Text: John 3:1-17

Some seasons feel like one long night. Not the gentle kind with a crescent moon and a few bright stars. But the kind where you can’t quite see what’s coming next.

Where the news feels relentless. Where the future feels uncertain. Where the questions get louder than the answers.

Questions like:

What kind of God creates a world with cancer and deadly storms?

Why is there so much cruelty and violence?

Why am I so lonely?

How can I stop being so afraid?

Where is God in all of this?

Night has a way of stripping us of pretense. It quiets the noise. It makes us honest—honest about our questions, and honest about our need for Light.

And it is there, in that kind of night, that we meet Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a learned man, a scholar of the Jewish faith, a respected religious leader, a man who knew his scripture and his tradition.

And still, he comes to Jesus confused and curious, full of questions.

That alone should ignite some light for us.

Because somewhere along the way many people were taught that questions don’t belong in church. That faith means certainty. That belief means signing on the dotted line of a doctrinal checklist.

And yet here, in one of the most famous chapters in the Bible, we find a scholar and seeker stumbling through the dark saying: How can this be?

Questions are not the opposite of faith. They are often the spark where faith begins.

Nicodemus is not given answers. He is given invitation.

Invitation to trust.

Invitation to step toward Light.

“The wind blows where it chooses…”

You can feel it, even when you cannot control it.

And that is what Jesus is offering Nicodemus—not certainty, but relationship.

“For God so loved the world…”

This verse from Gospel of John 3:16 has too often been reduced to a slogan—or worse, weaponized as a boundary marker of who is in and who is out. But listen carefully. It does not say: “God so loved the worthy.”

It does not say: “God so loved the certain.”

It does not say: “God so loved those who figured it all out.”

It says: God so loved the world. The whole world.

And the word translated “believe,” pisteuo, is not primarily about intellectual agreement. It is about trust. Relational trust. Entrusting yourself to another. There is a world of difference between believing a statement and believing in a person.

To say “I believe in you” is not to claim you understand everything about a person. It is to say: I trust you. I will step toward you. Even, perhaps, I will follow your lead.

That is the spark.

Faith is not having all the answers. Faith is daring to trust the Light of God while still standing in the dark. You only need enough light to take the next step.

Not a floodlight. Just a spark.

Friends, we are not only people who talk about light. We are people who have seen it.

We saw it when neighborhoods in Minneapolis organized to care for one another in the aftermath of unrest and uncertainty. When stores were vulnerable and systems strained, neighbors brought whatever gifts they had—organizing skills, grills, baked goods, bottled water, medical supplies. Some patrolled streets to protect small businesses and vulnerable neighbors—immigrant families, people of color, anyone who felt unsafe. Some accompanied elders to the grocery store and children to school. Some simply showed up and stood watch so others could worship or sleep in peace.

No one person solved the darkness.

But together, they became light.

We have seen it in the quiet, steady witness of Buddhist monks walking for peace—a simple, embodied prayer moving through public streets. Their steps did not shout. They did not argue. They simply walked, reminding everyone watching that love does not have to be loud to be powerful.

We have seen it in the long, luminous ministry of Jesse Jackson, who reminded a weary nation again and again: it gets dark sometimes, but morning always comes. He showed up in hospital rooms, on picket lines, in forgotten neighborhoods, listening to people’s questions, dignifying their pain, calling them to embodied love. Hope, in his hands, was not naïve optimism. It was disciplined, stubborn carrying of the Light into the dark.

These are not abstract ideas.

They are sparks in real darkness.

And here is the good news: the same Spirit that moved in Nicodemus’ night, the same love that sent Jesus into the world, is moving still.

Ignite the Light does not mean we deny the darkness. It means we refuse to surrender to it.

Nicodemus does not leave Jesus with all his questions answered. But get this beautiful twist: his story doesn’t end in chapter three.

Near the end of John’s Gospel, after Jesus has been crucified, Nicodemus appears again—this time in daylight—bringing spices to help prepare Jesus’ body for burial.

He moves from academic speculation to embodied love. From confusion to courageous tenderness. From questions to action.

Not because all his questions were resolved. But because somewhere along the way, trust took root. The spark caught.

That is what trust looks like. Not certainty—but movement. The spark becomes action.

God does not wait for us to stop asking questions before God loves us.

God meets us in the questions.

God meets us in the dark.

