Podcasts by Oak Church Sermons
A planting of the Lord for the display of God
Further podcasts by Oak Church
Podcast on the topic Christentum
All episodes
From the Depths from 2022-04-18T12:21:48
04/17/2022 – Easter Sunday Psalm 130 & Luke 24:1-12 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Woke Up This Morning (Wi...
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Those Who Hate Peace from 2022-04-17T16:02:44
04/15/2022 – Good Friday Psalm 120 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube.
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A Borrowed Donkey&a Weeping Messiah from 2022-04-11T12:35:03
04/10/2022 – Palm Sunday Psalm 126 & Luke 19:28-44 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Prepare the Way by DaPont...
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God Surrounds Us from 2022-04-03T17:32:55
04/03/2022 Psalm 125 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Enclosed by You by White/Vice How Firm a Foundation by Rippon/Fun...
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Flourishing on the Way from 2022-03-31T13:05:34
03/27/2022 Psalm 128 Brodie Heginbotham Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Take Up Your Spade by Watkins Flourishing (Psalm 119) by McC...
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When We Get There from 2022-03-21T14:30:06
03/20/2022 Psalm 122 Brodie Heginbotham Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Fifty Miles of Elbow Room by McGhee Just a Closer Walk With ...
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Building the House of Tomorrow from 2022-03-13T19:58:11
03/13/2022 Psalm 127 Meg Hoffman Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Kingdom of God by Guerra Great is Thy Faithfulness by Chilshom/Runy...
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Cultivating a Quieted Heart from 2022-03-07T13:28:20
03/06/2022 Psalm 131 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Leaning on the Everlasting Arms by Hoffman/Showalter My Halleluja...
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A Feature, Not A Bug from 2022-02-28T14:24:17
02/27/2022 Luke 9:28-36 Chris Breslin Slides from February 27, 2022 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering This is My Father’s World ...
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Of Good Measure from 2022-02-21T13:27:33
02/20/2022 Luke 6:27-38 Chris Breslin Slides from February 20, 2022 Jonathan Wilson-Hartgroves’s Y’all Saints sermon on Ann Atwater Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. ...
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A Level Place from 2022-02-14T13:53:38
02/13/2022 Luke 6:17-26 Brodie Heginbotham Slides from February 13, 2022 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering I Have Decided to Follow Je...
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The Fellowship Haul from 2022-02-07T16:36:52
02/06/2022 Luke 5:1-11 Chris Breslin Slides from February 6, 2022 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Jesus, Savior Pilot Me by Hopper/W...
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Some Great Thing vs. A Local Gospel from 2022-01-31T13:13:17
01/30/2022 Luke 4:21-30 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Peace Like a River by Traditional Father, Let Your Kingdom Com...
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Jesus’One Sermon from 2022-01-24T15:29:31
01/23/2022 Luke 4:11-21 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Hail to the Lord’s Anointed by Montgomery/McCracken The ...
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Whatever He Tells You from 2022-01-16T06:00:48
01/16/2022 John 2:1-11 Rev. Dorothy Clark Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Come Thou Fount by Robinson Flourishing by McCracken Be Th...
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Seeing and Praying in the New Year from 2022-01-04T15:03:11
01/02/2022 Visio Divina with Matthew 6:9-15 Chris Breslin Slides from January 2, 2022 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Simeon’...
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Christmas Eve Lessons&Carols with the Gathering Church from 2021-12-27T18:09:11
12/24/2021 Genesis 1:1-5 | Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 | Luke 1:26-38 Curt Lowndes, Brodie Heginbotham, & Elizabeth Swett Order of Worship from December 24, 2021 Watch the whole worship ga...
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A Promise&A Calling from 2021-12-20T20:48:36
12/19/2021 Luke 1:39-55 Brodie Heginbotham Slides from December 19, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering O Day of Peace by Da...
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Instead of Armoring Up from 2021-12-13T13:19:44
12/12/2021 Luke 3:6-18 Chris Breslin Slides from December 12, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Joy to the World by Watts/...
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A Cosmic Christmas (Oak Kids Christmas Pageant) from 2021-12-06T14:14
12/05/2021 Communion homily by Chris Breslin Slides from December 5, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Magnificat by Rain ...
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Always Only Advent from 2021-11-29T11:47:13
11/28/2021 Luke 21:25-36 Chris Breslin Slides from November 28, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Illuminate the Shadows b...
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Strange Birds&the God of‘Extra’(St. Flannery O’Connor) from 2021-11-21T18:37:01
11/21/2021 John 6:1-16 Dr. Dan Train Slides from November 21, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for ...
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The Lord is With You (St. Harriet Jacobs) from 2021-11-15T14:59
11/14/2021 Luke 1:26-38 Brodie Heginbotham Slides from November 14, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Musi...
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Creating a Durable Life Together (St. Benedict of Nursia) from 2021-11-08T13:28:28
11/07/2021 Matthew 25:31-46 Chris Breslin Slides from November 7, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music ...
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Y’all Saints: Communion of Saints from 2021-11-01T12:42:20
10/31/2021 Hebrews 12:1-2 Meg Hoffman Slides from October 31, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for ...
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Agents of Instead-ness from 2021-10-24T20:23:57
10/24/2021 Isaiah 61 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering...
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Fruitful Self-Control from 2021-10-18T12:36:01
10/17/2021 2 Peter 1:1-9 Chris Breslin Slides from Sunday October 17, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Mu...
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Fruitful Gentleness from 2021-10-11T14:03:07
10/10/2021 Titus 3:1-7 Brodie Heginbotham Slides from Sunday October 10, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. ...
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Fruitful Faithfulness from 2021-10-04T14:25:26
10/03/2021 Romans 1:13-17 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gath...
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Repost: Kate Bowler at Oak Church from 2021-09-28T13:16:03
To celebrate Kate’s new book, No Cure for Being Human, listen in to this archived unedited version of The Road to Now (RTN Theology #3) episode. Pastor Chris Breslin invited Bob Crawford to b...
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Fruitful Goodness from 2021-09-27T12:15:30
09/26/2021 Genesis 1 Meg Hoffman Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gathering L...
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Fruitful Kindness from 2021-09-20T12:32:42
09/19/2021 Romans 2:1-4 Chris Breslin Sermon slides Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s ...
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Fruitful Patience from 2021-09-13T19:57:43
09/12/2021 Romans 5:4-6 Brodie Heginbotham Sermon slides Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for SundayR...
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Fruitful Joy&Peace from 2021-09-06T18:17:23
09/05/2021 Romans 15:13 Chris Breslin Sermon slides Meet Pastoral Intern Brodie Heginbotham Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play ...
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Fruitful Love from 2021-08-30T12:13:50
08/29/2021 Romans 8:35-39 Chris Breslin Sermon slides with Blessing of the Books Prayers. Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play le...
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A Cure for Face-Blindness from 2021-08-24T16:45:38
08/22/2021 Acts 9:1-22 Stephanie Holmer Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gath...
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Money, Magic,&‘Illegitimi Non Carborundum’ from 2021-08-09T12:31:27
08/08/2021 Acts 8:4-25 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gatheri...
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Can I Be a Witness? from 2021-08-02T11:19:43
08/01/2021 Acts 6:8-15 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gatheri...
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Fragments of Heaven from 2021-07-25T19:29:24
07/25/2021 Acts 6:1-7 Andre Franklin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gatheri...
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Everything About This New Life from 2021-07-19T11:34:45
07/18/2021 Acts 5:17-32 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gather...
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The Currency of a New Kingdom from 2021-07-13T19:41:46
07/11/2021 Acts 4:37-5:16 Brodie Heginbotham Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship...
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The Just One Justices from 2021-07-05T13:51:58
07/04/2021 Acts 4:5-22 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gatheri...
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The Good Shepherd&the World Communion from 2021-06-27T16:08:34
06/27/2021 John 10:1-18 Meg Hoffman Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gatherin...
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“But This is How God…”: Peter&the Spirit’s Jazz from 2021-06-23T19:19:06
06/20/2021 Acts 3:17-4:5 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gathe...
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We Give What We Have from 2021-06-14T13:26:44
06/13/2021 Acts 3:1-16 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gatheri...
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We Are How We Eat from 2021-06-07T12:45:34
06/06/2021 Acts 2:42-47 Justin Farmer Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gather...
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This is That from 2021-05-30T23:59:42
05/30/2021 Acts 2:22-41 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gather...
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Gardens, Grenades,&Google-Translate from 2021-05-24T15:51:36
05/23/2021 Acts 2:1-21 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gatheri...
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Considering the Lilies from 2021-05-17T10:46:02
05/16/2021 Matthew 6:16-34 Meg Hoffman Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gathe...
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Learning to Talk and Listen to God [Will Willimon] from 2021-05-10T14:33:48
05/09/2021 Matthew 6:1-15 Will Willimon Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gath...
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New Plans for the Nonviolent Kingdom from 2021-05-03T17:50:22
05/02/2021 Matthew 5:38-48 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gat...
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Concrete Good News from 2021-04-26T11:23:32
04/25/2021 Matthew 5:17-20 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gat...
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This Little Light of Mine from 2021-04-19T12:45:58
04/18/2021 Matthew 5:13-16 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gat...
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The Sermon on the Parking Lot from 2021-04-11T19:10:49
04/11/2021 Matthew 5:1-12 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gath...
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The Beautiful/Terrible Resurrection from 2021-04-05T15:32:53
04/04/2021 John 20:1-18 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gather...
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Descending Theology: The Resurrection by Mary Karr from 2021-04-05T15:27:12
From the far star points of his pinned extremities, cold inched in—black ice and squid ink— till the hung flesh was empty. Lonely in that void even for pain, he missed his splintered feet, the huma...
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The Beautiful/Terrible Cross (Good Friday) from 2021-04-05T15:20
04/02/2021 with the Gathering Church Psalm 22 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson.
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What Do I Do with this Anger? from 2021-03-29T14:34:27
03/28/2021 Psalm 94 Sabrina Chan Download Oak Lent Devotional Calendar Download the Psalms of Lament Writing Guide Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak ...
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The Poet Thinks About the Donkey by Mary Oliver from 2021-03-29T14:04:39
On the outskirts of Jerusalem the donkey waited. Not especially brave, or filled with understanding, he stood and waited. How horses, turned out into the meadow, leap with delight! How doves, relea...
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Who Gives You Thanks from the Grave? from 2021-03-23T15:01:57
03/21/2021 Psalm 6 Yudai Chiba Download Oak Lent Devotional Calendar Download the Psalms of Lament Writing Guide Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Ki...
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VI. Domine, Ne In Furore by Malcolm Guite from 2021-03-23T14:57:26
Whose mercy wakes me at the break of day? I feel my weakness, all my bones are vexed And all the faith in me seems worn away As though I’ve lost Love’s memory. Perplexed By false complexitie...
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What Keeps You Up At Night? from 2021-03-15T14:14:36
03/14/2021 Psalm 4 Charlene Brown Download Oak Lent Devotional Calendar Download the Psalms of Lament Writing Guide Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak...
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Epilogue by Christian Wiman from 2021-03-15T14:09:55
The more I think the more I feel reality without reverence is not real. The more I feel the more I think that God himself has brought me to this brink wherein to have more faith means having...
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Teach us to Number our Days: A Story of Pandemic Parenting in 3 Acts from 2021-03-08T16:15:47
03/07/2021 Psalm 90 Chris Breslin Download Oak Lent Devotional Calendar Download the Psalms of Lament Writing Guide Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak...
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Bright Field by R.S. Thomas from 2021-03-08T14:47:34
I have seen the sun break through to illuminate a small field for a while, and gone my way and forgotten it. But that was the pearl of great price, the one field that had treasure in it. I realize ...
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Our Last Words and the Words After That from 2021-03-01T14:57:39
02/28/2021 Psalm 61 Chris Breslin Download Oak Lent Devotional Calendar Download the Psalms of Lament Writing Guide Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak...
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How I Talk to God by Kelly Belmonte from 2021-03-01T14:53:41
Coffee in one hand leaning in to share, listen: How I talk to God. “Momma, you’re special.” Three-year-old touches my cheek. How God talks to me. While driving I make lists: done, do, hope, love, h...
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It’s Both Better&Worse Than We Thought from 2021-02-22T15:37:15
02/21/2021 Psalm 51 Chris Breslin Download Oak Lent Devotional Calendar Download the Psalms of Lament Writing Guide Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak...
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Late Results by Scott Cairns from 2021-02-22T15:30:43
From 02/21/21 (Lent 1) worship gathering. Paired with Psalm 51. We wanted to confess our sins but there were no takers. —Milosz And the few willing to listen demanded that we confess on tele...
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Ash Wednesday Evening Prayer from 2021-02-18T19:58:09
02/17/2021 A collaborative worship gathering with the Gathering Church Curt Lowndes Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. ...
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An Outward-Facing Intimacy (St. Valentine) from 2021-02-15T14:19:45
02/14/2021 1 John 4:7-21 Meg Hoffman (Godly Play lesson) & Chris Breslin (homily) Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson...
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Healing Power with&from Intimacy from 2021-02-08T20:21:43
02/07/2021 Mark 1:29-45 Chris Breslin & Calvin Gross (testimony) Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music fo...
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The Ministry of Bear-poking&Tooth-extraction from 2021-02-01T15:10:37
01/31/2021 Mark 1:21-28 Chris Breslin Slides from January 31, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for ...
