See below for sermons delivered at RUCC. If you’d like to see videos please join our Facebook group “RUCC Members and Friends”, where we stream the service live each Sunday and have the videos available subsequently.
Scripture: Genesis 1: 26 – 27 Genesis 1: 26 – 27 – Rev. Erin Beardemphl — What does it mean to be made in God’s image? Is it a position of power? An honor? A responsibility? All of the above? And what does this have to do with art and spirituality? As it turns out, it has everything to do with who…
Luke 4: 18 – Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN – We honor the life of Congressman John Lewis who passed from life to Life last week at the age of 80 years old. From the streets of Selma to the halls of Congress, John Lewis sat in for justice and stood up for equality. As the last living speaker from the March…
Psalm 91: 1 – 6 — Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN – Julian of Norwich lived during a tumultuous time in which waves of the bubonic plague continued to devastate Europe. This plague claimed the lives of 50% of Julian’s city population. Julian was only six years old when the first such plague occurred. In the midst of this reoccurring pandemic, Julian…
II Corinthians 4: 7 – 9 and John 1: 5 In the midst of a global health pandemic and a racism pandemic, want to try a worship riddle? Why not? What do the following have in common: the first candle of Advent; an ancient Oscar winning Song of the Year’; II Corinthians 4:7-9; Bishop Desmond Tutu; the valley of the shadow of…
Isaiah 58: 1 – 10 – – “Politics don’t belong in the pulpit,” a congregant once said to me after I preached a sermon against the Iraq War. “I don’t want the Sacred to be tainted by the profane. Let’s keep church and politics separate.” While I agree that the Gospel is not partisan, I do believe that it is most certainly…
Scripture: Luke 18: 1 – 8 — Let’s hear it for the Supreme Court! As an Open and Affirming Congregation and as an Immigrant Welcoming Congregation, we are grateful for the recent rulings to protect the LGBTQ community from employment discrimination and to protect Dreamers from deportation. On this Pride Sunday, we affirm Jesus’ lesson from the Parable of the Unjust Judge.…
Psalm 46 – As we honor the summer solstice, we celebrate the gifts of the season: amusement parks, water slides, summer camps, cruises, 4th of July parades, parties, crowded beaches, the Redlands Bowl, and baseball games to name a few. Summer is packed with activity; that is, unless there is a global pandemic. Rather than jumping on airplanes, trains, and cruise ships, many…
Luke 13: 10 – 17 – Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN Many of us know the famous song from the Civil Rights Movement, “We Shall Overcome.” We shall overcome…someday. We’ll walk hand in hand…someday. The truth shall make us free…someday. Yes, we shall overcome…someday. My question this morning is, “When is someday?” The death of Ahmaud Arbery was heart wrenching. The death…
Communion Sunday, June 7 ~ “The Early Church: Breaking Bread” Acts 2: 43 – 47; Matthew 13:33 – Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN We begin a new sermon series this month entitled, “The Early Church.” Last Sunday, we celebrated Pentecost, the birthday of the church. The Holy Spirit in the form of fire, wind, breath filled the frightened disciples, who were hiding in…