Shared during Sunday Worship on December 28, 2025. Incarnate God, with the angels we glorify your name, and with your servant Mary we treasure the good news of your coming in our hearts. We thank you for all that you have given us. For times of rest and relaxation; for friends and family to cherish; for warm shelter on cold days; for communities that nurture us. We are especially thankful for your presence with us. You have spoken to us through your prophets and lived among u

Shared during Sunday Worship on December 21, 2025. Lord, Your joyful radiance shall be born into our world sooner than we can imagine. It is good news of a great joy for all people.  Good news that came first to a young girl named Mary, who shouted with joy at Your love and justice for all people.  It came to Peter and Paul when You called them by name and forgave them for their weakness and sin. This joy could not be contained into one time and place and so it spilled over t

Dearest God who promises peace, love, joy, and hope- We reflect upon the unknown and how you come to your people in the midst of disorientation and uncertainty.  Though we may not be able to make sense of it all, the best we can hope for is to be like Mary, grounding ourselves in our identities as your servants. We lift up prayers to you that emanate from what we have experienced in the world.  For all peoples who experience war, we pray for peace.  For those who experience i

Luke 1:26-38 “ If they would rather die ,” said Scrooge, “ they had better do it and decrease the surplus population. ” Dickens wrote these words in 1843 during the height of the Industrial Revolution. London was a world-class city with dazzling shops… dark alleyways. The rapid urbanization made cities like London, Manchester, and Birmingham vastly overcrowded, with unsafe working conditions—hunger was rampant. People of means rode in fine carriages, while the poor slept unde

Isaiah 9:1-7   One of my absolute favorite things every December was to watch  A Christmas Carol.  I was absolutely enthralled by the three ghosts. And the character Ebenezer Scrooge, that miserly, skin-flinted sort, was on the one hand pathetic and sad, and yet somehow endearing. When he finally transformed, he represented something joyful—triumphant even. This year, during Advent, we’re going to look at Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future. For the people

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. - Luke 2:10-11 This year during Advent, we will look together at  Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas future . Many of you will remember the beloved tale by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, in which the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, is a miserly and bitter

The music we are about to hear is an oratorio from Rome in the 1640s. The word “oratorio” really means a sacred opera. There may not be costumes or stage machinery, but the music and emotions are genuinely operatic, and they are uniquely suited to express the operatic qualities of this story from the Old Testament. The story comes from the Book of Judges, Chapter 11. Jephte, or Jephthah, was a judge: a leader of Israel in the years before Saul became Israel’s first king. Now 

Shared during Sunday Worship on November 16, 2025. Almighty and all vulnerable God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer We come to you in prayer today, turning towards you to learn how we might become stewards of your mysteries.  In this stewardship season, we have reflected upon your calling upon all of our lives, to commit not just a portion of our wealth, but instead our entire lives to you.   As we contemplate how we may recommit ourselves to you, we pray for this church’s m

1 Corinthians 4:1   This is Stewardship Sunday, you are deciding what your financial gift to the Church is for the next year. And clearly, this is a part of what Stewardship Sunday is about. But this morning, I hope we will all discover that it's something much more profound, important to your faith, to Brick's mission, and the call of Jesus. Stewardship obviously comes from the word steward. For a moment, let's erase the word stewardship from our minds. And imagine that we h