Rev. Venida will be preaches a Lenten message on what it truly means to be lost and found. Drawing from Jesus’ parable in Luke 15, she invites us to rethink the categories we’ve inherited, notice the voices we may have overlooked, and remember the God who keeps seeking us with relentless, healing love.
Read MorePreaching Bootcamper Damaris examines the supposed binaries of Rest and Growth by looking at a parable Jesus tells in Luke 13 about a vineyard owner. This owner, frustrated with the lack of fruit on the tree, demands the tree be cut down, and the gardener pleads for one more year to steward the tree, so it can bear fruit. It just needs time, right? Well, what if time isn't enough? What does it look like for those of us constantly exhausted to instead start to look at our rest AS our growth?
Read MoreA “Dumpling” Falls from the Sky—Why not?
It is 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Peter is praying and gets a vision of a sheet full of animals, clean and unclear, dropping from the sky. Almost like a dumpling, but unwrapped. This vision leads to a cascade of events that end up transforming a Jewish sect of the followers of Jesus into a universal community where anyone, Jew or Gentile, can participate. In this sermon, Kai explains how experiences of visions like this dumpling and witnessing the Holy Spirit in the lives of Gentiles leads the Jewish followers of Jesus to reinterpret the rules of their covenant AND their scriptures to include those who had been deemed unclean.
Read MoreFounding Pastor, Jonathan Williams begins our Lenten series, Everything In Between, Meeting God in the Midst of Extremes taking a fresh look at the Good Samaritan: “A lot of people believe that love is action. I believe that it is the reordering of power. And by reordering our power for the sake of others is one of the most loving things we can do.”
Read MoreIn this time of fear and uncertainty, do you find yourself exhausted and burnout by trying to be there for everything and everyone? In the third and final sermon of the sacred pause series Nytasha speaks to us about Boundary Setting in the Bible and how it can be an act of resistance, and love.
Read MoreWith uncertainty pressing in on our future livelihood and draining the very energy we need to keep going, this is a moment to pause and rehydrate our spirits. Rev. Venida welcomes Dr. Jennifer Mullan of @decolonizingtherapy to Forefront for a courageous conversation on Restorative Living as part of the Sacred Pause sermon series. Dr. Jenn guides us in remembering that centering the collective is liberatory work — and that this shared commitment can help restore the mind, renew the body, and revive the spirit.
Read MoreMarvin Gaye crooned to the masses in 1971 asking a timeless question, "What's Going On?” Gaye’s love ballad, considered to be an anthem of sorts, calls attention to the social and political issues of his day. In this week’s sermon, Rev. Venida invites us to honor whatever questions are coming up during our day and then explores how we can experience an intentional sacred pause as a gateway to sabbath rest.
Read MoreAs human beings we all face fear. We live in times where it seems that fear is all around us. How do we maintain hope and continue to struggle for justice despite the fear that threatens to discourage and paralyze us? Preaching Bootcamper Phil Dickens reminds us that it is through our love and trust in God and each other, and by taking care of ourselves and each other. Also by finding strength in the knowledge of all who have come before us in these struggles.
Read MoreRev. Venida and Forefront’s Climate Justice team are helping to highlight Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in collaboration with other faith-based communities partnered with GreenFaith — a worldwide, multi-faith climate and environmental movement. GreenFaith’s new initiative, Covenant for Our Future, lifts up Dr. King’s values by calling people of all faiths to promote love and justice through advocacy for policies that ensure the hungry are fed, the sick are cared for, migrants are welcomed, and the earth is protected.
Read MoreA new year can bring a flurry of opportunities, new visioning, and maybe the desire to energize whatever has been lying dormant in our lives. Sometimes it is easy to move into new territory. Other times we are gripped with the bad news of our past and present situation causing fear and trepidation which can overwhelm us. What if it doesn’t work out? What if we get hurt?
Rev. Venida shares that maybe 2026 is really the time to simply breathe, all the while creating a new narrative and vision for how we can move forward with grace and courage. Maybe in this new year, we can begin to surround ourselves with the Good News of Jesus, the Good News of what really is possible—for ourselves, our respective relationships, communities, and for this church. Maybe it is time to recognize that, as her pastor once told her, “God does the heavy lifting.” Perhaps insisting on hope is the realization that: Yes, she does!
Rev. Venida celebrates Christmas Sunday with a reminder that we can look to other people for help when we’re afraid.
Read MoreMost of us are afraid to acknowledge our fear. That's too bad. Coming face to face with fear is one of the most holy things we can do. Jonathan Williams, founding pastor, continues our Advent series Insisting on Hope.
Read MoreRhema explores the crucial difference between our rigid expectations of how God should act and the resilient nature of true hope. We will walk from Galilee to Nairobi and Rome to see how God often brings renewal through small, unexpected seeds rather than the grand victories we plan for. So maybe it's time to let go of our vision board and open our eyes to the quiet, redemptive work God is doing right now in the wilderness.
Read MoreOur Deacon of Storytelling, Theon, begins our “Insisting on Hope” sermon series exploring how hope arrives disguised as invitations, breath, movement, and sometimes simply as survival.
Read MoreAs he concludes our Liberated Faith series, Kevin Singh reminds us that Jesus invites us into a comfort rooted in God, not in avoiding hard conversations. This week’s sermon challenges us to see how empire has shaped our faith and how holy discomfort leads us toward justice, healing, and liberation. Please note, there is no audio for approximately the first 5 minutes.
Read MoreIt is easy to become absorbed in our own lives - asking how we will earn a living, where we will make our home, and how we will reach our goals. Yet faith calls us to look beyond individuality. Rev. Venida continues our Liberated Faith series, inviting us to honor our interdependence and connectedness, remembering that true liberation is found not in isolation but in community.
Read MoreThis fall season finds us contemplating a liberated faith. A faith that courageously calls us to look within ourselves and our communities and journey deliberately across territory which is far too often unchartered. It is a bold faith that continuously takes a U-turn from the road of white supremacy culture. It is a fearless faith that steers clear of perfectionism, one right way, power hoarding, a sense of urgency, and quantity over quality. Rev. Venida continues our exploration of Liberated Faith and helps us navigate a characteristic of white supremacy culture some may fear—Open Conflict.
Read MoreWhat do Jesus, Ella Baker, and Zohran Mamdani have in common? Hint: it's related to building power.
Preaching Bootcamper Denia preaches on the limitations and violence of power hoarding, how Jesus gives as a blueprint for power rooted in collective leadership, and how this blueprint has been used to make historic political gains during troubled times.
Pastor Angela explores our cultural habit of only honoring what is written. In doing so, we erase the wide range of ways we communicate with each other and all living things.
Read MoreIn contemporary society, success is often defined through quantifiable, outward-facing metrics like numbers, growth, expansion, and visibility. This framework, which measures worth through financial gain and social validation, is heavily influenced by capitalist culture, and the rise of digital technology has made this even more expansive.
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