Past Sermons 
Date added
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2009-10 Stewardship Season Report and Reflections
- May-04-2009
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delivered on 3 May, 2009 by Board Member Jim Pearson
No, it's not a sermon. In this brief but thoughtful report, one of Live Oak's Board members provides a summary of our stewardship season -- and more.
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How Good News Becomes Gospel Truth
- Apr-20-2009
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delivered on Easter (12 April) 2009
The Christian tradition holds that Jesus saved humanity through his death and resurrection; this salvation story is Christianity’s “good news” (or gospel). How did it come into being? What do UU’s believe instead? In this sermon, Erika also explores the competing “gospel” of Universalism: that we are all saved, all loved, all “born right the first time.”
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T-Shirts, Bumper Stickers and Elevator Speeches: Unitarian Universalism in 20 Words are Fewer
- Apr-06-2009
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delivered on 5 April 2009
Is it possible to fit our beliefs onto a bumper sticker or T-shirt? How do you sum up our complex Unitarian Universalist theology?
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Suspended between "Once" and "Someday"
- Mar-30-2009
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delivered on 29 March, 2009
Ah, the age-old question: how does trapeze flying apply to congregational life? In this sermon, Rev. Erika reflects on change, transition, and the difference between the two. If there’s “change” happening anywhere in your life (and whose life doesn’t involve change?), this sermon is for you.
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"Listening Each Other into the Questions"
- Mar-25-2009
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delivered on 22 March 2009 by Live Oak member Kristen Rohm
Why are you here? What brings you hope? Do you believe in God? There are many different beliefs and religious “languages” at Live Oak. We don't necessarily seek answers… but how can we talk about these big questions? In this sermon, Live Oak leader Kristen Rohm presents her reflections, written during the Summer Sermon Seminar.
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"Living Lightly in Lean Times"
- Mar-25-2009
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delivered on 15 March, 2009
As financial pressures rise all around us, fear can block certain choices from our awareness. What would it mean to view and ground those choices in our Unitarian Universalist spirituality?
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"Setting the Welcome Table"
- Mar-25-2009
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delivered on 8 March, 2009
As a congregation, we set the Welcome Table of hospitality and belonging, inviting others to join us, each time we engage in shared ministry. In this sermon, Rev. Erika explains why she believes that being together in worship at Live Oak on Sunday morning is The Most Important Hour of the Week, and what that has to do with welcoming others.
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The Things We Do for Love: Keeping It
- Feb-18-2009
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delivered on 15 February, 2009
Once we're lucky enough to find love and intimacy -- with a single person or in community -- we then encounter the work of sustaining and protecting those relationships. In this sermon, Rev. Erika presents her "Ten Suggestions of Love."
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The Things We Do for Love: Finding It
- Feb-18-2009
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delivered on 8 February, 2009
Love takes many forms (not just the eros) of romantic love. However you define it, love that's healthy and life-giving can be hard to find... Isn't that hunger for love at the root of our being part of religious community?
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Regrets, "Do-Overs," and Giving up Hope for a Better Past
- Feb-02-2009
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delivered on 1 February, 2009
We've all made mistakes, but some of us live with regrets that we can't quite shake. How do we escape the ghosts of "coulda, woulda, shoulda"? In this sermon, Erika reflects on different regrets, according to size, and how many regrets can be a threshold for the deepening of relationship.
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What They Dreamed Be Ours to Do
- Feb-02-2009
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delivered on 25 January, 2009
For much of our history, our Unitarian and Universalist ancestors were known as heretics. Why? Are UU's still heretics today -- is it something we should strive for?
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"Inward and Downward"
- Dec-12-2008
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delivered on 7 December, 2008
In this sermon, Rev. Erika explores spiritual practice as a vehicle for the inner journey, which (in the words of Parker Palmer) carries us inward and downward. Where do we get stuck in trying to cultivate a spiritual practice...and why is that "stuck-ness" good news?
