#3GreatLoves | Memorial United Church of Christ

Love In Action: Reveal!

Posted on February 28, 2019February 28, 2019 by Kristin Gorton

Listen! Here’s the scene: We are in the midst of a continuation of a Jesus sermon. The Beatitudes. The sermon… not on the mount… but on the plain. A level place. These are Jesus words. You might remember that several week’s ago I mentioned that as we begin 2019 the liturgical season of Epiphany, this ordinary time into which God’s presence is revealed for us between the arrival of the magi back in January and Jesus going back up to a high place next week, is loooong this year. This year we have had seven week’s packed with small epiphanies—those holy moments of “ah-ha”—swirling with the revel...
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Holy-Scattered-About

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Kristin Gorton

From the mustard seed to the cosmos, the complexity of everything that surrounds us is unveiled today in its simplicity through the parables. A person scattering seeds with wild abandon. Who is it? God? Jesus? Us? It is as if we grasp it all… but yet not. There is a grand Truth here that we understand, but don’t quite get. Here in this space faith, science, technology, and Word intersect. Merge. Stretch. It is as if Jesus was calling on us to see things differently. This isn’t so dissimilar from what the world of science is revealing to us. In his chapter on The Architecture of the Cosmos, ...
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Overhearing God

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Kristin Gorton

Shhh!!! Listen. We are given opportunities to overhear. Overhear God. God’s prayer. God’s prayer for creation. The world. The Church. Us. A word of hope. Love. Support. Transformation. A sending out. Continuing the story. But too often we miss out on the opportunities to be fully immersed in God’s prayer. We miss out on the opportunities right before our eyes. Jesus here. Jesus now. Praying. Through every breath, every movement, every conversation that we have: with young, old, family, friends, strangers. All too often we don’t see, don’t hear, don’t get—what is… right… here… And this is...
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See and Flip Over

Posted on March 8, 2018 by Kristin Gorton

Last week, we took a look at the first third of the mission statement that proclaims “we are a community of faith called by God, to gather for worship and reach out in ever-widening circles.” This week our reflection shifted to the next section of our vision which states, we are witnesses "to God' all-inclusive love in Jesus Christ." Hear these words again: We are witnesses “to God’s all-inclusive love in Jesus Christ.” Now. HERE. So how do we… how are we… (or are we?)… keeping our eyes on Jesus today? For in the Gospel of John, the story is all about God coming near. From the beginning....
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#RippedOpen

Posted on February 22, 2018February 22, 2018 by Kristin Gorton

I open this reflection with a cautionary note. I want to prepare you. I want to prepare you for a tearing open of the heavens. For the urgency of the Spirit driving us out into the wilderness places of our days. For the need to identify and name the devils with which we are tempted. Here. Now. I want to give you a heads up that my use of hashtags* as I share this Word with you today might be unsettling. Unnerving. In fact, I hope that it is unsettling. It should be unsettling. For a shift is urgently needed. A transformation. A tearing open. A revealing of God’s kin-dom here… God’s Word her...
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