Galileo Church

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.

5860 I-20 service road Fort Worth, TX 76119 USA

(682) 760-1274

OUR MISSIONAL PRIORITIES:

1. We do justice for LGBTQ+ humans, and support the people who love them.

2. We do kindness for people with mental illness and in emotional distress, and celebrate neurodiversity.

3. We do beauty for our God-Who-Is-Beautiful.

4. We do real relationship, no bullshit, ever.

5. We do whatever it takes to share this good news with the world God still loves.

Trying to find us IRL?
Mail here: P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060
Worship here: 5 pm CT Sundays; 5860 I-20 service road, Fort Worth 76119

Trying to find our Sunday worship livestream?
click here!

One Hit Wonders

August 24, 2025 - October 12, 2025

A one-hit wonder in the contemporary music biz is a song that transcends the limitations of composer, performer, and context. One song from a lifetime of music-making far outlasts its immediate impact so that generations to come will probably be able to hum the tune, if not sing every lyric to perfection. One-hit wonders are timeless, and it’s a little surprising (a wonder!) because they’re surrounded by mediocre or even bad music.

There’s a similar reality in scripture: some books of the Bible are so anachronistic, so pessimistic, maybe even so theologically questionable, that they’re best forgotten... except for that *one* passage where the author seems to lift off with the Spirit under their wings, soaring to heights of beauty, poignancy, and surprisingly good theology. Those one-hit wonders deserve a little attention, at least once in a while.

And the whole question of one-hit wonders makes me wonder: what is my own “peak” contribution to the life of the world? My life is mostly ordinary, sometimes even a net drain on the world’s resources... but it’s always possible that God can make use of that one smidgen of sparkle I’ve got to give.

For the secondary (responsive) readings each week: let’s go the *opposite* direction. Instead of one-hit wonders, we’ll look at the repeated instances of a refrain that God’s people have repeated again and again: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Many of the poets and prophets have used that refrain, and we’ll be listening for its repetition from week to week. Even some of our “one-hit” books include this refrain!

New Mercies, Every Morning. Lamentations is a collection of poetry composed and compiled shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The poems name God as the punisher of all Israel’s sin. This is a God who initiates massive, generational suffering and blames the victim for it; imperial armies are only God’s instruments of torture. BUT in the middle of the Lamentations comes an ode to God’s mercy and steadfast love. In the chiastic structure of this book, the reader is invited to believe that this counter-testimony is the ultimate reality, the revelation of God’s true, life-affirming nature in a bleak season. Rev. Amber Baker is preaching.