Dreaming Together at the End of the World 6/7

Cultivation of spiritual gifts for the life of the church and the community. This is the grand ending to John’s dream. John here is imagining in binaries: the forces of good and the forces of evil. Everyone who hears his message is invited by Jesus to “come,” partake in the water of life. 

What was it for John who had been the subject of imperial subjugation to imagine himself a free agent, able to discern what was the will of God? What was it for John and his faith community to think of themselves as followers of Jesus, their fellow tormented, persecuted, subjugated one? What is it for us to think of ourselves as free agents, capable of discerning the will of God? John’s call is a call into community (wash your robes, enter the city) in order to practice the ways of Jesus (how we welcome, resist, heal) and testify to his immanent return (rather than living as though the powers of the world are immanent, the reign of God is imminent). 

John, from the midst of the hardship and loneliness he is enduring, from the midst of wondering where God is, imagines God’s life and healing power flowing from out of Gods’ own self, always accessible; he likewise imagines all of God’s people working in service of this God, always having all that they need. He imagines a tree that provides peace among nations. What was it for John to dream of coming to God for all that is needed, and for it to be easily accessible, at a time when God might have seemed silent? For it to be easy to access all that is from God, including life and world peace? What is it for us to conceive of a God of abundant life who actively provides for the healing of this world, accessible to us as we serve God? What is it for us to attend gatherings of the church with this vision?

In this dream, John, who’s clearly been through hardship, imagines a situation in which the Lamb, the not-powerful, peaceful, gentle one, shepherds those who have suffered. What was it for John (possibly a refugee?) to witness a divine community in which everyone had everything they needed? What was it for John to imagine the one who had suffered (the Lamb) as the caregiver for the ones who suffer? What does this do to hierarchy? What is it today for the tormented and suffering to wear their suffering as robes for all to see— and allow themselves to be comforted and cared for in community? Or for those who have suffered to provide that community for others?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Dreaming Together at the End of the World 5/7

Presence, physical and emotional, at gatherings of the church. In this dream, John sees a river that is clear as crystal, and whose water gives life, flowing from the throne where God and the Lamb (Jesus) are. The river flows down the middle of the streets, so it is always accessible, and there is a tree of life whose leaves are medicine that can heal the nations. God’s subjects serve God faithfully and bear God’s name on their foreheads. God will become their light.

John, from the midst of the hardship and loneliness he is enduring, from the midst of wondering where God is, imagines God’s life and healing power flowing from out of Gods’ own self, always accessible; he likewise imagines all of God’s people working in service of this God, always having all that they need. He imagines a tree that provides peace among nations. What was it for John to dream of coming to God for all that is needed, and for it to be easily accessible, at a time when God might have seemed silent? For it to be easy to access all that is from God, including life and world peace? What is it for us to conceive of a God of abundant life who actively provides for the healing of this world, accessible to us as we serve God? What is it for us to attend gatherings of the church with this vision?

In this dream, John, who’s clearly been through hardship, imagines a situation in which the Lamb, the not-powerful, peaceful, gentle one, shepherds those who have suffered. What was it for John (possibly a refugee?) to witness a divine community in which everyone had everything they needed? What was it for John to imagine the one who had suffered (the Lamb) as the caregiver for the ones who suffer? What does this do to hierarchy? What is it today for the tormented and suffering to wear their suffering as robes for all to see— and allow themselves to be comforted and cared for in community? Or for those who have suffered to provide that community for others?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Dreaming Together at the End of the World 4/7

Discernment for our next steps together. In this dream, John imagines God and God’s people forever united. The imagery involves a bride/groom and a new city, with “beautiful” used as a descriptor. God in this vision erases death, mourning, crying, pain, and also tenderly wipes tears out of eyes. This is God making everything new; the old order that felt so impossible to unravel or escape from, that felt so impossible to repair or untangle, is subverted with finality. What is it to dream of such a fixed finality of perfection and beauty from a place of hopelessness, chaos, victimization, marginalization, and powerlessness? What is it for us to dream concretely about what God getting everything God wants looks like (not just temporary relief but a future fully and finally made new)?

