Sermons (Audio Only)

2020 Sermons:

Great Comebacks

Busyness & Resilience

The Artist’s Struggle for Integrity

MLK What Lessons Can We Learn

Integrity: We know it when we see it

Why It Doesn't Pay to be a People Pleaser

2019 Sermons:

In Praise of Play

The Awe of Hanukkah

Stockings, Stars, and Songs

Dickens: A Christmas Carol

Paying Attention to the Losses in Our Lives

Sometimes It Takes A Little Craziness

Beyond Categorical Thinking: What a T-Rex named Penelope Pittsburgh, and a Theologian Can Teach Us about The Future of Religion and Our Commitment to Equity and Justice

Silence is the Space in which our Discovery of Belonging Begins

We're All in This Together

The Future is In Our Hands

When Children Lead the Way: From the Doctrine of Discovery to Gun Laws to Peace

I Know This Rose Will Open

Wishbone, Backbone, Funny Bone

The Elephant in the Room

Social, Economic, and Social Justice: An Activist's View of the World

Beauty and the Beast

Flower Communion Sunday

Mother's Day / A Curious Ministry

Easter and Wholeness

Finding Yourself

What Does It Mean to be a People of Wholeness?

The No That Makes Possible Each Yes

Pow Wow Culture in the Modern Era

How Possibilities Become Realities

Think It Possible That You May

The Possibility of a "Wider We"

Celebrating Journeys of Perseverance

How to Empower Your Mind, an Ancient Wisdom Practice

The Journey Matters More Than the Destination

Why Religion Matters

What Are We Building?

Let's Get Vulnerable!

Sermon Archive:

The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything

The Story of Multiple Stories

Religion: What Is It Good For?

And May All Your Holidays Be Green

Who Is Human and How Can You Tell?

What it Means to Work Together as Human Beings Toward Cultural, Social, and Environmental Equity

Report from the World

Autumn, Melancholy & Depths

A Description of Your Next Minister

Where Do We Go from Here, Baby Boomers and Millennials

Everyone Has a Birthday – The Power of Inclusion

Start with Experience

It's Not What You Think: Exploring a Native Message

Is Every Day Mother’s Day?

What Is Our Next Move?

Circle of the Sun

Recreating the Community

Celebrate in Joyful Song: Spring and the Rebirth of Hope

The Gathering Wave

Hope Springs Eternal

...And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

W.E.B. DuBois and Unitarian Universalism

Will Democracy Survive in America?

Community as Transcendence

Good versus Evil: How Do We Take Sides

Beloved Conversations

A Reason to Hope

The Gift of a Year

Creativity as a Source of Meaning

The Meaning of Life, If Any

Living Abundantly in a Hurting World

White Supremacy, Obvious and Subtle

Reformation - 500 Years Ago and Right Now Too

How Small Things Make Big Differences

Forgiveness and Wisdom: Do They Go Hand in Hand?

Can We Talk About This?

Self Examination and Atonement for UUs

Where We Belong

The Role of Community When times Are Hard

Filling Our Cups, thirsting for Justice

Don Quijote Challenges the Internet

174.3 Years and Counting

Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones, and Words Can Forever Hurt Me

Space Pirates and Bootleg Gangsters

Buddhism and Change

The Bible, Your Bedroom, and the Law

May You Live in Interesting Times: The Life of a UU

Fatherhood: Revisiting Our Great Expectations

Universalism: A Myth That Still Works

Mothers Universal and Particular

Building a Better Way to Beloved Community

Women Make History in Our Denomination

What the Flowers Know

Spring Without Winter

New to Each Other Again

How Religion Shapes the Health Care Divide

Flowering After Fire: Resilience and Renewal

Seeking Justice – Seeking Community

A Fusion Solution

Evolution Is Not a Bowl of Cherries or Maybe It Is

How to Be Safe, How to Be Unsafe

How Long Will It Take?

Shifting Into a New Gear

Non-Judgment Day Is Coming!

Why Some Myths Work and Others Don’t

Gratitude Anyway

Who is Wounded, Who Can be Healed?