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Kitchen Tables&Sea Shores from 2021-01-25T16:10:46
01/24/2021 Mark 1:14-20 Chris Breslin Slides from January 24, 2021 Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for ...
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God Knows Us from 2021-01-18T12:50:54
01/17/2021 John 1:43-51 Yudai Chiba Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gatherin...
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Epiphany Means Revelation from 2021-01-11T18:20:44
01/10/2021 Mark 1:4-11 Chris Breslin Watch the whole worship gathering via YouTube. Watch this week’s Oak Kids’ Godly Play lesson. Music for Sunday’s worship gatheri...
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Los Tres Reyes Magos (testimony by Pastor Ricardo Correa) from 2021-01-11T18:18:23
On this Epiphany Sunday, we were joined for a brief testimony by Pastor Ricardo Correa (CANU) as he shares about his church’s Epiphany traditions which we usually are able to join in on.
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Son of God&Son of Mary from 2020-12-21T18:35:33
12/20/2020 Luke 1:26-38 Yudai Chiba Slides for December 20, 2020 Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Wesley/Mendelssohn Oh Holy Night by Adam/Dwight/Chr...
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Hope&Joy Collude (Advent 3) from 2020-12-14T14:42:08
12/13/2020 Luke 1:46-55 Chris Breslin Slides for December 13, 2020 Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Angels We Have Heard on High by Traditional/Barnes/Chadwick The Magnification by...
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The 3mph Kingdom Coming (Advent 2) from 2020-12-07T15:44:10
12/06/2020 Mark 1:1-8 Chris Breslin Slides for December 6, 2020 Music for Sunday’s worship gathering The Lord is Coming by Boudreua/Mulvahill/Wilson (H.E.R.) The First Noël Do You Hear...
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Staying Awake for a Change (Advent 1) from 2020-11-30T19:13:51
11/29/2020 Mark 13:24-36 Chris Breslin Slides for November 29, 2020 Music for Sunday’s worship gathering Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus by Wesley/Prichard Come Light Our Hearts by McCr...
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No Mechanic of the Flesh: Suffering with&for Nagasaki (St. Takashi Nagai) from 2020-11-23T15:37:23
11/22/2020 John 16:32-17:5 Yudai Chiba Takashi Nagai (永井 隆) was a Catholic physician specializing in radiology, an author, and a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. His subsequent li...
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A Ministry of Stirring the Pot (St. Pauli Murray) from 2020-11-16T19:52:28
11/15/2020 Matthew 12:1-14 Meg Hoffman Pauli Murray was an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, a women’s rights activist, Episcopal priest, and author. Drawn to the min...
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A Deliberate&Liberative Rest (Oak Church 6th Anniversary) from 2020-10-26T16:50:17
10/25/2020 Isaiah 61 Chris Breslin Oak Folk Testimonies by Brynn Pendrak, Joey Morningstar, & Carolina Kammel Slides from October 25, 2020 Godly Play at Home Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering...
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A Fellowship For All People (St. Howard Thurman) from 2020-10-19T17:03:28
10/18/2020 Philemon 4-11, 17 Byron Cogdell Howard Thurman was an African-American author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he play...
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Never Alone from 2020-10-12T18:55:03
10/11/2020 John 14:15-29 Yudai Chiba Godly Play at Home Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Pass Us Not O Gentle Savior by Crosby/Doane All Ye Refugees by McCracken The Advocate by B...
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Introducing Nate Hood (Oak Church Resident Artist) from 2020-10-12T18:45:13
Alexandra Burchette introduces one of the 2020-21 Brehm Center Resident Artists. Nate Hood is from Matthews, NC, the home of the Harris Teeter Headquarters. He moved to Durham in 2012ish for an ex...
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A People Who Bear the Kingdom’s Fruit from 2020-10-05T14:41:37
10/04/2020 Matthew 21:33-46 (Proper 22) Chris Breslin “It is very easy to be servants of the word without disturbing the world: a very spiritualized word, a word without any commitment to hi...
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Introducing Bethie Figgie (Oak Church Resident Artist) from 2020-10-05T14:28:51
Pastor Chris introduces one of the 2020-21 Brehm Center Resident Artists. Bethie Figgie is from Bellingham, WA, the home of endless grey drizzle, no cockroaches, excellent teriyaki, and clean sea a...
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Don’t Call Me a Saint (St. Dorothy Day) [D.L. Mayfield] from 2020-09-28T20:20:43
09/27/2020 Psalm 126 D.L. Mayfield Dorothy Day was an American journalist, social activist and anarchist who, after a bohemian youth, became a Catholic Christian without in any way abandonin...
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Introducing Sayde Anderson (Oak Church Resident Artist) from 2020-09-28T19:26:14
Congregational liaison Alexandra Burchette introduces one of the 2020-21 Brehm Center Resident Artists. Sayde Anderson is from Denver, Colorado – home to the invention of the cheeseburger. I moved...
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Confusing Grace: God’s Vast Conspiracy of Enoughness from 2020-09-21T20:18:14
09/20/2020 Matthew 20:1-16 (Proper 20) Chris Breslin “All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it, but most people think of these storie...
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Never Forget Mercy from 2020-09-14T20:10:38
09/13/2020 Matthew 18:21-35 (Proper 19) Chris Breslin Testimony and introduction of Yudai Chiba (2020-21 Pastoral Intern) “Through my memory of the Passion, God can “purify” my memory o...
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Like the Gentiles&Tax Collectors from 2020-09-07T18:13:04
09/06/2020 Matthew 18:15-20 (Proper 18) Justin Farmer Godly Play at Home Practical Tips and Resources for Hand Copying Scripture (Kairos Partnerships) Songs for Today’s Worship Gather...
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God Loves You&Has a Cross Planned for Your Life from 2020-08-31T14:09:43
08/30/2020 Matthew 16:21-28 (Proper 17) Chris Breslin “Jesus gives his disciples a new barometer.” Whereas the God’s people’s faithfulness was measured by prosperity and flourishing in the P...
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The Cross&the Mustard Seed (Blessing of the Books) from 2020-08-24T14:39:56
08/23/2020 Matthew 13:31-33 Meg Hoffman & Chris Breslin Godly Play at Home Practical Tips and Resources for Hand Copying Scripture (Kairos Partnerships) Songs for Today’s Worship ...
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A Persistent Prayer for Humble Access from 2020-08-17T16:43:47
08/16/2020 Matthew 15:21-28 (Proper 15) Chris Breslin We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your abundant and great mercies...
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God Moves on the Water from 2020-08-10T14:51:49
08/09/2020 Matthew 14:22-33 (Proper 14) Chris Breslin “Faith is not a characteristic. Faith is not a personality trait. Faith is not a sanctified degree that you put on your wall. Faith is n...
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The Ordination of Meg Hoffman from 2020-08-03T15:29:39
08/02/2020 Psalm 68:4-6a Rev. Meg Hoffman & Rev. Chris Breslin Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Nothing to Fear by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project I Want to Walk as a Child o...
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The Resurrection&the Life: Jesus&Vacant Tombs [Andy Byers] from 2020-07-27T13:18:59
07/26/2020 John 11:14-44 Rev. Dr. Andy Byers Slides for July 26, 2020 Godly Play at Home More resources on Faith and the Apostles’ Creed: The Apostles’ Creed for Today by Justo Gonzal...
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Forgiven-ness&Sheep-Feeding from 2020-07-20T15:05:37
07/19/2020 John 21:9-19 Chris Breslin “Kichijiro who has been the Judas figure throughout, turns out to be Fr. Rodrigues’s best friend, the most trusted confidant. Kichijiro refuses to let ...
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More Than What It Currently Is from 2020-07-14T14:20:30
07/12/2020 Ephesians 3:10-21 Charlene Brown “The “rulers and authorities”— both the earthly authorities and their shadowy heavenly counterparts— always tend to create societies and social st...
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God’s Breath in Breathless Times from 2020-07-07T00:18:06
07/05/2020 Colossians 3:1-17 Chris Breslin “Hope sounds like a song in a weary throat.” -Pauli Murray Slides from July 5, 2020 Godly Play at Home The Tragic History of “I Can’t Breath...
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The Restorative Judge from 2020-06-29T15:58:57
06/28/2020 Acts 10:34-43 Chris Breslin “In his appearing we find neither a dualist rejection of the present world nor simply his arrival like a spaceman into the present world but rather a transfor...
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The Gifts of the Ever-Present Christ from 2020-06-22T19:51:55
06/21/2020 Ephesians 4:1-16 Chris Breslin “[Picture a diver] stripping off garment after garment, making himself naked, then flashing for a moment in the air, and then down through the green...
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Jesus Grabbed Me By the Wrist from 2020-06-15T15:37:54
06/14/2020 John 11:1-44 Chris Breslin “I would not be a Christian apart from those tears. Jesus’ wasteful tears.” –Steve Garber (recounted in Makoto Fujimura’s Tears for Fragile Emanations ...
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The Healing Wounds of Jesus from 2020-06-11T16:11:54
06/07/2020 Isaiah 53 Chris Breslin “God’s ‘yes’ will always have the final say over our ‘no.’ God’s justice will always have the final say over our injustice.” -Mika Edmonson, The Power of U...
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The Imitation of Mary [Chris E.W. Green] from 2020-06-01T16:16:22
05/31/2020 Passages from Luke 1 & 2 Dr. Chris E. W. Green Slides from May 31, 2020 Godly Play at Home More resources on Faith and the Apostles’ Creed: The Apostles’ Creed for Toda...
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Walk This Way: Resurrection, Scripture, and Eating with Jesus by Fr. Mike Boone from 2020-05-31T16:15:01
Fr. Mike Boone passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday May 26, 2020 at his home in Bremerton, WA. He was the rector and dean of St. Charles Anglican Cathedral. While Mike was in Durham, he was an avid ...
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Lord, Teach Us To Follow from 2020-05-25T19:00:47
05/24/2020 Mark 8:27-35 Joe Longarino Godly Play at Home More resources on Faith and the Apostles’ Creed: The Apostles’ Creed for Today by Justo Gonzalez The Cambridge Companion to Ch...
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This Is My Father’s World from 2020-05-18T16:51:06
05/17/2020 Luke 15:11-32 Chris Breslin “It’s the unlimited power to be there, to be faithful to and for a world that is deeply unstable and unjust and suspicious and uncooperative: the power...
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Beautiful, Credible Friends from 2020-05-11T14:41:54
05/10/2020 1 Peter 2:2-10 Chris Breslin Slides from May 10, 2020 Godly Play at Home More resources on Faith and the Apostles’ Creed: The Apostles’ Creed for Today by Justo Gonzalez Th...
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Intense, Immersed, Intimate,&In Awe from 2020-05-04T15:13:44
05/03/2020 Acts 2:42-47 Dr. Linda Gorham Dr. Linda F. Gorham is the President and Founder of Spring in the Desert Ministries, Inc. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology f...
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The Stranger on the Road from 2020-04-27T14:24:10
04/26/2020 Luke 24:13-35 Christian DaPonte Godly Play at Home Download Songs for Good Friday by Oak Music More resources for the sermon and season: Reading Scripture in Light of the R...
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Peace, Even in Lockdown from 2020-04-19T19:10:20
04/19/2020 John 20:19-31 Chris Breslin “When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. But he put his right hand on me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid. I’m the first and the last, and the li...
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[Repost] Slow Church w/C. Christopher Smith from 2020-04-17T18:14:36
Five years ago (4/16/15) we hosted C. Christopher Smith for a talk and potluck conversation (sponsored by Duke Divinity School’s Thriving Rural Communities Initiative ). Chris Smith is editor...
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Do Not Be Afraid from 2020-04-13T00:11:12
04/12/2020 Matthew 28:1-10 Chris Breslin “I’m neither an optimist nor a pessimist, Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!” -Lesslie Newbigin Slides from April 12, 2020 Godly Play at Hom...
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Love So Amazing (Good Friday audio version) from 2020-04-10T10:23:43
Video version available via Youtube Slides of Featured Artwork Presentation Song: “Daughters of Zion” By Isaac Wardell, Erin Rose & Paul Zach Art: Daughters of Zion by Sayde Laine Welcome Chris...
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Worshipping the God Who is Working Even When We Can’t See It (Palm Sunday) from 2020-04-06T14:15:18
04/05/2020 John 12:12-19 Kurt Bubalo Testimony by Jessica Farmer Godly Play at Home More resources for the sermon and season: Crafted into Christlikeness (2020 Oak Church Lenten Devot...
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The Fast We Didn’t Choose from 2020-03-30T13:46:33
03/29/2020 Isaiah 58:5-10 Chris Breslin “The self-denial involved in the period of Lent isn’t about just giving up chocolates or beer; it’s about trying to give up a certain set of pictures ...
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Lament in a Time of Coronavirus [Amy Peterson] from 2020-03-23T13:20:05
03/22/2020 Lamentations 1 Amy Peterson Amy Peterson is a writer, teacher, and postulant living in Durham, NC. Her writing explores the intersections of faith, language, and culture. In 2020 ...
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The Language of Community [Richella Parham] from 2020-03-09T13:09:03
03/08/2020 1 John 1:1-9 Richella Parham “The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons, with Himself included in that community as its prime susta...
