Join us for a lighter version of Sunday School: Bible games, snacks and fellowship each Sunday morning during worship! Ages 3 through 1st grade will go to Y South and 2nd grade and up will join their teachers in the Garden after the children’s sermon. Childcare will be available in the Nursery for ages 0-2 with the Babysitters Guild.

The 2023-2024 program year was filled with beautiful worship, inspiring music, generous outreach, fun fellowship, vital children's and youth ministries, and a new initiative—a spring musical! Click here to view photos from the 2023-2024 program year. Click here to view photos from Cinderella and here for a look behind the scenes!

Mark 6:14-29 Though this passage is found in the gospel of Mark, it has virtually nothing to do with Jesus. There is an aspect of the story that fulfills prophecy, but it is an overly long discourse that only mildly supports a rather esoteric prophecy concerning the Messiah. Though it is about the death of John the Baptist it is not about him either.  In fact, it is one of the few stories in the New Testament that has a parallel in other ancient literature. The Jewish historian, Josephus, who lived not too terribly long after Jesus, chronicled a great deal of the history of the Jewish people at this time. And he has several stories about Herod, the villain of our story, one of which is about this murder of John the Baptist. It appears Mark inserted this story to offer us some historical grounding…and perhaps because it is a juicy tale worthy of a  National Inquirer  front-page story. It is a tale filled with Shakespearean-like drama in which the petty, jealous, and prideful actions of a king leads to his downfall. Though that’s not obvious from this passage we actually only know about his fate from Josephus. Herod’s first marriage was to the Nabatean Princess, Phasaelis. Nabatea was a neighboring Kingdom that most famously built Petra, those façade homes carved from rock in modern Jordan. They were a rising power and, fearing their military might, Herod solidified the peace through this marriage. However, Herod was famously inept and prideful and divorced her; married his brother’s wife, Herodias. John the Baptist called him out before his subjects for violating Israelite law. Unsurprisingly, Herodias took offense and wanted John dead. This story discloses fundamental flaws of our humanity: vanity, jealousy and hunger for power. When we contrast Herod’s actions with Jesus’ we learn a tremendous amount for following a path that will allow us to thrive and succeed even in a famously challenging city like New York.  Many of us have the same temptations as Herod and all of us have fallen into the same traps, albeit with less significant consequences for others, but no less dramatic ones for our own lives. In our passage Herod fails in the very first action – he throws a banquet and invites the leaders of Galilee. A perfectly normal act in his time and in ours.  But it’s Harrod’s motivation to appear as a person of power and importance in order to curry favor that turns the dinner into a disaster.  The road to character, to borrow a phrase from author David Brooks, is one in which each decision is harder than the alternative decision of expediency but the more we make decisions based on character the easier they become and the more we make decisions based on self-serving pride the harder each one becomes and the greater their consequences. Anne Frank, though very young, had this strength and wisdom. She wrote, “ Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.” Herod believed wealth and power was the goal of life and ironically that very belief led to his downfall. Contrast Herod’s inviting the most important people of the town with Jesus, who eats with those others wouldn’t be seen dead with in public, the so-called tax collectors and sinners of His time, and frankly probably the more fun people with which to eat. Jesus’ parables underscore the need to host those  in need . Ambrose Bierce in  The Devil’s Dictionary  exposes the so called “hospitality” of his time.“ Hospitality: The virtue which induces us to feed and lodge certain persons who are not in need of food and lodging” Jesus’ parables are even more biting in their critique by telling us the heavenly banquet is not going to be filled with people whose purpose in life was to impress others and tend to their own needs first, but with those whom the world rejected. Jesus’ actions didn’t score any political points with the leaders of His time but for Jesus it didn’t matter.   He truly cared for other people more than He cared about His own reputation. And also, ironically in the end that's what made His reputation far outstrip Herod’s. His vanity multiplied his problems throughout this banquet. After his daughter’s dance mesmerizes everyone, he offers her a prize – anything she wants, even half of his kingdom. Even this offer is filled with self-importance. Because Herod is not really a king! He is simply a servant vassal of Rome, and his power only goes as far as Rome will allow it; so, the kingdom he offers is not even his. Of course, he has laid himself a trap because she is Herodias’ daughter, and she wants John dead. She demands his head on a platter. His prideful act has now put himself in a bind –show all of his important guests that his offer was empty and vainglorious or follow through with his promise and murder a man whom he believes to be a person of God.  