Hope Unitarian Church Podcast

Grace and the Weight of the Heart

 In Ancient Egyptian Mythology the heart of the dead is weighed against Ma’at, the goddess of harmony, justice, and morality. Ma’at is represented by a feather and the heart must be lighter than Ma’at’s feather if the spirit wants to pass into the afterlife. Though we may no longer fear this judgement, we still come to one another with heavy hearts, loaded down with the baggage of resentments. When left unchecked, these heavy hearts weigh us down in the life that we lead together. In a divid...

April Generosity Recipient Euchee Butterfly Farm

 The Learning Center at Euchee Butterfly Farm helps improve the lives of Native people, plants and pollinators through innovative community-based programs that emphasize capacity building, cultural preservation, and sustainability. 

Interdependence and the Weight of the Soul

Sermon by Justin M. McCreary  APRIL 14TH, 2024 - 11:00 AM Last week, I laid groundwork for my sermons on interdependence and the human need for connection by exploring suffering and the human condition. This Sunday, I will explore the Importance of interdependence during what Douglass Adams calls, “The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul.” 

Justice is Love in Action

Rev. Gary McAlpin

The Gospel of Subversion: Liberation in a Liberal Context

 The Gospel of Subversion: Liberation in a Liberal Context  REV. JUSTIN M. MCCREARY   FEBRUARY 11TH, 2024 - 11:00 AM  You might notice the similarity in titles between this week and last week’s sermon. Last week I focused in on the theme of Justice and Equity through the idea of, Gospel meaning Good News. This week I will continue with this theme, expounding on the idea of preaching good news to the poor. This theological ride will hold in tension expressions of Liberal and Liberation theolo...

1.21.24 Liberating Love Part 2. Throwing Stones Redux

  Liberating Love Part 2: Throwing Stones (A Redux)   JANUARY 21ST, 2024 - 11:00 AM   REV. JUSTIN M MCCREARY   This week I will be preaching the sermon I prepared for last week when we got snowed out. I did change the title because there will be no soup this coming week. Love can be complicated, and it has many dimensions. This past week we talked about the importance of Joy and Romantic Love. This week we will focus on an active nature of love, love which is expressed in what we do for one ...

Tulsa Alzheimers Association. Generosity Recipient for Feb.

Understanding Alzheimer's and Dementia  Dr. Garrett from Tulsa’s Branch of the Alzheimer’s Association.  Speaking at Adult Forum on Feb. 2nd. Feb Generosity Recipient.

“Liberating Love Part 1: Embrace” sermon only podcast

 Liberating Love Part 1: Embrace REV. JUSTIN M MCCREARY JANUARY 7TH, 2024 - 11:00 AM As a faith, Unitarian Universalism centers itself theologically around Love. This might sound simple; however, the meaning and expression of love is often debated. From Romantic Comedies to heartbreaking ballads, love is characterized as one of the simplest and most complicated concepts in the human collective unconscious. There is nothing that makes us feel more secure and dangerously vulnerable than love, ...

Wild Heart Ranch Generosity Recipient for January 2024

Podcast information about our generosity recipient for January 2024 Wild Heart Ranch.

Goodbye 2023! Readings Celebrating Endings and Beginnings

Burning Bowl Ceremony Readings Celebrating Endings and Beginnings

"What the Dickens?"

 What the Dickens   This Sunday, Christmas Eve morning we will be celebrating one of Unitarian Charles Dicken’s most powerful stories, A Christmas Carol. Please join us for this live action retelling of Charles Dicken’s classic with special Hope Unitarian Zing!!! This live action service will be one you don’t want to miss. 

Yule Meditation

Yule Meditation by John Swoboda Meditation in Light for Yule  This Sunday you will be invited to explore the changing of the seasons and shortening of days through ritual and celebration while we pray for prosperity in the year to come. 

Sing Noel 12.10.23

Hope Singers and thoughtful readings to celebrate the Holiday Season.