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Hammer is the Prayer from 2020-03-02T14:09:46
03/01/2020 Philippians 4:4-9 Chris Breslin “To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” -Karl Barth More resources for the sermon ...
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Transfigurate from 2020-02-24T08:27:28
02/23/2020 Psalm 99 & Matthew 17:1-9 Chris Breslin “The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and p...
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Discipleship for Losers* from 2020-02-17T18:46:40
02/16/2020 Psalm 119:1-9 & Matthew 5:21-37 Chris Breslin “Only the cross as God’s truth about us makes us truthful. Those who know the cross no longer shy away from any truth.” -Dietrich...
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Kingdom Values and the Valuable Cross from 2020-02-03T19:02:17
02/02/2020 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 & Matthew 5:1-12 Chris Breslin “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” -James Baldwin ...
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An Extraordinary Call from 2020-01-27T18:29:54
01/26/2020 Psalm 27 & Matthew 4:12-23 Chris Breslin “All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful.” -Flannery O’Connor “To add insu...
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The Mindset of Christ from 2020-01-20T13:59:37
01/19/2020 Genesis 1:26-27 & Philippians 1:27-2:12 Stephanie Holmer Sermon Resources Slides for January 19, 2020 Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (On Being) video Starting point for read...
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Ecclesia Network National Gathering 2020 Update from 2020-01-20T13:51:29
01/19/2020 Testimony Christian DaPonte Ecclesia Network
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Open Eyes&Open Ears from 2020-01-13T12:00:14
01/12/2020 Psalm 29 & Matthew 3:13-17 Chris Breslin “Love is holy because it is like grace–the worthiness of its object is never really what matters.” -Marilynne Robinson, Gilead &...
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The Bread of Tears from 2019-12-22T19:21:57
12/22/2019 Psalm 80 Dave Crispell This Sunday’s Songs Do You Hear What I Hear? by Regney/Baker Little Drummer Boy by Davis/Onorati/Simeone The First Noël by Traditional What Child is This? b...
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Songs of Hope&Joy from 2019-12-16T12:00:27
12/15/2019 Songs of Hope & Joy Matthew 11:2-11 Chris Breslin “Joy builds on the past and borrows from the future.” -Eugene Peterson “True joy is freedom from fear and alienation. ...
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In the Days to Come from 2019-12-02T19:18:19
12/01/2019 Isaiah 2:1-5 Chris Breslin “To practice Advent is to lean into an almost cosmic ache: our deep, wordless desire for things to be made right and the incompleteness we find in the m...
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Imaging the Invisible God (St. Macrina) from 2019-11-25T11:40:02
11/24/2019 Colossians 1:15-20 Chris Breslin Macrina the Younger (c. 330 – 19 July 379) was a nun in the Early Christian Church and is a prominent saint in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Cathol...
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Learning to Love Like Jesus Loved (St. Rich Mullins) from 2019-11-18T00:44:20
11/17/2019 Philippians 2:5-11 Christian DaPonte Rich Mullins was a Christian music singer and songwriter born in Richmond, Indiana. He died in an automobile accident in September of 1997. Mu...
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Crucified with Christ in Community (St. Dietrich Bonhoeffer) from 2019-11-11T11:26
11/10/2019 Galatians 2:20 Chris Breslin Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor, theologian, underground seminary-founder, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Chur...
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Praying Times (St. Ann Atwater) [Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove] from 2019-11-04T03:00:51
11/03/2019 Luke 18:1-8 Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Ann Atwater was an American civil rights activist in Durham, North Carolina. She became an effective activist and leader when advocating for ...
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Another Ring (5th Anniversary) from 2019-10-28T18:05:24
10/27/2019 Isaiah 61 Chris Breslin “Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the interm...
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Peace Within Your Walls from 2019-10-21T03:00
10/20/2019 Psalm 122 Christian DaPonte Christian DaPonte is Oak Church’s Pastoral Intern for the 2019-20 academic year from Duke Divinity School. He was born in the USA’s northern neighbor i...
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A Home for God from 2019-10-14T03:00:08
10/13/2019 Psalm 132 Chris Breslin “You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You.” -St. Augustine of Hippo “The history of the ark was, for ...
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The Holy Everywhere and the Holy Here from 2019-10-07T16:10:56
10/06/2019 Psalm 48 Chris Breslin “There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.” “Make a place to sit down. / Sit down. Be quiet. / You must depen...
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The Hope of the Poor Will Not Die from 2019-09-30T13:20:48
09/29/2019 Luke 16:19-31 Chris Breslin I say móre: the just man justices; Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces; Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is — Chríst — for ...
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Gotta Serve Somebody from 2019-09-24T15:33:31
09/22/2019 Luke 16:1-13 Chris Breslin “[T]he unjust steward is nothing less than the Christ-figure in this parable, a dead ringer for Jesus himself. First of all, he dies and rises, like Jes...
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Homecoming from 2019-09-16T15:27:55
09/15/2019 Luke 15 Chris Breslin “I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.” -Henri Nouwen “Weary or bitter or bewildered as we ...
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Counting the Cost in the Kingdom from 2019-09-09T13:15:06
09/08/2019 Luke 14:25-33 Chris Breslin “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer “Pragmatism, legalism, and greed cannot comprehe...
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[Repost] Jeremy Begbie at Oak Church from 2019-09-04T12:16:35
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Duke Initiatives in Theology and Arts, we’re revisiting this sermon by Jeremy Begbie from February 22, 2015 at Oak Church during the first week of Len...
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The Kingdom of God Has Come Near from 2019-09-02T00:21:47
09/01/2019 Luke 10:1-20 Yucheng Bai Yucheng Bai is a doctoral student in World Religions in the Duke University Department of Religion. Originally from China, he has been a member of the Duk...
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Teach&Establish (Blessing of the Books) from 2019-08-26T13:03:35
08/25/2019 Psalm 90 Chris Breslin “Our God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home.” – Isaac Watts, O God Our Help i...
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The End is Where We Start From from 2019-08-12T13:37:45
08/11/2019 Revelation 22 Chris Breslin With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arri...
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Here and Now from 2019-08-05T15:50
08/04/2019 Revelation 21:1-22:5 Mindy Erdmann Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Fifty Miles of Elbow Room by McGhee Your Peace Will Make Us One by Assad Psalm 46 by Bifrost Arts We Abide,...
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Enemies, not Rivals from 2019-07-29T15:20:53
07/28/2019 Revelation 20 Chris Breslin “There are two angels with a (hu)man—one of righteousness, and the other of iniquity.” -Shepherd of Hermas “Most merciful God, we c...
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Hallelujah Anyhow from 2019-07-22T15:30:07
07/21/2019 Revelation 19:1-10 Chris Breslin “For us, [sin] refers to something much more like the human tendency, the human propensity to f*ck up. Or let’s add one more word; the human prop...
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The Apocalyptic Ordinary from 2019-07-20T20:55:06
07/14/2019 Revelation 17:3-18 Sarah Neff Behold the Lamb collage artwork by Chris Breslin (2019) Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Eternity Already by DaPonte/DeConto/Walton All Cr...
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Follow the Lamb Wherever He Goes from 2019-07-08T16:38:58
07/07/2019 Revelation 12:1-17 Chris Breslin “Jesus was faced with these same questions, but when he was asked to prove his power as the Son of God by the relevant behavior of changing stones...
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The Art of the Interlude from 2019-07-01T15:02:36
06/30/2019 Revelation 10-11 Andre Franklin Andre Franklin is the pastor and planter of Vinea Church. The Franklins (wife Terri and little girls Mia & Minkah) are native Texans who moved ...
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Songs, Scents,&Silence from 2019-06-24T20:54:18
06/23/2019 Revelation 8:1-5 Chris Breslin “Hope is a song in a weary throat.” -Pauli Murray “I wanted to tell you to have a good, clear cantus firmus; that is the only way to a full a...
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The Lamb Will Be Their Shepherd from 2019-06-17T19:35:59
06/16/2019 Revelation 6-7 Chris Breslin “Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore their names are Death, Destruction, Pestilence, and Famine. ...
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Gathered Around the Throne from 2019-06-10T13:26:25
06/09/2019 Revelation 4&5 Chris Breslin “Christians worship with a conviction that they are in the presence of God. Worship is an act of attention to the living God who rules, speaks and...
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Identity Crisis from 2019-06-03T20:42:23
06/02/2019 Revelation 2 & 3 Jeremiah Dodson “Revelation is not about the antichrist, but about the living Christ. It is not about a rapture out of this world but about faithful dis...
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Past, Present,&Future from 2019-05-28T00:30:20
05/26/2019 Revelation 1:12-20 Chris Breslin “Christ is the center and at the center.” -Eugene Peterson “Jesus is a perfect photo of the Unseen God…The result is that he’s tops any way...
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Can I Get a Witness?! from 2019-05-19T23:44:32
05/19/2019 Revelation 1:1-11 Chris Breslin “The imagination is our way into the divine Imagination, permitting us to see wholly- as a whole and holy- what we perceive as scattered, as order ...
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A Magnifying Life from 2019-05-13T13:21:14
05/12/2019 Luke 1:46-55 Chris Breslin “My mother and grandmother taught me to ignore Mother’s Day (a commercial gimmick) from as long as I can remember. They loved to quote an old Epis...
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What’s So Great About This Commission? from 2019-05-05T18:52:48
05/05/2019 Matthew 28:16-20 Chris Breslin “Discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.” -Dallas Willard “The difference between the one who goes to rura...
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Scary Good News from 2019-04-29T13:25:32
04/28/2019 Matthew 28:1-10 Chris Breslin “Those who had thought they were alive now discover that what they took for life is death. Jesus’ resurrection creates a life freed from the death th...
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Evergreen (Easter Sunday) from 2019-04-22T20:26:06
04/21/2019 Isaiah 11:1-10 Chris Breslin “Resurrection means the worst thing is never the last thing.” -Frederick Buechner Scripture: Psalm 139 Genesis 1 Genesis 15 Luke 1:26-55 Genesi...
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Walk With Me (Good Friday) from 2019-04-22T19:53:38
04/19/2019 Chris Breslin “The symbol of the cross in the church points to the God who was crucified not between two candles on an altar, but between two thieves in the place of the skull, where t...
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A House of Prayer from 2019-04-15T15:01:20
04/14/2019 Matthew 21:1-17 Matthew Rehnborg (Bumper music: God Be In My Head by Ryan Gustafson of the Dead Tongues featured on Hymns from the Gathering Church (2011)) “Scripture is lik...
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Eternity Already from 2019-04-07T18:35:56
04/07/2019 Matthew 25:31-46 Chris Breslin (Bumper music: God Be In My Head by Ryan Gustafson of the Dead Tongues featured on Hymns from the Gathering Church (2011)) “Proximity has taught me ...
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The Unfamiliarity of the Christian Life from 2019-03-31T18:43:20
03/31/2019 Matthew 25:10-13 Andre Franklin (Bumper music:God Be In My Head by Ryan Gustafson of the Dead Tongues featured on Hymns from the Gathering Church (2011)) Andre Franklin is the pas...
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Everything is on the Table from 2019-03-24T18:18:56
03/24/2019 Matthew 22:1-14 Chris Breslin (Bumper music: God Be In My Head by Ryan Gustafson of the Dead Tongues featured on Hymns from the Gathering Church (2011)) “The living of a [person’s] life,...
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Insouciant Grace from 2019-03-17T19:48:14
03/17/2019 Matthew 20:1-16 Chris Breslin (Bumper music:God Be In My Head by Ryan Gustafson of the Dead Tongues featured on Hymns from the Gathering Church (2011)) “All my stories are about t...
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As You Forgive Those from 2019-03-11T18:11:56
03/10/2019 Matthew 18:15-35 Matthew Rehnborg (Bumper music: God Be In My Head by Ryan Gustafson of the Dead Tongues featured on Hymns from the Gathering Church (2011)) “God approaches our minds by ...
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Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places from 2019-03-03T19:17:51
03/03/2019 Luke 9:28-36 Chris Breslin “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” -Elvis Costello (maybe, or David Byrne, Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Thelonius Monk…) Christ...
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Farm Faithfulness from 2019-02-25T15:12:52
02/24/2019 Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40 Chris Breslin “The more deeply we grow into the psalms and the more often we pray them as our own, the more simple and rich will our prayer become.” -Dietrich...
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A Gospel Economy from 2019-02-18T14:05:35
02/17/2019 Luke 6:17-26 Matthew Rehnborg “The situation of the soul in contemplation is something like the situation of Adam and Eve in Paradise. Everything is yours, but on one infini...
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The Pains of Being Pure of Heart from 2019-02-10T19:32:42
02/10/2019 Isaiah 6:1-11 Chris Breslin “Holy ground is dangerous ground. The holy is never, never something of God that we can take as if we owned it and use it for our own purposes” -Eugene...
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Instigators of Jubilee from 2019-02-04T15:33:32
02/03/2019 Luke 4:21-30 John Chandler John Chandler is the Marketing and Communications Director for Help One Now, an NGO which empowers families in developing countries through high-capacit...
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Epiphany&Jubilee from 2019-01-28T11:58:35
01/27/2019 Luke 4:14-21 Chris Breslin “A Sabbath is a weekly Jubilee during which the powerful are humbled and brought low, and the poor and lowly are gifted space, love, and generosity.” -A...
