The Shape of Shalom: Pulling God’s Future into the Now 2/6

Many places at once. Erma Sinclair examines what she calls God’s Divine Multiplicity—God’s ability to occupy more than one space at the same time—by looking to the Hebrew prophets and finding where God is both someone who wants to be worshipped and a God that is committed to walking with God’s people. What questions arise when we place this in the context of Juneteenth and America’s ongoing legacy of enslavement and white supremacist colonialism? And where do we see God walking with God’s people in our country’s past and present?

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.

The Shape of Shalom: Pulling God’s Future into the Now 1/6

False peace vs. true shalom: an introduction. The dominant narrative denies real suffering, whistling in the dark (“Peace, peace!” where there is no peace). The counter-narrative imagines peace that follows justice and righteousness, resulting in “quietness and trust forever,” “abiding,” “security,” “resting”… We are here relieved of the pressure of “What should we do?” and invited to divert our imaginations toward “What could the world be like?” (David Byrne, “Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens…”)

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.

Breathing Together: the Co-Conspiracy 7/7

Happy birthday, church!  Pentecost is a movable feast, and so is Galileo Church’s birthday. This year we’re 9 years old, and thinking about what we’ve accomplished with God’s help, and what comes next with God’s help.

Longtime Co-Conspirator and MLT member Missy Holtman is moving away from Fort Worth, and she shared some thoughts during communion on how she came to Galileo and what Galileo means to her.

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.

Breathing Together: the Co-Conspiracy 6/7

Presence, the best you can, at gatherings of the church. Martha of Bethany wants what a lot of us want: to be useful, busy, appreciated. But Jesus favors, at least in this instance, Mary’s quiet presence. It’s a difficult shift for many in our church, who are used to church making people busier – and it’s hard, too, because we are a DIY church with lots of needs for people’s time and energy. How do we curate gatherings where more people can simply be?

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.

Breathing Together: the Co-Conspiracy 5/7

Gracious receipt of care from the church family. The lawyer who asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” wanted to imagine himself in the care-giving role. But when Jesus casts his play, the VRP’s character is unconscious and bleeding by the side of the road. What would such a reversal require of us – seeing ourselves as (sometimes) care receivers, rather than (always) caregivers?

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.

Breathing Together: the Co-Conspiracy 4/7

Extension of the church’s welcome to friends, neighbors, strangers, and enemies. The way Jesus tells it, this reign-of-God enterprise has always been invitational. You don’t stay in one place and hope that people find you; you go where the people are, and see what happens. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t – but when you’ve got news this good, you can’t keep it inside. With communion thoughts from Dr. Lance Pape.

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.

Breathing Together: the Co-Conspiracy 3/7

Participation in the church’s discernment for our next steps together. At Jesus’s transfiguration, his closest friends are invited to think about what comes next. They take a swing and a miss (thanks, Peter), and God reminds them to shut up and listen for a while. This listening task is passed along to us – what do we hear from the Spirit when we hush, and how will it help us know what’s next?

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.

Breathing Together: the Co-Conspiracy 2/7

Featuring guest preacher Savannah Williams-Brooks!

Cultivation of spiritual gifts for the life of our church and community. Jesus invests his apostles with so much power – look at all they can do in his name, on his behalf! But upon their return, they are once again dubious that they have anything to offer. They can’t even make lunch for a larger-than-expected crowd. But one of Jesus’s specialties is making a lot out of a little, including our own little gifts, multiplied and magnified by his power.

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.

Breathing Together: The Co-Conspiracy 1/7

Sharing material resources to further the church’s goals. The generosity of several women funded Jesus’s ministry then. Consider that they had little power otherwise – but money is power, and in their release of it for his use, they effected more of what they wanted to see in the world. Similarly for us – most of us have little power otherwise, but the designation of our resources for the church’s missional priorities is a way to express and manifest our intentions to get God more of what God wants.

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.

Holy Week 2022: Easter Sunday

He is risen; he is risen indeed! But why does that matter?

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.

Holy Week 2022: Palm Sunday

We kick off our Holy Week with readings from the Gospel of Luke and thoughts on the politics of protest from Lead Evangelist Rev. Dr. Katie Hays, and a meditation on friendship gone wrong from Apprentice Evangelist 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.