LIFE Senior Services ADULT FORUM SPEAKER 12.3.23

Our Generosity Recipient for December is LIFE Senior Services LIFE Senior Services specializes in home and community-based services that promote healthy aging and aging-in-place for seniors, as well as services and support for family caregivers who play a critical role in helping their loved ones continue living at home. Learn more or donate at the link below: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx...

Hope Unitarian Church and the Mystery of The Mysterious Message

 Hope Unitarian Church and the Mystery of The Mysterious Message  BY REV. JUSTIN MCCREARY DECEMBER 3RD, 2023 - 11:00 AM      When I was a child I read Encyclopedia Brown, the Hardy Boys’, and watched Nancy Drew Mysteries I always appreciated the title. The Mystery of the (Fill in the Blank). It was always something that could be solved, figured out, or made sense of. I still love mystery TV shows and movies, I try to figure out the whodunnit before the end. As I grew older, I learned that my...

"How to Negotiate the Holidays in Gratitude"

11/26/23   JoAnn Hause     The Attitude of Gratitude we can cultivate for the Holiday Season can show us the best way to make new and wonderful memories. It is only when we accept that we cannot control anything but ourselves that we can truly move forward to holiday joy.

"Divine Generosity"

 Divine Generosity  BY REV. STEVEN WILLIAMS  NOVEMBER 26TH, 2023 - 11:00 AM      In a world of seemingly relentless strife, war, and division, generosity can be a challenging attitude to take towards humanity. What might God(de/ss)(s) tell us about such a posture? How can our divine nature help us meet each other with open and generous hearts? 

“But for the Grace of God: An Auction Sermon”

 By the Grace of God: An Auction Sermon  REV. JUSTIN MCCREARY  NOVEMBER 19TH, 2023 - 11:00 AM       Welcome to this year’s Auction Sermon. Rebecca Jones, the auction winner, offered me a quote from an old UU World Article. The quote, by Rev. Sarah York, says, “Some people might say of those they serve at a soup kitchen, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ I think what they really mean is, ‘There by the grace of God am I,’ “The interplay between these phrases is intriguing, the difference ...

"Resting in an Interdependent Web: A Sermon About Gratitude."

 Resting in an Interdependent Web: A Sermon About Gratitude BY REV. JUSTIN MCCREARY NOVEMBER 12TH, 2023 - 11:00 AM        When I heard the phrase, “Let’s give thanks,” as a child I knew we were about to pray. Giving thanks was a holy practice, it was a sacrament, it was the moment when we communed with the almighty before something else happened. Thankfulness was a precursor to eating, asking for help, going into surgery, begging for intersession, and as the one who was often asked to give t...

“Generosity on an Interdependent Web”

“Generosity on an Interdependent Web” Justin M. McCreary      We oversimplify the practice of generosity, by focusing most often on the practice of giving, which is important. However, what we then leave out is the importance of receiving gifts. It is easy in a culture that idealizes the myth of the Self-made Man, to forget that giving and receiving are both part of the same practice. We cannot teach our children that giving is a positive value while repudiating the one who receives. Brene B...

“The Veil Between the Worlds” Lenny Hope 10.29.23

 Samhain is a holiday that many of us know about, but by another name Halloween. Children of many different Faiths love to dress up in costumes and collect candy. Adults also like to dress up. There is more to Halloween than just Costumes and Candy. Come with us on an Adventure to the Shining Isle between the Worlds! 

October 15th, 2023 “When Heritage Hurts” by Rev. Justin McCreary

 As I close out my sermons on Heritage this month, I want to take some time, not just to explore the gifts but what also seems like the curses of heritage. Heritage gives us the opportunity to draw from the power of our ancestors and our identity, but turned inward, it becomes an excuse for the destructive tribalism behind racism, sexism, and anti-LGBTQ sentiments. This Sunday I’d like to reflect on the world around us when heritage hurts… SUNDAY SERVICES STREAMED EACH WEEK:  https://zoom.u...

