SFUU Sunday Service: April 4, 2021 (God As Change) 13 00:05:23.520 --> 00:05:42.360 Tricia Caspers: Good morning, and welcome to Sierra foothills unitarian universalists for our Easter service. I'm Tricia Caspers, member of this congregation our congregation is served by Reverend AJ van time, who is available for pastoral care by phone or email. 14 00:05:43.710 --> 00:05:51.930 Tricia Caspers: We are joined for this service by patty left rich or musical director and Adrian dill our director of religious education. 15 00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:55.350 Tricia Caspers: And we are joined by all of you. 16 00:05:56.370 --> 00:05:58.920 Tricia Caspers: You are all welcome here today. 17 00:05:59.970 --> 00:06:16.110 Tricia Caspers: In all the beauty of languages, cultures and skin tones that come together in your uniqueness, you are welcome here in all the ways that you experience and express gender, you are welcome here. 18 00:06:17.640 --> 00:06:23.460 Tricia Caspers: In the beauty, that is, who you love and how you love you are welcome here. 19 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:40.320 Tricia Caspers: In all the varied ways you move through and interact with the world, you are welcome here with all the religious and ethical traditions that inform your spiritual life, you are welcome here. 20 00:06:41.400 --> 00:06:48.480 Tricia Caspers: Whether you come feeling despair or hope for our world and its future, you are welcome here. 21 00:06:50.040 --> 00:07:00.120 Tricia Caspers: Whether you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus or the last day of Passover or just another Sunday, this morning you are welcome here. 22 00:07:01.590 --> 00:07:08.010 Tricia Caspers: No matter how long you've been away nor how soon you will return, you are welcome here. 23 00:07:09.450 --> 00:07:17.100 Tricia Caspers: You are invited to join us with an open mind a loving heart and willing hands, we welcome you today. 24 00:07:22.080 --> 00:07:23.790 Rev. AJ van Tine: i want to add my own welcome. 25 00:07:23.850 --> 00:07:25.170 Rev. AJ van Tine: To add to trisha said. 26 00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:38.550 Rev. AJ van Tine: Welcome everyone to this Easter morning, especially welcome any newcomers, who were with us, thank you for being with us today, just so you know after the post, would we move into breakout rooms for conversation in our coffee hour. 27 00:07:39.570 --> 00:07:49.170 Rev. AJ van Tine: But if you are news I am available and someone from our membership committee will be available to talk with you and answer any questions you may have, after the service, so we can go into our own breakout room for that. 42 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:05.670 Rev. AJ van Tine: I would like to invite trisha to begin our worship proper by leading us in lighting our chalices. 43 00:10:11.130 --> 00:10:12.600 Tricia Caspers: We, like our tell us. 44 00:10:12.630 --> 00:10:21.810 Tricia Caspers: With these words from gospel of mark Chapter four verses three through eight the parable of the sower. 45 00:10:23.550 --> 00:10:40.860 Tricia Caspers: Listen, a sower went out to sow and, as he sowed some seed fell on the path and the birds came and ate it up other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil and it's spring up quickly. 46 00:10:42.330 --> 00:10:52.080 Tricia Caspers: Since it and it spring up quickly, since it had no depth of soil and when the sun rose, it was scorched and since it had no root it withered away. 47 00:10:53.010 --> 00:11:11.070 Tricia Caspers: Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and that yielded no grain other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain growing up and increasing and yielding 30 and 60 and 100 fold. 48 00:11:18.630 --> 00:11:20.580 Tricia Caspers: Now please join this and singing. 49 00:11:20.610 --> 00:11:26.190 Tricia Caspers: Our own num number 275 joyful is the dark. 50 00:14:07.350 --> 00:14:13.200 Rev. AJ van Tine: Thank you penny and now like to invite Adrian up to offer the story for all agents i'm. 51 00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:15.840 Adrean Dills: Good morning. 52 00:14:15.930 --> 00:14:25.470 Adrean Dills: singing is actually exactly what I wanted to talk about this morning, many religious traditions includes something called devotional singing. 53 00:14:26.130 --> 00:14:37.950 Adrean Dills: devotional singing is powerful but it's also different than just rocking out to our favorite songs today I want to talk about being you, you and being a devotional singer. 54 00:14:38.700 --> 00:14:45.990 Adrean Dills: Now, when I say devotional singing you might think about a Baptist choir like really rocking out to the spirit of God. 55 00:14:46.410 --> 00:14:55.350 Adrean Dills: You might think about monks in a cloister singing Gregorian chants or maybe set session of Hindu by john's and it kept on. 56 00:14:55.680 --> 00:15:12.930 Adrean Dills: Seeing hari Krishna has, these are all ways to sing about God or the spirit of life with our whole heart, personally, I like devotional singing that is simple just a couple of lines or words so that I can really get into a meditative spirit. 57 00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:28.980 Adrean Dills: Some of these songs are joyful some are sad, some are loving, some are pleading when we connect to the music with our whole heart, we are connecting with that image of the divine or universality. 58 00:15:29.640 --> 00:15:39.360 Adrean Dills: My first connection with devotional singing with the La loo us in church, you know, a la loo yeah they're fun to sing. 59 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:47.250 Adrean Dills: But they also mean something very special Ali luhya literally means praise the Lord or praise the divine. 60 00:15:47.640 --> 00:16:05.010 Adrean Dills: So when we sing Ali Lou yeah we are seeing a spiritual song to honor God and even, as you use, we have the La loo yes in our handle they're there for us whenever we need to sing a song of praise to a glorious and mysterious divine. 61 00:16:06.150 --> 00:16:08.370 Adrean Dills: So let's cruise through our him the little more. 62 00:16:09.570 --> 00:16:13.980 Adrean Dills: check out number for a one kumbaya right. 63 00:16:16.830 --> 00:16:25.050 Adrean Dills: So you can sing any one of these verses like someone's laughing Lord kumbaya right. 64 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:40.200 Adrean Dills: kumbaya literally means come by here, so this is picturing God is kind of a friendly presence, who shows up, no matter what's going on and just drops by to say hello that's great to have someone with us like that, on the journey of life. 65 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:50.970 Adrean Dills: We can cruise through a little more, and maybe find something very different number 261 when Jesus wept when Jesus was. 66 00:16:53.280 --> 00:17:00.300 Adrean Dills: Falling to mercy flow, the door. 67 00:17:02.310 --> 00:17:08.850 Adrean Dills: Oh that's so sad It makes me want to cry what kind of a God cry. 68 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:28.710 Adrean Dills: Obviously, a personal one who mourns right alongside us this is a beautiful prayer and also a very different picture of God so here it is it's Easter Sunday, which were many Christians is the most important celebration of the year, you thought it was Christmas, Easter. 69 00:17:30.420 --> 00:17:40.200 Adrean Dills: So this is the anniversary of the bank day when Jesus comes back to life and assures his followers that their faith their love is stronger than death itself. 70 00:17:40.890 --> 00:17:49.800 Adrean Dills: Does that make you want to sing with joy to shout hallelujah to the rafters do you want to cry and gratitude does this even connect with you today. 71 00:17:50.790 --> 00:18:00.330 Adrean Dills: God ask right, whether we believe in a personal God, who knows and loves us a universal force maybe a divine presence. 72 00:18:00.750 --> 00:18:07.920 Adrean Dills: An Avatar of incarnation or divinity a great clockmaker in the sky, the miracle of life. 73 00:18:08.430 --> 00:18:17.760 Adrean Dills: Whether we think of God is a stand in for our better human nature or we feel like the regular world is utterly miraculous just the way it is.