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.
Matthew 6: 25 – 29; Mark 12: 30 – 31, Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN – Jesus says, “I give you commandments: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law is fulfilled by these two commandments.” “Love your neighbor,” commands Jesus, but who is our neighbor? Would…
Exodus 2: 1 – 10; Mark 10: 13 – 16; Mark 12: 30 – 31, Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN – We begin a new sermon series entitled, “Who Is My Neighbor?” Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Throughout history, no one questioned that love for one’s neighbor is a necessary part of holy life. However, people were not…
Jonah 3: 1 – 5; Mark 12: 30 – 31, Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN -About a month ago, I preached a sermon entitled “The Prophetic Imagination.” God calls prophets through a 3-part contract. Ho! Go! Lo! All three are biblical words. Ho! means “pay attention.” Ho! “Go” says God “and build a more loving society.” And then, “Lo!” “Lo, I am…
Luke 24: 13 – 21; 25 – 31 – Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN When Redlands United Church of Christ was only three years old (1978), the members of this congregation bought over three acres of an orange grove with a heritage house on it. The members remodeled the heritage house into a church house with church offices. As a member of…
Matthew 5: 1 – 9, Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN This past week marked a significant anniversary in the life of our country. It was exactly 400 years ago, in late August of 1619, that Africans were brought to this shore, to the coast of Virginia. It is the 400th anniversary of the dawn of American slavery. This past week many African…
Matthew 14: 22 – 23, Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN My Epiphany word for this year is “Relaxation.” Over the last few months, I truly embodied that word. This season of relaxation has been bookmarked by two silent retreats with the church. One in May and the other last weekend. The silent retreats are a time to rest, relax, pray, meditate, hike,…
Psalm 33:12-22 Bill Maury-Holmes I’m sticking with you Cause I’m made out of glue Anything that you might do I’m gonna do too “I’m Sticking With You,” by the Velvet Underground, 1969 Lyrics by Lou Reed I think that I got lucky around the time that I became a Christian in the early 1980s, blessed if you will. One of the many…
Genesis 6: 5 – 8, Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN – The President sat at his desk in the White House. He took out two Bibles, opened them to the gospels, the story of Jesus. He grabbed a knife or perhaps a razor and began cutting up one Bible, then the other. The President was Thomas Jefferson. The year was 1804. Jefferson…
Genesis 1: 26 – 28 and Luke 7: 36 – 39 Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MDIV, DMIN In her new book, Shameless: A Sexual Reformation, Nadia Boltz-Weber opens her book with a powerful illustration. While in an airplane, flying over the farming fields of the Midwest, she gazed down at the fields below her and noticed something peculiar. The patterns of crops seemed…
John 4: 7 – 9, Jill A. Kirchner-Rose, MVID, DMIN — Carol Robb approached me some months ago and suggested that we have a “Beatles Sunday.” I was intrigued by the suggestion and brought it before my staff. They enthusiastically agreed that a Beatles Sunday could be both fun and meaningful. So, welcome to Beatles Sunday! Given that there is a new…