God meets us and keeps the spark of hope and faith and life burning in us.

That is the gospel.

And that is why we come to this Table.

We do not come to Communion because we have resolved every theological tension. We come because we are hungry for light. We come because we need trust rekindled. We come because love has already moved toward us.

“For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world…”

No condemnation here.

Only invitation.

At this table, Christ does not hand us a doctrinal list with boxes to check. He hands us bread. And in that simple act, light passes from hand to hand.

Maybe you feel strong today. Maybe you feel barely glowing. It doesn’t matter. A spark is enough.

Enough to check on a neighbor.

Enough to show up.

Enough to listen.

Enough to bake bread or walk for peace or stand beside someone who is afraid.

Enough to believe that morning will come as we keep working together for what is good.

Nicodemus came at night.

But he kept moving… all the way to the tomb. And if he was there at the tomb, then he was already on his way to resurrection morning.

And the Spirit who moved him is moving us still.

Because the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.

So come to the table.

Bring your questions.

Bring your weariness.

Bring your small, flickering hope.

Receive the love of God who believes in you.

And then go —

and be a spark in someone else’s dark.

Texts: Isaiah 58:1-12; Matthew 5:17-20

Our guest preacher last week invited us into the ancient wisdom of Micah 6:8—to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. In response to that sermon, someone commented online: “Sad when preachers preach from the old fallen Old Testament. God speaks through Jesus and Jesus said he was to be our only teacher.”

I had to hold back from replying with a bit of pastoral snark: I guess you missed the day in class when Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

Jesus’ whole life is an embodiment of the righteousness the law seeks to teach and the justice the prophets longed to proclaim and enact. In Scripture, “law” isn’t a cold rulebook or a list of religious regulations. It’s God’s teaching for how a community actually lives—how neighbors treat one another, how power is exercised, how workers are paid, how the vulnerable are protected.

Jesus does not stand over the law and the prophets, correcting them. He stands within them, holding together what has too often been pulled apart—faith and life, prayer and practice, belief and behavior. Jesus does not discard the law and the prophets; he pieces them together, aligns them with flesh and breath and human relationships, and shows us what they look like when lived fully. Jesus comes to help us align our lives with the deep purposes of God so that peace with justice—what Dr. King called the Beloved Community—can begin to take shape among us.

That is why Isaiah 58 lands so powerfully today. Isaiah and Jesus are speaking the same theological language, even as they speak in different moments. And Isaiah does not ease into the message. He comes out of the gate strong:

“Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they want God on their side.”

That little phrase—“as if”—is a doozy.

Isaiah is describing a people who are deeply religious: faithful in worship, earnest in prayer, fluent in the rituals and language of faith—as if they were practicing righteousness, as if they had not forsaken God’s ordinances. This is not hypocrisy in the cheap sense. It is being faithful in form, but disconnected in practice. They want God near. They want God responsive. They want God on their side. But even as they do all the religious things—fasting, sackcloth, ashes—they forsake God’s ordinances—the Hebrew word is mishpat: meaning justice that treats people fairly and equitably. They are acting religious without making God choices, without doing justice.

In our current context, it would be very easy to take that “as if” and aim it outward. To point fingers at national leaders who wear big crosses around their necks, hold Bibles for photo ops, show up at public prayer services and then post vile, racist images, enact cruel policies, and unleash violent overreach. It would be easy for me, especially after what I’ve seen and heard recently, to let my anger form words that strike like a fist.

I recently returned from Minneapolis. I heard firsthand stories of families targeted by ICE—stories of fear that lives in bodies and homes, stories of trauma caused by aggressive and dehumanizing enforcement. I’ve stood at the sites where neighbors lost their lives as they sought to defend and protect others. I also heard anger—anger rooted not only in what is happening now, but in decades of suffering that has gone unseen, unheard, and unaddressed: unmet needs, unacknowledged harm, voices crying out long before the rest of us were paying attention.

Isaiah would tell the truth about all of that. Jesus would too. Truth-telling is part of faithfulness. But Scripture is equally clear that how we tell the truth matters.

Neither Isaiah nor Jesus believes that mockery creates peace. Neither believes that humiliation heals wounds. Isaiah is clear: the fast God chooses is not one that strikes with the fist or points the finger.

