This Sunday we are celebrating World Communion, and we will read from the Scripture passage in Matthew 26 of how it all started. The night before his crucifixion Jesus had one last dinner with his disciples. Every time we celebrate Communion we are remembering that last meal. Eating dinner together didn’t look anything like what we are used to today. There were no utensils; you read correctly, no knives, no forks, also no individual plates or bowls. Nope, everyone shared one bowl – it was the custom of the time to serve meals in one large common bowl. Everyone sitting around the table would tear off a piece of bread which they would use as a scoop. Then, leaning forward, you would reach into a common bowl, scoop up some food, and then eat it.

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I hope you’ll join us for our annual fall worship service and picnic in Griffith Park. Former WHPC member Garry Orange, who now lives in Las Vegas, began this great tradition and is coming in from Las Vegas to join us! Thank you Garry and we look forward to seeing you!

This Sunday we’ll be joined by our friends from Altadena Community Church, so it’s also a really special opportunity to worship with them and share stories about what it’s like to be a member of the United Church of Christ. We had a fabulous time at Altadena and we expect an equally great time together this coming Sunday.

THERE WILL BE NO WORSHIP SERVICE AT THE CHURCH THIS SUNDAY!

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“Teaching is, by its very nature, not a profession that yields a lot of tangible returns—and especially not in the first decade or so…The teacher who has simply tried to be faithful in activating thought and whose life is given to helping students to create for themselves frequently is never able to know whether anything at all has resulted from the work.

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There has always been something about the Biblical story of the Ethiopian Eunuch that led me to suspect this guy was gay. But let me take us on a little diversion, then I’ll come back to this “gaydar experience” I had.
In the early 1990’s I was having a conversation with members of the gay and lesbian clergy association of LA that Rabbi Denise Eger and I formed. I shared with my colleagues that I was bored to death with explaining how the five “texts of terror” (the five primary passages in the Christian Scriptures that are used to oppress and denigrate gay and lesbian people) had no relevancy to our current understanding of homosexuality. From the conversation that ensued, I knew I had just spoken of a burden we were all carrying.

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On Sunday October 2nd we celebrated World Communion Sunday, and once again during the month of October we will receive our special offering for Peacemaking.

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This year our annual worship and church picnic in Griffith Park will be extra-special, as our friends from Altadena Community Church will be joining us!

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The way the Holy Spirit works in and through our lives never ceases to amaze me! At the request of many members, months ago I planned our three week series on Spiritual Discernment. People were asking me, “What is Spiritual Discernment?” and “How does it work?” So after talking with some of the most gifted people I know who lead ministries of spiritual discernment, I distilled it down to three main points:
1. Sensing God’s Call or Leading in our Lives – a process that often begins with an experience of “dislocation.” Something doesn’t feel right. I’m not content with where I am spiritually or personally. Something’s out of sync. That’s usually how it begins.
2. The second dynamic is about “releasing:” Letting Go and Leaving Behind so we can embrace the new.
3. The third dynamic is following where the Holy Spirit is leading you/us.
This Sunday we focus on the second dynamic: “Letting Go and Leaving Behind so that we can Embrace The New.”

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Ever wonder what God is thinking? What God is feeling? What God is saying? I think about that a lot. I can’t imagine the anguish God feels when God sits through the kind of experience we had last Sunday after worship with our Presbytery’s Engagement Team. God’s heart must be breaking! Is this really what Christianity is about? As I’ve shared with so many of you this past week, what we experienced on Sunday was not “of God,” it is the Church’s fighting to retain control, dominance and the subordination of our lives.

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Do you ever feel “small?” Do you ever feel like your life has no, or little, significance? How does your life compare to Jesus’?

This Sunday we’re going to focus on those questions. Or more accurately, on Jesus’ answers to those questions.

In John’s Gospel there is a large section (chapter 14, verse 1 thru chapter 17, verse 26) that is called “Jesus’ farewell discourse and prayer.” This “farewell discourse” is an amazingly intimate conversation Jesus has with his followers right before his own death. It’s one of those last “heart to heart” conversations that everyone yearns to have before the death of a loved one. It’s that “one last,” that one “final” chance to tell someone how much you love them and perhaps to leave them with final words of love, thanks, blessing or request.

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This Sunday we will once again explore the topic of heaven and hell. It’s not the easiest topic to preach on since the Bible doesn’t provide us with a clear picture on the subject. In fact, Scripture doesn’t seem to dwell much on the subject at all (most of Scripture is focused on this life) and the texts that do refer to “heaven” and “hell” are a bit confusing. Take for instance the odd passage we looked at last week in which Jesus tells a wealthy young person to sell his stuff, hand it out to the poor, and follow him to gain “treasure in heaven.”

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