“Our Prophetic Heritage of Peace” by Rev. Gary McAlpin

 October 22nd, 2023, 11:00 AM “Our Prophetic Heritage of Peace” by Rev. Gary McAlpin While war continues to rage in many parts of the world, our UU faith guides us to be the prophetic voice of reason and peaceful resistance. With Israel declaring war on Hamas and the continued invasion of Ukraine, we must stand firm in our faithful allegiance to peace. Our heritage speaks to this resistance in our lives and in our examples as a faithful people, to stand up in the face of oppression and terr...

Roots Hold Me Close 10.8.23 Rev. Justin M. McCreary

Last week we explored our human heritage as we took a walk down our genetic memory lane. This week, we will reduce that circle and spend some time with our Unitarian Universalist Heritage. Livestream each Sunday   https://zoom.us/j/95346408780?pwd=UkpSOVEyQUdaYjNmL1o0TTloSGFDQT09

“The March of a Common Heritage,” by Rev. Justin McCreary

 October 1st, 2023, 11:00 AM “The March of a Common Heritage,”  by Rev. Justin McCreary    What is your heritage? When you think of it, what do you think of family, culture, or religion? It is important when we reflect on our heritage to feel pride, but to also understand the inherent biases. Heritage is a double-edged sword, it can bring people together or build walls, because heritage is not just something we have, but it is something we build. Before we build though, we must understand th...

Living On the Edge. Being Prophetic in a World of Injustice Rev. Gary McAlpin

 September 24th, 2023, 11:00 AM “Living on the Edge: being Prophetic in a World of Injustice,” by Rev. Gary McAlpin       Central to our Unitarian Universalist faith is living in a prophetic way, not necessarily as seers, but of being a light pointing the way in darkness, showing the injustices and needs of our world. Being a prophet can be lonely and dangerous because it requires us to live on the edge of existence looking in, but our calling is nonetheless clear, to be a prophet, a voice a...

A Radical Welcome

 *Radical is a term that gets thrown around a lot lately. When I was a kid the term Radical meant something different. Radical had become a term that had synonyms like, awesome, fly, or dope. Which are generally considered affirmations of positivity in relationship to something, for example: That blouse is radical. But I am aware of the original meaning of this term, which involves revolutionary change. This Sunday I’d like to explore the cross section of being welcoming and a radical 

Community and Connection in a Mad World

 The church is important and because it is important it is dangerous. When confronted with the vastness of the mind and the brutality of life, the church offers a safe place to explore who we are, and what we want to become. Not just the part of us that is seen but unseen, thusly we are confronted with the danger of church. For many the church becomes a place that lulls people into false security with easy answers, and when this happens the church can do more harm than almost any other organ...

Corona Consciousness - Sunday, May 24, 2020 - Rev. Greg Stewart

What Youth Want From Liberal Religion - Sunday, May 17 - Rev. Greg Stewart

I'm Not Religious, But I Am Spiritual - May 10, 2020 - Rev. Greg Stewart

Concerning Character - May 3, 2020 - Rev. Greg Stewart

How to Pray Without Being Religious - April 26, 2020 - Rev. Greg Stewart

Easter for Skeptics - April 12, 2020 - Rev. Greg Stewart

Enduring Betrayal - Sunday, April 5, 2020 - Rev. Greg Stewart

Ralph Waldo's Obsession - March 22, 2020 - Rev. Greg Stewart

Mary Oliver's Conversion - March 15, 2020 - Rev. Greg Stewart

Sisters in Persistence

Presented by Women of Hope

Sisters in Persistance

Presented by Women of Hope

Charles Darwin: Losing Faith Religiously

Fear, Faith, and Love: Doing Justice in 2020

"Will Our Children Have Faith?"

The Only Thing We Have to Fear by Rev. Greg Stewart

Zombie Apocalypse: Story at 11

King of Kings

Justice or Just Us?

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Christmas for Skeptics

"Love and Death"

Sing Noel!