The Faith of Jesus vs The Faith in Jesus (MP3)
10-7-07
Fairly recently, a key passage of the book of Romans was acknowledged to have been incorrectly translated. Instead of imploring us to have faith in Jesus the new translation implores us to have the faith of Jesus. What a difference a word can make!

A Geography of the Soul (MP3)
9-30-07