Pride, Protest, and the Language of Lament 2/5

In the haunt of jackals. Originally a prayer after losing in military battle, this psalm speaks to the sense that God has abandoned innocent people in their struggle. “Taunters” and “revilers” scorn the pray-ers, filling them with “disgrace” and “shame.” Their “bodies cling to the ground.” They declare their innocence – i.e. they are persecuted for the “crime” of their identity, rather than punished for any actual wrongdoing. Here we notice that this prayer could be on the lips of queer protesters at Stonewall, or black protesters at BLM riots across the country. It ends with a challenge to God: “Wake up!”

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Pride, Protest, and the Language of Lament 1/5

The long season of Sundays after Pentecost, also called Ordinary Time, feels anything but ordinary this year. The “long pause” of the pandemic has given way to a rush of civil unrest around race and racism in this country, and there is plenty of grief to go around.

LGBTQ+ Pride month usually evokes joyous celebration. But this year we’re contemplating how the progress achieved by one segment of the human family can be leveraged for the sake of another. We want to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter, in part by carrying on an internal, mostly white-people-to-white-people conversation about racism and white supremacy, the original and ongoing sins of the North American project and the North American church.

We’ll use Psalm 27 as the supporting reading every week, casting it as a Pride psalm and an anti-racist psalm, as it expresses faith in the promise of divine shelter for those who are most vulnerable in this world. “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” 

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Singing at the end of the world as we know it. Jerusalemites exiled to Babylon in the 6th century BCE found it impossible to go on with life as usual. Their songs went silent. They swam in a swirl of sadness (“there we sat down and there we wept”) and rage (“happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us”). Psalms of lament give voice to both these feelings; both are welcome in God’s house, God’s family, God’s ear. Any church that denies or ignores the emotional/spiritual cost that is being extracted from us all is whistling in the dark.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Formation: Scriptures That Made Us Who We Are 7/7

“On All Flesh”: the inclusive, empowering vision of church, then and now. Church leaders are prone to condescend to church members, to the point that members are infantilized and unable to imagine themselves empowered for life-with-God. At Galileo we maintain: we are each and all grown-ass adults imbued with the Holy Spirit of the living Christ. We should treat each other that way, and the ecclesial infrastructure should support that. Without that empowerment, the amazing vision of Acts 2:43-47 is impossible. Also: happy 7th birthday to us!

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Formation: Scriptures That Made Us Who We Are 6/7

When God Gets Everything God Wants: Ain’t Gonna Study War No More. The prophets of old could see it: the arc of the moral universe, bending toward justice. Here is a strong vision of economic justice powered not by violence or the threat of violence; but God’s own creative Word, speaking fairness into reality. Rev. Dr. Irie Session preaches!

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Formation: Scriptures That Made Us Who We Are 5/7

Ministry Intern Josh Bridges preaches on The Magnificat, and he has some powerful words for us today. Here’s a little taste: “History is an act of persuasion.” You’re not going to want to miss this one.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Formation: Scriptures That Made Us Who We Are 4/7

Let Us Then Go to Him, Outside the Camp. We used to think “welcome” was the main thing. But getting “them” in here with “us” isn’t our highest aspiration, is it? What does it mean for a church’s identity, to be constantly seeking the margins, the ones who are still not here yet?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Formation: Scriptures That Made Us Who We Are 3/7

Dirt Under Our Fingernails. Here is Jesus-In-a-Hamster-Ball, making all these reign-of-God things happen – and some people are thrilled, and some people are enraged. How does he do that? But mainly – who are these “friends” who claw away the roof to get their guy near enough to Jesus for Jesus to do his Jesus-thang? And how much dirtier can our own fingernails get, for Christ’s sake?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Formation: Scripture That Made Us Who We Are 2/7

Bruised reeds, dimly burning wicks, and the gentle gospel of “maybe all is not lost.” From the start, we imagined that spiritual refugees would not survive a loud, authoritative (authoritarian?) evangelistic approach. What if we inverted the preaching paradigm and approached this world in humility? It’s a sea change the church must make for its future, and the future of the world God still loves.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Formation: Scripture That Made Us Who We Are 1/7

Won’t you be my neighbor? Katie can only ever preach the parable of the Good Samaritan from the perspective of the lawyer whose expectations about who’s in and who’s out, who’s ahead and who’s behind, are upended in Jesus’s worldmaking story. What happens when a contemporary Samaritan hears, and preaches, the same story?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Easter Sunday, 2020

Decision fatigue, coronatide, the two Marys, Jesus is risen indeed.

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Good Friday, 2020

A meditation from Rev. Dr. Katie Hays at the beginning of our Good Friday service.

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Palm Sunday, 2020

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6 Things That Scare Me 6/6

#6: Resurrection. Okay, so Lazarus isn’t technically resurrected here; he still has to die again, so we’ll call this resuscitation. But still – the vast unspeakable power of God over the power of death, vested in Jesus in this story – that I might be part of the eternal, ongoing fabric of the universe – that I don’t know what that means, or looks like – whoa, man

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

6 Things That Scare Me 5/6

#5: Blindness. Literal blindness, for sure, is terrifying. But the way John constructs this story, the blindness is entrenched in those who think they see. “The eye cannot see itself,” the philosophers said. So what am I missing? What would be revealed to me if I were healed?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

6 Things That Scare Me 4/6

Thing That Scares Us #4: Individuality trending towards isolationism.

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6 Things That Scare Me 3/6

#3: Exposure. This idea that Jesus sees me for who I really am, sees right through all the defenses I throw up, tears down all the walls I’ve built – It’s enough to make Nicodemus slink off under the cover of darkness. 

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

6 Things That Scare Me 2/6

#2: Jesus. Jesus does whatever the fuck he wants. He can do amazing tricks at your party, or he can toss you out on your ass. Honeybadger Jesus. 

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

6 Things That Scare Me 1/6

#1: Death. Death as a consequence of disobedience, death as an inherited condition from our ancestors, death as one of the possibilities (and now an inevitability) in the world God loves. The Good Place said death gives life meaning, and I guess that’s true, but I don’t want anybody I love to die. Ever.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Wiki Jesus: How to Everything 8/8

How to Shine Like the Sun. What if the Transfiguration is Jesus’s check-in with the higher-ups, his mid-point meeting with mentors? What if he’s seeking a progress report, to know how he’s doing with this reign-of-God mission he took on back at his baptism? The voice from above speaks again, affirming that Jesus is exactly who God hoped he would be. We hope for nothing less, and God gives nothing less, to all who stay on the path of faith. Ashley D is preaching. 

Wiki Jesus: How to Everything 7/8

How to Avoid Distractions Along the Way. Jesus here outlines pitfalls for the disciple who is traveling the path of faith – judgment, swine, bad fruit, self-deception, hearing-without-doing. How are we meant to hear his warnings today?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.