Rev. Liz Goodman: Lenox & Monterey UCC
267 episodes - English - Latest episode: 21 days ago - ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsLiz is the pastor of two United Church of Christ congregations, both in western Massachusetts, one in Monterey and the other in Lenox, and this is a podcast of the preaching from those two pulpits.
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Episodes
Show Up
January 25, 2021 14:50 - 23 minutes - 25.7 MBMonterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Symbolic & Diabolic
January 18, 2021 21:26 - 24 minutes - 27 MBStorming the Capitol is a bad idea. Can we say that? Can we say there are bad ideas? Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Speech-Act
January 11, 2021 16:03 - 22 minutes - 24.4 MBWords describe and create, so be let's be careful with them--careful with what you say, careful about to whom you listen. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Monterey Church (UCC)
Merry Christmas
January 03, 2021 17:38 - 19 minutes - 21.7 MBLogos became flesh and lived among us? Really? Why? Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Christmas Eve 2020
December 27, 2020 12:56 - 12 minutes - 14.3 MBHere's the homily from Christmas Eve 2020. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Monterey Church, UCC
Keep On Keeping On
December 27, 2020 12:54 - 13 minutes - 15.3 MBThe gift of the say after Christmas is sometimes the simple blessing of getting back to ordinary life. This year, even that simple blessing was a bit much to hope for. Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
When Yes Is Yes
December 20, 2020 18:01 - 17 minutes - 19 MBDo we need to worry about Mary? Or can we take her at her word? Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Past Waiting
December 13, 2020 12:59 - 21 minutes - 23.6 MBAdvent is waiting, preparing, and waiting. What gives? Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Just Wait
December 06, 2020 17:42 - 20 minutes - 22.6 MBPreparing for Christmas might cause us to recognize there's no getting ready for what's actually to come. Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Guest Room
November 29, 2020 12:52 - 22 minutes - 23.8 MBCOVID makes hospitality for all practical purposes impossible. But the guest we await in the world is coming anyway, and coming to take over. Before you know it he'll be the host. So get ready. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Christ the King 2020
November 22, 2020 13:18 - 20 minutes - 21 MBWhere Christ is king, the rule is love. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
In Between Days
November 15, 2020 13:06 - 24 minutes - 25.1 MBWe're nearing the end of the church year, and we're heading into a dark season dominated by the pandemic. Maybe these are labor pains...?
For All You Saints
November 01, 2020 13:50 - 18 minutes - 18.9 MBThis one goes out to all you saints in thanks and praise. Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Thanks to Alchemy for their music!
Taking Your Time
November 01, 2020 13:45 - 19 minutes - 19.7 MBTake your time with this one--shorter than usual, but longer than it needed to be if this were simply a matter of information and not inspiration. Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Thanks to Alchemy for their music!
Runaway
October 18, 2020 13:14 - 27 minutes - 28 MBThe children's library has hidden among its shelves a great theological text on the sovereignty of God. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Short Days of Longing
October 11, 2020 13:35 - 23 minutes - 23.3 MBThese are days of longing. For this, we find ourselves in good company, if though from a social distance. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Now What
October 04, 2020 12:53 - 21 minutes - 22.6 MBIf God is sustainer, and God is free, could it be that God would withdraw the sustaining spirit? And if that happens, then now what? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
A Remnant of Reality
September 27, 2020 12:08 - 21 minutes - 23.3 MBWhen all falls away, this remnant of what’s real: Church. Seek, hold its frayed hem. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Not in a Laughing Mood
September 20, 2020 11:33 - 20 minutes - 22.4 MBIt isn't often that the Bible strikes a wrong tone because it's just too silly to go with our lived difficulties. But mood-matching has never been easy among otherwise devoted partners. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Keeping It Together
September 15, 2020 17:36 - 23 minutes - 26.1 MBSundays haven't been the same since COVID imposed itself upon our lives. When is it time to settle on new traditions? Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Monterey Church (UCC)
*Our* Way Is the High Way
September 13, 2020 11:51 - 22 minutes - 25 MBHow do you keep it all together? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Where Kitsch Can't Catch Us
September 06, 2020 11:26 - 24 minutes - 27.1 MBWe're awash in kitsch--from our politics to our art to our religion to our homes and self-styling. What's a living being to do? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Church Going
August 23, 2020 19:29 - 27 minutes - 30.7 MBCongregations generally face lean times and times of plenty. Here's to the ones who withstand the lean times. Without them, those times of plenty would be lost. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Rightful Place
August 16, 2020 16:34 - 24 minutes - 27.3 MBJesus preaches against slander, and then slanders someone. What gives? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
What Are You Doing Here?