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New Year, New You…Same God from 2019-01-20T20:50:33
01/20/2019 Isaiah 30:1-5, 12-22 Charlene Brown Season Resources: Joy is for Epiphany, tooby Miroslav Volf (Christian Century) Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of Godby Bo...
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Through Waters from 2019-01-14T14:04:54
01/13/2019 Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Sarah Neff “The Epiphany story that most tempts my memory is the story of Jesus’ baptism. There is John at the river Jordan, and there are all those unwashed p...
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Feast of the Three Kings (with CANU) from 2019-01-07T18:42
01/06/2019 Matthew 2:1-12 Carolina Kammel & Ricardo Correa A special collaborative Epiphany celebration with our friends from Centro de Alabanza Naciones Unidas. Stream the video of the ...
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Holy Shift from 2018-12-24T04:12:02
12/23/2018 Luke 1:39-55 Mindy Erdmann (Bumper music:Because the Night is Longby Music from the Gathering Church (2010)) Mindy Erdmannworks for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. Her love for...
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Hope in the Wilderness from 2018-12-17T17:10:50
12/16/2018 Luke 3:1-6 Carolina Kammel (Bumper music:Because the Night is Longby Music from the Gathering Church (2010)) Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow A Carol for the Despairi...
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Stories of Freedom: A Conversation on Race and Place with Natasha Sistrunk-Robinson&Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove from 2018-12-14T16:26:40
Our conversation took place at Oak Church on December 13, 2018. Margot Starbuck facilitated the conversation in partnership with DurhamCares(directed by Reynolds Chapman). Lauren Daniel sang. Natas...
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It’s the Start of the World as We’ve Never Known It from 2018-12-02T19:35:11
12/02/2018 Luke 21:25-36 Chris Breslin (Bumper music:Because the Night is Long by Music from the Gathering Church (2010)) “Advent is not for the faint of heart.” – Fleming Rutledge ...
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The Not-From-Around-Here King (Christ the King Sunday) from 2018-11-25T19:25:10
11/25/2018 John 18:33-38a Chris Breslin “A king who dies on the cross must be the king of a rather strange kingdom.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer “The offering of gold, frankincense, and myrr...
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Two Sides of the Same Coin from 2018-11-18T19:15:34
11/18/2018 Micah 6:1-8 Stephanie Holmer “Whatever I had read as a child about the saints had thrilled me. I could see the nobility of giving one’s life for the sick, the maimed, the leper. B...
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What She Needed to Live On from 2018-11-12T16:26:41
11/11/2018 Mark 12:35-44 Chris Breslin “The mystery of the poor is this: That they are Jesus, and what you do for them you do for Him. It is the only way we have of knowing and believing in ...
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Just the Way the World Works from 2018-11-05T13:56:58
11/04/2018 Luke 13:10-17 Matthew Rehnborg “When the prophet dares to expose to the light the congregation who is living in darkness, the initial reaction is to wince in pain. Our eyes have a...
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A New Life Burgeons from 2018-10-29T15:06:28
10/28/2018 Isaiah 60:15-22 & Revelation 21:1-5 Chris Breslin “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” -T....
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God’s (Vulnerable) Person from 2018-10-22T14:15:07
10/21/2018 Genesis 22:1-18 Chris Breslin “ThroughAbraham and his family, God will bless the whole world. Shimmering like a mirage in the deserts through which Abraham wandered was the vision...
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God’s (Vulnerable) People from 2018-10-15T08:01:32
10/14/2018 Genesis 22:1-18 Chris Breslin “The church is a countercultural community of discipleship, and this community is the primary addressee of God’s imperatives.” -Richard Hays “Yahweh ...
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Our Wicked Problem from 2018-10-08T16:21:02
10/07/2018 Genesis 2:25-3:7 Chris Breslin “Genesis 3 paints the scenario that is the hinge point of history. Humanity grasps at its own peace at the expense of the peace of all. The relation...
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Introducing&Blessing New Steering Group Members&Pastoral Intern from 2018-10-08T16:16:35
We introduced and blessed three new members of our Steering Group: Bettejean Cramer, Carolina Kammel, and Sarah Neff. We also introduced and blessed our 2018-19 academic year Pastoral Intern from D...
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Created to Eat [Kendall Vanderslice] from 2018-10-01T13:36:11
09/30/2018 Genesis 2:4-25 Kendall Vanderslice Kendall Vanderslice is a graduate of Wheaton College and Boston University (MLA Gastronomy). She is a student at Duke Divinity School and author...
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Re-Placing Friendships from 2018-09-24T13:46:44
09/23/2018 Acts 16:13-34 Chris Breslin “It’s easy for us to see what our church or neighborhood or city could be, to see all the things it’s not and dream of other places. But what if our se...
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A Tale of Two Tables from 2018-09-17T15:53:44
09/16/2018 Acts 2:42-47 Chris Breslin “After I gazed for a long time at Rublev’s Trinity these words spoke to me with new power. ‘Praying at all times’ has come to mean ‘dwelling in the hous...
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Reconstructing the Gospel: an evening with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove from 2018-09-10T19:40:31
Our conversation took place at Oak Church on September 9, 2018. Tammy White Rodman (Pilgrimage Coordinator for DurhamCares) was the moderator. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (MDiv, Duke Divinity School)...
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The Roots of Shalom from 2018-09-10T16:04:27
09/09/2018 Jeremiah 29:4-9 Reynolds Chapman Reynolds Chapman is Executive Director of DurhamCares, whose mission is to mobilize Durham residents to love their neighbors. He is a minister in ...
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Who is My Actual Neighbor? from 2018-09-03T20:06:23
09/02/2018 Luke 10:25-37 Chris Breslin The missionary must be the salt which dissolves in the meat, disappears and dies in it. -Leslie Newbigin “I am an Israeli Jew on my way from Jerusalem ...
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Prayer&Work&Presence from 2018-08-27T14:22:37
08/26/2018 Prayer & Work & Presence Psalm 46 Chris Breslin “Every step an arrival.” -Eugene Peterson “Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about ...
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Circle of the Church Year from 2018-08-21T14:53:12
08/19/2018 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Meg Hoffman Oak Kids Website Godly Play Foundation Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Turn! Turn! Turn! by Seeger Great is Thy Faithfulness by Chisholm...
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The Spirit and the Bride Say,“Come!” from 2018-08-12T17:41:16
08/12/2018 Revelation 22:16-21 Chris Breslin “I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.” -Lesslie Newbiggin “Foot washing is perhaps the most futu...
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Hidden in Plain Sight from 2018-08-06T14:59:34
08/05/2018 Colossians 3:1-17 Chris Breslin “…the Holy Spirit takes the ‘givenness’ of what has happened in Christ, and brings it alive in ever fresh ways in ever new contexts. Moreover, God ...
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Two Laws and the Gospel [Jeff McSwain] from 2018-07-23T15:20:51
07/22/2018 Romans 8:1-11 Jeff & Susan McSwain Jeff & Susan are the founders of Reality Ministries, a community-based non-profit that offers a variety of opportunities for participants to wo...
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The Renaissance Spirit from 2018-07-16T17:39:11
07/15/2018 John 3:1-21 Chris Breslin “I am a child of God, one in whom Christ dwells, and I am living in the unshakable kingdom of God.” –James Bryan Smith “This, you see,...
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The Spirit, Poured Out from 2018-07-11T15:12:27
07/08/2018 Joel 2:28-32 & Acts 2:1-21 Meg Hoffman Powerpoint Slides (July 8) Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:1-19 Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: This is Not the End by Ar...
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Hope-filled&Peace-able, Imagine That from 2018-07-01T21:17:10
07/01/2018 Isaiah 11:1-10 & Jeremiah 37:1-14 Chris Breslin “A prophet’s true greatness is his ability to hold God and man in a single thought.” –Abraham Heschel “When ...
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Illuminating Light: Worship&Work in the Spirit from 2018-06-25T15:16
06/24/2018 Exodus 31:1-11 Sarah Neff “We are holy creatures living among other holy creatures in a world that is holy.” –Wendell Berry ”When her doctor took her bandages off and...
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A Prayer for Our Immigrant Sisters&Brothers from 2018-06-25T15:00:24
Our 06/24/18 Call to Worship: Bendito eres Tú, Señor Jesucristo. Cruzaste todas las fronteras entre la divinidad y la humanidad para hacer tu hogar con nosotros. Blessed are You, Lord Jesus Christ....
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That Fitful, Fluent Spirit from 2018-06-11T16:20:43
06/10/2018 Psalm 51 Chris Breslin Incurable and unbelieving in any truth but the truth of grieving, I saw a tree inside a tree rise kaleidoscopically as if the leaves had livelier ghosts. I ...
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Fill Your Horn with Oil and Get Going from 2018-06-03T18:17:39
1 Samuel 16:1-13 & Isaiah 61:1-3 Chris Breslin “The strength or weakness of means is neither the spur nor the bridle to the determinate choices of God.” –Joseph Hall Slides from Today (f...
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Over the Bent World Broods from 2018-05-29T13:07:57
05/27/2018 Genesis 1:1-2 & Genesis 2:5-9 Chris Breslin The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the...
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Breathing Forgiveness from 2018-05-21T18:48:53
05/20/2018 John 20:19-23 Chris Breslin “The convex (outward tilted) of the concave (inward tilted) Resurrection is mission, and the two have to happen almost exactly together, on the same da...
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God as Our Witness from 2018-05-14T13:18:52
05/13/2018 1 John 5:9-13 Chris Breslin “How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is r...
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The Water and the Blood from 2018-05-08T15:05:04
05/06/2018 1 John 5:1-6 Chris Breslin “If we ask the question, ‘Where might you expect to find the baptized?’ one answer is, ‘In the neighbourhood of chaos’. It means you might expect to fin...
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This is How We Know from 2018-04-24T15:08:35
04/22/2018 1 John 3:16-24 Chris Breslin Slides from April, 2018 Scripture: John 3:16 Matthew 25:40 1 John 4:19 Romans 8:14-17, 28 Psalm 139 Philippians 2:5-11 John 15:5-10 (The Message) Songs for T...
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Ecclesia Network National Gathering Testimonies from 2018-04-17T14:05:41
04/15/2018 Testimony Katie DeConto, Jeremiah Dodson, Matt Hoffman, Meg Hoffman Ecclesia Network
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Called What We Already Are from 2018-04-17T14:02:59
04/15/2018 1 John 3:1-7 Chris Breslin “In the New Testament, there is an ongoing ministry of reminding.” –Bruxy Cavey “’We are an eschatological people.’ We’re called to create a picture of God’s d...
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A Sensible Life from 2018-04-10T14:34:50
04/08/2018 1 John 1:1-2:2 Chris Breslin “The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die…What you do with your body in the present matters be...
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Mourning into Dancing (Easter Sunday) from 2018-04-03T20:06:38
04/01/2018 John 11:17-44 Chris Breslin “I would not be a Christian apart from those tears. Jesus’ wasteful tears.” –Steve Garber (recounted in Makoto Fujimura’s Tears for Fragile Emanations While ...
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Baptismal Testimonies (Gary Davis&Matthew Fox) from 2018-04-01T18:46
Baptismal Testimonies and Liturgy Gary Davis & Matthew Fox April 1, 2018
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Conversion at the Cross (Good Friday) from 2018-03-30T20:04:18
03/30/2018 Isaiah 52:14 & 53:1-6; John 18-19 Chris Breslin “Like the lynching tree in America, the cross in the time of Jesus was the most ‘barbaric form of execution of the utmost cruelty,’ th...
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Behold Your King from 2018-03-29T21:32:27
03/25/2018 Matthew 21:1-11/John 9:1-14; 35-41 Joe Longarino Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Come Light Our Hearts by McCracken Hosanna (Praise is Rising) by Brown/Baloche Heal Us by Cowper/Twi...
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On the Water, Through the Storm from 2018-03-20T13:30:26
03/18/2018 John 6:15-21 Chris Breslin “Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. My work with the...
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“Five Barley Loaves and Two Fish” from 2018-03-13T15:39:40
03/11/2018 John 6:5-14 Sarah Neff “It is not easy to offer the world to each other and to God. We prefer to take the world, possess it, and consume it. What we do not realize is that this hoarding ...
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“Pick Up Your Mat&Walk!” from 2018-03-06T17:37:43
03/04/2018 John 5:1-15 Charlene Brown Rev. Charlene Brown is the National Director of Black Campus Ministries for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up...
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“Go. Your Son Lives!” from 2018-02-26T21:16:42
02/25/2018 Sermon John 4:46-54 Chris Breslin “Jesus peculiarly dramatizes the dynamics of grace: what is needed by humans is unilaterally initiated by God.” –Marianne Meye Thompson May it Last (Ave...
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Everything Happens for a Reason: a Conversation with Kate Bowler&Bob Crawford from 2018-02-26T18:55:33
An archived unedited version of The Road to Now (RTN Theology #3) episode. Pastor Chris Breslin recently invited Bob Crawford to be part of a live conversation with Kate Bowler to talk about the hi...
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A Vintage Richer for the Keeping from 2018-02-19T18:58:07
02/18/2018 John 2:1-11 Chris Breslin Here’s an epiphany to have and hold, A truth that you can taste upon the tongue, No distant shrines and canopies of gold Or ladders to be clambered rung by rung...
