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file icon "With All Your Heart, Your Soul, Your Strength"
Sep-11-2006

Preached 4 June, 2006 

It’s the Auction Sermon! Live Oak member Fred Gamble won his choice of sermon topic and posed this question to Rev. Erika: “Jesus, when asked what the most important commandment was, said: ‘To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength…’ Can this most important Christian commandment be appreciated by someone who is neither a theist or deist?”

file icon "L'amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle -- the Naming Aspect of Prayer"
Oct-03-2006

Preached on 1 Oct., 2006

The world’s religions have innumerable ways to address the Holy, or to name the ways that mystery unfolds in our lives and in the world. This ageless practice of Naming prayer suggests that prayer is relational. Who or what our relationship is with has everything to do with how we name.

file icon "We All Spill Soup" -- The Knowing Aspect of Prayer
Oct-15-2006

Preached on 8 October, 2006

We human beings all make mistakes. When we can name those mistakes and say “I’m sorry,” we’re also saying something about what we aspire to and what kind of relationships we want to have. Knowing prayer has to do with seeing ourselves – with all of our strengths and growing edges – honestly and lovingly.  

file icon "The Only Possible Answer at Any Given Moment" -- The Listening Aspect of Prayer
Oct-15-2006

Preached on 15 Oct., 2006 

How do we access the “voice still and small, deep inside all”? Religious traditions that practice Listening prayer teach us that God, or the voice of Wisdom, speaks to us continually. We can hear that quiet voice as soon as we choose to quiet the noise in our minds.

file icon "When You Pray, Move Your Feet" -- the Loving Aspect of Prayer
Oct-30-2006

Preached on 22 October, 2006

This sermon, the last in a series of four, explores Loving Prayer, in which we become fully engaged with the world around us.

file icon "Callings"
Feb-06-2007

7 January, 2007:

This service on "callings" was created and led by Live Oak members Sally Klinkon and Sara Norquay.

file icon "The Rules of Life according to 'Car Talk'"
Apr-04-2007

Delivered on April Fools' Day 2007

The Living Tradition we share draws from many Sources, including…Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers?? Why not? Since our values are influenced in different ways – including NPR programs – this multi-media sermon will explore what these two “personalities” have to say about life, love, and ethics. Seriously.

file icon "Lessons in Redemption from a Purple Plastic Bracelet"
Apr-09-2007

Delivered on 8 April (Easter Sunday) 2007

In the Christian tradition, Easter is the joyful culmination of the Lenten season – a long period of waiting, mindfulness, and preparation. In this sermon, Rev. Erika explains how she “used” a purple bracelet during Lent, and how redemption arises from our small, careful, imperfect human steps.

file icon "Healthy, Holy Sexuality"
May-21-2007

Delivered on 20 May, 2007

All persons are sexual, regardless of age and life circumstances, and sexuality is a good part of the human experience. Our society doesn't often reflect these values, though. This sermon explores how our Unitarian Universalist theology encourages healthy, holy sexuality.

Please note: this sermon refers to an interview produced by Youth Radio (and which aired on NPR's Morning Edition) that served as the "reading" for this sermon. You can listen to the interview by clicking here.. If your computer doesn't support audio files, you can read a transcript of the piece by clicking here instead.

file icon "You Gotta Know When to Fold 'Em"
Jun-06-2007

delivered on 3 June, 2007

We continually invest ourselves in projects, relationships, and new resolutions. When, if ever, is there merit in “giving up”? What if our good intentions and energy don’t get us anywhere? Let’s put a UU spin on the classic gamblers’ discernment: knowing when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em, and when to walk away.

file icon "Got Faith?"
Sep-09-2007

delivered on 26 August, 2007 by Live Oak's community minister, the Reverend Teena Grant

What does "faith" mean for Unitarian Universalists? Is it possible to have faith without dogma? In this sermon, Rev. Teena Grant draws from different faith traditions, as well as personal experience, to offer reflections about faith. 

file icon "We Will Walk on Our Own Feet, We Will Work with Our Own Hands, We Will Speak with Our Own Minds"
Sep-30-2007