August 09, 2020 11:08 - 24 minutes - 24.8 MBThe mainline church has become sidelined. This is true in most of our congregations, true even in Lenox and Monterey. So what are doing here? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Where Do We Get Off?
August 02, 2020 16:51 - 25 minutes - 28.5 MBHow do we understand what the gospel is worth in a place? What are we to make of tiny churches sitting on big endowments and gathering in expensive old buildings? Is this really the most efficient way to do things? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Giving Me the Creeps
July 26, 2020 12:05 - 29 minutes - 32.4 MBYou might have come to believe the kingdom of heaven is reserved for only a blessed few. We're sorry to have too report its something for creepier than that. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Monterey Church (UCC)
Bad Riddance
July 19, 2020 11:59 - 24 minutes - 27 MBClearly, something here is wrong. So, let's figure out what that is, and eradicate it once and for all. But what if that's what about here is wrong? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Home Sick
July 12, 2020 11:44 - 25 minutes - 28.4 MBCOVID continues to keep us at a distance from one another, and gathering outdoors or online. Cast out of our sanctuaries which have long sustained us, what we're left with might not adequately sustain us. What are we to do? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Inappropriate
July 05, 2020 11:07 - 29 minutes - 29.8 MBWhat are we to make of the slow (but sure) work of salvation and redemption in our midst? How about this: come as we are, receive as we need, serve as we can, and most of all rejoice in the Lord. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Thanks to Alchemy for music! Buy the album for yourself.
God Is Still Speaking
June 28, 2020 11:17 - 28 minutes - 31 MBThat God is still speaking shouldn't be a radical notion. It requires us still to listen. But maybe that's more than some people would want...? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Asking for It
June 21, 2020 11:04 - 28 minutes - 31.8 MBIt's often said fear is the opposite of faith. I suspect grievance is the opposite of faith. The aggrieved are resentful, not faithful. So, which is it for you? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Time Out of Joint
June 14, 2020 12:39 - 28 minutes - 31.2 MBThis is a sermon for the start of ordinary time, this long season ahead about the only ordinary thing we can hope for in coming months. Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Wade in the Water
June 07, 2020 11:20 - 35 minutes - 39.2 MBA week of unrest gives us a chance at new creation. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
When Once-Slaves Prophesy
May 31, 2020 11:10 - 24 minutes - 26.6 MBIt's been a terrible week. The anxiety of the pandemic and spectacular acts of police violence against Black Americas, all under the watch of national leadership that is useless at best and cruel at worst, combined to make rage and fear the norm. Oh, and it's Pentecost, so maybe there's hope...? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Missing You
May 24, 2020 11:48 - 33 minutes - 37.1 MBAscension day remembers when Jesus left the world apparently the last time, a separation that feels especially severing in the age of COVID19. Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
What Time Is It?
