All Sermons
The Loving Unsettling of Resurrection
April 7, 2024 • Rev. Kyle Walden • John 20:11–31
Scripture: John 20:11-31 As we journey into Eastertide, Rev. Kyle Walden reminds us that Jesus meets us where we are, and that in the Risen Christ, we are invited into life. We are to be Resurrection people—together.
The Good News According to Mary
March 31, 2024 • Rev. Dr. Jay Williams • John 20:1–18
John 20:1-18. In this Easter Sermon, we are invited to listen to the women who were the first to bear the good news of Christ's resurrection. Reflecting on the gaslighting of Mary Magdalene, Pastor Jay excavates buried stories like The Gospel of Mary so we may we hear the resurrection message loud and clear: There is no sin, because Christ has come to restore us to our root, beloved, bearers of the image of God.
Into the Unknown: Pilgrimage through the Story
March 24, 2024 • Rev. Kyle Walden • Mark 11:1–11
Mark 11:1-11. Pastor Kyle invites us to the spiritual practice of Pilgrimage through the story this Holy Week. By diving in deep and finding ourselves in the story, we will become witnesses to the glory of God in Christ.
On Sabbath-Keeping and Embracing God's Time
March 17, 2024 • Rev. Kyle Walden • Mark 2:23—3:6
Mark 2:23-3:6. Pastor Kyle helps us better understand the ancient spiritual practice of sabbath-keeping by seeing how Jesus himself approached sabbath — not as a rule to judge purity, but instead a practice to support life. We are invited into God's time of sabbath this week of Lent.
Back Talking God (aka Prayer)
March 10, 2024 • Rev. Dr. Jay Williams • Luke 5:15–16, Luke 6:12–23
Luke 5:15-16, 6:12-23. Pastor Jay draws on the wisdom of bell hooks to think about prayer as the revolutionary act of "back talk" where we speak our experiences back to God. We pray to break silence in ways that resist patriarchal silencing and soporific "thoughts and prayers."
Into the Unknown: On Justice, Jesus, and the Temple of Your Body
March 3, 2024 • Rev. Nikki Renée • John 2:13–22
John 2:13-22. Reading Jesus turning over tables in the Temple, Rev. Nikki Renée makes this story come alive for us today, challenging us to see the ways we are called to that same table-turning justice work in the South End and in our own communities today.
God-Talk, Holy Conversation, and Divine Action
February 25, 2024 • Rev. Dr. Jay Williams • Mark 8:27—9:1
Mark 8:27-9:1. In a world that says "act first, deliberate later," Pastor Jay invites us to the spiritual practice of Holy Conversation (Holy Conferencing) in which we listen closely to God and get to the heart of the matter. Pastor Jay looks at the scripture of Peter and Jesus rebuking one another to open up three learnings we can learn about the power of holy conversation.
Into the Unknown: Wait and See
February 18, 2024 • Rev. Kyle Walden • Mark 1:9–15
Mark 1:9-15. Lent: Into the Unknown. Pastor Kyle invites us to root ourselves in the baptismal divine affirmation that we are children of God. From this foundation, we can journey with God into the unknown and listen for the new thing God is doing in our midst. One way we listen is through the practice of meditation, as inspired by Howard Thurman.
A Year of Possibility
February 4, 2024 • Rev. Dr. Jay Williams • Ephesians 3:16–21
Ephesians 3:16-21. Launching our Year of Possibility at Union, Pastor Jay focuses on faith, fractals, and the fullness of God. The good news is that faith frees our minds, bodies, and communities to all that is possible through God in Christ.
Something's Gotta Change
February 11, 2024 • Rev. Dr. Jay Williams • Mark 9:2–9
Mark 9:2-9. For this Transfiguration Sunday sermon, Pastor Jay invites us to follow Jesus up to the mountaintop so we may remove ourselves from the busyness of life to receive the sanctifying love of God in Christ. On the mountaintop, God calls us beloved and gives us visions of the new things that God can do within us and in the world!
A New Teaching
January 28, 2024 • Rev. Nikki Renée • Mark 1:21–28
Mark 1:21-28. Rev. Nikki Renée opens up our understanding about the first miracle of the Gospel of Mark, pointing us to the new teaching of Jesus that makes demons flee and calls us to our deep purpose of flourishing, just as God originally intended.
Can Anything Good Come of This?
January 14, 2024 • Rev. Nikki Renée • John 1:43–51
John 1:43-51. Rev. Nikki Renée (our Preacher-in-Residence) invites us to critically examine the beliefs we have internalized and to realize that the Spirit of God may be moving within our flesh just as it did in the incarnation of Christ Jesus.