Would that Abraham Lincoln were nearby to offer him advice. “ Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. ” In contrast Jesus refuses on multiple occasions to show His power as a means to impress people and gather followers. He tells some people to not share their stories of healing. At other moments He won’t perform the miracle until He is alone and in secret. And most famously He rejects Satan’s request to lead from the temple and put on a grand display for all the people of Israel. His reputation means nothing to Him, His character means everything. Jesus knows what Booker T. Washington voiced so many years later, “ Character is power.”  Booker T. Washington began life enslaved in Virginia. The Civil War freed him, and he took this freedom to build a life not only for himself but for other freed blacks throughout the south. He led the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, increasing the size of a college while enlisting the students to be a part of literally building the college. That work was considered fundamental to the students’ education. Eventually because of his character he was the first black man to eat with the President of the United States on equal terms in the White House, Theodore Roosevelt. Those some of his ideas were later repudiated by the likes of WEB Du Bois, he was a critical figure in helping people to live their freedom. Booker T. Washington’s strength was in his character, not his political power or his birth, as it was in our Lord’s. That’s why the Apostle Paul famously writes in Philippians, “ that though he was in the form of God he did not regarded quality with God as something to be exploited rather humbled himself and took the form of a servant .” In fact, it was Herod’s lack of character that led to his ultimate undoing, we don’t learn of this in the Bible but from Josephus. Remember he married not for love or for building a family, but to solidify power. But so caught up in his own needs he divorces this Nabatean princess and formed an illegal marriage with his brother’s wife. Can you guess what the consequences are? Any father would not be happy to see his daughter left behind for another woman. The king of Nabatea, Aretas, deployed his forces and Herod suffered a devastating defeat and eventually was exiled for a conspiracy against the emperor.  His rule ends in shame. In trying to protect his reputation he destroyed it and trying to impress the elite people of society he brought himself shame. And in some ways, perhaps worst of all, he knew that John was a man of God and yet he treated him like garbage. The 18th century English preacher, Charles Spurgeon, wrote, “ A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.” Seeking to have his name carved in stone, Herod’s reputation became as dust, and seeking to carve love onto the hearts of others, Jesus’ name now circles the globe and people worship Him as their lord and savior. Amen.

Mark 6:1-13 Before our passage, Jesus had a spectacular streak of miracles. He had ejected a spirit strong enough to burst chains, that was filled with enough frenzied evil to take 2,000 swine over a cliff. He healed a woman who suffered for 12 years not only from her sickness but also from the treatments by doctors. She simply touched Him and was better. For His finale He comes to the house of a prominent official whose daughter had died. He simply says, “ Talitha Cum , ‘Get up’”, and…she…does.  Jesus was on a hot streak and feeding off the crowd as great athletes do. He must have felt like, well,  He could rule the world , which I think makes the events in our text so much more jarring for Jesus…and us. After such success He might have been afraid His hometown would mob Him with requests for healing and laud Him as a hero. Not going to happen. It turns out that even Jesus can’t go home again. The novel by Thomas Wolfe,  You Can’t Go Home Again,  tells the fictional story of George Webber, who writes a successful book about his hometown. Only his hometown is not flattered by their portrayals. Wolfe writes: He had learned that in spite of his strange body, so much off scale that it had often made him think himself a creature set apart, he was still the son and brother of all men living. He had learned that he could not devour the earth, that he must know and accept his limitations. If there was something Jesus had to learn it was that even He was limited.   Yes, his body was limited. It too would grow tired and need rest, but something more than that; something much more painful than that. He could not change the hearts of humankind, not by mere talk anyway.  Even though He had shown them what He was capable through His miracles they would not trust Him. They still would not follow Him. They,  we,  would stubbornly keep kicking the can of life down our own path.  And perhaps worst of all it didn't first come from strangers. But His hometown. From His family.   George Webber, who was never so assured of his purpose as when he was going somewhere on a train. And he never had the sense of home so much as when he felt that he was going there. It was only when he got there that his homelessness began. When Jesus was beyond His hometown His miracles sent awe and amazement through the crowd. When He was home Mark tells us,  “He could do no deed of power.” Jesus had just brought back a little girl from the dead. Now He was reduced as Mark describes it to only curing a few sick people. No deeds of power.  