Claremont United Church of Christ

Just when you think the world is a hard, unkind place, community comes through. Join Pastor Jen as she shares stories of loving acts performed around the world and invites us as followers of Christ to lead the movement of compassion

In John 17, Jesus prays for unity for all of humanity as one of his final requests before his arrest. But was Jesus just engaging in wishful thinking? In today's installment of "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words," Pastor Jacob looks at one of the most famous photographs taken of a march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery that was led by Dr. King. If we look closely, perhaps we can see Jesus among the crowd inviting people to stand united on the side of love.

In one of the most powerful images ever captured, 26-year-old lieutenant Charles Levy photographed the 45,000-foot-tall mushroom cloud over Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. It is hard to imagine that humanity is capable of such destruction. The history of war and the current state of our political landscape is enough to make anyone feel as if there is very little hope for a brighter future. Pastor Jacob turns to Isaiah 40 to discover what hope looks like in dark times.

We often ask God what is next in our lives. Sometimes the answer we receive is the calling to leave where we are and go somewhere new. How do we trust that God is leading us somewhere we will thrive?

Pastor Jen and Jacob return from sabbatical and launch our new sermon series, "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words." They will be exploring the spiritual significance of photographs, both historical and personal. This first Sunday, we marvel along with the astronauts as we look at the first picture taken of earth from outer space. In the face of such an enormous, awe-inspiring universe, what significance dop us humans have after all?