May 17, 2020 11:38 - 28 minutes - 28.8 MBStaying at home during COVID19 might have us awash in time. That's more stressful than it might at first seem. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Monterey Church, UCC
Like Newborn Infants
May 10, 2020 00:58 - 28 minutes - 28.8 MBJesus felt God as abiding in him and him as abiding in God. How might sheltering in place feel different if we turned to the possibility that we might also abide in God and God might also abide in us? Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Good Shepherd, Good Sheep
May 03, 2020 12:00 - 26 minutes - 28.8 MBGood Shepherd Sunday shows up the time every year. Is there anything new to say about it? Actually, is there anything new at all? Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Journey from an Armchair
April 26, 2020 12:47 - 33 minutes - 36.8 MBThe Son of God became man so man might become God. So said Athanasius of Alexandria in the 4th century. Maybe this time fo suspended time might renew our so becoming. Monterey Church (UCC) Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Text and Texture
April 19, 2020 00:54 - 33 minutes - 33.6 MBResurrection living suggests we're to be present in body as well as spirit with one another. The coronavirus insists upon something else. What to do then? Monterey Church, UCC Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
Resurrection Sunday 2020
April 12, 2020 12:10 - 31 minutes - 34.4 MBCrisis is opportunity because Christ is always one of our options. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Monterey Church (UCC)
Palm Sunday 2020
April 05, 2020 11:28 - 24 minutes - 26.1 MBPalm Sunday is supposed to be a festival day. We're supposed to gather and to wave palm fronds and shout, "Hosanna" to the one who saves us from that from which actually--and pressingly--need to be saved. Not so this year. This year, we shelter in place, prisoners of a virus, which casts into yet fuller relief our state also of being prisoners of hope. Save us, Lord, as we bless the work also of those who would save us from this sickness that is on the loose. Monterey Church (UCC) Ch...
Christ Would Make Monsters of Us All
March 29, 2020 10:08 - 36 minutes - 40 MBOur faith demands that we work in the world to ease suffering no matter at what cost to ourselves. It also invites to see that death comes to nothing in the life of God into which all are enveloped and embraced. As we face a world newly vulnerable to death with the coronavirus spreading so fast, we join in the struggle to limit the spread of suffering and death even when this puts us at risk. For those doing this most pressingly--those in healthcare and in other "essential services"--we pray...
The Ethereal and the Earthy Real
March 21, 2020 23:09 - 42 minutes - 43.1 MBThe is the second partial worship service we're posting on-line. This, because of Coronavirus having us stay at home. Social distancing is a particular challenge for the church, but internet-based worship might have us all the more aware of the blessing of one another. The first portion of this is the Call to Worship and the Prayer of Invocation. (To join in on this, click here.) At 4:45 the scripture readings begin. The sermon begins at 13:00. Monterey Church Church on the Hill, Len...
Going Viral
March 14, 2020 20:35 - 25 minutes - 25.8 MBCoronavirus is having us exercise caution about gathering in groups. For the small congregations of Lenox and Monterey, we do plan to hold worship though we know many of our members will stay home on Sunday. Here's a way to participate via podcast. To follow along with the Call to Worship and Prayer of Invocation, click here. Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Monterey Church
Radio Free World
March 09, 2020 17:48 - 33 minutes - 33.3 MBWhat happens when there's no more frontier, no more unmapped territory to strike out into in search of the next thing, that "something new"? Is decadence our only option? Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC) Monterey Church (UCC)
The Big Why
March 02, 2020 14:01 - 29 minutes - 32.8 MBHere's a Sunday for the 1st Sunday of Lent, an attempt to hear the stories of Adam & Eve, and Jesus and the devil, as if for the first time. Sometimes familiar stories are the hardest ones to hear. Monterey Church Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
The Wild Divine
February 24, 2020 13:38 - 28 minutes - 31.6 MBOn the irrepressibility of the human spirit--or is it the pervasive, penetrative Holy Spirit? Or some combination of the two? And sorry about the cough at then end of this episode!! I thought to mic was off, and I'm too lazy to go back an correct it. (That and I have Ash Wednesday services tomorrow, a wedding this weekend, and Sunday is always coming!) Monterey Church Church on the Hill, Lenox (UCC)
A Simple Plan?
February 16, 2020 20:05 - 29 minutes - 32.2 MBWe're still with Jesus has he preaches his Sermon on the Mount, and what started out as promising abounding blessing now seems like quite a heavy lift. Can you manage it? Monterey Church Church on the Hill, Lenox UCC