We seek and shelter spiritual refugees, rally health for all who come, and fortify every tender soul with the strength to follow Jesus into a life of world-changing service.
"You cannot serve God and money." You cannot serve God and race privilege. You cannot serve God and class privilege. You cannot serve God and cis-het privilege. You cannot serve God and male privilege. You cannot serve God and patriotism.
But what if, in the service of God, we could make any of those things serve us?
Take a look at those parables in the middle of Luke that aren't in the other gospels. They're strange and lovely. The Parables of Lost Things in Luke 15 are among our favorites, for good reason. What happened to that young man? Where is his mama?
Heaven = pearly gates, golden streets? Hell = fiery lake, eternal torment? Nah. It's "the day of the Lord" we're waiting for, living for, and Zephaniah wants to help us want what God wants.
Habakkuk has writer's block -- no word from the Lord to share. And that's problematic, if you're a prophet. Or maybe just if you're a person who wishes God would hurry the f*** up and make things right. The help you need to hang in there while you wait on s-l-o-o-o-w God -- that's what we're here for.
Ministry intern Jenny Jacobson says what God really really wants is... well, little things, like justice, and kindness, and humility before God. And she says it in the loveliest way, with the prophet Micah's help.
Amos looks at economic inequity, the systemic brokenness wherein the poor get poorer and the rich are “cows of Bashan”, and says, “God really really doesn’t want that.” Are we, in our churches and in our politics, thinking and talking about poverty with the same passion? Why not?
Jay (our brand-new intern from Brite Divinity School) takes on Joel -- a contextless prophet whose mysterious identity leaves us with lots of interpretive choices. But while we're choosing, the earth is burning with wildfire, plague, drought, and famine. What does God think about that?
The “Minor” Prophets of the Hebrew Bible can see it -- what God really, really wants -- and they'll do just about anything to tell us what they see. Starting with Hosea, we'll let them have their say over seven potentially painful weeks.
This is my son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.
"Lambs among wolves," Jesus called his friends. We've been feeling a little lamb-ish ourselves. And what did he intend them/us to do about that? Remain as vulnerable as possible. Hope for hospitality. Share a table, share good news.
"Does it sound scary to set your face toward Jerusalem? Many of your fellow humans are in Jerusalem already." -- Christian Briones, our friend and guest preacher the Sunday after a week he called "a beating." Thanks for the good word on a hard Sunday, preacher.
What better way to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges than a Galileo wedding cake?
“A seed-sower sowed seeds sowingly in the seeded steppes,” Jesus says in a parable. The secrets—the mysteries—of God are being revealed and coming to light. “Can you hear me now?” Jesus asks. “Can you see it now?” It’s a hundred-fold harvest and boundless light.
"A bruised reed, we will not break; a dimly burning wick, we will not quench." It must be true; that's what it says on our t-shirt.
On this night we made our Covenant of Co-Conspiracy -- that's how you say "yes" to prioritizing the mission of Galileo Church for one year. Read the covenant here.
"Do you have anything to say to me before I leave?" -- Lancelot Lamar in Walker Percy's Lancelot. Or was it Beyoncé in Lemonade? Or is the Samaritan woman at that well with Jesus? The Trinity Brazos Area of the Southwest Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) pondered it hard at our annual assembly.
For the first part of the sermon, Bey's "Hold Up" video played silently on the screen behind the preacher. It was... umm... unsettling. In the best possible way.
You don't have to have read Lancelot or seen Lemonade for this to make sense. But you probably should anyway. Just sayin'.