I wonder how this must have felt for Him. Jesus had the power of God’s Holy Spirit coursing through His veins, and He had used that power to great effect. But now in front of those who knew Him best He could do nothing of significance. Mark says He was “ amazed at their disbelief .” He was amazed that they could be so cruel. He would hear the praise and thanks from strangers whom He only met momentarily. They were ready to give up their lives to follow Him but those who know Him best, since He was a child, and His very own family rejected Him so thoroughly that He was unable to do for them what He wanted more than anything – to make them whole. Physically whole, yes, but He is after something more profound. He is after a deeper place and from their attitude He knows He is having even less success in changing hearts than in healing bodies. His words were not working.  Perhaps Jesus did so much traveling because He was searching for something. Listen to this synopsis of Wolfe’s novel: Family and friends feel naked and exposed by the truths they have seen in his book, and their fury drives him from his home. He begins a search for his own identity that takes him to New York and a hectic social whirl; to Paris with an uninhibited group of expatriates; to Berlin, lying cold and sinister under Hitler's shadow. At last Webber returns to America and rediscovers it with love, sorrow, and hope. (Goodreads synopsis) This is how I feel about this amazing country of ours, love… sorrow… hope... When I look at the founding documents, I read something incredible…a dream…a country with justice equality and freedom for all.  We hold these truths to be self-evident …all are created equal. I love that our country has built into it this deepest of truths found in our faith. I love that people have the freedom to express their conscience, to speak the words that God has laid upon their heart and to do so with passion, with conviction. But I also feel sorrow.  Sorrow that people use their words not only to build up to break people down and to tear apart. People have used words to demean women, people of different races, people of different professions, people of different gender and sexuality, and people of different politics. And so, as we have seen, even in Jesus’ case words can only take us so far. We need actions that demonstrate we truly believe in our central tenet of equality for all, that we are made in the image of God. And so, I also feel sorrow that here in the city we live in, during an historic time of prosperity, of bounty, of plenty, that there are people that go hungry, there are people whose medical needs are not met, there are children who have substandard education and housing.  Jesus also felt sorrow. He knew that humanity could not go home again, that is, we couldn’t return to the Garden of Eden, to a time of ignorant bliss, and so He had to chart a path forward. Jesus knew that even God couldn’t return to the past, that is a time when God relied on the hearts of humanity to be obedient and shape a world of love.  And so, Jesus’ sorrow took Him on the path of sacrifice and in that act, He solved the problem of home once and for all, and for everyone. We would all find an eternal home with God and in that place, we will discover that not only will we find a warm reception from strangers, but we will find that hometown reception, that hometown  feeling , from those whom we’ve been estranged from. But that time is not yet. We know that there are many people in this city that “cannot go home again.” That feel rootless and homeless even if they have a roof over their head. That don’t feel home in body, mind, and spirit. And there are people like George Webber and Jesus who feel like a stranger in their hometown.  And so, the Session has made a commitment. “To be a spiritual home for all.”  And so, I also feel hope for our country.  Because I believe that the great majority of people do want this land to not only espouse truths of equality but to do the work necessary to include more and more people. I feel hope that The Brick Church wants to reflect more deeply the fabric of our city. That we want to share God’s love in such a way that those who have no home, that feel forgotten, that feel rejected as Jesus did will find a place of welcome of love and respect within our house. I feel hope because I see people gathering on Sunday evenings in the garden, children playing, older adults sipping cold drinks, people chatting and sharing their lives. I feel hope because Brick Church welcomes in people that have no home on Tuesday evenings, not only to share a meal but just share fellowship, and that this is their church home as much as it’s mine or yours. That is the commitment of the Session – a spiritual home for all people, regardless of their faith, we simply welcome them in the name of God’s love. I feel hope because people who have no faith or of a different faith have come through our doors, come to our events, and found acceptance, and found love, and found welcome. In short, they have found a home a spiritual home at Brick. So, you can’t go home again, and maybe that’s not all bad because the promise we have through Jesus is eternal home that we can experience right now when we share God’s love with openness with acceptance without judgment and without limit. Amen.