Walter Brueggemann reminds us that to be prophetic is not simply to condemn wrongdoing, but to name pain, to let suffering be seen and heard. That happens when we listen to stories we would rather avoid, when we allow another person’s fear or anger to interrupt our assumptions, when we allow the realities of human suffering to disrupt the status quo. Brueggemann writes, “The replacing of numbness with compassion… signals a social revolution.” Healing—personal or communal—does not begin with denial. It begins when pain is clearly named and acknowledged.

In Minneapolis, I had the opportunity to practice listening to stories I would have preferred to avoid. I heard how African American, African, and other immigrant communities struggle to maintain trust and true solidarity. As one of the few white people in the room, I heard stories of perhaps well-meaning, mostly white progressives who alienate Black communities over ideological issues while ignoring the chronic poverty and violent injustice they face every day. “They talk about unity, but want uniformity,” someone said. “They turn out in record numbers in this moment—but can they say the names of the young people in our community who are shot in the back on a regular basis?”

I found myself thinking about how the intersections of race, class, ideology, and power I encountered in Minneapolis echo right here in Washington, DC. And all I could do—and all I can do right now—is ask God to keep me open and available: open to listen, open to learn how my own heart and practice need to change, and open to receive guidance about how to lead us, as a congregation, in faithful response both locally and nationally.

That is what Isaiah calls for. And that is what Jesus fulfills.

Jesus does not abolish the law and the prophets; he embodies them. Grace, in Jesus’ life, is not God letting us off the hook. Grace is God drawing near—giving us strength to change, courage to repair, and patience to stay in relationship when walking away would be easier.

Righteousness, in Scripture, is not moral superiority. It is right relationship—with God and with one another. Justice is not an abstract ideal. It is fair and equitable treatment that restores dignity and life. Grace does not replace these. Grace makes them possible in real life.

Isaiah makes this concrete. The work of justice and righteousness he describes is not lofty or abstract. It looks like ordinary—and costly—faithfulness: loosening the bonds of injustice, undoing heavy yokes, letting the oppressed go free, sharing bread with the hungry, sheltering the unhoused poor, clothing the naked, and—this one cuts close—not hiding from your own kin.

Right now, there are many who have every right and reason to hide. Because if they leave their driveway, they risk being stopped, dragged from their car, and taken to a detention center without due process—or even a question about their citizenship. Because if they go to school, they might be used as bait to lure a parent into detention. Because if they go to worship, they may be rounded up simply for having brown skin or wearing a hijab.

But for many of us, hiding takes a different form. We hide when we scroll past suffering because it overwhelms us. When we tell ourselves someone else is better equipped to respond. When we protect our comfort instead of risking connection. When we retreat because we are not the ones being targeted.

Isaiah refuses to bless that retreat. And Jesus fulfills that refusal by drawing the circle of kinship wider and wider, putting his own life on the line in true solidarity and love.

Peace—real peace—does not come from choosing the right side or going through the motions of religion or shallow relationships that avoid telling the truth. It comes from aligning our lives with the way of God’s love as embodied in Jesus.

And that alignment is not abstract. It looks like courage without cruelty. Truth-telling without humiliation. Resistance without dehumanization.

In Minneapolis, I was struck by stories of people who are embodying exactly that. The resistance in that city right now is overwhelmingly nonviolent, creative, organized, and relentlessly resolute in defense of their neighbors. And my heart aches as I reflect on Renee Good’s last words: “I’m not mad at you.” And Alex Pretti’s… “Are you okay?”—spoken while trying to help a woman who had just been pepper-sprayed during an encounter with immigration agents. In moments of grave danger, these siblings resisted harm without surrendering their humanity—or anyone else’s.

That is strength shaped by love.

That is what we are called to embody. Isaiah dares to imagine what becomes possible when lives are aligned with God’s way of love: light breaking forth like the dawn, wounds healing, guidance emerging, communities rebuilt, streets restored for living. We—even we—can become repairers of the breach, restorers of what violence has torn apart.

Most of us won’t do this in grand gestures, but in daily choices. So maybe this week, we—all of us—can be intentional about our choices: to listen before reacting, to stay present when retreat feels safer, to use our resources—time, money, influence—to stand with neighbors rather than hide from them. Not selective solidarity, but embodied faithfulness.

These are the pieces that make for peace. And by God’s grace, they are the pieces Christ is still fitting together—in us, among us, and through us—for the healing of the world.