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Listen Up! (Transfiguration Sunday) from 2018-02-12T18:58:36
02/11/2018 Sermon Mark 9:2-13 Chris Breslin “Sometimes it feels like I’m the only one in the world who is dying. ‘We’re all sinking, slowly, but one day, while everyone watches, I will run out of a...
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The Kingdom of God Comes Home (Epiphany 5) from 2018-02-06T19:25:01
02/04/2018 Mark 1:29-39 Matt Hoffman Sermon Resources: Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives by Dallas Willard Songs for Today...
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We Should All Be Wearing Crash Helmets (Epiphany 4) from 2018-01-29T14:24:26
01/28/2018 Mark 1:21-28 Chris Breslin “…carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.” –Win...
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Hooked (Epiphany 3) from 2018-01-22T21:51:26
01/21/2018 Jonah 3:1-5, 10 & Mark 1:14-20 Chris Breslin “The gospel is not about choosing to follow advice, it’s about being called to follow a King.” –Tim Keller, The King’s Cross “To add insu...
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Nazareth?! (Epiphany 2) from 2018-01-17T17:18:51
01/14/2018 John 1:43-51 Chris Breslin “There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.” –Wendell Berry “I was ready to give up. With my cup of coffee sitting untou...
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The Voice of the Lord (Epiphany 1) from 2018-01-08T20:39:34
01/07/2018 Psalm 29 & Mark 1:4-11 Chris Breslin “This is the Epiphany’s first lesson about joy: to rejoice in the coming of Christ, it’s not enough for Christ to have been born; we must also pe...
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Advent 4–Directions For Singing from 2017-12-31T17:51:17
12/24/17 Psalm 96 Chris Breslin “Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your vo...
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Advent 3: Lying at Rest&Letting the Pieces Fly from 2017-12-19T16:14:23
12/17/2017 Psalm 126 & Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Chris Breslin “And I knew that the Spirit that had gone forth to shape the world and make it live was still alive in it. I just had no doubt. I could ...
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Advent 2: Landscaping for Peace (and Kissing Babies) from 2017-12-12T20:35:10
12/10/2017 Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85:1-2; 8-13 Sarah Neff “The peace between God and man and the salvation which comes to us men is not something general, but the specific thing itself: that concret...
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Advent 1: Seeing God’s Face from 2017-12-09T14:33:45
12/03/2017 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Isaiah 64:1-9 Curt Lowndes Rev. Curt Lowndes is the Associate Pastor of the Gathering Church. He’s a graduate of Georgetown College (KY) and Duke Divinity School. He...
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Get Your Hopes Up from 2017-11-27T19:43:39
11/26/2017 Romans 15:3-11 Chris Breslin “Advent is an invitation to plunge into the deep, dark waters of our worst world, knowing that when we re-surface for air we will encounter the hopefu...
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The Practice of Welcoming Children from 2017-11-20T17:21:25
11/19/2017 Mark 9:36-37; 10:13-16 Meg Hoffman ‘Welcome’, the word is always on your lips, Each welcome warms another one inside, An interleaving of relationships, An open door where arms are...
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Simply Sit Among the Shards from 2017-11-15T16:12:42
11/12/2017 Matthew 25:31-46 Chris Breslin “When we allow ourselves to be disarmed, we become both vulnerable and strong. The only weapons then at our disposal are those of the Spirit. We choose the...
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Just as Long as I am in this World… from 2017-11-07T15:25:44
11/05/2017 John 9:1-17 Chris Breslin “To proclaim the Gospel is to proclaim that it is at last possible to be properly human.” –Rowan Williams “The good news brings us to God, and it also brings li...
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Praying in the [King]dom from 2017-11-01T17:28:12
10/29/17 Matthew 6:1-13 Kate Hamman “The Lord’s Prayer, along with the Eucharist, forms the liturgical equivalent to what Eastern Orthodox church architecture portrays and western Gothic arc...
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The Hospitality of God [Norman Wirzba] from 2017-10-23T19:46:29
10/22/2017 Luke 14:12-24 Norman Wirzba Dr. Norman Wirzba was raised on a farm in Southern Alberta, and went on to study history at the University of Lethbridge, theology at Yale University Divinity...
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Our Gifts Combined: the Fullness of Christ in Our Midst from 2017-10-17T14:57:31
10/15/2017 Ephesians 4:1-16 Chris Breslin “Being a Christian was always about living by faith in Jesus’ sovereign Lordship in a world which didn’t much look as if he was in charge.” –N.T. Wright “T...
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Be Reconciled: Peace-making as Ecology, Geology,&Hydrology from 2017-10-14T15:33:16
10/01/2017 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 Sarah Neff “When God sets out to embrace the enemy, the result is the cross.” –Miroslav Volf “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” -Jo...
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Presence Takes Practice (&vice versa) from 2017-10-02T22:38:08
10/1/17 Psalm 46 Chris Breslin “Silence is not the absence of something, but the presence of everything.” –Gordon Hempton “God’s presence is the central fact of Christianity.” –A.W. Tozer “The Psal...
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The Floor&the Ceiling from 2017-09-25T19:51
09/24/2017 Philippians 4:10-23 Chris Breslin “’This present world is a perfectly safe place for us to be.’ That certainly is what Jesus, and the Bible as a whole, has to say to us. ‘Surely goodness...
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Incarcerated Joy from 2017-09-18T18:16:23
09/17/2017 Acts 16:16-28 Dewey Williams Rev. Dewey Williams is a minister at Mt. Level Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, where he serves with the Prison Ministry, Voices of Praise, Male Chorus, ...
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The Lord is Near! from 2017-09-11T17:50:48
09/10/2017 Philippians 4:1-9 “Thanksgiving means giving God the glory in everything, making room for him, casting our care on him, letting it be his care. The troubles that exercise us then cease t...
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Third Culture Kids from 2017-09-05T14:00:03
09/03/2017 Philippians 3:17-21 Chris Breslin Testimony by Bryan Diver & Blake “Slowly, I started to enter more fully into the world of my refugee friends. As the days and months blended into ye...
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Humility, Even Unto Death from 2017-08-28T18:42:21
8/27/2017 Philippians 2:1-11 Charlene Brown Rev. Charlene Brown is the National Director of Black Campus Ministries for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Empty...
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Renouncing Our Righteousness from 2017-08-23T17:01:22
08/20/2017 Philippians 3:1-16 Chris Breslin “Faith in its decisive act is the collapse of every effort of our own capacity and will, and the recognition of the absolute necessity of that collapse.”...
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REI Groundwater Testimony from 2017-08-23T16:59:31
8/20/2017 Stephanie Holmer, Joe Longarino, Nate Hood, Erin Victor, Elizabeth Christenson & Chris Breslin
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A Family on Mission from 2017-08-15T15:05:52
08/13/2017 Philippians 2:19-30 Chris Breslin A Congregational Prayer for Churches after Charlottesville by Rich Villodas (Missio Alliance) “Hitherto I have served you as a soldier; allow me now to ...
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Fear and Trembling…and Joy?! from 2017-08-09T15:36:32
8/6/2017 Philippians 2:12-18 Chris Breslin “Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.” -Wendell Berry “Salvatio...
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Everything that Converges Must Kneel from 2017-07-31T18:15:57
07/30/2017 Philippians 2:1-11 Chris Breslin “We can increasingly resemble Christ in character and in power by following him in his overall style of life … This was the method of his ear...
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The Impeded Stream Sings from 2017-07-25T18:14:12
07/23/2017 Philippians 1:27-30 Chris Breslin It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real...
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The Gospel in Chains? [Richard B. Hays] from 2017-07-18T20:48:42
07/16/2017 Philippians 1:12-26 Dr. Richard B. Hays Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Leave it There by Tindley Rejoice the Lord is King by Wesley/Darwall Hail to the Lord’s Anointed by Mo...
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Of Slaves&Saints… from 2017-07-10T17:12:41
07/09/2017 Philippians 1:1-11 Chris Breslin “All Joy reminds. It is never a possession, always a desire for something longer ago or further away or still ‘about to be’.” –C.S. Lewis “Th...
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A Little Lower; Just Right from 2017-06-27T17:37:06
06/25/2017 Psalm 8 Chris Breslin “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.” -Frederick Buechner “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a...
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“and the Lord for the body?” from 2017-06-23T19:29:36
06/18/2017 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Joe Longarino “In short, the problem with pornography is not that it shows too much of the person, but that it shows far too little.” –Pope John Paul II “Coitus wit...
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Here We Go from 2017-06-12T20:27:02
06/11/2017 Matthew 28:16-20 Matt Hoffman Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Take to the World by Tate/Webb I Saw the Light by Williams Be Thou My Vision by Forgaill Let Them Praise the Name of th...
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Ascension Ora et Labora from 2017-05-31T15:17:08
05/28/2017 John 17:1-11 Chris Breslin “The glory of God is humanity fully alive.” –Irenaeus “To embrace the ascension is to heave a sigh of relief, to give up the struggle to be God (and with it th...
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Believe into God, Believe into Me Also from 2017-05-22T18:59:24
5/21/17 John 14:1-21 Chris Breslin “These chapters have often rightly been seen as among the most precious and intimate in the New Testament. They are full of comfort, challenge and hope, full of t...
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2017 Ecclesia Network National Gathering&Missio Alliance Reflection from 2017-05-09T21:28:30
Rachel Breslin, Stephanie Holmer, Sarah Neff, & Nate Hood reflect about their week in Alexandria, VA at the Ecclesia Network National Gathering & Missio Alliance.
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He Calls His Own Sheep by Name&Leads Them Out from 2017-05-09T21:27:24
05/07/2017 John 10:1-15 Chris Breslin Scripture: Ezekiel 34 John 1:4 John 3:16 John 11:25 John 17:3 John 20:31 Psalm 23 (The Message) Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: You Are A Good Shepherd by...
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These Things from 2017-05-03T15:32:39
04/30/2017 Sermon Luke 24:13-35 Jeremiah Dodson “We do not gain a grasp of Scripture’s significance solely through lectures on the text, we come to understand the death and resurrection of J...
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Still Easter from 2017-04-25T16:11:18
04/23/2017 John 20:19-31 Chris Breslin “The church exists for mission as a fire exists by burning.” –Emil Bruner “Jesus has a very special love for you, as for me, the silence and emp...
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Easter: Why Are You Weeping? Who Are You Looking For? from 2017-04-19T14:24:58
John 20:1-18 Chris Breslin “The Word through whom all things were made is now the Word through whom all things are remade…Jesus’ resurrection is to be seen as the beginning of the new world, the fi...
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Good Friday 2017: “Save Yourself!” from 2017-04-17T19:20:11
04/14/2017 Luke 23:35-43 Mark Acuff Call to Worship: Lamentations 3:40-57 Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Lamb of God by Assad Man of Sorrows, What a Name! by Bliss When I Survey the Wondrous ...
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A Weeping Messiah&A Hidden Peace from 2017-04-11T19:44:03
04/09/2017 Luke 19:28-44 Chris Breslin “I would not be a Christian apart from those tears. Jesus’ wasteful tears.” –Steve Garber “At Bethany, the Incarnate Word of God stood wordless.” –Richard Ha...
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Silent God, Dissonant Prayer from 2017-04-05T21:09:52
04/02/2017 Lamentations 5 Sarah Neff “Lament is beating on God’s chest & trusting he’s not going anywhere.” –Mandy Smith “Its very unsettledness enables the book to be a house for sorrow, neith...
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April 4 | Lamentations 5:19-22 from 2017-04-04T00:01:10
But you, Lord, will rule forever; your throne lasts from one generation to the next. Why do you forget us continually; why do you abandon us for such a long time? Return us, Lord, t...
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April 3 | Lamentations 5:16-18 from 2017-04-03T00:01:21
The crown has fallen off our head. We are doomed because we have sinned. Because of all this our heart is sick; because of these things our glance is dark. Mount Zion, now deserted—...
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April 2 | Lamentations 5:13-15 from 2017-04-02T00:01:43
Young men have carried grinding stones; boys have stumbled under loads of wood. Elders have left the city gate; young people stop their music. Joy has left our heart; our da...
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April 1 | Lamentations 5:10-12 from 2017-04-01T00:01:02
Our skin is as hot as an oven because of the burning heat of famine. Women have been raped in Zion, young women in Judah’s cities. Officials have been hung up by their hands; ...
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March 31 | Lamentations 5:7-9 from 2017-03-31T00:01:21
Our fathers have sinned and are gone, but we are burdened with their iniquities. Slaves rule over us; there is no one to rescue us from their power. We get our bread at the risk of our live...
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March 30 | Lamentations 5:4-6 from 2017-03-30T00:01:55
We drink our own water—but for a price; we gather our own wood—but pay for it. Our hunters have been at our necks; we are worn out, but have no rest. We held out a hand to Egypt ...
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March 29 | Lamentations 5:1-3 from 2017-03-29T00:01:47
Lord, consider what has become of us; take notice of our disgrace. Look at it! Our property has been turned over to strangers; our houses belong to foreigners. We have become orphans, havin...
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March 28 | Lamentations 4:19-22 from 2017-03-28T00:01:05
Our hunters were faster than airborne eagles. They chased us up the mountains; they ambushed us in the wilderness. The Lord’s chosen one, the very breath in our lungs, was caught in their traps— th...
