Rev. Tara Gibbs and Allen Davis | Acts 2:1-8 (NIV) It was the Holy that pushed our faith forward, and took the gospel message beyond its Jewish roots. That being said, I believe that today, the church can still move forward, but not without the push from our youth. – Rev. Tara Gibbs Sometimes you just have to say, “Yes.” You have to be willing to go out there and journey in a place that may seem unknown, that may seem foreign. For our seniors, you are getting ready to take that step. For our youth, you take that step every single time you show up, uncertain about what is to come. . . . – Allen Davis

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell | Exodus 1:15-2:10  “We are called to be midwives of resistance deliverance, salvation and liberation. We are called to be midwives of freedom for all people in our world today. Mother’s Day should be about protecting children and preparing them for the pursuit of freedom and not fertility. So, we celebrate all who are mothers and midwives of freedom, and recommit ourselves to follow their lead.” “In scripture, motherhood is not limited to conceiving, birthing, and raising a biological child. It is a rich and textured tradition of women working together as a community to protect children from violence and raise them up to participate in God’s struggle for the liberation of the oppressed. Motherhood is a calling us to join with other people in the practice of resistance to the empire and the pursuit of freedom.”

Rev. Carrie Veal | 1 John 4:7-13; 16-21 | Acts 8:26-40  “Over and over, we are told to welcome … we are told to love. We are not told to live in fear of another. We are not told to determine another’s value or worth; we are not asked to decide if another should have a place at the table … we are told to welcome them to the table; we are told to feed them and love them while they eat with us … we are told to care for them!”

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell | John 21:1-19  “Resurrection is an open invitation. That is the definition of hope. No matter how far we fall or how many times we turn away from Jesus or our neighbors, there is always another chance. Our God is the God of second chances, the God of ‘third times a charm,’ the God of ‘four left turns is a new beginning,’ the God of five-point plans, and the God of infinite opportunities. That is the epitome of grace. The call to follow Jesus, love our neighbors, live in solidarity with humanity, and care for the earth is always being extended.”“Resurrection is not a one-time event or something that only happened to Jesus. It is a way of life, a practice of faith, a form of existence, a sacred pattern written into the fabric of creation. Like caterpillars transforming to butterflies, the return of spring birds, or the rebirth of perennial flowers, we will rise and fall. Yet, no matter how many times we’ve failed or acted as if nothing happened, no matter how much faith we can muster or what kind of love we can give, Jesus will always walk along our shoreline, calling out to us as his beloved, with an eternal invitation, ‘Rise up children, and come, follow me!'”

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell | Joel 2:12-17, 21-29 | “Acknowledge your separation and return to your Creator! Return to your mother! Return to the land and the earth. Return to the one who made you, bore you, raised you, fed you, and who cares for you even now in the midst of your separation. Return to yourself. Tear open your hearts with love and return. Then, and only then, will the restoration and new creation of God begin again.”“The earth is longing to love you and heal you, and longing for you to love and heal it in return. We don’t have to be lonely. The land is longing for a sacred relationship with you. We don’t have to be cut off, separated and estranged from the earth. We are what the land is thirsting for and longing for. We can make the soil sing if we want to. All we have to do is tear open our hearts, stop killing our mother, and return to her with love.” – Rev. Dr. Ben Boswell

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell | Joel 2:12-17, 21-29 | “Acknowledge your separation and return to your Creator! Return to your mother! Return to the land and the earth. Return to the one who made you, bore you, raised you, fed you, and who cares for you even now in the midst of your separation. Return to yourself. Tear open your hearts with love and return. Then, and only then, will the restoration and new creation of God begin again.”“The earth is longing to love you and heal you, and longing for you to love and heal it in return. We don’t have to be lonely. The land is longing for a sacred relationship with you. We don’t have to be cut off, separated and estranged from the earth. We are what the land is thirsting for and longing for. We can make the soil sing if we want to. All we have to do is tear open our hearts, stop killing our mother, and return to her with love.” – Rev. Dr. Ben Boswell

Rev. Mia M. McClain | Acts 1:1-11 | “In our witnessing, we are preserving memories and legacies. In our witnessing, we are showing compassion. In our witnessing, we are disrupting dangerous status quos, we are putting our privilege on the line for the sake of justice, we are redistributing wealth and power. And look, witnessing is hard. You’ll have to lay your status down for the sake of building community. This is what Jesus is calling us to—the outward gaze, the earthly tasks at hand.”

Rev. Mia M. McClain | Acts 1:1-11 | “In our witnessing, we are preserving memories and legacies. In our witnessing, we are showing compassion. In our witnessing, we are disrupting dangerous status quos, we are putting our privilege on the line for the sake of justice, we are redistributing wealth and power. And look, witnessing is hard. You’ll have to lay your status down for the sake of building community. This is what Jesus is calling us to—the outward gaze, the earthly tasks at hand.”

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell | Mark 15:42 – 16:8 | “Grief has the power to start great movements against violence, spark an uprising against a culture of death, and raise the dead, because grief is born from the combustible union of the two most powerful experiences in human existence—love and suffering, which creates the kindling for an uprising.” “Resurrection definitively and decisively declares that Rome, and death, and evil are not the most powerful forces in the world or the final word on reality. Love is more powerful than evil, death, and empire, which means the future is always open, there is no horizon, nothing is impossible, and hope is alive and well and headed back to Galilee to begin the uprising.”

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell | Mark 15:42 – 16:8 | “Grief has the power to start great movements against violence, spark an uprising against a culture of death, and raise the dead, because grief is born from the combustible union of the two most powerful experiences in human existence—love and suffering, which creates the kindling for an uprising.” “Resurrection definitively and decisively declares that Rome, and death, and evil are not the most powerful forces in the world or the final word on reality. Love is more powerful than evil, death, and empire, which means the future is always open, there is no horizon, nothing is impossible, and hope is alive and well and headed back to Galilee to begin the uprising.”