Isaiah 61: 1-8

[a]The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

    because the Lord has anointed me;

He has sent me to bring good news to the afflicted,

    to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

    release to the prisoners,

2 To announce a year of favor from the Lord

    and a day of vindication by our God;

To comfort all who mourn;

3     to place on those who mourn in Zion

    a diadem instead of ashes,

To give them oil of gladness instead of mourning,

    a glorious mantle instead of a faint spirit.

They will be called oaks of justice,

    the planting of the Lord to show his glory.

4 They shall rebuild the ancient ruins,

    the former wastes they shall raise up

And restore the desolate cities,

    devastations of generation upon generation.

5 Strangers shall stand ready to pasture your flocks,

    foreigners shall be your farmers and vinedressers.

6 [b]You yourselves shall be called “Priests of the Lord,”

    “Ministers of our God” you shall be called.

You shall eat the wealth of the nations

    and in their riches you will boast.

7 Because their shame was twofold[c]

    and disgrace was proclaimed their portion,

They will possess twofold in their own land;

    everlasting joy shall be theirs.

As your pastor has been leading you in the brilliance of a sermon series entitled  Piece Us Together, I’ve been wrestling with the notion that life is to a great extent a series of choices…pieces, deposits, decisions made by us (and others connected to us) that when congruent, consistent and courageously aligned with God’s Spirit, can not only be called good choices, but can bear the designation of GOD CHOICES. We know those moments when the Spirit speaks and we actually listen, and we do or resist doing or saying a thing, moving in a certain direction or keeping still, and we know in our knower that it wasn’t us, it was GOD. Some choices we know we can’t take credit for. We didn’t have enough information or wisdom or fortitude on our own and yet sometimes you just know: that was God’s leading - even ordaining - a particular path or decision. So my wrestling isn’t about whether those kinds of choices are possible, it’s more about how we might more intentionally posture ourselves to make them. What are the foundational pieces, the underlying preparation for making God choices? In some situations, seasons, and circumstances, it can be difficult to know what good is, let alone where GOD is. Especially when it seems like everyone is screaming and streaming their rightness, even assigning to it the name and the will of GOD, how do we individually and collectively choose rightly, even GODLY.   

I picked up this little knick-knack at a thrift store in Greenville, North Carolina – my mother’s hometown – and it simply says, “Make good choices.” So I chose to buy it for a whopping 99 cents. I believe that purchase was a God choice because ever since, this statement, this mantra that has become so popular, has had me wrestling. It sounds good, but it also raises a challenge: how do we know? Hindsight can sometimes be 20/20, sometimes we can look back with satisfaction and say that was a good choice, or we can look back with regret and say this or that was a bad move, but how do we really know the ultimate goodness of a choice, with our limited retroactive vision, and with a future yet unfolding before us? 

Sometimes options are so plentiful that the gift of choice (God’s free will) feels like a burden. And yet for some, life is such that options are few and choices become a luxury. Sometimes the choice is between what we might call two evils, and the struggle is to discern which is less so. Like a choice of whether to steal or starve, or a choice of whether to go to work and risk being kidnapped from a parking lot or staying home and facing the certainty of no income at all. And every morning when my daughter sends my seven-year-old grandson and my 13-year-old granddaughter to school with lunch, and a kiss, and a prayer that no shooter, no bully, no weapon formed against them will prosper, she also sends them off with these words: Make good choices. And so it is from pre-K to reWirement…how do we know which is which? Some decisions are negligible like sushi or soul food, and God bless you if you have access to both. Some choices are weightier and defining of the trajectory of not only our own lives, but the lives of others… like ballot choices. Anybody rethinking these days how much every vote matters? Consider choices like whether to respond to the sign our unhoused sibling is holding at the traffic light, or to roll up our car windows when we dare to drive through that neighborhood…that is if we even dare choose to drive through that neighborhood. After all, that’s what beltways are for, right? To avoid the discourse and dilemmas of Samaria?

The bible gives us some help, doesn’t it? Choose ye this day who you will serve. (Joshua 24:15) Spoiler alert, choose GOD! Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and God’s righteousness. (Matthew 6:33) The bible helps us to know that, God’s word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our pathway (Psalm 119:105), and meanwhile there are some people who believe - or at least say - that they are following a path illumined by God’s word even as they CHOOSE to be, or to follow a path that looks more like darkness than light.  The bible is helpful in many ways, even as it lets us know that there is a way that seems right to a man, or a woman or a human, but its end is not life, but death. (Proverbs 14:12) To put it more simply, just because we place a cross on a path, a way, or a choice, does not mean it’s a GOD choice, because our nation’s history tells us that some have carried their crosses and others have burned them. 

