St. Paul's Church - Willington, Ct

This Sunday we were joined by guest speaker Mike Distefano, who works with Amirah, Inc (https://www.amirahinc.org/). Mike brought us to Acts 1:1-11, when Jesus ascends after his resurrection. As the disciples are left looking at the sky, an angel appears and says, "Why do you stand here looking at the sky?" Mike challenged us to ask: are we in the Church stuck "looking at the sky"? Or are we following the charge to be witnesses in "Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth"?

Jesus told us to "turn the other cheek," but what does that actually mean? In this world full of injustice, Jesus calls us to creative resistance (Matthew 5:38-42). This message begins with a reflection on the tragic death of George Floyd. The previous messages on race in America and the Church that are referenced at the beginning of the sermon can be found on our podcast feed under these titles: Addressing What On Our Minds (May 10th, 2020) Learning to Love (February 10th, 2019) NOTE: From 17:30 until 20:20 we had some technical difficulties and thought we had lost our feed. If you skip over that part, you won't miss any of the message.

We live in a culture where anger, outrage, and name-calling are becoming increasingly normal. And yet Jesus tells us, "Anyone who is angry with his brother is subject to judgment." We considered four things Jesus tells us to remember to help us turn from our anger.

A story from the Old Testament (1 Kings 19:3 - 13) about a discouraged prophet can give us insight on how to deal with our own discouragement: listen for the gentle whisper of God.

This week many of us had a lot on our minds: the Ahmaud Arbery shooting. The Pandemic. COVID-19 conspiracies. How should we in the Church be processing these things?

If you are asked to describe yourself, what words come to mind? In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he used two metaphors to describe who we are: salt of the earth, and the light of the world. We considered what these metaphors mean, and what it might look like when we receive them as our identity. (NOTE: We have significantly improved our audio quality this week.)

This week we continued our reflection on the Beatitudes - Jesus' counterintuitive descriptions of what it looks like to be blessed. This week we considered: What does it mean to be merciful? What does it mean to be pure of heart? What does it mean to be a peacemaker? And what does all this mean for us living in this unusual time?

At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made eight proclamations about what it looks like to be "blessed." These proclamations, known as "the beatitudes," aren't what we'd normally say before a #blessed social media post. In fact they're the opposite. These blessings are always relevant, but they are especially important to remember when we're in the midst of difficult times.

This Easter Sunday we explored John's account of the Resurrection and what it suggests about how we come to believe in the Resurrection, and how the Resurrection can transform us (NOTE: This recording was part of our livestream service and contains a time of prayer, communion, and two worship songs).

This Good Friday, we reflect on what Jesus' seven sayings on the cross reveal about who God is and what He has done for us.

There's a theme in Palm Sunday that is both easy to miss and very relevant for us now: Disappointment. The crowds celebrated Jesus because they thought he was going to enact their agenda, but as he rode into Jerusalem his chosen means of transportation (a donkey) hinted that wouldn't be the case. As we face our own disappointments in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, Palm Sunday has an important lesson to teach us.

In a time like this, how we in the Church think about certain topics can have enormous consequences. We considered three topics that are especially relevant in this time. Scriptures Referenced: Scriptures Referenced: Genesis 1; 1 Corinthians 12:14 - 18; Mark 12:31; Luke 13:1 - 5; John 9:1 - 3

As our world faces the coronavirus "storm," a story from the Gospels about Jesus calming a storm has several important lessons to teach us (NOTE: Like last week, this is an audio recording of our livestream service during the Coronavirus outbreak and includes a time of prayer).

This week through a livestream service we considered how what we've been learning about in Revelation can help give us perspective about what's happening with Coronavirus. (NOTE: This recording includes a time of prayer and some extended silences as prayer requests were received during the livestream)

This week we looked at one of the most enigmatic passages in the entire book of Revelation. John finally gets to see the content of the scroll only Jesus had the authority to open, and it contains a story about two witnesses who are killed and rise again. We considered what the meaning of this story is, and why it makes John feel a bit sick to his stomach.

This week we took a deep dive into John's dizzying visions by looking at the second 7-part judgment in Revelation: the trumpets. These trumpet blasts bring ecological disasters, a plague of human-tormenting "locusts," and a terrifying army. We examined the significance of these judgments: what they would have meant for John's first readers in the 1st century, and what they mean for us today. We also explored the diversity of interpretations on the relationship between the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls - as well as the various views on when these judgments are occurring (or will occur) in history.

Is Ash Wednesday just about "apologizing for human"? What did the prophet mean when he said, "Rend your heart, not your garment?" We reflected on these questions as we prepared our hearts for the Lenten season.

Last week, the passage ended with a question: Who can stand? This week we looked at the vision John was given to answer that question. He hears of 144,000 Jews equally represented by each tribe, and then he sees a countless multitude of people from every nation. We considered the relationship between the two parts of this vision, and what they reveal about the Church.

After a three-month break, this Sunday we returned to The Book of Revelation. Where we last left off, Jesus (represented by "The Lion who Looks Like a Lamb") was given authority to open a seven-sealed scroll. This week we look at what happens when six of those seals open: four frightening horsemen, martyrs crying out, stars falling from the sky and mountains falling...we explore what all of this meant for people in the first-century, and what it means for us today.

This week we were joined by Dr. Bradley Wright, a professor at UConn and longtime friend of St. Paul's, who has researched the way our digital devices our affecting our lives. As followers of Jesus, it's important for us not only to think about how we steward our money but also how we steward our time and our attention. Dr. Wright helped us to recognize how mismanagement of our digital devices can harm us spiritually and emotionally, and offered several tips on how to get our usage under control.