Hummelstown UCC Podcast

Psalm 119:9-16; Luke 13:6-9, 20-21

After so much work, it’s finally time to wait. It is time for the bread dough to rest, but
if you watch closely, it is not resting idly. It is slowly rising. We have moved through
this season of Lenten preparation to arrive at this moment of sabbath resting and
hopeful rising. We are almost ready to follow Jesus to his last days of bread broken,
shared and given for all.
-Waiting for Rising

Micah 6:6-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

The cross and the church are foolishness in the world. Are they foolishness to
you? Are you willing to do your part to see the foolishness of God redeem the
world? Are you using your gift to the glory of God or was God just being foolish in
centering plans in you?

Psalm 19: God’s Glory in Creation and the Law; Matthew 13:24-33

One of the most difficult steps of making bread is milling the wheat grains into flour.
It takes both time and labor. The Bible doesn’t have very many references for milling
flour, so we will focus this week on the Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13, in which
Jesus spoke about the farmer allowing weeds to grow alongside the wheat,
separating them just before milling. What is the labor that God pours into us to
prepare us this Lenten season?
-Milling the Flour

Psalm 22:23-31; Exodus 16:2-5 , 13-30

It is hard to find a balance in life between what God does and what we do. When
things are going well, how do we find a balance between gratitude for God’s
blessings and celebration of our own hard work? When things are not going well,
how do we balance our own frustration with trust in God’s provision? We continue
our worhsip series this Sunday with a focus on harvesting, gathering the gifts of God.
Harvesting is an essential part of our life together and necessary for any bread-
making, but farming is a difficult enterprise requiring a balance of God’s creation
and human effort. There are many opportunities for us to be partners with God as
God provides for the world. Let us worship!
-Harvesting Blessing

Psalm 25: Prayer for Guidance and for Deliverance; Luke 8:1-5

When Jesus preached his sermons and parables, he often used illustrations relating
to everyday life at the time- farming, family, cooking and sharing meals. In order to
understand his meaning, it is helpful for us to learn more about bread in Jesus’ time.
What was the process and labor needed to produce a loaf of bread? This Sunday,
we begin at bread’s beginning, with a sower and the seed. Let us join together as
we begin our Lenten journey and Let Love Rise.

-Starting with a Seed

2 Kings 2:1-12; Psalm 50:1-6:The Acceptable Sacrifice: A Psalm of Asaph; Mark 9:2-9

“God places us in the world as his fellow workers-agents of transfiguration. We work
with God so that injustice is transfigured into justice, so there will be more
compassion and caring, that there will be more laughter and joy, that there will be
more togetherness in God's world.”
-Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu

PSALM 147:1-11, 20; MARK 1:29-39; ISAIAH 40:21-31

Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy,
happiness, negativity, pain… To feel the freedom that comes from being able
to continue to make mistakes and choices – today I choose to feel life, not to
deny my humanity but embrace it.
-Keyvin Aucoin

MARK 1:21-28; PSALM 11; DEUTERONOMY 18:15-20

“Scripture tells us that love “binds everything together.” It is how we are held. It is
how we exist at all. Let us reawaken ourselves to love’s presence in this community
through service. May our worship not be a rote motion, but rather an experience of
relationship with you and those gathered here. Open in us what love is requiring of
us today, O God, and may we respond in faith. Amen.
”
- Health and Human Services Sunday

PSALM 62:5-12; MARK 1:14-20; JONAH 3:1-5,10

“In an ideal world we would all learn in childhood to love ourselves. We would grow, being secure in our worth and value, spreading love wherever we went, letting our light shine. If we did not learn self-love in our youth, there is still hope. The light of love is always in us, no matter how cold the flame. It is always present, waiting for the spark to ignite, waiting for the heart to awaken and call us back to the first memory of being the life force inside a dark place waiting to be born - waiting to see the light. ”
-Bell Hooks

JOHN 1:43-51; PSALM 139:1-6, 13-18;1 SAMUEL 3:1-20

“I don't have many certainties about God. I do have many hopes. Chief among them is that it’s true what they say: that God is love, is made of love and looks at the faces of you and me and my gramma and, without hesitation or demand, delights. ”
- Cole Arthur Riley