Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast

By Rev. Eric Ogi

Hear weekly Sunday messages from Pastor Eric as he reflects on scripture and our world to cast a vision for—and invite us to live—a more just, generous, and authentic version of our faith.... more

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FAQs about Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast:

How many episodes does Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 163 episodes available.

Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast episodes:

May 06, 2024 Gather. Go. (Repeat): Rhythms and Rituals for Resurrection
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on how our habits—things we do regularly and without thinking—shape us and our world, shape our reactions to everything from receiving good news to dealing (or not dealing) with pain and grief.
What might happen if we added intentional rituals to our everyday lives? What might this look like and how might it shape us and our world differently?
With these questions in my, Pastor Eric explores how the rhythm of gathering through rituals that connect us to God, self, others, and creation shaped the earliest followers of Jesus amidst their own chaotic and uncertain times. It was being regularly grounded in these connections that they were able to garner the courage and conviction to boldly bear witness to a countercultural and world-changing Love—to “raise the dead”—even as the world was hostile and violent against them and their message.
Looking at how the rituals of the early church shaped them, we ask ourselves: how might we ground ourselves through the use of these or other rituals so that we might also have the courage and conviction to “raise the dead,” as Jesus calls us to?
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22min
May 02, 2024 God, Bless Judas
In this message, in the early weeks after Easter, Pastor Eric invites us to reflect on Judas:
How is it that scripture remembers him? How much of this negative image may be a projection of the rest of the disciples own shame for having deserted and denied Jesus during his greatest hour of need? Does Judas become a sort of scapegoat?
And similarly, how have we done that--projected our own shame onto others; turned individuals or groups of people into scapegoats as a way of trying to not confront our own failures and mistakes?
How far does God's love go? Does it extend to Judas? Does it extend to even the "worst" among us? Does it extend to the "worst" that you've done? Can you imagine God's love turning the world upside down and blessing even Judas--even the "Judas" in you?
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21min
April 15, 2024 We Are the Resurrected Body of Christ
As we continue in the season of Easter, Pastor Eric reflects on one of the primary ways that the earliest followers of Jesus came to understand the resurrection: they were now called to be his living body. As they opened themselves to receiving his life-giving Spirit, they found themselves animated and empowered to love boldly and courageously, just as Jesus had loved (and in spite of their grief, guilt, shame, and fear).
Still, this was not a “happily ever after” story. The early church continued to navigate heated differences amidst its growing diversity. In this message, Pastor Eric uses the story of Paul and Peter’s famous heated exchange to explore what the resurrection means for how we navigate conflict and creating communities of true belonging amidst our diversity.
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24min
April 08, 2024 Resurrecting Peter--and Us
In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the mysterious nature of Jesus' resurrection appearances. Drawing on the Apostle Paul's description of the "risen Lord" as a "life-giving Spirit" rather than just a "living being," he explores the resurrection story of Jesus feeding the disciples breakfast in John 21 and three times asking Peter, "Do you love me?"

This scene invites us to consider how the disciples don't just "see" a resurrected Christ, but rather encounter Jesus' Life-Giving Spirit, which also raises them up to new life. What might this mean for us as we are invited to encounter Christ's Life-Giving Spirit today? How might God raise you up to new life, and with you all the world?
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21min
April 01, 2024 Prisoners of Hope: Running Toward the Tomb
In this Easter message, Pastor Eric helps us differentiate between "fact" and "truth" as we consider what it is that we are invited to believe, encounter, give ourselves to, and proclaim when it comes to Jesus' resurrection.
While we don't know all the facts of that first Easter, or the precise "nature" of Jesus' resurrection, we do know that something powerfully life-altering happened. A day that begins in grief and despair ends in joy, even as "Mary and the women" and Peter have no verifiable proof that Life has overcome Death. According to Luke 24, at the empty tomb, they do not see a "raised Jesus." They are simply told that it is true.
So, what enabled them to believe this truth in the face of the brutal facts of the world around them? What might it mean for you to tether your heart in hope to this truth in the face of the disfiguring, dehumanizing, and debilitating forces at work in your own life and our world?
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20min
March 25, 2024 Where Are You, Peter?
In this message*, Pastor Eric invites us to imagine the unfolding events of "Palm Sunday" from the perspective of Jesus's disciple, Peter. The challenge is that Peter and the disciples, while constantly at Jesus' side during his ministry, are nowhere to be found in this moment.
But scripture is clear: Jesus's entry into Jerusalem on a donkey and his actions in the Temple--flipping over tables and causing a stir--are the very events that push the political and religious leaders leaders over the edge and lead them to crucify him. We can't understand how we get to the cross without these events. And yet, it is strange that at such a climactic moment, Peter and the disciples are absent.
So, where was Peter? This message considers what we might have to learn from entering into the tensions that he would have been wrestling with that day in his quest--and failure--to follow Jesus to the end?

