Inspired by Stevie Wonder lyrics from "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" and "Have a Talk with God", in this sermon we explore two different healing aspects in life, human connection and solitary exploration with the divine.

Recorded 6-12-16. Music in this podcast by Jackie Venson. Please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Visit our website at www.freesoulschurch.org.

The way we live is more important than the goal of living. Our greatest problem is not how to continue, but how to exalt our existence. Eternity is not a perpetual future, but a perpetual presence.

Recorded 5-22-16. Music in this podcast by Jackie Venson. Please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Visit our website at www.freesoulschurch.org.

Rabbi Heschel talks about a mutual echo between ourselves and the divine: God needs us to be the actors and agents of righteousness and integrity, and we're in need of breaking free from the motivations of personal satisfaction.

Recorded 5-8-16. Music in this podcast by Jackie Venson. Please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Visit our website at www.freesoulschurch.org.

Rabbi Heschel says that awe is necessary for religious life, but is not sufficient to produce action. We must give ourselves over to a higher "Yes", higher needs than our own, to feel needed by God. Authentic vs. artificial needs, happiness, and more covered within.

Recorded 4-24-16. Music in this podcast by Jackie Venson. Please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Visit our website at www.freesoulschurch.org.

We explore more of Rabbi Heschel's teachings this week as we explore what it means to be part of an eternal spiritual movement. Religions ask something of their followers; it is not enough to simply claim belief, you must be willing to stand for something. The most important things to stand for are Integrity, Compassion, and Inner Freedom.

Recorded 4-10-16. Music in this podcast by Jackie Venson. Please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Visit our website at www.freesoulschurch.org.

Rabbi Heschel speaks about Radical Amazement, opening ourselves up to seeing the fullest picture possible that we can see as finite human beings. This opens us up to Reverence for the world around us. Heschel says, "What we lack is not a will to believe, but a will to wonder." Easter, for example, is about the wonder felt about the resurrection of Jesus.

Recorded 3-27-16. Music in this podcast by Jackie Venson. Please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Visit our website at www.freesoulschurch.org.

Enjoy this introduction to Rabbi Heschel, a holy poet and theologian who wrote about our relationship with the ineffable - that which words cannot capture. Rabbi Heschel was a theologian who lived in the tension between two worlds - that of the sacred, and that of the physical, tangible world.

Recorded 3-13-16. Music in this podcast by Jackie Venson. Please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Visit our website at www.freesoulschurch.org.

Is it more important for you to be liked, or to be significant? If you're going to be a Free Soul, you must be a truth teller, even when others don't like to hear it. After the initial excitement from Jesus' announcement that he was the Messiah, some people began to question his statement, and became angry when he told stories of people who were not of the Jewish faith being healed and saved by God's prophets. We see this response to the truths we tell again and again, from Rev. King's disapproval rating just before his death, to instances in our own personal lives. But a Free Soul knows that if you open up your ears and listen, the truth will set you free.

Recorded 2-28-16. Music in this podcast by Jackie Venson. Please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Visit our website at www.freesoulschurch.org.

After his trial in the wilderness, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and set out to return home and announce himself as the Messiah. His body was tired, but his soul was rested. This spirit infusion lent him authority and conviction as he preached in synagogues along the way. His trials and temptations in the wilderness, his trust and confidence in a source higher than himself, guided his conscience. He took measures to begin the revolution needed to help to free his people from the rule of the Roman Empire. The Conscience of a Free Soul is guided by the Spirit. The Conscience of a Free Soul can't stand idly by when injustices occur. The Conscience of a Free Soul is moved to act to make change.

Recorded 2-14-16. Music in this podcast by Jackie Venson. Please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Visit our website at www.freesoulschurch.org.

We all have our personal demons that we wrestle with from time to time, trials that test us just as Jesus was tested when the Spirit drove him into the wilderness for 40 days. During this period, Jesus was tested 3 times by the Devil - or more broadly, by his demons, which questioned his sense of identity and attempted to seduce him with power. Each trial, and each response Jesus gave, echoed the words of the Torah and the story of the Children of Israel during their 40 year wandering of the desert. Jesus knew that he was more than just a temporal body and his possessions, and that there was a greater, more eternal truth to trust in. You are more, too. You are created to be free.

Music in this podcast by Jackie Venson. Please subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Visit our website at www.freesoulschurch.org.