This Sunday’s Worship: July 3
(Sunday, July 3 At 10 AM, Hybrid Communion Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Galatians 6:7-10 and Luke 10:1-11
Sermon: A Declaration of Dependence by Pastor Mark Harper
“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” Lilla Watson
Photo by Sven Brandsma on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: June 26
(Sunday, June 26 At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Jeremiah 29:4-7 and Luke 9:51-62
Sermon: Facing the City by Pastor Mark Harper
We must admit that the city is not just a collection of houses with ramparts, but also a spiritual power. I am not saying it is a being. But like an angel it is a power, and what seems prodigious is that its power is on a spiritual plane.” Jacques Ellul, The Meaning of the City
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: June 19
(Sunday, June 19 At 10 AM, Juneteenth and Father’s Day, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-4,(5-7), 8-15a and Luke 15:1-32
Sermon: Lost and Found by Rev. Carolyn Tilley
Photo by Guillaume Issaly on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: June 12
(Sunday, June 12 At 10 AM, Confirmation Sunday with Jashemski Scholars, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 and John 14:12-19 and 16:12-13
Sermon: “Commencement: A Dialogue with Our Confirmands” with Pastor Mark Harper
“We are what God has made us,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” Ephesians 2:10
Photo by Good Free Photos on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: June 5
(Sunday, June 5 At 10 AM, Pentecost Sunday, Hybrid Communion Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Luke 24:44-49 and Acts 2:1-21
Sermon: “Sit with it” by Pastor Mark Harper
“Whatever you are feeling this week –
don’t run from it.
Don’t shove it into a hidden space.
Sit with it,
because the universe is telling you this kind of violence -
against children,
against unarmed Black men,
against the psyche of the nation –
is unacceptable.”
Michele Norris, The Washington Post, 5/27/2022
Photo by Cullan Smith on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: May 29
(Sunday, May 29 At 10 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Join us for Worship on the (Hybrid) Steps this Sunday morning, where we invite you to worship outdoors near the steps and grounds of our church. Worship will be participatory, as we will ask folks to sing songs, read poetry, or bear witness.
Photo by Chris Curry on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: May 22
(Sunday, May 22 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Psalm 66:16-20 and Mark 1:35-39
Sermon: “Temporarily Out of Service” by Pastor Mark Harper
An old grandfather said to his grandson … ‘It is as if there are two wolves inside of me. One is good and does no harm. But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. Sometimes it is hard to live with these two, for both try to dominate my spirit.’
The boy asked, ‘Which one wins, Grandfather?’
The grandfather smiled and said, ‘The one I feed.’”
“The Wolves Within,” A Cherokee Story
Photo by Vasily Koloda on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: May 15
(Sunday, May 15 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Revelation 21:1-6 and John 13:31-35
Sermon: “Clear-Eyed Love” by Pastor Mark Harper
“Love is like lightning, and your maturity is signaled by the extent to which you can accept the dangers and the power and the beauty of love.” - James Baldwin
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: May 8
(Sunday, May 8 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-7 and Matthew 13:1-9
Sermon: “This is Not My Grandfather’s Garden” by Pastor Mark Harper
“God of abundance, we want to perceive the possibility of peace.
Soften our hearts to do the work of undoing oppressions.
Ignite our spirits that they may long for justice.
Give us a vision for a world where justice blooms, here all are fed and all are free.”
Melissa Berkey-Gerard,
Community Peacemaker Teams
Photo by Pisit Heng on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: May 1
(Sunday, May 1 At 11 AM, Hybrid Communion Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Psalm 90:13-17 and John 21:1-19
Sermon: “Life After Easter” by Pastor Mark Harper
“Justice is good but supper is essential.” - Ed Loring
“Come and have breakfast.” - Jesus of Nazareth
Photo by Pisit Heng on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: April 24
(Sunday, April 24 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Exodus 16:1-4 and John 20:19-31
Sermon: “Twins” by Pastor Mark Harper
“God takes you as you are. In the midst of your fears. In whatever room you or someone else has locked you inside. In whatever ways you have betrayed yourself or others or God. You as you are and not some fictional made-up future version of yourself who has managed finally to be a better person. You as you are. Peace be with you … .” Nadia Bolz-Weber
Photo by Jørgen Håland on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: April 17
(Sunday, April 17 At 11 AM, Hybrid Easter Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-25 and Luke 24:1-12
Sermon: “Looking for the Living” by Pastor Mark Harper
“So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it …
As soon as the generals and the politicos
Can predict the motions of your mind,
Lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
Wendell Berry, from Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: April 10
(Sunday, April 10 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Luke 19:29-40 and Psalm 118:19-24
Sermon: “The Work of Rejected Stones” by Pastor Mark Harper
“Jesus was crucified on a cross as an insurrectionist because he bore witness to the divine truth that no one has to be defined by his or her circumstances. Liberation from oppression is God’s gift to the powerless in society. Freedom is Jesus’ gift to all who believe. And when one accepts this liberating Gospel and makes the decision to follow Jesus, you must be prepared to go to the cross in service to others – the least of those in society.” - James Cone, from his ordination sermon for Chris Hedges
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: April 3
(Sunday, April 3 At 11 AM, Lenten Choral Communion Service, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Isaiah 43:16-21 and John 20:11-13
Sermon: “Mary from the Margins” by Pastor Mark Harper
Special Anthems: TPPC Choir with Guest Musicians, directed by Dr. James Bingham
“Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?”
From “The Summer Day,” by Mary Oliver
image: Albrecht Dürer, Noli me tangere (Do Not Touch Me), from the Small Passion, woodcut, c. 1510, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Junius Spencer Morgan, 1919
This Sunday’s Worship: March 27
(Sunday, March 27 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Luke 15:1-10 and Luke 15:11-32
Sermon: “Party Time” by Pastor Mark Harper
“I do not understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.” Anne Lamott
Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: March 13
(Sunday, March 13 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Philippians 3:17-4:1 and Luke 13:31-35
Sermon: “Mother Hen, Mother Church” by Pastor Mark Harper
"Sometimes it seems like to tell the truth today is to run the risk of being killed. But if I fall, I’ll fall five feet four inches forward in the fight for freedom. I’m not backing off." - Fannie Lou Hamer
Photo by John Towner on Unsplash.
This Sunday’s Worship: March 6
(Sunday, March 6 At 11 AM, Communion Served, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Luke 4:1-13 and Luke 9:37-42
Sermon: “Facing the Demons ” by Pastor Mark Harper
“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.” - Howard Thurman
Photo by Vincent Ledvina on Unsplash.
This Sunday’s Worship: February 27
(Sunday, February 27 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Exodus 34:29-35 and Luke 9:28-36
Sermon: “Eyes to See” by Pastor Mark Harper
“There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.” - Thomas Merton
Photo by Bud Helisson on Unsplash
This Sunday’s Worship: February 20
(Sunday, February 20 At 11 AM, Hybrid Worship: In-Person and Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture: Psalm 37:1-11 and Luke 6:27-36
Sermon: “When We Are the Enemy” by Pastor Mark Harper
“Hate won’t only destroy us. It will destroy those people that’s hating as well.” - Fannie Lou Hamer