The bible helps us with our discernment, but it does not take away the need for that discernment. The scriptures give us examples of heroes and sheroes and they-roes whose choices are stamped with God’s approval. Conversely, but equally as helpful, the bible also offers us examples of choices that we can see from our pews were not God choices. Choices like: Barrabas over Jesus, to wash our hands amidst the bloodshed in our communities, and to entertain the conversation of a snake. Yet in the moment, in the mission field, on our jobs - if we are so blessed in this administration to have and keep a job - and even in the church, we have struggled (often with the best of intentions) to make the good choice, the GOD choice. Good people are also capable of bad choices. So how do we know, and even when we know, how do we move in the direction of what we know is good and what is GOD?

This Human Relations Sunday, on the eve of a day when we honor the life, work, and ministry of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, JR, it’s a good time to have this conversation. Because the pieces, the choices, the decisions, the moves that Dr. King made, we can look at now and say that they were good, and even that they were GOD, but can we also agree that were hard, and they did not reflect the usual metrics of success. They were not financial choices that led to wealth. They were not safe choices that led to longevity. They were not choices that led to comfort for him or his family. As a young scholar and theologian out of Boston University, the world was Dr. King’s oyster. He spoke well, he married well, he could have lived well by most standards even for the time, with the cushion of education, and perhaps some ability to escape the ravages and brutality of life as a black man in the Jim Crow south, or – if he chose - the more liberal and more subtly racist north. But like so many other freedom fighters, peacemakers, and GOD-choosers, King chose differently. He used his gifts and his anointing, not to live a successful life but, to live and ultimately give a life that was good. How and why did he choose as he chose, live as he lived, and die as he died. With four fatherless children, a weeping widow, bomb threats from his enemies, and the voices of his friends saying wait for justice to arrive slowly, when the scripture calls for it to roll down like mighty waters. 

What’s the framework for such a life? Where’s the groundwork and the foundation for making those kinds of God choices? And, considering where we are now, some might even argue what’s the point? Because the task of evil is to overwhelm us, and numb us so that we give up and give in. But we are those who understand that only light confounds darkness and only love drives out hate. (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1957 sermon entitled Loving Your Enemies) We are those who must keep the work of Dr. King and other GOD-choosers from unraveling, because it’s becoming quite clear that the very fabric of our nation is really more loosely stitched together than we realized, and the fuller we get of ourselves, the more likely we are to come apart at the very (s.e.e.m.s.). 

Well, this morning I want to offer a few ideas for your consideration as we seek to piece together our choices, our contributions to a tapestry of goodness and God-ness. These ideas do not form a magic bullet, or fast-working formula, but offer a bit of profiling of two prophetic God choosers: Dr. King and the Prophet Isaiah. In our scripture reading, Isaiah is making a profound declaration that I would imagine sounded a bit grandiose, perhaps even arrogant or delusional for Isaiah to declare, “the Spirit of the LORD is upon ME.” But Friends, this is not mere self-confidence. Isaiah is not pontificating his own opinions or positioning himself for re-election. He is not operating under the advisement of any renegade dictator, partisan pundit, or complacent church. This is not ego, or hubris. This is clarity of call. Isaiah is clear from whom his call comes, and he is clear about those to whom he is called. We have all perhaps witnessed the reduction of the work of prophecy to fortune telling, and sometimes misguided proclamations wrapped in boldness of the flesh. But the real work of prophecy lies in the clearly motivated execution of a call that comes from God to speak and act with truth and justice. Isaiah has seen the Lord high and lifted up. (Isaiah 6:1) He has heard the Lord’s call and answered, Here I Am, send me. (Isaiah 6:8) And out of this connection and experience with God comes clarity! It’s the kind of clarity that Dr. King testified to, declaring, “I’ve been to the mountaintop…I just want to do God’s will.” (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, JR.’s 1968 speech, I’ve Been to the Mountaintop) And the good news for us is that clarity of call and the capacity to see GOD is not limited to a pulpit, or an appointment, or a title. It is the God-given opportunity for all of us who purport to be God’s people to discover, discern and be deployed for the mission from whom and to whom we are called. You want to see Jesus? Look in the eyes of your neighbor. You want to see the Lord? Recognize that we are all made in God’s image. You want to have a mountaintop experience? Spend some time in the valley with those who are hurting and get some clarity! Maybe that’s what my little plaque is trying to say. Maybe choices become a whole lot easier and godlier when we have clarity about who is calling us and why. 

