Matt Alspaugh November 13, 2016 Message I – Grieving This was not the sermon I had hoped to write, for today. It is most likely not the sermon you hoped to hear. Well, there may be some who are happy with the outcome — and you are welcome here, too! Just please, don’t gloat. Because … Continue reading Sermon: Nov 13, 2016 – “The Long Road Ahead”
Introduction A friend who is a family therapist and a Unitarian Universalist, tells this story. My seven-year-old son Eric said to me, “Dad, what happens to us after we die? Is there a heaven?” “Well, some people believe that after we die we go to heaven where we live forever,” I replied, “and other people … Continue reading Sermon: Oct 30, 2016 – “You Would Know the Secret of Death”
Introduction Have you ever had a light bulb blow out? I don’t mean burn out, but blow out, explode, like they do in old movies. It’s happened to me just once. I heard a popping sound, and look up to see a flash as the light over the dining room table literally exploded, sending shards … Continue reading Sermon: Oct 23, 2016 – “Tikkun Olam – To Repair the World”
Reflection – “Thoughts on Healing” Healing and Dying: My Dad My dad died just a little over five years ago. It was not a good death for him. His wife, his third wife, didn’t want him to go, and grasped at anything medical science had to offer, hoping for a miracle cure. Of course many … Continue reading Reflection: Oct 9, 2016 – “Wounded Communities, Healing Communities”
Part 1: Lessons from the Day Fifteen years and one day ago, September 10, 2001, I was on an airplane returning from business in France. We landed in Newark, and I changed to a plane bound for Denver, for home. We rolled out onto the tarmac, and then we sat. And sat. We were there … Continue reading Sermon: Sep 11, 2011 – “Bubbles in the Stream”
Sermon – Walking the Broad Path On Church I’m glad you are here at church today! If only for the sake of your physical health and longevity, It’s true! A number of studies have shown that people who attend church are healthier and live longer than those who don’t. Attending church boosts the immune system … Continue reading Sermon: Sep 18, 2016 – “Walking the Broad Path”
Reflection 1 – Planning for Your Church Come dream a dream with me. Come dream a dream with me, that I might know your mind. Let me start out this morning by offering plans — dreams — for this church for the next year. We’ve learned — I’ve learned — that in those years when … Continue reading Sermon: Aug 28, 2016 – “Planning Your Life”
Introduction I hope many of us have been able to travel a bit this summer. One of the lessons about traveling is we are often not in control of our time. We wait in line at the airport, to check baggage, to go through security, to board planes. We find ourselves waiting in holiday traffic … Continue reading Sermon: Aug 14, 2016 – “Spiritual Life Hacks”
Introduction During our sabbatical time in Italy, Liz and I stayed for a few days in Manarola, one of five picturesque little fishing towns on the Ligurian coast in the northwest of the country. These towns, known as the Cinque Terre, or ‘five lands’, have been made into a United Nations World Heritage site. Which … Continue reading Sermon: Jun 19, 2016 – “Fast Train to Nowhere”
Part I This is the time of many transitions. Today is the day when we ceremonially transition from this sanctuary to downstairs, for the beginning of the summer worship. This is a time of beginnings as I return from sabbatical, and begin again as your minister. This is a time of endings, as Kristina Spaude … Continue reading Sermon: Jul 12, 2016 – “Beginnings, Endings, and Transitions”