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March 27 | Lamentations 4:16-18 from 2017-03-27T00:01:17
It was the Lord’s presence that scattered them; he no longer notices them. They didn’t honor the priests’ presence; they didn’t favor the elders. Our eyes continually failed, looking for some help,...
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Calamities&Good Things from 2017-03-26T18:49:55
03/26/17 Lamentations 3 Meg Hoffman “Lament allows for the fullness of emotions to be expressed. Worship should not operate with divergent goals, moving the community toward either celebration of s...
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March 26 | Lamentations 4:13-15 from 2017-03-26T00:01:27
It was because of her prophets’ sins, her priests’ iniquities, those who shed righteous blood in the middle of the city. People wandered blindly in the streets, polluted with blood. No one would ev...
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March 25 | Lamentations 4:10-12 from 2017-03-25T00:01:37
The hands of loving women boiled their own children to become their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people. The Lord let loose his fury; he poured out his fierce anger. He starte...
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March 24 | Lamentations 4:7-9 from 2017-03-24T00:01:56
Her nazirites were purer than snow; they were more dazzling than milk. Their limbs were redder than coral; their bodies were sapphire. But their appearance grew darker than soot; they weren’t recog...
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March 23 | Lamentations 4:4-6 from 2017-03-23T00:01:09
The baby’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth, thirsty. Children ask for bread, beg for it—but there is no bread. Those who once ate gourmet food now tremble in the streets. Those who wore the ...
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March 22 | Lamentations 4:1-3 from 2017-03-22T00:01:05
Oh, no! Gold is tarnished; even the purest gold is changed. Sacred jewels are scattered on every street corner. Zion’s precious children, once valued as pure gold— oh no!—now they are worth no more...
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March 21 | Lamentations 3:55-66 from 2017-03-21T00:01:32
I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; you heard my plea, “Do not close your ear to my cry for help, but give me relief!” You came near when I called on you; you sai...
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March 20 | Lamentations 3:46-54 from 2017-03-20T00:01:27
All our enemies have opened their mouths against us; panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction. My eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of my...
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Sharing Our Words&Wounds from 2017-03-19T19:25:02
03/19/2017 Lamentations 4:17-22 Chris Breslin “What house is it to which the Bible is the door? What sort of country is spread before our eyes when we throw the Bible open?” -Karl Barth “The New Te...
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March 19 | Lamentations 3:37-45 from 2017-03-19T00:01:36
Who can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should any who draw breath complain about the pu...
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March 18 | Lamentations 3:28-36 from 2017-03-18T00:01:47
…to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it, to put one’s mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope), to give one’s cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults. For t...
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March 17 | Lamentations 3:19-27 from 2017-03-17T00:01:43
The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: ...
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March 16 | Lamentations 3:10-18 from 2017-03-16T00:01:40
He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; he led me off my way and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; he bent his bow and set me as a mark for his arrow. He shot int...
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March 15 | Lamentations 3:1-9 from 2017-03-15T00:01:21
I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day...
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The Fast I Choose from 2017-03-14T18:27:25
03/12/2017 Lamentations 2:6-9, 14 Chris Breslin There is no consolation in the thought of God, he said, slamming another nail in another house another havoc had half–taken. Grace is not consciousne...
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March 14 | Lamentations 2:19-22 from 2017-03-14T00:01:53
Get up and cry out at nighttime, at the start of the night shift; pour out your heart before my Lord like water. Lift your hands up to him for the life of your children— the ones who are fainting f...
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March 13 | Lamentations 2:16-18 from 2017-03-13T00:01:56
All your enemies open wide their mouths against you; they whistle, grinding their teeth. They say, “We have devoured! This is definitely the day we’ve been waiting for. We’ve seen it come to pass.”...
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March 12 | Lamentations 2:13-15 from 2017-03-12T00:01:41
What can I testify about you, Daughter Jerusalem? To what could I compare you? With what could I equate you? How can I comfort you, young woman Daughter Zion? Your hurt is as vast as the sea. Who c...
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March 11 | Lamentations 2:10-12 from 2017-03-11T00:01:39
Daughter Zion’s elders sit on the ground and mourn. They throw dust on their heads; they put on mourning clothes. Jerusalem’s young women bow their heads all the way to the ground. My eyes are worn...
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March 10 | Lamentations 2:7-9 from 2017-03-10T00:01:08
My Lord rejected his altar, he abandoned his sanctuary; he handed Zion’s palace walls over to enemies. They shouted in the Lord’s own house as if it were a festival day. The Lord planned to destroy...
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March 9 | Lamentations 2:4-6 from 2017-03-09T00:01:18
He bent his bow as an enemy would; his strong hand was poised like an adversary. He killed every precious thing in sight; he poured out his wrath like fire on Daughter Zion’s tent. My Lord has beco...
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March 8 | Lamentations 2:1-3 from 2017-03-08T13:58:11
Oh, no! In anger, my Lord put Daughter Zion under a cloud; he threw Israel’s glory from heaven down to earth. On that day of wrath, he didn’t consider his own footstool. Showing no compassion, my L...
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Freedom Through Awareness&Repentance [Christena Cleveland] from 2017-03-07T21:57:16
03/05/17 Psalm 32:1-7 Dr. Christena Cleveland Dr. Christena Cleveland is an Associate Professor of the Practice of Leadership, Spirituality, and Intercultural Studies at Duke Divinity School in Dur...
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March 7 | Lamentations 1:19-22 from 2017-03-07T00:01:27
I called to my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders have perished in the city; they were looking for food to survive. Pay attention, Lord, for I am in trouble. My stomach is churn...
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March 6 | Lamentations 1:16-18 from 2017-03-06T00:01:29
Because of all these things I’m crying. My eyes, my own eyes pour water because a comforter who might encourage me is nowhere near. My children are destroyed because the enemy was so strong. Zion s...
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March 5 | Lamentations 1:13-15 from 2017-03-05T00:01:32
From above he sent fire into my bones; he trampled them. He spread a net for my feet; he forced me backward. He left me devastated, constantly sick. My steps are being watched; by his hand they are...
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March 4 | Lamentations 1:10-12 from 2017-03-04T00:01:18
The enemy grabbed all her treasures. She watched nations enter her sanctuary— nations that you, God, commanded: They must not enter your assembly. All her people are groaning, seeking bread. They g...
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March 3 | Lamentations 1:7-9 from 2017-03-03T00:01:53
While suffering and homeless, Jerusalem remembers all her treasures from days long past. When her people fell by the enemy’s hand, there was no one to help her. Enemies saw her, laughed at her defe...
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March 2 | Lamentations 1:4-6 from 2017-03-02T00:01:58
Zion’s roads are in mourning; no one comes to the festivals. All her gates are deserted. Her priests are groaning, her young women grieving. She is bitter. Her adversaries have become rulers; her e...
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March 1 | Lamentations 1:1-3 from 2017-03-01T00:01:11
Oh, no! She sits alone, the city that was once full of people. Once great among nations, she has become like a widow. Once a queen over provinces, she has become a slave. She weeps bitterly in the ...
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Lent’s Third Effect from 2017-02-28T16:30:34
Lamentations 1 2/26/17 Chris Breslin “Lament is beating on God’s chest & trusting he’s not going anywhere.” –Mandy Smith “I thought I had been unwittingly commissioned do the sound track to the...
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Beautiful Feet&Where to Find Them from 2017-02-21T22:18:37
02/19/2017 Acts 16:16-36 Sarah Neff “For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest.” –Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” “This illuminates also wh...
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Preach the Gospel at All Times from 2017-02-14T00:40:36
02/12/2017 Acts 3:1-16 Chris Breslin “Preach the gospel at all times, when necessary use words.” –St. Francis of Assisi (probably not though) “His words were neither hollow nor ...
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Restorying Our Lives from 2017-02-08T16:00:35
2/5/17 Acts 17:16-34 Chris Breslin “Be missionaries cleverly disguised as good neighbors.” –J.R. Briggs “Christ plays in ten thousand places lovely in limbs and lovely in eyes not his...
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Hospitality: A People Blessed by the Lord from 2017-01-31T19:10:04
01/29/2017 Isaiah 61:5-11 Chris Breslin “For most of the church’s history, faithful believers located their acts of hospitality in a vibrant tradition in which needy strangers, Jesus, and an...
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Healed People, Healed City from 2017-01-24T21:20:29
01/22/2017 Isaiah 61:1-6 Sarah Neff “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” –Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “If we want to see a wild animal the last th...
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Ordinary Hope from 2017-01-18T16:45:19
01/15/2017 Isaiah 61:1-3 Chris Breslin “The calling of a prophet is to bring the world into divine focus.” –Abraham Heschel “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul” ...
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An Advent Adventure: Mary from 2017-01-18T16:40
12/24/16 Luke 1:46-55 Chris Breslin “My mother, my daughter, life-giving Eve, Do not be ashamed, do not grieve. The former things have passed away, Our God has brought us to a New Day. See, I am ...
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An Advent Adventure: Bathsheba from 2016-12-21T02:21:49
12/18/2016 1 Kings 1:11-31 Chris Breslin Scripture John 1 Matthew 1 Hebrews 4:15 This Sunday’s Songs Hail to the Lord’s Anoinnted by Montgomery/McCracken What Child is This? by Dix/Traditiona...
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An Advent Adventure: Ruth from 2016-12-14T17:34:52
12/11/2016 Ruth 4:5-22 Sarah Neff This Sunday’s Songs Singing in the Land arr. by Mitchell/Littleton Higher Ground by Oatman/Gabriel Joy to the World by Brooks/Redner Steadfast by McCracken It Ca...
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An Advent Adventure: Rahab from 2016-12-06T21:11:37
12/04/2016 Joshua 2:4-21 Chris Breslin “The paradox of hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness, not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter and disco...
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An Advent Adventure: Tamar from 2016-11-29T20:06:09
11/27/2016 Genesis 38:11b-26a Chris Breslin “When God’s righteousness is mentioned in the gospel, it is God’s action of declaring righteous the unrighteous sinner who has faith i...
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“Thine Is The Kingdom,”by Malcolm Guite from 2016-11-29T19:33:07
The kingdom and the power and the glory, The very things we all want for ourselves! We want to be the hero of the story And leave the others on their dusty shelves. How subtly we seek to keep the k...
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The Power and Glory of the Kingdom [Richella Parham] from 2016-11-29T19:26:15
11/20/2016 Ephesians 3:14-21 Richella Parham The kingdom and the power and the glory, The very things we all want for ourselves! We want to be the hero of the story And leave the others on...
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Lead Us, Deliver Us from 2016-11-14T19:11:20
11/13/2016 Luke 4:1-15 Chris Breslin God speaks to each of us as he makes us, then walks with us silently out of the night. These are the words we dimly hear: You, sent out beyond your...
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Forgive as We Forgive from 2016-11-10T02:28:28
11/06/2016 Acts 9:1-21 Joey Morningstar Repentance, to be sure, but of a species far less likely to oblige sheepish repetition. Repentance, you’ll observe, glibly bears the bent of ...
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“On Belief in the Physical Resurrection of Jesus” by Denise Levertov from 2016-10-31T22:05:37
It is for all ‘literalists of the imagination,’ poets or not, that miracle is possible, possible and essential. Are some intricate minds nourished on concept, as epiphytes flourish high in the cano...
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Give Us the Bread We Need for Today from 2016-10-31T21:56:47
10/30/2016 Isaiah 55 Chris Breslin (with artists and creatives from the Communion Arts Project: Alexandra Harper, Jessina Leonard, Alex Burchette, Josh Neipp, Nate Hood, Austin Wilson, &...
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“Hidden City”by Scott Cairns from 2016-10-25T21:29:36
And now I think Jerusalem abides untouched, the temple yet intact, its every cornerstone in place, its vault replete with vivid scent, its ark alight with vigil lamps whose oil is nev...
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On Earth as it is in Heaven from 2016-10-25T21:29:05
10/23/2016 Revelation 21:1-7 Chris Breslin (with DurhamCares’ Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope Participants: Stephanie Holmer, Sabrina Bowyer, Gary Davis, & Alexandria Harper) …that you mig...
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“The Bright Field”by R.S. Thomas from 2016-10-18T19:06:39
I have seen the sun break through to illuminate a small field for a while, and gone my way and forgotten it. But that was the pearl of great price, the one field that had the treasure in it. I real...
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“Our Father”by Malcolm Guite from 2016-10-13T14:30:25
I heard him call you his beloved son And saw his Spirit lighten like a dove, I thought his words must be for you alone, Knowing myself unworthy of his love. You pray in close communion with your Fa...
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Our Father Who Is in Heaven from 2016-10-13T14:24:44
10/9/2016 Matthew 6:1-14 Chris Breslin I heard him call you his beloved son And saw his Spirit lighten like a dove, I thought his words must be for you alone, Knowing myself unworthy ...
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To Call&to be Called from 2016-10-05T03:26:11
10/02/2016 Genesis 4:1-12 Chris Breslin “If a [person] is called to be a street sweeper, [he or she] should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shake...
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Introducing 2016-17 Pastoral Intern: Sarah Neff from 2016-09-30T16:22:13
Sarah is excited to be this year’s intern from Duke Divinity School where she is a second year dual MDiv/MSW student. She grew up outside of Chicago, studied literature and theater at Wheaton Colle...