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"Sometimes the Muse Visits at Midnight"
- Dec-02-2008
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delivered on 30 November, 2008
What is creativity? How do we foster it? What are its secrets? There are many ways to view about creativity. In this service, Rev. Erika takes three different views -- body, mind, and spirit -- of our role as creative beings.
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"Dear President-Elect Obama..."
- Nov-11-2008
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delivered five days after the election of Barack Obama:
In this open letter to President-Elect Obama, Rev. Erika reflects on the bittersweet nature of election day in California. Is "anything" really possible in the United States, when racial milestones are reached, but the civil rights of the GLBT community are stripped?
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"The Struggle and the Power"
- Nov-07-2008
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delivered on 2 November, 2008
Many Unitarian Universalists have a touchy relationship with the notion of "power." What are the different ways of viewing power, and what can it mean in a community based on covenant?
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Consider the Source(s), Part 3: The Sources, Revised
- Nov-07-2008
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delivered on 19 October, 2008
In this last of her 3 sermons exploring our UU Sources, Erika takes on the revision to our Sources, as proposed by the UUA Commission on Appraisal, and also looks at "humanist teachings."
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Consider the Source(s), Part 2: The Wisdom of the World's Religions
- Nov-07-2008
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delivered on 12 October, 2008
Continuing with her examination of our UU Sources, Rev. Erika looks at three more in this sermon.
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Consider the Source(s), Part 1: The Transcendent and the Prophetic
- Oct-09-2008
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delivered on 5 October, 2008
note: this sermon is available in mp3 form by clicking the "podcast" button on the bottom of the menu to the left.
Beginning with the context of our six Sources -- where did they come from? -- Erika explores the first 2 Sources of Unitarian Universalism: "transcending mystery and wonder," and "the words and deeds of prophetic mena and women."
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Lost on the Freeway: Thoughts on Covenant and Asking for Directions
- Oct-09-2008
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delivered on 14 September, 2008
note: this sermon is also available in mp3 form -- just click the "podcast" button at the bottom of the menu, on the left
In this sermon, Rev. Erika reflects on the role of covenant in our UU history, and how covenant is a means of finding, and sustaining, right relationship.
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Venturing into the Impossible
- Aug-29-2008
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delivered on 24 August, 2008
Do you believe in telepathy, out-of-body experiences, and other "paranormal" phenomena? What if science provided evidence for these things? On the heels of last week's sermon about atheism, Erika describes how science is "venturing into the impossible" by examining phenomena that were once simply issues of faith.
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The New Atheism
- Aug-22-2008
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delivered on 17 August, 2008
Bookstores these days are filled with books about atheism, most of which offer a different take on the secular humanist movement of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. What's unique about the so-called "new atheists" and their ideas? In this sermon, Erika suggests that the new atheism doesn't create much room for Unitarian Universalists...but should!
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"Singing the Journey -- Together"
- Aug-13-2008
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delivered by John Sonquist, guest speaker
Where did our UU hymns come from? The words? The tunes? How did the choices get made for the contents of our hymn books? How does singing this music fit together in to our Sunday worship service? Live Oak member and accompanist John Sonquist discusses questions like these, and others, in this service.
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Appetites, Part 3: "Designer Water, Dying Lands"
- Jul-29-2008
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delivered on 27 July, 2008
Water is becoming a precious and ever-more scarce commodity, even as our stores’ shelves fill with “designer” water from around the world. As we reflect on the fragility of our interdependent web’s water supply, we’ll weave in a Unitarian Universalist perspective.
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Appetites, Part 2: "How Much Stuff Is Enough?"
- Jul-21-2008
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delivered on 20 July, 2008
Economic experts tell us that the United States is “overstored,” and many of us believe that our homes are filled with too much stuff. How does the our appetite for consumption intersect with our spirituality?
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Appetites, Part 1: "Food, American Style"
- Jul-15-2008
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delivered on 13 July, 2008
In the first of a 3-part Appetites series, Erika applies the Unitarian Universalist concept of "right relationship" to how and what we eat.