We may feel inadequate, like Isaiah did when he was first called. We may face opposition from our peers and elders as Dr. King did. But clarity will help us show up anyhow, even if its stammering like Moses, running like Jonah, wrestling like Jacob, weeping at a tomb like Mary or Coretta, staying seated like Rosa, speaking out like Father Oscar Romero, running for office like Kamala, speaking truth to power like Jasmine, singing like Mahalia and our choir today, speaking on NPR like Ginger, and marching like Martin. Afraid? Yes, sometimes. Called? Absolutely!

God is compelling us to offer our piece to the work for such a time as this, whether our call is to teach, or speak, or organize, or march or pray or sing or write, or cook a meal, or wipe a tear, or serve in the church and in the community. Know that separation of church and state does not require us to be isolated or silenced or detached from the world. The church is a place of worship and equipping; the church is no place to hide. And the good news is that the anointing - the clear call to make God choices - is not only for those we call Reverend, or Doctor, or prophet, or priest, but the book of Joel helps us to know that GOD pours out God’s spirit on ALL FLESH! (Joel 2:28), to dream like Martin, and to proclaim like Isaiah a new and hopeful reality of rebuilt ruins, restored cities and everlasting joy. The powerful thing about clarity of call is that it grounds us with the ability to make GOD choices. It is the foundational YES that makes everything else clearer.  Listen to the clarity of Isaiah’s call. He’s not anointed just to be anointed, but it is to bring good news in bad times, to bind up the wounds of the hurting, to comfort those who mourn. Praise God that the call is a call of hope, of captives set free and chains broken. The audacity, the unmitigated gall and the amazing and dangerous opportunity for GOD-choosers like Isaiah, like Martin, like all of us to participate in a holy exchange of beauty for ashes, oil for tears, and the bible says a glorious mantle instead of a faint spirit. 

Secondly, foundational to the capacity to make God choices is consciousness of context: knowing what the people and the times call for, with the bible in one hand, media device in the other. Isaiah was well aware of the self-indulgence and wickedness of the powerful, and the turning away of Judah’s collective heart from God. Dr. King may have been studying in Boston, but he was preparing for Selma, Birmingham, Memphis and Washington. He was well-versed in the dehumanization of Jim Crow, the economic echoes of chattel slavery, and the need for change. There was an urgency that called him to a movement and a moment. Our call - and the choices that flow from that call- likewise connect to our time and context in pivotal moments where our choices matter in ways that lead to life or death, both literally and figuratively.  These are Kairos moments, not mere hours on a clock or dates on a calendar, but these are times for decisions and God-inspired choices when we need to know the difference between being disrespectful, and having one’s life disrespected and taken too soon. These are times when we need to call out the difference between feigned self-defense and excessive and homicidal force. These are times when our immigrant siblings are experiencing the similarly motivated and equally evil kidnapping that once populated the slave trade around the globe. These are times and moments when hard-fought liberties are being dismantled, when fear rules the day, and politics plague the culture. These are the times that ought to try our souls and inform and inspire our choices…like whether to speak up or opt out of the conversation, to step up or to stand by as we take steps back to parts of our history of which we ought to be ashamed.

This is the context in which we must choose to love our neighbors, all of them…locally, globally, radically and unapologetically. Not me first, but Humanity first. Love first. Justice First. Peace first. This is not merely a time to reminisce about Isaiah’s call, or to romanticize about Martin’s dream. This is not Isaiah’s Judah or Martin’s south. Although the parallels with the past are present, and the pieces are connected for sure, this is our time, and these choices are on US!