Delivered on 30 September, 2007

These words, spoken by Ralph Waldo Emerson, reflect the watershed moment in 1837 when Transcendentalism became a major cultural movement in our country. Who was Emerson, and why did he make such an enormous impact on his world (and on ours)? In this first of a four-part series, Erika explores the Transcendentalist roots of Unitarian Universalism, weaving the lives of our religious ancestors into who we are today.

file icon "Faith in a Seed"
Oct-08-2007

Delivered on 7 October, 2007

Perhaps it’s a stereotype that all Unitarian Universalists love nature…but you could also say that reverence for the natural world is in our religious DNA. The Transcendentalists viewed nature as “the face and essence of God.” In this, Part 2 of her series on Transcendentalism, Erika will tell a Tale of Two Trees, and will explore the writings of Henry David Thoreau (and others) to reveal their unique legacy: belief of the Divine presence in the natural world.

 

 

file icon Experiments with Utopia
Oct-15-2007

Delivered on 14 October, 2007

As Part 3 of this series, Erika explores the Transcendentalists’ zest for creating utopian societies, and the (mostly) dismal fate that met their efforts. Erika will explains, however, that amid the many beliefs driving their experiments, the Transcendentalists had progressive attitudes on slavery and women’s rights. What relevance does the Transcendentalists' vision have for us today?

Please note: because the fourth "sermon" in this Transcendentalism series was a visit from Mrs. Lydian Emerson, it will not be posted on this website.

 

 

file icon "Fierce Ambivalence"
Jan-31-2008

delivered on 27 January, 2008

Change can be frightening, especially when it requires us to learn new habits and ways of relating. What are some of the changes that Live Oak is encountering on our way from being a "pastoral" congregation to a "program" one? And what does that mean? Read this sermon to learn more about how Live Oak is changing, and why you might be feeling fiercely ambivalent about those changes.

file icon The Things We Do for Fear
Feb-17-2008

delivered on 17 February, 2007

We're reminded (especially around Valentine's Day) that love moves us to do the unthinkable... but so does fear. In this service, Erika examines the hidden ways that fear works, using her recent travels to Mali as a lens for suggesting what happens when fear guides us, and what it takes to step out from under its control. 

 

file icon The Deportees
Mar-24-2008

delivered on 16 March, 2008

 

Our nation’s immigration policies affect the families in our community in real and devastating ways. How does our UU theology respond to our treatment of immigrants?

In this sermon, Erika explains why she believes that our immigration laws -- and especially their enforcement -- are in need of reform.

file icon The Eyes of Our Eyes Are Opened
Mar-24-2008

delivered on Easter Sunday, 23 March 2008

 

What meaning does Easter – a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus – have for Unitarian Universalists? "Resurrection" can also be an awakening, an opening of our eyes. In this sermon, Erika begins with a Biblical account of the post-resurrection Jesus and then traces the theme of resurrection through the work of three poets: e.e. cummings, Miller Williams, and Mark Nepo. 

file icon "The Numbers Game"
May-05-2008

delivered on 4 May, 2008

There are numbers that unconsciously govern human behavior Sometimes, congregational life itself is guided by numbers. In her sermon, Rev. Erika Hewitt explains some of these numbers, and how they led Live Oak's leadership to make an important decision: in September, for about five months, Live Oak will hold two worship services. Read on to learn more!

file icon Why Straight People Need to Hear Another Gay Pride Sermon
Jun-22-2008

delivered on 22 June, 2008

June is a month for weddings and Gay Pride celebrations. Live Oak has already made a commitment to celebrating and including individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. Isn't that enough? Not quite.

 

file icon Appetites, Part 1: "Food, American Style"
Jul-15-2008

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.

file icon Appetites, Part 2: "How Much Stuff Is Enough?"
Jul-21-2008

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?

file icon Appetites, Part 3: "Designer Water, Dying Lands"
Jul-29-2008

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.

file icon "Singing the Journey -- Together"
Aug-13-2008

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.

file icon The New Atheism
Aug-22-2008

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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