Shared during Sunday Worship on June 23, 2024. Dear Lord, We come before you today in thanks for all the earthly abundance you have provided for us. We bow before you in awe of your eternal, unchangeable, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent reality. We kneel before you in gratitude for your holiness, righteousness, love, kindness, generosity, understanding, insight, sympathy, compassion, mercy, and GRACE. But today we are especially grateful for your GRACE. Your GRACE is indeed amazing. It is like the air we breathe. It is unmerited. You give it without cost. You offer it before we think of it. You provide it before we ask for it. It is a unique gift. You give us this gift in the hope we will accept and embrace it. Therefore, we pray that you would help us to accept your GRACE more often. Knowing your willingness to forgive when and if asked, we pray that you help us walk this path more often, melting away any reluctant attitude, rigid mindset, or personal hardheartedness that might prevent acceptance of your GRACE. And we pray that you would help us also to embrace your GRACE. May we meditate on our lives and actions so we can uncover what the Psalmist called our hidden faults and what Jesus called the logs in our eyes. May the promise of forgiveness in the GRACE you offer lead us to make our confessions. May we truly repent, rejecting the idolatry of worldly things, and enter your Kingdom, able to grow in your wisdom. So many aspects of our world are so disquieting and painful to our souls: the horrors of war, the upheaval of peoples, the cynicism of governments, the hypocrisy of politics, the imprisonment of poverty, the depravity of injustice, the animosity of group conflict, the sport of animosity, the disregard of neighbors, the egotism of individuals, and the numbing of souls. May we remember that your GRACE begets confession, confession begets reconciliation, reconciliation begets peace, and peace begets wisdom. This is the Way as the Psalmist (Psalm 23) said to "...dwell in the house of the Lord forever," despite all the worldly disequilibrium and cacophony. All this we pray in the name and Spirit of your Messiah Jesus. Amen.

Shared during Sunday Worship on June 16, 2024. Dear God of life, we come to you this morning trusting in your love for us. We pray especially today for those you have placed around us as fathers, grandfathers, fathers-to-be and those who “father” us whatever their relationship may be in our lives. We thank you for the stories, the guidance, the wisdom, and joys they share with us in celebration of your guiding love. We praise and thank you for all the members of this congregation, that we may hear your voice, and follow your way, in all we do. God of resurrection and compassion, you call us to serve by your example, to heal the broken and troubled of this world, in this city, this neighborhood, our homes. Shine your holy light on all the places that face violence, war, dissension, hunger, illness and fear. We trust and pray that your loving grace will bring order and healing to all who need it. Give us peace, comfort, tolerance, understanding, and strength, to cope with all that is ahead of us. God of grace, we pray for ourselves, with all our doubts and worries. Forgive us when our steps falter, hesitate, or doubt. Grant us grace, understanding, and courage to allow the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts and transform us. We give thanks for the blessing of your son, Jesus, and trust in you and the power of the Holy Spirit, to guide us through this world today. We offer these prayers as your children. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Shared during Sunday Worship on June 30, 2024. Dear God,    Thank you for the gift of Life, and the love you show us every day, and the example you gave us in Jesus Christ. Help us to keep the knowledge of this great gift up front in the decisions we make during the day! Help us to understand that loving you and others is our primary purpose.    Dear God, please help us to be patient and accepting of all people.  Those who we agree with and those we don’t.  Help us to live by example, following Jesus’ teaching, given to us in the gospels and letters. Help us to understand the love you have for all people teaching us to show compassion and caring to others.     Help us to understand that only you have the answers and judgement.  We have the greatest gift! Life! Thank you for Summertime, the outdoors, the magnificence of this city! Thank you for this church home.  Old friends, new friends, beautiful music, singing and the dedicated loving Christian leadership of our pastors and staff. Thank you for the opportunity to give of our time, talent, gifts, and service.  In Jesus name we pray, Amen