Gird Up Your Loins 5/5

The restoration. So much of this book is deeply unpleasant – God’s anger unto wrath, the notion that God pulls geopolitical strings to punish and reward – but Jeremiah is clear that God’s punishment is for the sake of the people’s restoration, rather than an end in itself. We can reject (or at least question) the notion that God is orchestrating global events to teach anybody a lesson, but still take the promise of our “return” and the language of “new covenant” as a promise for 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.

Gird Up Your Loins 4/5

The economy of rest. In the middle of all the devastating geopolitical conflict, with intra-Judah political conflict and Jeremiah’s own life often in danger, comes a rant about the people’s failure to hallow the Sabbath – like, just take a day off. It’s that damned economic pressure, and the lie that we cannot “afford” to rest. The flourishing God has in mind for God’s people will not come because they work incessantly; it will come when they have enough trust in God to actually lay down their burdens every once in a while.

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. 

Gird Up Your Loins 3/5

The sorrow. Jeremiah expresses the ache of the heart that accompanies his visions. He both understands how things ought to be; and how very far reality is from God’s ideal. Theologians surmise that “the weeping prophet” (as Jeremiah is called) is actually God’s emotional surrogate, expressing the deep grief of God’s own heart at the brokenness of the world God loves.  

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.

Gird Up Your Loins 2/5

The Indictment. Among other things, Jeremiah indicts Judah (on God’s behalf) for their economic practices – not just individual offenses committed against the poor, but an economic system that favors the rich and ignores (or tramples) the needy. And the religious establishment supports it all (v. 31). Watch out, says the prophet! It is appalling! Like, God seems *actually* shocked. There’s just not too much that makes God mad like this.

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.

Gird Up Your Loins 1/5

The call. Jeremiah has a famous call narrative. It comes in a very specific historical period; God’s work is never in the abstract but always deeply situational/contextual. This call includes the instruction to “gird up your loins” (v. 17), and surely there are generalizable instructions here for all who heed God’s call to purposeful living: “Why am I here? What am I for?” We are not all prophets like Jeremiah, but we are all invited to participate with God in our specific time and place.

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.

Deep Water: Contemplating Baptism 7/7

The Centurion’s Pais. Oh this is a hard story, given all that we now know about enslavement, about sex between slaveowner and enslaved person, about power differentials… Does Jesus know these things? Is it a lovely story about queer love, or a painful story about Jesus’s tacit endorsement of a caste system? How do we recover a story like this from under layers of new understanding? What does it mean for us now? Could a sermon be a teaching opportunity for critical thinking/reading that is still faithfully exploring Jesus’s identity? Like, “Here is reading #1… here is reading #2… here is reading #3… here is what it means to receive the complications and confusion without losing your mind or your faith…”

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.

Deep Water: Contemplating Baptism 6/7

A Life Well-Lived. Someone said about Betty White, “Live your life so that when you die at 99, they will say it was too soon.” I say about Dan Patrick, “Live your life so that when you get Covid, no one will rejoice over your suffering and hope for your demise.” These little picture-stories from Jesus are about the quality of a life well-lived on the foundations of his example – what does it look like? In whom, other than him, have we seen it? Also, we dedicated a baby this Sunday!

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.

Deep Water: Contemplating Baptism 5/7

Blessings and Woes, Love and Hate. There’s an economic punch in the Sermon on the Plain – “blessed are the poor/hungry; woe to the rich/well-fed.” But there’s also this reputational component – do people speak well of you (woe!), or defame your character (bless!)? The relationship between those two is worth exploring, as we (still) tend to villainize the poor and assume good things about the wealthy. I don’t mean the super-wealthy – just the normally wealthy, as if they followed the rules and worked hard and blah blah blah. This is the lie of capitalism – that good people can prove their goodness by working the system to their advantage. Jesus calls bullshit.

Deep Water: Contemplating Baptism 4/7

New Wine, New People, New Practice. Levi throws a party for Jesus; it makes people mad. Jesus eats and drinks all the time; it makes people suspicious. He’s experiencing too much joy with all the wrong people, and religion shouldn’t feel that way? His metaphor about wine and wineskins means new people, new practice. “It’s supposed to be delicious, you dingbats.” 

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.