And finally, to make GOD choices, not only would we do well to be grounded by clarity of call, and consciousness of context, but we also need courage beyond consequences. Every choice comes with some consequence. Even, and especially GOD choices. Sometimes those consequences look like discouragement, isolation, ridicule, black-listing, or even danger. Neither the clarity of our call, nor the consciousness of our context, exempt us from the need for courage. Isaiah’s courage called him to speak truth to fou kings over his lifetime, and we know that even the subtlest of pleas for justice and mercy to leadership that is not so inclined can have major consequences. Martin advocated and demonstrated for peace - not violence - as the way to bring about change and it earned him a Nobel Peace Prize. But he didn’t live to see his children pick up the mantle for justice, or his birthday become a national holiday, or a black man become President of the United States. Are we not tired of Good dying young?

But death does not have the final say, nor does hatred, nor does violence, and - the sacred text reminds us - nor do kings or kingdoms. (Daniel 2:44) I heard a song that I believe says, Every storm runs out of rain. Every lie runs out of gas. There is a GOD who chose us, who chose love, who chose the cup of Calvary so that we might choose to be clear, and conscious, and courageous as well. That God has the final say. Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, chose to weep, walk, heal and speak truth in perilous times. And one Sabbath day he stood in the synagogue to teach, and he found the words of the prophet Isaiah and said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon ME! Because GOD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19) Then Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant (the word is now in our hands), and the people stared at him. The audacity, the unmitigated gall! Isn’t this just Joseph’s son. Didn’t they know that God uses and chooses those others deem unlikely and even unworthy? Our Jesus declared, TODAY…. this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

My friends TODAY is the time to live and to choose in alignment with the fulfilment of the gospel of peace. TODAY is not just to reminisce, or to recite the speeches and choices of the prophets of old, but TODAY is the time for making GOD choices of our own, to answer the call God has on our lives, to do and bring our piece to the work. And we too shall be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God, and everlasting joy will be our witness, because God is not just good. God is GOD! God bless you.

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August 31st, 2025

"We're Listening" Series

August 24th, 2025

"We're Listening" Series

August 17th, 2025

"We're Listening" Series

August 10th, 2025

"We're Listening" Series

August 3rd, 2025

"We're Listening" Series

November 9th, 2025

Sermon "Enlightened" By Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli

July 27th, 2025

"We're Listening" Series

July 20th, 2025

"We're Listening" Series

July 6th, 2025

"We're Listening" Series

June 29th, 2025

"Right Here, Right Now" Series

June 8th, 2025

"Right Here, Right Now" Series

June 22nd, 2025

"Right Here, right Now" Series

June 1st, 2025

"Right Here, Right Now" Series

May 25th, 2025

"Right Here, Right Now" Series

May 18th, 2025

"Right Here, Right Now" Series

May 11th, 2025

"Right Here, Right Now" Series

May 4th, 2025

"Right Here, Right Now" Series

A sermon shared by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, April 20, 2025, Easter Sunday. “Grounded in Grace” series.

Text: Luke 24:1-12

A sermon shared by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, April 13, 2025, Palm Sunday. “Grounded in Grace” series.

Texts: Psalm 118:1-2, Luke 19:28-40

A sermon shared by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, April 6, 2025, the fifth Sunday of Lent. “Grounded in Grace” series.

Texts: Isaiah 43:16-21, John 12:1-8

A sermon shared by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, March 30, 2025, the fourth Sunday of Lent. “Grounded in Grace” series.

Texts: Psalm 32, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

A sermon shared by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, March 23, 2025, the third Sunday of Lent. “Grounded in Grace” series.

Texts: Isaiah 55:1-9, Psalm 63:1-8

A sermon shared by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, March 16, 2025, the second Sunday of Lent. “Grounded in Grace” series.

Text: Luke 13:31-35

A sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, March 9, 2025, the first Sunday of Lent. “Grounded in Grace” series.

Texts: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Luke 4:1-13

Series: Remember Sermon Title: Royal Rumbling Speaker: Jonathan Brown

Series: Remember Sermon Title: The Cure For Contagion Speaker: Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli

Series: Remember Sermon Title: Stay blessed Speaker: Natalie Harvey

Series: Remember Sermon Title: THE ONLY WAY IS THROUGH Speaker: Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli

A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, on January 12 , 2025 “The Earliest Memory"a sermon apart of the remember series.

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Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli

A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC, on sunday 1/5/25 apart of the "Remember" series.

A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, December 22, 2024, the fourth Sunday of Advent. “Advent Unbound” series.

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday December 8th as part of the "Advent Unbound" Series at Foundry.