In this dream, John, who’s clearly been through hardship, imagines a situation in which the Lamb, the not-powerful, peaceful, gentle one, shepherds those who have suffered. What was it for John (possibly a refugee?) to witness a divine community in which everyone had everything they needed? What was it for John to imagine the one who had suffered (the Lamb) as the caregiver for the ones who suffer? What does this do to hierarchy? What is it today for the tormented and suffering to wear their suffering as robes for all to see— and allow themselves to be comforted and cared for in community? Or for those who have suffered to provide that community for others?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Dreaming Together at the End of the World 3/7

Gracious receipt of care from the church family. In this dream, God’s people who have been subjected to societal violence wear their suffering like robes of honor. They worship God and serve God around God’s throne— and God shelters them. Their shepherd is this Lamb (Jesus); it is said this Lamb will make sure they are never hungry or thirsty or even hot and will lead them to springs of living water. Then, any tears that were in their eyes, God will wipe away.

In this dream, John, who’s clearly been through hardship, imagines a situation in which the Lamb, the not-powerful, peaceful, gentle one, shepherds those who have suffered. What was it for John (possibly a refugee?) to witness a divine community in which everyone had everything they needed? What was it for John to imagine the one who had suffered (the Lamb) as the caregiver for the ones who suffer? What does this do to hierarchy? What is it today for the tormented and suffering to wear their suffering as robes for all to see— and allow themselves to be comforted and cared for in community? Or for those who have suffered to provide that community for others?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Dreaming Together at the End of the World 2/7

Sharing material resources to further the church’s goals. In this dream, John sees a diverse, numberless crowd surrounding a throne declaring that the “Lamb who was slain (Jesus)” is worthy of power, wealth, wisdom, strength, glory, honor, praise, and dominion. In John’s world, the people calling for this sort of attribution were imperialistic rulers, and here John is dreaming of the slain one (the threat-to-empire, criminalized Jesus) as the one who is worthy. What is it to dream a dream like this when the powers-that-be are breathing down your neck, crying out for loyalty daily? When folkx don’t have enough money to buy food? What is it for the “Lamb who was slain,” the victim, the helpless, the suffering, the criminalized, the “guilty” one who was killed to be the one worthy of all these things? If this dream inverts those who are really worthy of wealth and power, what does that say about how we use our own resources as a church (in how we give, share, and create)? Maddy Hall Aaen is preaching.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Dreaming Together at the End of the World 1/7

Extension of the Church’s Welcome to Friends, Neighbors, Strangers, and Enemies. Just like when you wake up from a strange dream and you want to tell someone about it, in this passage, John experiences a dream/vision from God, who tells him to write it down.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Easter Sunday 2025

Feral Hope. Here’s a quote from an essay I’ve been reading and re-reading: “Feral hope is radical hope. As Jonathan Lear describes it, ‘What makes this hope radical is that it is directed toward a future goodness that transcends the current ability to understand what it is. Radical hope anticipates a good for which those who have the hope as yet lack the appropriate concepts with which to understand it.” Like… going to a tomb, finding it empty...

With thanks to Cody Sanders for his essay ‘Feral Hope for Futurist Leaders,’ accessed here.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Becoming (like) Jesus 5/5

The Expanse of His Care, from Small to Ginormous. (There is a section just before this, Jesus teaching in the Nazareth synagogue, that we read recently.) Here we see Jesus coming into his power as a holistic healer: tending to the spirits and bodies of all those who suffer. He has a remarkable capacity to deal compassionately and powerfully with big stuff – unclean spirits! – and small stuff – an old lady with a fever! And similarly we are called to attend to and alleviate the full scope of human suffering in our life together. 

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Becoming (like) Jesus 4/5

The Hardest Part, For Now. Jesus told us to pray to escape trials, because he himself endured trials. “Trial” is more than temptation, right? It’s about the deep-down questioning of whether God is trustworthy. Pray that you don’t ever have to really ask that – but if you do, know that Jesus did it first.  

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Becoming (like) Jesus 3/5

Double lineage: Born of God, Born of Adam. Where does Jesus come from? From the transcendent God… from the human community of his ancestors… from the cosmic materiality of creation (water, dove) – and these all converge to make him completely human, as are we.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Becoming (like) Jesus 2/5

Building on a Legacy. Jesus doesn’t invent his “reign of God” preaching from whole cloth; he builds it on a legacy of teaching and prophecy that comes before him, including from John the Baptist, his single biggest influence. Did they have a friendship before? Did he listen to John’s preaching before the day of his baptism? What did he take from it? What did he leave behind? These are choices we all are making… (As in premarital counseling, when I ask couples to think about what they’ll leave behind in their FOO as they form their new family…)