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7 (NRSV) My mother used to tell me, “Sunday is the day of rest.” She didn’t mean it was a day for sleeping and napping. Sabbath means to stop, desist, and rest. It means having a restful spirit. Do you ever feel anxious? Rest is a gift from God. God rested after creating the whole world. On Sunday, God wants us to have a day of rest — of serenity and calm. This means being still and feeling God's presence. Times of quiet and worship allow us to bask in God's love. My hope for you this summer is to experience God's rest, not just on Sundays, but every day. Summertime can be a Sabbath from worries and anxieties. Let go of your anxious mind and agitations, and bask in God’s glorious creation. Center your life in the holiness of God in every moment. My prayer for you is that this summer will be a time of rest in God. To "be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10).

Mark 4:35-41 You all have heard many sermons on this text about the importance of faith in the midst of the storms of life. Though a sound interpretive move it actually has nothing to do with Mark’s purpose for writing it. It is meant to answer the one question of Mark’s gospel, “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?” We thought we had the answer in Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, The Son of God.” Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son. But for Mark’s audience, and for us, this answer is utterly insufficient, even misleading. Knowing someone’s name and title does give us some information but our pre-conceived notions all too often skew the truth. This was especially true for both the notions of Messiah and Son of God. Peter so misread the title of Messiah that Jesus warned him, “Get behind me Satan.” This retort makes it absolutely clear the danger of jumping to conclusions about Jesus. Mark sets out to give a complete answer and I hope that his answer not only surprises but shocks you. We have political intrigue, hometown gossip, adoring thronging crowds, acts of deep compassion (that will only grow stronger), exorcism of demons, and even still there is more to be revealed. Despite one powerful head-scratching miracle and encounter after another, after today’s passage the disciples are even more bewildered, in awe, and asking themselves, “Who is this guy!... even the winds and the sea obey him!” Such power did not compute with any worldview in which they operated. Not even the concept of Messiah nor “The Son of God” was sufficient to explain this power. The Messiah was meant to be a leader, a powerful king, like David, who would defeat Israel’s earthly enemies. Though the prophets offered hints of something more, the common person believed this messiah would be beloved by God, dear to the Lord’s heart, the best of humanity, but still human. This story adds a cosmic dimension to this person of Jesus; one that would not have been in the minds of those expecting the Messiah or Son of David. Mark has crafted this passage carefully to indicate that Jesus’ actions are about something more than simply controlling the weather. The word for "storm" in verse 37 is the same word used for "whirlwind" in Job 38:1. The whirlwind was the place of raw power clouded from human eyes from which God often speaks but more generally indicates something beyond human comprehension and power. According to Markan scholar, Lamar Williamson, the connotation is that the supernatural is present in the storm. To those in the ancient world the raw power of the wind and the sea represented the forces of chaos that not even the gods could so easily control. In general, the battle of God verses the sea was a recurring them in the Hebrew Bible. More particularly in Jewish thought the Leviathan was a monstrous serpent that represented the ancient malevolent force of the sea. In vain men strive to slay this beast, for that power does not rest within humans. But in Isaiah we learn, “In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.” Only God had the power to tame the sea. There are others who have commanded nature. Take Elijah for example. He calls down fire from heaven to consume a ritual offering in order to defeat the prophets of Baal. Listen to Elijah’s prayer, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.” There is a subtle difference between Jesus’ act and that