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Called to a Place: Living as Blues Singers, Resident Aliens,&the Creative Minority from 2016-09-28T14:18:05
9/25/2016 Chris Breslin Jeremiah 29:4-14 “This is kind of how blues began — out of feeling misused, mistreated. Feeling like they had nobody to turn to. Blues don’t necessarily have to...
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Making Good: Biblical Principles of Creative Work from 2016-09-20T20:18:54
9/18/2016 Matthew 25:14-30 Alexandra Harper Alexandra Harper is the Creative Director and Founder of Culture Care RDU. A Ministry of Artists in Christian Testimony International, Culture Care works...
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Called to Work: Purpose, Perseverance, Presence from 2016-09-14T14:13:11
9/11/16 Gen 1:26-28, 2:15, 3:17-19 & Rev 21:1-5, 22:26, 22:1-5 Chris Breslin Scripture 1 Peter 5:7 John 20:19-31 Luke 24:13-32 Isaiah 60 1 Corinthians 3:9 Walking Work Prayer from Mary...
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God Gets Mad Sometimes (and it’s worth writing a song about) from 2016-09-07T23:18:48
9/4/2016 2 Samuel 22:1-31 Chris Breslin “The single most characteristic thing about David is God. David believed in God, thought about God, imagined God, addressed God, prayed to God. The la...
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At the Gate of Our Hearts from 2016-08-31T11:38:39
8/28/16 2 Samuel 14:25-26; 15:7-14 Rev. Matt Orth Matt Orth lives in NC with his wife, his two daughters, and a small army of dwarf goats and pygmy hedgehogs. He spends his time writing, rea...
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Take Us, O Lord. Break Us, O Lord. from 2016-08-22T19:30:41
8/21/16 2 Samuel 11:1-17; 12:1-7 Chris Breslin “…to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” -Flannery O’Connor Scripture Genesis...
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Can God Set a Table in the Wilderness? from 2016-08-15T14:39:31
8/14/16 2 Samuel 9 Suvya Carroll & Greg Little “Francis, at the time or somewhere about the time when he disappeared into the prison or the dark cavern, underwent a reversal of a certain psycho...
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Dancing, Disappointment&the Second Person God from 2016-08-09T23:54:06
8/7/14 2 Samuel 7:18-29 Chris Breslin “Consider that the first time someone spoke of God in the third person and therefore no longer with but about God was that very moment when the question...
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A Weak King from 2016-08-03T23:57:04
7/31/16 2 Samuel 3:17-39 Chris Breslin “True greatness and true power is faithful all the way down, including humbly quick to admit limitedness, sin and brokenness, and to ask for forgivenes...
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Sad, Sad Song from 2016-07-27T12:53:45
7/24/16 2 Samuel 2:17-27 Chris Breslin “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” –Leonard Bernstein “...
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Unreasonable Generosity from 2016-07-27T12:51:26
7/17/16 1 Samuel 30 Stephanie Holmer Scripture Psalm 22 Psalm 23 1 Samuel 22:2 MSG This Sunday’s Songs House of God Forever, Foreman Everlasting God, Brown/Riley Come For the Feast is...
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A Frayed Bundle of the Living from 2016-07-13T12:54:21
1 Samuel 25:23-35 Chris Breslin “Abigail on her knees, put David back on his knees.” –Eugene Peterson “The accelerating momentum of the story is stopped and then reversed by Abigail. ...
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Warning: Wilderness Ahead from 2016-07-06T01:43:44
7/2/16 1 Samuel 24:1-16, 22 Dave Crispell, Executive Director of Jubilee Home Rev. David Crispell is a Durham native and an ordained minister in United Church of Christ. He graduated from Duke Div...
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How the Mighty Has Fallen from 2016-06-23T12:05:16
6/19/16 1 Samuel 17:1-51 Chris Breslin “Darkness can’t drive out darkness, only light can do that.” –Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Jesus is, well, strange. He refuses to manipulate people throug...
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Better Call David from 2016-06-16T14:11:37
6/12/16 1 Samuel 16:14-23 Chris Breslin “A job is a vocation only if someone else calls you to do it for them rather than for yourself. And so our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as ...
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Sandcastles&Paper Tigers from 2016-06-06T22:08:14
6/5/2016 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Chris Breslin Scripture 1 Samuel 2:10 Luke 15:11-32 Matthew 26:39 1 Samuel 10:6 Philippians 3:7-8 1 Samuel 15:11 Isaiah 53:2-3 Philippians 2:6-8 Luke 1:52-54 Luke 4:18-19 ...
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Psalm Sunday: Creation and the Coming King from 2016-05-31T19:07:59
5/29/2016 Austin Wilson Psalm 96 “God will cheat no one, not even the world of its triumph.” –W.H. Auden Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless...
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The God of Peace (Trinity Sunday) from 2016-05-25T16:30:04
5/22/2016 Chris Breslin 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 “An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is...
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The Friendly Ghost (Pentecost) from 2016-05-16T21:35:35
5/15/2016 Chris Breslin John 14:15-31 “The Spirit is the shy member of the Trinity. He always points to Jesus.” –Dale Bruner “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” –Fla...
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The Gift-giving King (Ascension) from 2016-05-09T23:16:57
5/8/2016 Chris Breslin Ephesians 4:7-13 “Being a Christian was always about living by faith in Jesus’ sovereign Lordship in a world which didn’t much look as if he was in charge.” –NT Wright “One h...
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Psalm Sunday: How to Live in a Cave&How Not to Have to from 2016-05-02T14:32:19
5/1/2016 Matt Hoffman Psalm 70 The aim of every [person] and indeed the perfection of his heart amounts to this – continual and unbroken perseverance in prayer, and, as far as it is allowed to huma...
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Psalm Sunday: Riffing on God’s Love from 2016-04-25T14:00:21
4/24/2016 Joey Morningstar Psalm 136 Resonant Witness ed. Jeremy Begbie & Steven Guthrie Resounding Truth by Jeremy Begbie Creator Spirit by Steven Guthrie Seeing God in Jazz by Willie James Je...
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Walk this Way: Resurrection, Scripture and Eating with Jesus from 2016-04-11T16:11:48
4/10/16 Mike Boone Luke 24:13-35 “You’re pretty good with words, but words won’t save your life.” -Craig Finn from The Hold Steady’s Stuck Between Stations “The ...
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Can These Bones Live? from 2016-04-05T20:05:29
4/3/16 Chris Breslin Mark 16:1-8 “We interpret Scripture rightly only when we read it in light of the resurrection, and we begin to comprehend the resurrection only when we see it as the climax of ...
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The Once&Future Gardener from 2016-03-28T17:30:49
3/27/16 Chris Breslin John 20:1-18 “Easter was when Hope in person surprised the whole world by coming forward from the future into the present.” –N.T. Wright “The Word through whom a...
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Blessings On The Coming Kingdom from 2016-03-21T13:54:39
3/20/16 Chris Breslin Mark 11:1-11 The Donkey G.K. Chesterton When fishes flew and forests walked And figs grew upon thorn, Some moment when the moon was blood Then surely I was born....
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Looking to the Kingdom from 2016-03-14T16:00:16
3/13/16 Joe Longarino Mark 13:1-27 The Coming R.S. Thomas And God held in his hand A small globe. Look he said. The son looked. Far off, As through water, he saw A scorched land of fierce Co...
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Ecclesia Network National Gathering Reflection (Rachel Breslin&Meg Hoffman) from 2016-03-14T15:23:51
3/13/16 Rachel Breslin & Meg Hoffman reflect about their week in Newark, DE at the Ecclesia Network National Gathering.
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(Not) Far From God’s Kingdom from 2016-03-08T19:28:22
3/6/16 Chris Breslin Mark 12:28-44 Flickering Mind Denise Levertov Lord, not you, it is I who am absent. At first belief was a joy I kept in secret, stealing alone into sacred places:...
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To God What is God’s from 2016-03-01T15:32:29
2/28/16 Joey Morningstar Mark 12:13-17 From Thee to Thee Solomon Ibn Gabirol When all within is dark, And former friends misprise; From them I turn to Thee, And find Love in Thine eye...
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Teacher, I Want To See from 2016-02-22T19:53:47
2/21/16 Chris Breslin Mark 10:32-52 Lightenings (xii) Seamus Heaney And lightening? One meaning of that Beyond the usual sense of alleviation, Illumination, and so on, is this: A phenomenal ...
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The Impossible Good News from 2016-02-15T22:05:28
2/14/16 Chris Breslin Mark 10:17-31 The Place Where We Are Right by Yehuda Amichai From the place where we are right flowers will never grow in the Spring. The place where we are righ...
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Sabbath : Feasting from 2016-02-09T03:15:45
2/7/16 Chris Breslin Exodus 16 “Sabbath” by Amy Imbody Sabbath: You make demands upon my heart, upon my hands, and, certainly, upon my mind: a quietness, profound, benign where receptivity will fin...
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Sabbath: Embracing from 2016-02-01T22:19:53
1/31/16 Joey Morningstar Ezekiel 20:10-17 “Embrace” by Gregory Orr With their embrace They chose Each other, Which is To choose death And all that comes Before it: Sufferings And joys And in...
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Sabbath: Resting [J.R. Briggs] from 2016-01-18T19:14:02
1/17/16 JR Briggs Exodus 20:1-17,Hebrews 4:1,6-9 J.R. Briggs of Ecclesia Network & Renew Community J.R. Briggs serves as Cultural Cultivator of The Renew Community a Jesus community for skeptic...
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Sabbath: Ceasing from 2016-01-11T21:48:01
1/10/16 Chris Breslin Genesis 2:1-4, Exodus 5 Testimony by Nate Hood (27:50) “God rested! God enjoyed a work stoppage!…It is good that order defeats chaos. It is good that the world is...
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A New Year’s Rest-olution from 2016-01-05T14:08:23
1/3/16 Chris Breslin Psalm 23 “It takes a long time to ruin a life. It all starts with the stories we live by.” -James Bryan Smith “A great benefit of Sabbath keeping is that we learn to let ...
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Praying Twice : O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Christmas Eve) from 2016-01-05T14:06:26
12/24/15 Chris Breslin Luke 2 “Love achieves its creativity by being perceptive.” –Oliver O’Donovan Advent Resources Light Upon Light: A Literary Guide to Prayer for Advent, Christmas, and E...
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Praying Twice: Do You Hear What I Hear? from 2015-12-21T23:18:48
12/20/15 Joey Morningstar Psalm 29 Noise. It radiates from Tobacco Plus, the busstop and the 5-stop sign free for all. Car doors slam, stereo kits rumble, brakes screech, hydraulics sigh, and stran...
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Praying Twice: Joy To The World from 2015-12-14T20:19:48
12/13/15 Chris Breslin Psalm 98, Luke 2:10-11 “The joy of God has gone through the poverty of the manger and the agony of the cross; that is why it is invincible, irrefutable.” –Dietrich Bonhoeffer...
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Praying Twice: Go Tell It On The Mountain from 2015-12-07T00:33:16
12/6/15 Chris Breslin Luke 2:8-20 Go Tell it on the Mountain by Jane Schroeder (First Things) Advent Resources Light Upon Light: A Literary Guide to Prayer for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphan...
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Praying Twice: O Come Emmanuel from 2015-11-30T23:49:26
11/29/15 Chris Breslin Isaiah 11:29 “He who sings, prays twice.” –Saint Augustine “To listen seriously to music and to perform it are among our most potent ways of learning what it is to live with ...
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The Risk&Reward of The Kingdom from 2015-11-27T19:41:24
“God gives so that we can exist and flourish, but not only for that, God gives so that we can help others exist and flourish as well. God’s gifts aim at making us into generous givers, not just for...
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The Kingdom Is Like…A Well-Built House from 2015-11-16T20:08:22
11/15/15 Chris Breslin Luke 6:46-49 “To build your house well is, ironically, to be nudged beyond its doors.” – Richard Rohr “Faith sets life on a new foundation, and only on th...
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The Kingdom Is Like…Good Soil from 2015-11-12T19:57:04
11/8/15 Matt Tintera Mark 4:1-20 “There is an entire ecosystem in a handful of soil: bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, earthworms. Through their breeding and dying such creatures vivify the wor...
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God’s Kingdom is for His Kids (The Kingdom is Like…) from 2015-11-02T18:39:14
11/1/15 Chris Breslin Luke 18:1-17 “You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.” –St. Teresa of Avila “Although…you could rightly and properly be a severe judge over us sinners…...
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The Kingdom is Like…the Biggest, Tackiest Party Yet Thrown from 2015-10-27T13:34:30
10/25/15 Chris Breslin Luke 15:1-32 “Weary or bitter or bewildered as we may be, God is faithful. He lets us wander so we will know what it means to come home.” –Marilynne Robinson (Hom...
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The Kingdom is Like…A Rejected Cornerstone from 2015-10-21T15:16:06
10/18/15 Chris Breslin Matthew 13:44-52 “You thought God was an architect, now you know He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow And everything you built that’s all for show goes up in flames ...
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The Kingdom is Like…a Treasure, a Pearl from 2015-09-30T14:41:17
9/27/15 Chris Breslin Matthew 13:44-52 “What do we really believe? I mean, believe in such a way that our lives depend on it?” –Dietrich Bonhoeffer “The kingdom is not the pearl, and it is not the ...
