Pentecost
May 28, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade
We celebrated Pentecost, the birth of the church and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The holy seasons teach us so much about God. God came to be with us and the world (Advent/Christmas/Epiphany), God is for us (Lent/Easter) and on Pentecost we learn that God is IN us! The gift of the Holy Spirit is the ability to speak many languages, so that we can understand each other and be understood. To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
I Am... The Bread
May 14, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade
Transitions are always hard. Before they entered the Promised Land, God's people were in the wilderness for a very long time. They are anxious and uncomfortable times, ones we would like to escape, but into those times God is still providing, even revealing, God's ability to sustain us, satisfy us through the in-between, preparing us for a new beginning. Even in the in-between, Jesus offers words of comfort and salvation. To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
I Am... The Gate
April 30, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade • John 10:1–10
This Sunday, we ask 'Who is Jesus'? He says he is the gate, the one that lets the sheep in and out to pasture. How does this gate invite us to be a particular kind of community, how do healthy boundaries, help us to be the church? To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give. *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
Palm Sunday
April 2, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade • Matthew 21:1–11
This week we celebrated Palm Sunday, Jesus' triumphant entry to Jerusalem, also a political satire of the traditional parades by Rome. His crowd was full of children, shouting, waving palms celebrating Jesus and the kingdom he was showing them was possible, a humble one where children are deeply valued. They saw him turn the tables on the current economic, religious, and political systems of the day for their protection, they also saw how the powers that be responded to that challenge. Our children are watching and listening to what we do and don't do for them and God's kingdom. Let's make sure we are also in the crowd following Jesus. To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
Grief and Good News
March 26, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade • John 11:1–45
We know we are getting close to Holy Week, when death is staring us in the face, like in the story of Lazarus. A story about how differently we each respond to grief and the good news, and how Jesus walks with us in our grief but continues to promise life with him too. To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
The Scandal of the Cross
March 12, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade • Matthew 5:21–37
This week we left Nicodemus in the dark to meet the Samaritan woman in broad daylight and that's not the only scandalous thing we discovered in her conversation with Jesus. Jesus revealed that he died not just for people like Nicodemus who society revers but also for Samaritans, women and people with complicated histories that are shamed or reviled or rejected. The scandal of the cross is not who is left out, but who Jesus includes! Even us! To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
The Push and Pull of Jesus
March 5, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade • John 3:1–17
On Sunday we learned how weird John's Gospel can be, especially in the story of Nicodemus, feeling the push and pull of Jesus. He starts out in the dark asking questions, but if we follow him throughout the story, he finds a way into the light to defend and care for Jesus. He is anxious and unsure, just like us these days, but also like us, he is hearing the spirit move around him through Jesus and cannot resist. Where do you see the spirit moving in FCC Louisville right now? To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
Listening to Jesus
February 19, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade
This Sunday we heard God proclaim to some of the disciples, and to us, during the transfiguration of Jesus: "Listen to him!". We talked about the journey to Jerusalem we are all beginning together during the six weeks of Lent which start this Wednesday at 6:30pm for our Ash Wednesday. To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
Shalom Community
February 12, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade • Matthew 5:21–37
This week’s scripture tackled complicated issues like divorce, adultery, anger and making promises. Jesus didn’t avoid the hard stuff, but the core of his message was about working on our hearts, how we see and treat each other with love, as the only way to create a shalom community, one seeking wholeness and right relationships with God and people. To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
Salt of the Earth
February 5, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade • Matthew 5:13–20
We continued with the "best sermon ever", Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. We learned about ways we are salt of the earth by making the world more delicious, preserving what is valuable and sometimes cleaning out the wounds of the world. We do all this to glorify God, because God heals and preserves and flavors the world with divine love. We are also the light of the world, shining and sharing our own stories of faith and God far and wide. To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
Blessings
January 29, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade • Matthew 5:1–12
This Sunday we started our new sermon series on Matthew's version of the Beatitudes. This is the only section of teachings in this Gospel and it starts with a list of blessings, not laws, not rules or restrictions, but God's blessing. Jesus blesses those who are vulnerable, and invites us to view our own places of vulnerability as blessed by God too. If you want to know what that looks like, just look to Jesus. To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
In-between Stories
January 15, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade • John 1:29–42
This week we learned the importance of liminal spaces, of in-between stories like the one we heard between the baptism of Jesus and the famous call stories of the disciples. These spaces invite us to ask ourselves the question Jesus asks the disciples, what are you looking for? The disciples respond they want to know where Jesus is staying, where does he abide., that is where they want to be. How can you draw close to Jesus this week, how do you find your way to where he is staying in your life, your family, in your church? To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
Introductions
January 8, 2023 • Rev. Amanda Meade • Matthew 3:13–17
Sunday we explored introductions in the Bible. How people are introduced tells us a great deal about their story. As an adult, Jesus chooses to be introduced through his baptism by John; he choses to not do, but to be received, to submit rather than control. He is introduced by God, as beloved son, as the servant of God. What does his introduction say about us as his followers? How should we be introduced, if we are claimed by Jesus at our baptism? To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
4th Sunday of Advent 2022
December 18, 2022 • Rev. Amanda Meade • Luke 1:39–58
This Sunday we heard songs from Elizabeth and Mary, two distinct women with distinct songs. They sang about joy and deep belonging, and invite us to feel as necessary and important people in God's story and this church's story. Mary's song is a response to that welcome and belonging, inviting us to bring that belonging and justice to the whole world. We don't just sing these songs during advent but can sing them all year long. To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit http://www.fcclouisville.org/give *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.
2nd Week of Advent 2022
December 4, 2022 • Rev. Amanda Meade • Isaiah 11:1–10, Luke 1:26–38
Last week we heard some of the most common and familiar words in scripture: "do not be afraid" after the angel greets Mary. We learned the words right after those are what help Mary and generations before her to say yes to God. Words of God's power and strength, God's favor and steadfast presence. Those words are for us too, God meets us and acknowledges our fears too, but reminds us we are not alone. You can say yes to God, for nothing is impossible for Him. To support this ministry, please text FCCLouisville (833) 267-9138 or visit https://http://www.fcclouisville.org/give. *When you send “FCCLouisville” to (833) 267-9138 you will receive a one-time reply containing a link to give to First Christian Church of Louisville (1msg/request). Please be aware that Msg & Data rates may apply. For full Terms & Conditions please visit https://pushpay.com/terms. For the Privacy Policy please visit https://pushpay.com/privacy. For help reply HELP or STOP to cancel.