A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday 12/1/24 as a part of the "Advent Unbound" series.

A Sermon by Ben Roberts at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday November 24, 2024 as part of the "Foundry" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by Guy Cecil at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday October 27, 2024 as part of the "How Beautiful" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday October 20th, 2024 as part of the "How Beautiful" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday October 13, 2024 as part of the "How Beautiful" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by

A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday October 6, 2024 as part of the "How Beautiful" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by Nataile Harvey at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday September 29, 2024 as part of the "Homecoming" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday September 22, 2024 as part of the "Homecoming" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday September 15, 2024 as part of the "homecoming" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday Sept 8 2024 as part of the "Homecoming" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by Johnthan Brown at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday Sept 1, 2024 as part of the "Homecoming" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by DR. ASHLEY BOGGAN D at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday August 18th, 2024 as part of the "Upward Focus, Outward Bound" Series at Foundry.

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday August 4, 2024 as part of the "Upward Focus, Outward Bound" Series at Foundry.

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A Guest Sermon by Cassandra Lawrence at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday July 14th, 2024 as part of the "Upward Focus, Outward Bound" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: GENESIS 1

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A Guest Sermon by Rev. Johnsie Cogman at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday July 14th, 2024 as part of the "Upward Focus, Outward Bound" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: LUKE 10:27

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday July 7th, 2024 as part of the "Upward Focus, Outward Bound" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: ROMANS 12:2-5, 9-18, MARK 6:1-6

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday June 30th, 2024 as part of the "Upward Focus, Outward Bound" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11, MATTHEW 18:1-4

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday June 23rd, 2024 as part of the "Upward Focus, Outward Bound" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: MATTHEW 20:1-16

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday June 16th, 2024 as part of the "Beloved" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: PSALM 92:1-4, 12-15 MARK 4:26-34

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday June 9th, 2024 as part of the "Beloved" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: 1 JOHN 4:7-21

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A Guest Sermon by Guy Cecil at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday June 2nd, 2024 as part of the "Beloved" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: PSALM 139:13-18 & 2 CORINTHIANS 4:6-10

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A Sermon by Rev. T.C. Morrow at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday May 25th, 2024 as part of the "The Power of So That" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: 1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-11

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday May 19th, 2024 as part of the "The Power of So That" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: ACTS 2:1-21

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A Sermon by Rev. Kealani Willbanks at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday May 12th, 2024 as part of the "The Power of So That" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: JOHN 17:6-19

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday May 5th, 2024 as part of the "The Power of So That" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: ACTS 10:44-48; JOHN 15:9-17

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A Guest Sermon by Michel Martin at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday April 28th, 2024 as part of the "The Power of So That" Series at Foundry.

Today's Guest Preacher:

Michel Martin is a host of Morning Edition on NPR. Previously, she was the weekend host of All Things Considered and the Consider This Saturday podcast, where she drew on her deep reporting and interviewing experience to dig into the week’s news. Outside the studio, she has also hosted “Michel Martin: Going There,” an ambitious live event series in collaboration with Member stations. Martin has also served as a contributor and substitute host for NPR news magazines and talk shows, including Talk of the Nation and News & Notes. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Martin graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College at Harvard University in 1980 and earned a Master of Arts from the Wesley Theological Seminary in 2016. Michel has been a longtime Foundry member, along with her family, Billy, Aminah, and William.

         Scripture Text: PSALM 22:25-31 AND 1 JOHN 4:7-21

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A Message from Deborah Bombard & Sidra Siddiqui at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday April 21st, 2024 as part of the "The Power of So That" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: JOHN 10:11-18

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday April 14th, 2024 as part of the "The Power of So That" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: LUKE 24:36B-48

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A Sermon by Rev. Jonathan Brown at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday April 7th, 2024 as part of the "The Power of So That" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: ACTS 4:32-35; 1 JOHN 1:1-2:2 

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Easter Sunday, March 31st, 2024 as part of the "Reaching For Connection" Series at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: JOHN 20:1-18

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Palm Sunday, March 24th, 2024 as part of the Lenten Season at Foundry.

         Scripture Text: PSALM 118:1-2, 19-29, MARK 11:1-11

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A Sermon by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday March 17th, 2024 at Foundry as part of the "Reaching For Connection" Special Music Series.

         Scripture Text: JOHN 12:20-33

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