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The Kingdom is Like…a Mustard Seed from 2015-09-23T14:45:19
9/20/15 Chris Breslin Matthew 13:21-24 Oak Church’s First Anniversary “Parables are imaginary gardens with real toads in them. They create an imaginary world that reflects reality.” –Klyne Sn...
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Psalm Sunday: God-craft on Exhibit from 2015-09-14T18:35:33
9/13/15 Chris Breslin Psalm 19 Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. –Mary Oliver “It is distinctively human to bring praise to conscious expression in voice,...
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Psalm Sunday: Never Shaken, Lasting Forever from 2015-09-14T18:32:30
9/6/15 Chris Breslin Psalm 125 “All the persons of faith I know are sinners, doubters, uneven performers. We are secure not because we are sure of ourselves but because we trust that God is sure of...
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Dress You Up In My Love from 2015-09-02T15:24:19
8/30/15 Chris Breslin Ephesians 6:10-24 Ephesians Resources The Broken Wall by Markus Barth Colossians, Philemon & Ephesians (NICNT Commentary) by F.F. Bruce The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis...
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Home Economics from 2015-08-26T14:17:33
8/23/15 Chris Breslin Ephesians 5: 21- 6:9 Ephesians Resources The Broken Wall by Markus Barth Jesus Feministby Sarah Bessey Colossians, Philemon & Ephesians (NICNT Commentary) by F.F. Bruce Th...
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Vacation Bible School Reflection from 2015-08-19T14:23:11
8/16/15 Chris Breslin Checkout the slideshow with sights and sounds from this year’s VBS!
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Walk In The Way Of Love from 2015-08-14T23:18:11
8/9/15 Matt Hoffman Ephesians 5:1-20 Ephesians Resources The Broken Wall by Markus Barth Colossians, Philemon & Ephesians (NICNT Commentary) by F.F. Bruce The Holy Spirit: The Shy Member of the...
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The One and the Many from 2015-07-29T17:11:41
7/26/15 Chris Breslin Ephesians 4:1-16 Sermon Resources The Broken Wall by Markus Barth Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern Worldby Richard Bauckham Eldership and the Mission of Go...
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Knowing The Love Of Jesus from 2015-07-29T17:05:45
7/19/15 Joey Morningstar Ephesians 3:14-21 Ephesians Resources The Broken Wall by Markus Barth Colossians, Philemon & Ephesians (NICNT Commentary) by F.F. Bruce Ephesians, Colossians, & Phi...
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God’s Open Secret from 2015-07-13T21:54:30
7/12/15 Chris Breslin Ephesians 3:1-13 Ephesians Resources The Broken Wall by Markus Barth Colossians, Philemon & Ephesians (NICNT Commentary) by F.F. Bruce Ephesians, Colossians, & Philemo...
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Sledgehammer Christ; Peace Reimagined from 2015-07-06T17:06:03
7/5/15 Mike Boone Ephesians 2:11-22 Rev. Michael Boone The Rev. Michael Boone is an ordained priest in the Anglican Church in North America. He graduated from Duke Divinity School in 2011 with a Ma...
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Gracecraft from 2015-07-01T13:54:20
6/28/15 Chris Breslin Ephesians 2:1-10 Ephesians Resources The Broken Wall by Markus Barth Union with Christ by J. Todd Billings It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God ed. by Ned Bustard Colos...
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Growing Further Up&Further In from 2015-06-24T15:52:57
6/21/15 Dave Crispell Ephesians 1:15-23 Rev. David Crispell, Executive Director of Jubilee Home Rev. David Crispell is a Durham native and an ordained minister in United Church of Christ. He gradu...
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A Lament for Mother Emanuel from 2015-06-24T15:48:58
6/21/15 As a community, we linked with hundreds of other church communities around the country to share in onechurchliturgy.com lamenting the hatred and violence suffered by our brothers and sister...
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Father&Children from 2015-06-10T18:22:54
5/31/15 Chris Breslin Romans 8:12-17 Sermon Notes “God is the utterly loving giver. God doesn’t just love. God is love.” –Miroslav Volf “Our response in obedience and faith is a response to a respo...
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Presence = Absence = Presence from 2015-05-20T18:09:19
5/17/15 Chris Breslin Luke 24:44-53 “His ascent to heaven, like his ascent to the cross, is a journey undertaken on behalf of God’s people and with a view to the realization of their kingdom hopes....
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Psalm Sunday: 139 from 2015-05-12T19:26:04
5/10/15 Chris Breslin Psalm 139 “We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment…It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on tellin...
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Of First Importance : Death Has Been Swallowed Up in Victory from 2015-05-04T21:56:11
5/3/15 Chris Breslin 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 “Resurrection is the necessary outcome of God’s intent to redeem his people.” –Richard B. Hays The strife is o’er, the battle done; The victory of life...
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Of First Importance : Bearing the Image from 2015-04-29T18:08:52
4/26/15 Chris Breslin 1 Corinthians 15:35-49 Prayer to the Holy Spirit as Breath by Bruce Benedict Holy Spirit, Holy Breather, moving this way and that invisible to our broken, adamic eyes. Come Br...
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Slow Church: an evening with author C. Christopher Smith from 2015-04-29T16:18:26
4/16/15 talk and potluck conversation sponsored by Duke Divinity School’s Thriving Rural Communities Initiative and hosted by Oak Church. Chris Smith is editor of The Englewood Review of Book...
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Of First Importance : Paul vs. the Zombies from 2015-04-22T16:51
4/19/15 Matt Hoffman 1 Corinthians 15:29-34 Further “Of First Importance” Series Reading Resounding Truth by Jeremy Begbie NICNT: 1 Corinthians by Gordon Fee Anchor Bible Commentary: 1 Corin...
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Of First Importance : The Firstfruits from 2015-04-14T13:37:18
4/12/15 Chris Breslin 1 Corinthians 15:12-28 “Christians do not believe in the empty tomb but in the living Christ.” -Karl Barth “The early morning belongs to the church of the risen Christ. At the...
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Easter 2015: Of First Importance from 2015-04-08T15:18:51
4/5/15 Chris Breslin 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 “Familiarity breeds unfamiliarity–unsuspected unfamiliarity, and then contempt.” –Dallas Willard “There was a striking discrepancy between participa...
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Good Friday 2015: Into Your Hands, I Commit My Spirit from 2015-04-08T15:15:02
4/3/15 Chris Breslin Luke 23:44-56 Sermon Resources “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without churc...
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It is Finished. from 2015-03-30T15:48:29
3/29/15 Chris Breslin John 12:12-19 & John 19:28-30 The Gospel of John by F. Dale Bruner Further Lenten Reading God is on the Cross by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Sweet Deliverance: A Lenten Rea...
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I Am Thirsty. from 2015-03-30T13:15:08
3/22/15 Chris Breslin John 19:28 “Jesus Christ has brought every need, every joy, every gratitude, every hope of men before God. In his mouth the word of man becomes the Word of God, and if we pray...
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My God, My God! Why Have You Forsaken Me? from 2015-03-16T20:04:24
3/15/15 Chris Breslin Matthew 27:45-54 “When Jesus died asking questions, we learn that Jesus not only took on our flesh and blood but also our nervous systems. He came not only giving us answers; ...
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Here is Your Son. Here is Your Mother. from 2015-03-16T20:01:30
3/8/15 Chris Breslin John 19:23-27 “The Beloved Disciple, the hero of the community, is singled out as the particular object of Jesus’ love. The Beloved Disciple is not one person but an image of a...
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Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise from 2015-03-04T19:47:08
3/1/15 Chris Breslin Luke 23:38-43 “There is never just one cross on a hill…the whole Christian drama demands the other two crosses.” –Carlyle Marney “Jesus is not very fastidious about the c...
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Father, Forgive Them For They Know Not What They Do [Jeremy Begbie] from 2015-02-24T16:50:04
2/22/15 Jeremy Begbie Luke 23:26-37 —– Further Lenten Reading God is on the Cross by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Sweet Deliverance: A Lenten Reader ed Chris Breslin The Death of the Messiah by ...
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Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified from 2015-02-18T17:48:09
2/15/15 Chris Breslin 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “The meaning of wisdom is controlled by Christ crucified.” –Richard B. Hays “This is the power of God: the power to go to a cross for people who don’t dese...
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Pictures From The Frontier from 2015-02-12T14:18:15
2/8/15 Matt Hoffman Mark 1:29-39 Resources for Mark 1 King’s Cross by Tim Keller Anchor Bible Commentary: Mark, Vol 1 by Joel Marcus The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight Word Biblical Commentary:...
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With Authority from 2015-02-04T20:52:42
2/1/15 Chris Breslin Mark 1:21-28 “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’...
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Our Part In The Body Of Christ from 2015-01-28T23:44:07
1/25/15 Bradley Cotton Romans 12:6-8 Sermon Notes What are Spiritual Gifts? My definition: The tools and abilities that God gives to each believer in order to build up the body of Christ for effect...
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A Voice of One Calling Out in the Wilderness from 2015-01-15T18:02:26
1/11/15 Matt Hoffman Mark 1:4-11 “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others a...
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The Word Became Flesh & Dwelt Among Us from 2015-01-07T18:15:26
1/4/15 Chris Breslin John 1:9-18 “The core idea of the Christian faith is the incarnation.” -Michael Frost “The Gospel writers are trying to teaching us to become more interesting peopl...
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Christmas Eve from 2015-01-07T18:12:21
12/24/14 Mark Acuff Luke 2 Advent Resources Cardiphonia Resources for Advent compiled by Bruce Benedict God is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Gathering Church Advent Resources compiled by Chr...
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Peace Between Two Advents from 2015-01-07T18:10:43
12/21/14 Chris Breslin Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 Advent Resources Cardiphonia Resources for Advent compiled by Bruce Benedict God is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Gathering Church Advent Resources...
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Joy Between Two Advents from 2014-12-19T00:17:10
12/14/14 Chris Breslin Psalm 126 Advent Resources Cardiphonia Resources for Advent compiled by Bruce Benedict God is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Gathering Church Advent Resources compiled ...
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Love Between Two Advents from 2014-12-10T15:37:53
12/7/14 Chris Breslin Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 Advent Resources Cardiphonia Resources for Advent compiled by Bruce Benedict God is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Gathering Church Advent Resources c...
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Hope Between Two Advents from 2014-12-04T19:01:32
11/30/14 Chris Breslin Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 Advent Resources Cardiphonia Resources for Advent compiled by Bruce Benedict God is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Gathering Church Advent Resources...
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A Planting Of The Lord: Greatly Rejoice from 2014-11-26T18:04:28
11/23/14 Chris Breslin Isaiah 61:10-11 “…’joy’ in Philippians is a defiant ‘Nevertheless!’ that Paul sets like a full stop against the Philippians’ anxiety…...
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A Planting Of The Lord: Love Justice from 2014-11-19T16:59:06
11/16/14 Matt Hoffman Isaiah 61:8-9 “Injustice in the Bible is a particular type of sin. It’s an abuse of power, to take from other people what God intended for them – their life,...
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A Planting of the Lord: Strangers from 2014-11-12T15:45:17
11/9/14 Chris Breslin Isaiah 61:5-7 Testimony by Haechul Shin “Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitali...
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A Planting of the Lord: Oaks Of Righteousness from 2014-11-05T16:05:43
11/2/14 Chris Breslin Isaiah 61:3b-4 Testimony by Abby Wilson “I don’t think it is enough appreciated how much an outdoor book the Bible is…a book open to the sky. It is best read and understood ou...
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A Planting of the Lord: Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me from 2014-10-27T15:13:35
10/26/14 Chris Breslin Isaiah 61:1-3a Testimony by Stewart McNaull Related Quotes “The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the...
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The True Story Of The Whole World: New Creation from 2014-10-20T16:24:20
10/19/14 Chris Breslin Isaiah 60:15-22, Revelation 21:1-5 Related Quotes “The end is where we start from.” –T.S. Eliot “The sin-ruined creation of Genesis is restored in the sacrifice-renewed creat...
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The True Story Of The Whole World: Cross from 2014-10-15T17:33:33
10/12/14 Chris Breslin Philippians 2:1-11 Related Quotes “There is no Christianity without the cross. If the cross is not central to our religion, ours is not the religion of Jesus.” -John St...
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The True Story Of The Whole World: Community from 2014-10-08T16:20:27
10/5/14 Chris Breslin Genesis 12:1-3; 1 Peter 2:9 Related Quotes “Through Abraham and his family, God will bless the whole world. Shimmering like a mirage in the deserts through which Abraham wande...
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The True Story Of The Whole World: Corruption from 2014-10-02T13:27:18
9/28/14 Chris Breslin Genesis 2:25-3:7; Romans 5:12-19 Further Reading: Sin: A History by Gary Anderson Confessions by Saint Augustine True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In by James Choung ...
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The True Story of The Whole World: Creation from 2014-09-22T12:54:41
9/21/14 Genesis 1:1-2:9 Chris Breslin Further reading: The Five Books of Moses trans. by Robert Alter The Bible and Ecology by Richard Bauckham It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God ed...
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Oak Church Commissioning from 2014-09-15T19:26:05
Audio from the September 14, 2014 Commissioning Service at the Gathering Church. Text: Isaiah 61. Words from Mark Acuff & Chris Breslin
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