Yes! We're Open: Living Faith with Needham UCC
Rev. John MacIver Gage uses insight, humor, hard truth and amazing grace to help us make sense of our Christian faith in our daily life and vice-versa. The Congregational Church of Needham is a radically inclusive, justice-seeking Christian community, a member congregation of the United Church of Christ denominational family. Join us for worship LIVE! via Zoom Sundays @ 10am. Connection info and more at www.NeedhamUCC.org.
Episodes
82 episodes
Hope: We Make the Road by Walking (Faith, Hope, & Love Abide, 2/3)
In the wake of this election's seismic shift, we’re spending time grounding ourselves once more in the core message of 1 Corinthians 13:13—“Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three”—in ways that speak to our current situation, beginning wit...
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Season 3
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Episode 32
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24:52
Stitched Together
*With apologies for the poorer than usual audio quality. A subtitled video is available at https://youtu.be/QOpgyCGCVf8In Mark 10:17-31, an insider--the rich young ruler--and an outsider--Simon Peter--both ask Jesus essentially...
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Season 3
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Episode 31
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20:03
You Are Light
“God’s love and kindness will shine upon us like the sun that rises in the sky” (Luke 1:78-9, CEV). A celebration more than a decade in the making! Come join us for a special worship service dedicating the new solar panel array on our sanctuary...
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Season 3
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Episode 30
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15:13
My Body is Not a Prayer Request
The gospels are full of miraculous stories of Jesus healing people, but they’re never told from the point of view of the people he heals. The (temporarily) able-bodied Church today is only beginning to understand how problematic that real...
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Season 3
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Episode 32
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20:02
Faith: Trust & Truth (Faith, Hope, & Love Abide 1/3)
In the wake of this election week’s seismic shift, we’re going to spend the next three Sundays looking to ground ourselves once more in 1 Corinthians 13:13—“Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three”—in ways that speak to our current situati...
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Season 3
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Episode 33
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31:08
Be Careful Which God You Do or Don't Believe In
Shalom Auslander’s book, Beware of God, is full of cautionary tales about faith, including the short story “Waiting for Joe,” in which two hamsters from very different theological viewpoints try to cope with the absence of their owner....
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Season 3
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Episode 29
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27:31
Join, or Die
To combat the current epidemic of isolation, loneliness, disaffiliation, and division destroying our physical, mental, and political health, experts prescribe a dose of social connection. Joining, sharing, learning to trust... and to be trustwo...
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Season 3
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Episode 28
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27:31
At Home
“Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.” Every creature, all of creation, has a home in the heart of our Creator. Why is it often so har...
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Season 3
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Episode 26
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20:48
Fractal Faith (07-28-2024)
In mathematics, a fractal is “a visual expression of a repeating pattern or formula that starts out simple and gets progressively more complex.” We see fractals in nature, in the patterns of pinecones and the spirals of sea shells, where, when ...
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Season 3
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Episode 25
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23:06
Edifice Complex
Even since the time of King David, church buildings have been a mixed blessing–well, not exactly, but you get the idea. Religious communities, churches, need places to gather for worship, but all too often, we can end up worshiping the building...
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Season 3
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Episode 24
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21:50
Captivity
The Church of Jesus Christ started out as a counter-cultural movement, a vision of how things ought to be to challenge the way things were, particularly for the people the powers of this world consider “the least of these.” But thanks to its ad...
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Season 3
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Episode 23
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27:18
Lay Preaching Series: Open & Affirming
Part of our Lay Preaching Series, members of our Open and Affirming team share reflections on the "whys" of their ministry with our congregation. Offered by Stephanie, Cheryl, and Barbra. Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and o...
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Season 3
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Episode 22
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24:27
The Perfectly Credible Tale of St. Marinos the Monk, or "We Have Always Been Here"
Marina was born in 5th Century Lebanon and assigned female at birth. When, after their mother died, their dad decided to enter a monastery, Marina went with him—as a man, Brother Marinos. But one day, he was unjustly accused of a crime he could...
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Season 3
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Episode 21
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23:18
Lay Preaching Series: Prayer & Care
As part of our Lay Preaching Series members of our Prayer & Care team reflect on their "whys" of their ministry with and to our community. Dibby, John, and Sue preaching.Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online via Zoom...
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Season 3
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Episode 21
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14:36
Why Are You Doing This? (Palm Sunday)
This sermon, "Why Are You Doing This?" is a reflection on Mark 11:1-11 and was offered by Rev. Maddie Foster on Palm Sunday (March 24, 2024) at Congregational Church of Needham, UCC. Join us Sundays for worship, LIVE! on-site and online...
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Season 3
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Episode 20
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17:21
Lay Preaching Series: Environmental Ministries Team
This sermon was offered on Sunday, March 17 at Congregational Church of Needham, UCC. It is a reflection offered by members of our Environmental Ministries Team on a selection of readings including scripture and poetry.Join us Sundays f...
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Season 3
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Episode 19
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15:31
Lay Preaching Series: Christian Education
As part of our Lay Preaching Series, the Christian Education Committee (along with some special guests!) offers reflections on "Why" this ministry matters. This sermon was offered on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Join us Sundays for worship, ...
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Season 3
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Episode 18
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16:56
Ten Things (Lent 3)
A list of rules or something more? In this second part of Rev. Maddie's Lenten sermon series on covenant we explore our relationship with God and with one another, and how the ten commandments can be a frame for and invitation into right relati...
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Season 3
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Episode 17
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17:32
Between You And Me (Lent 1)
After the flood comes the rainbow, but who is that rainbow for exactly? In the first part of this Lenten sermon series we explore the covenant God makes with humanity -- is the rainbow a reminder for us or for God? (Genesis 9:8-17)Join ...
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Season 3
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Episode 16
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15:36
A Helping Hand
The story of Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law is brief but it occurs in three of the four Gospels. It’s also pretty problematic to our modern sensibilities, with overtones of sexism and ableism. Fair enough. So what if we read it not as a on...
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Season 3
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Episode 15
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22:50
A Teaching With Authority
When Jesus shows up in the synagogue at Capernaum, the crowds notice something different about him, that he teaches "as one having authority, not like the scribes," the professional religious class. So what about Jesus' kind of authority--his c...
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Season 3
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Episode 14
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20:43
The Little Drummer Boy (A Non-Canonical Christmas, 3/3)
Ever heard of the LDB (Little Drummer Boy) Challenge? Participants try to avoid the song for as long as possible during the holiday season. As soon as you hear it, you're out. But why? Why so much ill-will for a song about a character who's not...
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Season 3
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Episode 13
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18:21
The Donkey (A Non-Canonical Christmas, 2/3)
There is no donkey in the official story of Jesus’ birth. But just try setting up a creche or nativity scene without one. We all know Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem, even when she didn’t. But how can this imagined donkey help us re-imagine our...
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Season 3
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Episode 12
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21:00
The Innkeeper (A Non-Canonical Christmas, 1/3)
This Advent season, we're taking a look at famous Christmas characters who aren't actually in the Bible ("non-canonical"), but maybe should be. Centuries of Christian imagination have created the character of the Innkeeper, often depicted as gr...
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Season 3
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Episode 11
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22:42
