Daily Devotions
Deepening your faith happens more than just on Sunday! I create short videos to help you grow in faith and that help you reflect on how God might be on the move in your life and in our world.
Devotion Title
Devotion Title
These videos and others can also be found at https://www.lopc.org/sermons/
Devotion Title
Devotion Title
Sermons
Sermons are a wonderful way to explore scripture and discern how they might apply to our current context. I love bringing storytelling and current events to sermons.
Sermon Title
Sermon Title
These videos and others can also be found at https://www.lopc.org/sermons/
Sermon Title
Sermon Title
“You cannot bear the name of God and ignore the face of the oppressed. The name of God compels you to have an opinion about injustice.”
-Cole Arthur Riley
Libretto of “Passion” (2019)
“Passion” is a collaborative project that Brett Strader, the Music Director at Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church, and I completed for the LOPC Good Friday Service in 2019.
1. Crucify
2. Anointing
(Mary of Bethany)
3. Supper
4. Pilate’s Dreaming of Wife
5. Magnificat
(Jesus and Mary, mother of Jesus)
These videos can be found at https://www.lopc.org/worship/passion/
What follows was my introduction to “Passion” that appeared in the bulletin of the service:
“From the time that I was studying poetry as an undergraduate, I continued to be captivated by the possibility of the stories in the Bible. I’ve always thought that we should bring more creativity to help understand scripture, similar to the Jewish tradition of Midrash, I’ve employed creative thinking in how I have imagined Jesus’ life and final days. My goal is not to explain things exactly as they may have happened, but to experiment with the freedom that the gaps in scripture leaves to our imagination. In these lyrics, I invite you to explore these possibilities with me.
I’ve greatly enjoyed writing these lyrics. I have been inspired by the dream that Pilate’s wife might have had, imagining what was in the heart of the crowd that shouted “crucify,” as well as imagining the similarity of Mary’s thoughts while giving birth to Jesus and the same love that Jesus must have had for us as he hung on the cross.
My hope is that this work inspires your faith. But, perhaps most importantly, I hope that this work makes God smile knowing that in some small human way we have tried to imagine the unimaginable love of God.”