of Elijah’s. Elijah prays and calls upon God. Jesus gets up and does it Himself. The disciples recognize both Jesus’ direct action and the supernatural status of the sea when they say, “Who then is this that the winds and the sea, obey him?” Jesus is obeyed by this ancient force of chaos. And what is creation in ancient thought? The power to bring order out of chaos. And how did God accomplish creation? By speaking a word, “Let there be light!?” and how did Jesus bring order from this chaotic storm? By a word, “Peace! Be Still!” Suddenly in the eyes of the disciples, Jesus has gone from wise teacher, clever debater and healer to something far more. Note the disciples didn’t actually ask Jesus for help. Rather they woke Him up saying, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing!?”  The devastating and deadly raw power of nature has frustrated and frightened people since the very beginning even to today. We may have felt as if God was asleep over this Coronavirus. It absolutely confuses us that God would not arise to strike down plagues and storms. The fact that nature of which we are a part, and even our own bodies would rise up to destroy us in cancerous ferocity. It is like a family member striking us down. It does not seem right. How can the world be made like this? Genesis seems to agree. Upon being expelled from the garden, suddenly things didn’t work as they were meant to at the beginning. To bring forth fruit from the earth would require toil, that is backbreaking work and furthermore the animal kingdom would bite the heel of man, that is it would rise up against us. The Apostle Paul concluded that creation is fallen just like humanity is fallen. He described it as suffering birth pangs in Romans. Remember that birth pangs were another result of fallen creation. He tells us creation waits with eager longing, like us it longs to be restored. The harmony of all creation will someday be known. Viruses will be no more. That is the promise and the hope. But that time has not yet come. And in those times when we wonder, “Where is God?”, “Is God asleep?”, “Don’t You care that we are perishing?” we would do well to remember today’s story. This passage shows us that even though God has not yet redeemed creation, at times, God will intervene in nature and bring healing. Mark tells a slightly different story of this event than Matthew. Unlike in Mark, in Matthew, the disciples actually ask Jesus to help but before He calms the sea He first castigates the disciples, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” But in Mark, Jesus’ first act, before He says anything, without even being asked, is to calm the sea and then secondarily He teaches the disciples. It is almost as if the Bible is giving us two ways to view God and it is up to us which Christ we believe in – the one who first acts in compassion, or whose first act is to scold us and put us in our place only helping after making us feel guilty for being weak and afraid as are all of us. Mark’s Jesus is closer to us. He is not called “Lord”, like in Matthew, but “teacher”. He does not praise Himself like in John but remains the humble servant. He is asleep in Matthew and Mark, but Mark adds that He is asleep on a cushion. Making Him feel more human, like He was truly tired, exhausted in fact, not just faking it. But even so, in the moment of seeing fear on their faces He rises up to calm the storm. Who is this man? The legions of Harry Potter fans out there will remember a quote from Sirius Black, “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” There is another similar quote from Malcom Forbes, “You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” Before these quotes a 19th century English preacher, Charles Spurgeon, wrote the words: I think you may judge of a man’s character by the persons whose affection he seeks. If you find a man seeking only the affection of those who are great, depend upon it he is ambitious and self-seeking; but when you observe that a man seeks the affection of those who can do nothing for him, but for whom he must do everything, you know that he is not seeking himself, but that pure benevolence sways his heart. When all of these quotes are applied to Jesus, we see a person who more than anyone demonstrates a character of such blinding love and humility it can scarcely be imagined. He is Lord, Messiah, and Savior; but it is His compassion for the crowd, His patience with His disciples, and His love for His enemies, that shows, more than any title, “Who is this man, that even the winds and the seas obey Him.”

