Palm Sunday April 13, 2025 Luke 19:28 – 40 It’s pretty much always a good idea to ask ourselves how we can eliminate distractions from God. In fact, that’s part of what Lent, this season of the church year we completing this week, is about: taking an inventory of the behaviors and states...
Dear U Park Family, I know life moves fast, and even on the church staff we’re dealing with programming and plans for May. But I’m still basking in Holy Week and Easter. Our choir did a wonderful job with the Good Friday cantata; the Easter Vigil and Holy Thursday services were beautiful and all our...
Dear U Park Family, Holy Week and Easter are here! Sunday’s Palm Sunday procession, led by our church’s children and our choir, was a glorious way to start this sacred time. This week, we’ll have the opportunity to experience the story that is at the heart of our faith with a series of worship services...
Dear U Park family, It feels to me like Lent has gone fast this year. From our Shrove Tuesday Pancake supper to our upcoming Palm Sunday pretzel making Sunday School doesn’t seem like 6 weeks – but here we are and we have a lot happening! Tomorrow morning at 10:00 in the church library, Dr....
5th Sunday in Lent March 6, 2025 John 12:1 – 8 Father Donal Dorr is an Irish Catholic Priest and theologian; he’s near 90 years old now. He still writes books, but he’s not actively serving churches anymore. He spent most of his active ministry serving parishes in desperately poor regions of Africa...
Dear U Park Family, There’s an old preacher’s cliché: “if you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” I’ve never liked that question, partly because we can never be sure about the inner lives of others. Although we might see outward behavior that points to Christian commitments, we...
4th Sunday in Lent March 30, 2025 John 9:1 – 9 I have kind of a checkered history with dentists. When I was a kid, maybe eight or nine years old, I was running across an asphalt playground and this friend of mine tripped me, because we were nine-year-old boys and when I...
Dear U Park Family, In our men’s group, we’re reading Mike McHargue’s book Finding God in the Waves: How I Lost My Faith and Found it Again Through Science. In the beginning chapters, McHargue tells the story of being raised in a theologically conservative church and finding that the explanations and doctrines he was taught...
Dear U Park Family, In an old song called “Church,” Lyle Lovett tells the story of going to worship on Sunday morning “so I could sing and pray.” In the song, the sermon drags on much longer than the congregation would like. Seeing their impatience, the preacher says, “Children, I have one more thing to...
Dear U Park Family, How do you know when your body is healthy? How do you tell the difference between a mild illness and a reason to go to the doctor, or even to be hospitalized? For some of us (sadly, I’m pointing to myself here), stubbornness enters the calculation. I never want to admit...