* Pastor Eric's microphone got knocked off as he got changed for the sermon and didn't realize it, hence the muffled sounds. Our apologies!
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19min
March 18, 2024 Teach Me Your Ways: The Absurd, Illogical Math of Grace
Continuing our Lenten journey of figuring out faith with Peter, in this message Pastor Eric reflects on Peter's hunger to learn; his willingness to stay open, keep showing up, and learn--even after last week when Jesus rebuked him quite strongly.
What is it that Peter is hungry to learn about in this scripture? Something many of us are hungry to learn about--and struggle with: forgiveness. What role does forgiveness play in our relationships? What's the relationship between forgiveness and accountability? If you forgive, then does that let someone off the hook of facing consequences for their actions? Are there "nonviolent" consequences that do not include verbally, emotionally, or physically assaulting someone? If you forgive, does that mean you won't be angry anymore? And if you're still angry, does that mean you haven't forgiven?
What's clear is that: while authentic forgiveness--the kind Jesus models and invites us into--is powerfully transformative and life-giving, distorted versions of forgiveness--the kind common in our society--are powerfully destructive.
So: what is forgiveness and what role does it play in healing and repairing our relationships? This message is Pastor Eric's attempt to answer that question.
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25min
March 11, 2024 What if Jesus Wasn't Who You Thought He Was?
In this message, Pastor Eric continues exploring the scripture story began with last week's message where Jesus asks his disciples: "Who do YOU think that I am?
For a moment, Peter and Jesus see, name, and bless one another in a powerful exchange.
However, it quickly becomes clear that while Peter gives the "right answer," he has the wrong understanding. His understanding of what it meant for Jesus to be "the Messiah, the son of the living God" is rooted in scripture and tradition. It's what many around him were thinking. And yet, that understanding was far from who Jesus understood himself--and thus his mission--to be.
Which raises the question: What if, like Peter, the understanding that was handed on to us is also misguided? What if Jesus isn't who we were taught that he was? Are we willing to let go of what we think we know in order to let something--someone--altogether different reveal themselves to us?
And--by extension--we might also ask: what about with one another? Have you put someone in a box of understanding that they are calling--demanding--you let them break free of? What would it mean for you to listen?
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21min
March 04, 2024 But Who Do You Say That I Am?
In this message, we continue our journey of figuring out faith alongside Simon Peter and his winding, wandering heart. Over the first two weeks for his series, we've reflected on the very human and relatable qualities of Peter. We've seen him question, doubt, give in to fear, and mistake courage for bravado.
But this week, for at least a moment, we pause as he alone among the disciples has the courage, clarity, and capacity to see Jesus for who he really is. In response, Jesus gives him a new name--Peter (which means "rock")--which functions as a blessing, a new identity, and a calling. In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on Peter and Jesus truly seeing, naming, and blessing each other, and ponders what it might mean for us to do the same.
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22min
February 27, 2024 Rescue Me!
This week, as we continue our Lenten series following the Apostle Peter, Pastor Eric explores how Peter reacts when caught in a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee, and in doing so invites us to consider how we tend to react when faced with forces beyond our control that threaten to "swamp our boat" and "sink" us, and how these reactions--and our understandable desire to control things and make them go away as quickly as possible--often make matters worse; or, at best, get in the way of real healing and truly moving forward. If that's so, then how ARE we invited to respond when faced with the violent "storms of life"? Pastor Eric invites us to consider a response to that question.
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23min

FAQs about Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast:

How many episodes does Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 163 episodes available.