Wait for It: The Early Church and Us 3/8

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” The Thessalonians’ cultural context included expressions of sexuality that were exploitative and used in the politics of domination. Bringing one’s body and all its uses into alignment with God’s dream for the world is a strong and subversive statement against social hierarchy and a culture of abuse.

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Wait for It: The Early Church and Us 2/8

Like siblings, like a wetnurse/mother, like a father, like orphans. Paul packs this chapter with familial metaphors to describe the closeness and affection he feels for the church, and they for each other. He emphasizes the necessity of holding each other close while we wait for God to act on our behalf. But he also acknowledges the pain of separation, attributing it to “Satan” because it is a powerful adversary to the faith, hope, and love of chapter 1. 

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Wait For It: The Early Church and Us 1/8

“In spite of persecution, you received the word with joy.” 1 Thessalonians is the earliest Christian writing, predating the gospels and all the other epistles of the New Testament. Paul here narrates the little church’s story back to the church, giving thanks for how the gospel took root among them, and recalling how they settled in to wait. They waited as we do: for the culmination of all the gospel’s promises. While they waited, they were persecuted. We’ll talk about the nature of their persecution and ours, and why we keep waiting after all this time.

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Leadership Lessons from a Passionate Prophet 4/4

Healthy spiritual leaders get the job done but not alone. The African proverb, “It’s takes a Village to raise a child,” also has implications for spiritual leadership. It takes a village to carry out the plans and purposes of God. Whether you’re a pastor, lay person, ministry leader or member, you need other people partnering with you to accomplish and carry out the ministry mission. Nehemiah knew it too. He understood his role not as a solopreneur but a leader in need of a community to collaborators for the common good. 

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Leadership Lessons from a Passionate Prophet 3/4

Healthy spiritual leaders are that way because they have been through the fire. They have gained wisdom from their mistakes, pitfalls, and personal insecurities. One of major the mistakes spiritual leaders make is underestimating opposition. All too often spiritual leaders assume those they’ve been called or hired to lead are willing going to follow their leadership. Not so. There will be opposition. Nehemiah had opposition, haters who didn’t want he or his people to rebuild, to flourish. Nehemiah also shows us a way forward. He demonstrates how to handle haters. 

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Leadership Lessons from a Passionate Prophet 2/4

While Nehemiah was doing it scared, he became brave in the process. His bravery gave him the courage to ask for more…what he needed to help his people rebuild. Spiritual leaders are often scared as well. Yet, healthy spiritual leaders learn to manage their fear and anxiety in ways that are life giving both for themselves and the people they lead. 

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Leadership Lessons from a Passionate Prophet 1/4

A Leader’s compassion for the people makes her vulnerable among the people. C.S. Lewis suggests, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken…”

Nehemiah’s heart was broken when he heard of the plight of his people Israel. And, he wasn’t shy or reserved about expressing his heartbreak. In fact, it was written all over his face. Nehemiah teaches us that vulnerability “is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.”

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Jesus Remodels the World 7/7

Transfiguration. Mustard seed faith. Jesus the sent, Jesus the sending – it does not require pilgrimage to get to where he is, or where he’s been. He’s prepared to travel, to come down from the mountain, even as we tend to prioritize a static place for his presence. When we’ve been told to stay at home, away from the BRB where we gather, can we believe that Jesus still comes to us?

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Jesus Remodels the World 6/7

Who do you say that I am? Keys to the kingdom. Passion prediction. Jesus is radically invitational, allowing us to assess his messianic project – to an extent. He shares power in his ministry, but won’t bend on the necessity of his move to the margins. Jesus the crucified isn’t something his followers want, but he’s insistent.

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Jesus Remodels the World 5/7

Contention with the VRPs; holiness and hypocrisy. Jesus’s potty humor, combined with his willingness to push the buttons of the VRPs (they just need to calm down, ya know?) at every turn, makes us very happy. We wish he knew from microbes and would make his disciples wash their hands, though. 

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Jesus Remodels the World 4/7

Walking on the water. We can pretend that we know how the world works – surface tension of water, for example, won’t hold an upright human on the soles of their feet. But Jesus knows different, and he’s asking us to believe him when he says the world works according to God’s own rules, not anybody else’s. Also, livestreaming services is hard work, and doesn’t always work out perfectly.