He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.” - Mark 4:26-34 Take a moment and think of heaven. What comes to mind? Billowy clouds, pearly gates, winged angels robed in white, a feeling of warmth of all your loved ones? I imagine it is something different for everyone but as its core it’s a vision of splendor. Now picture the Kingdom of God. At first, we might assume these two are equivalent but when you try to picture the Kingdom of God it is harder to conjure. This is because the Kingdom of God is less a place you go to when you die and more the realization of perfect harmony amongst all centered around the presence of God. Think of the lion laying down with the lamb; the picture is peace with no more enemies. That is a Kingdom of God type vision. This in turn means we can experience a measure of this Kingdom in this life. Heaven is the place we go to be with God when we die. The Kingdom of God is the reign of God breaking into this current world. Because we have fallen so far, Jesus knows it will require poetry, metaphor, and parable to access our imagination to tap into the place in our souls that can still connect. So, He tells us this Kingdom is like a pearl of great price, like yeast, like three measures of choice flour and in today’s passage like a mustard seed. Of course, our immediate thought of this parable is the power of tiny things. An average microprocessor in today’s computers can literally process 2.8 billion calculations in a second. 2.8 BILLION! And those computers can send a rocket to Mars! So, something as unassuming as that processor or perhaps a bacterium, has gargantuan capabilities to build or destroy. But nothing has more power to move mountains than the smallest, simplest idea. Let’s build a railroad to cross this country. Let’s build a building that scrapes the sky. Let’s fashion a country which brings equality and freedom for all. And no idea has more depth nor more power than that of the Kingdom of God. And so, it is like a mustard seed because it is tiny and unassuming but if it grabs hold of you, it grows, and grows, and grows, and grows, and it will never die and it takes over…not only your mind, your heart, and your soul but the whole world just as Jesus did. But to get to this world, to reach this simplest of ideas requires death, death of the old ways of things in your own life and the world, and it requires change. Change in your heart and in your soul and in your mind. Just telling people to change does not work. So, Jesus comes at it sideways with these evocative and perhaps even bizarre parables of yeast, and net, and king, and a pearl and so on. So, the mustard seed, this tiny seed, is not simply a preformed bush but the potential. And the notion of the Kingdom of God, while a tiny and simple idea, is one that must grow inside of us not all straight and ordered. But wildly and unpredictably and bushy. Not like a tall cedar that grows straight and strong but like that bushy plant of the mustard seed, that is filled with branches upon branches that grow in directions and ways and turns that you could never ever predict by looking at that seed before it was planted. In fact, trying to control and reign in its growth can stifle it and kill it. That was the Spanish Inquisition. They literally killed the faith out of people by trying to manage its growth in people’s hearts. That is the travesty of both extreme forms of Christianity on the right and the left– they seek to dictate to people a linear singular view of what Christianity is all about and that was never Jesus’ intention. They are trying to force feed doctrine and faith and dogma down people’s throats. That’s not our job. Jesus told us it’s about one thing: love. Love of God, love of your neighbor, and love of yourself. Jesus taught us we cannot access the Kingdom through purity laws, extensive moral codes, or policies and procedures. That kills the power of story which is how the Spirit seeps deeper into us. The Kingdom of God is not a well-manicured lawn but clumps of wildflowers growing by the roadside in random places. I have come to appreciate those lawns which burst forth full of clovers and wonder to myself why I spent so much time and money trying to weed them out. The Kingdom of God can spring to life anywhere even during a hot breezy day on the golf course with people you just met. If you’ve ever spent time on the golf course you realize the last thing that, particularly a group of men want to do, is talk about anything significant. The cries of agony and despair are not matters of the world but dubbed chips, missed putts, and errant drives. It is a welcome respite from the challenges of life and the green grass, generous sand traps, and majestic trees bring you closer to God’s creation. At least this is the normal manner of things but like that mustard seed that sprouts up and suddenly shoots off in an unexpected direction – the Spirit can work even on the golf course. I had the tremendous joy of playing in a tournament in Princeton with my brother, Steve, last week. As per usual I set my own personal expectations for my game entirely too high. I have hardly played at all these past four years, and I take the game too seriously. But thankfully the Holy Spirit released me from my sometimes-infantile perspective on what is important. In this tournament we played six matches with