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Becoming (like) Jesus 1/5

Growing Up Jesus. What is it like to grow a child into a messiah? And what does it mean that we, too, are growing? “Wisdom” is not something we gain suddenly, but a slow ascent toward maturity that takes our whole life long. (The song referenced at the beginning of the sermon is Sunday Mornings by Susan Werner)

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

The Dangerous Work of Worship 8/8

Go. The radical act of worship requires that we stop and leave, carrying with us the gifts we’ve received, newly energized for our work in the world God still loves. I can’t quite imagine carrying on with Christian discipleship without the weekly reset of worship; how does one maintain an endless and unchanging line of faith-hope-love without the Sunday peaks in the graph? It’s a full-circle concept – you can’t “go” from worship until you’ve come to worship.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

The Dangerous Work of Worship 7/8

Share. Our days are consumed by the impulse to get – consumed by consumerism! But generosity is a muscle that atrophies as our consumption grows. The paired stories about Barnabas and Ananais-n-Sapphira can be told as fables: “Here’s how they’ll remember you someday.” And the small “gives” we give today add up over a lifetime to form that story.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

The Dangerous Work of Worship 6/8

The Table. Jesus just has this whole way of upending the traditional “table math” – seats of honor, who’s invited. (I think that at my grandmother’s house he would’ve sat at the kids’ table, with his knees up under his chin.) Scripture often compares being at home with God to being seated at a banquet, secure in plenteous food and gracious welcome. This is the “eucharistic economy,” the radical way God has of giving generously without consideration of merit; and it’s an economy we’re invited/challenged to practice beyond the table of our Lord.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

The Dangerous Work of Worship 5/8

Preach. “Churches get the preaching they deserve,” Katie’s spouse has said, quoting someone else. Meaning, preaching is inherently dialogical. It has the form of monologue, but at its best it reflects the preacher’s conversations with the church, with the culture, and (most obviously) with the scripture itself, and thus with our ancestors in faith. This is the space where the Whole Project is called into question, and where the preacher demonstrates the Wrestling-with-God, and where the congregation is invited to imagine their own participation in God’s Big Story of Everything. “This is Who God is. This is who you(we) are. Right?”

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

The Dangerous Work of Worship 4/8

Sing. Singing before a crowd of people requires some courage; most of us aren’t that good at it and shouldn’t be on a mic. But singing with a crowd is different. It releases us from self- consciousness about raising our own voices. It requires that we breathe together, in and out. It puts the words of faith, hope, and love in our own mouths, even if we can’t quite muster those things ourselves. It’s like a spiritual workout, where the hymn is the personal trainer encouraging you to bend a little deeper, try a little more weight. And – as we’ve talked about in our Advent/Christmas series – the songs we internalize matter. What do we mostly sing about? Can we carry the songs from in here into our daily lives out there? Like Paul and Silas and their cell-stock singing? Carissa Robinson is preaching.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

The Dangerous Work of Worship 3/8

Read Scripture. This is how we introduce “trouble” into the narrative of worship. The stories our ancestors told assert that “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” – i.e. that God gets everything God wants. It does not always appear to be true in our experience. And so every Sunday the text invites us to wrestle with tradition, promises made but not yet fulfilled. We let it trouble us, and sometimes let the tension stand, refusing the easy resolution that condescends both to us and to the text. (Also, sometimes scripture pisses people off.)

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

The Dangerous Work of Worship 2/8

Pray. Bowing our head, bending our knee, pledging our allegiance – this is the subversive work of prayer. Corporate prayer in worship is a stay against idolatry. We remember again that our time here is for the re-ordering of our lives: “God is God, and we are not. (And nothing else is God, either.)” The counter-narratives say that our lives depend on capitalism, work, the military, government, our own capacities. Even the simplicity of the Lord’s Prayer says otherwise.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

The Dangerous Work of Worship 1/8

Arrive. King David, having recovered the Ark of the Covenant, dances his way home. He is essentially bringing God’s Presence back to Israel, and his enthusiastic showing-up dance is unnerving to some (his wife!) who wish for more decorum, more “demure”, in worship. But it matters how we arrive for worship – do we bring our whole (exposed) selves, or do we hold back? Additionally, there are many “Psalms of Ascent” in Israel’s hymnal, designated for climbing the temple mount in Jerusalem – meaning that our ancestors gave some thought to how we gather for worship. As do we. (parts of worship: video prologue, welcome, query)

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: info@galileochurch.org. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle (generosity@galileohurch.org), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060