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Jesus Remodels the World 3/7

Feeding people. In the eucharistic economy, there is always enough for everyone to get what they need. The sharing of food teaches us to share everything, even the intangibles that are hard to measure but plentiful just the same, in God’s economy.

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Jesus Remodels the World 2/7

It’s important to be woke, yes, but rest is just as important. And not enough of us get (or are able to get) the rest we need.

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Jesus Remodels the World 1/7

Parables. Some seeds flourish, some don’t. What kind of soil are they planted in? How does Jesus invite us to grow and become useful? What conditions are necessary for our growth? We’re gonna play with this till we get tired. 

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Pride, Protest, and the Language of Lament 5/5

Confession as relief. A conspiracy of white silence around race and racism makes it damn near impossible for the white church, white LGBTQ+ persons, and white people generally to own our part in the chronic systemic oppression that breaks out in acute episodes of insult, injury, and even death. Ultimately, racism is hurting all of us, denying all of us our full humanity. “[Our] strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah.” This episode of the podcast closes with a litany of confession written by Remi Shores.

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Pride, Protest, and the Language of Lament 4/5

The hate u give. The “imprecatory” (“cursing”) psalms give us permission to confess the hate that builds up in our hearts, poisoning us if we keep it in. When we ask God to hurt people who have hurt us, and/or people who are hurting others, we are demonstrating a kind of humility, submitting ourselves to God’s own judgment about who/when/whether to punish. We release the hate and its consequences from our hands, placing the enemy in God’s hands. We are not the judge, jury, executioner – as much as would like to be. It is safe to admit that 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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Pride, Protest, and the Language of Lament 3/5

They set your sanctuary on fire. When religion is weaponized against God’s own interests (i.e. against the dignity of the whole human family), how do the faithful remain worshipful and hopeful? This psalm tells of the infiltration and desecration of the Jerusalem temple by foreign troops. We have seen the Bible, the church, and Christian faith itself desecrated by those who claim its power for the exclusion and denigration of queer people, of black people, of women, and more. What does it mean to be Christian against the tide of evangelical (majority) support for inhumane policies and practices?

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Pride, Protest, and the Language of Lament 2/5

In the haunt of jackals. Originally a prayer after losing in military battle, this psalm speaks to the sense that God has abandoned innocent people in their struggle. “Taunters” and “revilers” scorn the pray-ers, filling them with “disgrace” and “shame.” Their “bodies cling to the ground.” They declare their innocence – i.e. they are persecuted for the “crime” of their identity, rather than punished for any actual wrongdoing. Here we notice that this prayer could be on the lips of queer protesters at Stonewall, or black protesters at BLM riots across the country. It ends with a challenge to God: “Wake up!”

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Pride, Protest, and the Language of Lament 1/5

The long season of Sundays after Pentecost, also called Ordinary Time, feels anything but ordinary this year. The “long pause” of the pandemic has given way to a rush of civil unrest around race and racism in this country, and there is plenty of grief to go around.

LGBTQ+ Pride month usually evokes joyous celebration. But this year we’re contemplating how the progress achieved by one segment of the human family can be leveraged for the sake of another. We want to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter, in part by carrying on an internal, mostly white-people-to-white-people conversation about racism and white supremacy, the original and ongoing sins of the North American project and the North American church.

We’ll use Psalm 27 as the supporting reading every week, casting it as a Pride psalm and an anti-racist psalm, as it expresses faith in the promise of divine shelter for those who are most vulnerable in this world. “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” 

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Singing at the end of the world as we know it. Jerusalemites exiled to Babylon in the 6th century BCE found it impossible to go on with life as usual. Their songs went silent. They swam in a swirl of sadness (“there we sat down and there we wept”) and rage (“happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us”). Psalms of lament give voice to both these feelings; both are welcome in God’s house, God’s family, God’s ear. Any church that denies or ignores the emotional/spiritual cost that is being extracted from us all is whistling in the dark.

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Formation: Scriptures That Made Us Who We Are 7/7

“On All Flesh”: the inclusive, empowering vision of church, then and now. Church leaders are prone to condescend to church members, to the point that members are infantilized and unable to imagine themselves empowered for life-with-God. At Galileo we maintain: we are each and all grown-ass adults imbued with the Holy Spirit of the living Christ. We should treat each other that way, and the ecclesial infrastructure should support that. Without that empowerment, the amazing vision of Acts 2:43-47 is impossible. Also: happy 7th birthday to us!

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 PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.