six different groups of people. In one of those pairings, we played against a father and a son. And though it began like all the others with casual informal conversations, talk of our golf game but something happened that resonated so deeply in the depths of my soul that speaks about how the Kingdom of God is growing here at Brick Church. Once my brother let the cat out of the bag that I was a pastor, both father and the son talked about the church. Neither of them were attenders or would even consider themselves Christians but the more they shared I could tell that not only did they have a deep respect for what the Church does and offers; both of them had a deep spirituality that was very important to who they were. This is precisely what we have been talking about at Brick Church. How can we be a congregation that maintains its center on our faith in Christ, but does so in such a way that people don’t feel that they have to conform to all of our doctrine, but are welcome to share in our prayers to sing our hymns with us, to enjoy our food and fellowship, and to feel that they are a full and valued and respected member of the community? Jesus’ words this morning make it clear the growth is not our job. That is the problem with the extremes of the faith. “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.” The growth belongs to the Holy Spirit. Our job is to plant it. To respect people’s conscience. The Spirit gives it life. I believe this is one of the things Christ wants from us more than anything not so much to force people to believe certain things about Him but to share the exact same kind of love that He shared; to be a people and a place that reflects His invitation, “Come to me all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and give them rest, rest for their your souls.” You see I asked the father what I thought was an innocent question when suddenly in his response I realize that there was a soul fracture and weariness in both of their hearts. The father told me that they had an apartment on the Upper West Side. It was a curious piece of information that I let sit for several holes. Suddenly I became curious why with an apartment on the Upper West Side it didn’t sound like he had ever worked in the city. And so I asked him. He paused for a moment and then suddenly his eyes glistened and I knew then that we were going to break a cardinal rule of the golf course and talk about something that really matters. It turns out it was his other son’s apartment before he had passed away a few years ago. His wife didn’t want to sell it because they could still feel his presence there and could remember him better and find solace and comfort in going there. For the next several holes father and son both shared not only the heartache but a sense of the glory of life, the importance of giving and sharing love which sometimes is only discovered fully through pain. Though they don’t believe all of the same things about Jesus that I do, it seems to me they have the heart of Jesus just right. And I was given this amazing privilege, as a person of the cloth so to speak – they felt open, sharing the tender parts of who they were. I could see that God had made them these two amazing, and loving, and caring, and respectful people, and moments before I had no idea not only what they had gone through but now I had a glimpse of their true beauty as human beings. I know each one of you has a story as a place of pain and it is my hope in my prayer that as a servant of God, as a Church of God, that we can be a bushy and branchy part of the Kingdom that’s open, and welcoming, and as loving as we can possibly be. Amen.

This summer, there will be no worship in the garden. All services will be held indoors in the sanctuary. All Sunday services will be at 11:00 AM. (No services will take place at 10:00 AM.) See you at church!

Dear Brick Church Congregation, I am humbled and thankful as I reflect on the beautiful surprise you organized on Sunday, May 19th, to mark my 30th year in ministry. I had no clue that it was coming! Your kindness and thoughtfulness have truly made this milestone special. The stole with its meaningful inscription is a gift I will cherish forever. Every time I wear it, I will be reminded of this special day and the fact that I was able to celebrate it with this incredible community here at The Brick Church. Reading through the memories and well-wishes on the digital card you organized brought back so many moments and deep connections. I cannot believe it has only been four years since I’ve arrived at Brick Church – so many of you I feel like I have known for so much longer! Your support, love, and encouragement mean more to me than words can express. It is a privilege and an honor to serve as your Senior Minister, and I am deeply thankful for each and every one of you. Your presence in my life has been a profound blessing and this program year has been one of the most invigorating and joyful in my thirty years of ministry and I fully expect next year to be an even better one as we grow in our capacity to share the love of Christ. With sincere gratitude, thank you for making this milestone so memorable. I look forward to our continued journey together, guided by faith and filled with joy. Peace, Rev. Tom Evans Watch the service celebrating Rev. Tom Evans' 30 years in ministry here