Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on October 21, 2012. Using a story from an ancient Hindu text, we'll talk about how a faithful bitterness toward a person, a place or a religious tradition can keep you as connected as you would be if you loved that person, place or tradition.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on October 14, 2012. Another part of our Covenant of Healthy Relations says that we promise "to make our church a safe place to express our deepest fears and our greatest joys." What makes a place safe? How do you know abuse if you see it? What are its patterns and methods? How do you stop it?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on October 7, 2012. The Springsteen song ends "Well this train carries saints and sinners... losers and winners...." Can First UU be that kind of train? What would it look like for our faith to be rewarded? What does it take for the bells of freedom to ring?

Marisol Caballero's sermon delivered on September 30, 2012. We pride ourselves in being open and affirming toward all, yet it seems many people still do not know of our existence. Why are UUs so shy about talking about where we attend church? This sermon challenges us to be more willing to share our faith.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on September 23, 2012. Years ago, Berkeley professor Robert Bellah wrote about the beliefs at the center of U.S. culture. These stories and symbols are a mixture of Puritanism, positive thinking, "the American Dream," and capitalism. With the upcoming election, we can see all of this is high dudgeon.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on September 16, 2012. In this first in a series of sermons on the First UU Convenant of Healthy Relations, Rev. Barnhouse talks about being a "covenant community," and how to nuture one another's spiritual growth.

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on September 9, 2012. Magellan, Verrazano and Columbus were European explorers with three very different mixes of courage and caution, attention to detail and big-picture overview. So often a quality in a person that is useful in most situations is their downfall in others. What can we learn from these three?

Rev. Meg Barnhouse's sermon delivered on September 2, 2012. As we come together for the start of First UU's program year, each of us brings to the service a small container of water from a place that refreshed our spirits this summer. We pour our waters together in a common bowl as we mingle our spirits in a common effort to nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice.

Guest speaker Marisol Caballero's sermon delivered on August 26, 2012. There has been much dialogue within our congregations and within our movement about working to become a more welcoming and a more multicultural/multiethnic faith. This is both exciting and challenging work that grows the humanity of all those who venture to undertake it with an open mind and in humility. What will this work require of those of us who are already here, in order to better welcome those who we'd like to join us? What will we gain and what must we sacrifice? What does it truly mean to be an ally to those who live as members of less dominant groups?

Starr King's President's Lecture delivered on June 20, 2012 at UUA General Assembly in Phoenix by Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker. "We must ground our activism in a spiritual experience of earth's goodness, life's beauties - we must begin with an epiphany of paradise."