Confronting the Frightening Jabberwock

Healing Our World

The Cure for Democracy

Destination or Journey?

What Would a Healthy Religion Look and Feel Like?

Welcoming the Stranger

No Hell Unless You Really, Really Want It

Unconscious Politics: How Strange Tactics May Surprisingly Work

El Camino de Santiago, A Pilgrimage

Killing the Buddha

Liberation Theology

What I Have Learned in 25 Years

Islamophobia and the Syrian Refugee Crisis

How to Build a Genuine Community

Mothers and Babies: a Mothers' Day Celebration

Having a Mind of Our Own: Psychological Characteristics of Being Liberal or Conservative

The Theology of John Shelby Spong

Selling Elephant Parts: Is Everyone Equally Right?

The Earth Awakes Again

The Creative Search Church

Are Muslims Our Neighbors?

Five Smooth Stones of Religious Liberalism

Finding Happiness and Contentment

The Alchemy of Love

Evolution and the Mystery of Life

The Space Between Fundamentalist and No Religion

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Elusive Quest for Justice

Do Religions Cause Wars?

Hopes for a New Year

Scrooge, Potter & the Grinch: Greed and Christmas Hearts

Hanukkah: A Myth of Returning Light

A Rare Moment of Consensus

Practicing Gratitude: For Health and Spiritual Growth

Could Religion Make a Difference on Climate Change?

Imagine a Diverse Utopia

If It Works, It Might be True

Talking to People Who Believe Something Different

Good Fortune - Creative Response

Human Trafficking, Social Impact

What's with All These Zombies?

Hugs!!sguH: The Gospel According to Peg

What We Used to Call God

The Love of a Mother

Easy to Say, Hard to Do

What Is Religion All About?

The Prospects for Justice in the 21st Century

The Multiple Meanings of Easter

The Power of the Potluck

Ethics for the Whole Planet

UUs at Selma: 50 Years Ago and Today

Religion for the Next 500 Years

Evolution Sunday: The Issue That Still Hangs On

Which Is More Important, Justice or Theology?

Old Time Universalism

Gratitude for Health and Happiness

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday

Circuit Riding into the Future

Creativity and the New Year

Kwanzaa and UUs: An Unlikely History

Holiday Solstice Service

Praising Untrue Stories

The Role of a Liberal Faith in a Confusing World

Love It or Change It

Torah, God, Israel: Theology of LIberal Judaism

Can Democracy Survive?

Dia de los Muertos

Will Religion Survive and Do We Care?

Food for Thought

It's a Dry Heat

The Power of Connection

Racism as a Spiritual Challenge

Pete, the Pope, and Piketty

Mothers Are Our Source

Celebration Sunday - Join the Team!

Never Give Up on Anyone

Rebirth and Long Term Prospects

The Lady with the Lamp

The Tiger and the Truth

My Spiritual Odyssey

The New Jim Crow Breaks into Cultural Consciousness

Competition and Cooperation

Evolution Sunday

After the Tributes

The Future of Love

Boundlessness: One Size Fits All

Theological Options for UUs

Kwanzaa and the Struggle for Wholeness

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

A Multidimensional Holiday

Mr. Potter Meets the Pope

Sexuality and Religious Communities

Gratitude after a Storm

The Digital Self

Why We Continue to Believe Nonsense

Can We Change the World?

Dia de los Muertos - A Service for All Ages

The Long March Toward Equality

The Pope, The Bishop, and the Candlesticks

Searching for Home

Different Paths

Never Give Up On the Glimmers of Grace

The Case for Optimism

With Each New Dawn

On Becoming a Grown Up

Celebration Sunday

Peace Is a Marathon

The Chimps and the Bees

The Plagues and the Flowers

Acknowledging the Peoria Nation

Out of the Land Itself

Living With Compassion

Creativity at the Heart

Growing in Love

Would You Rather Have Order or Freedom?

Deep Gladness, Deep Need

Non-violence and Guns

Justice Seeking

Atheist Spirituality

Six Ways of Looking at an Elephant

The Beginning is Near

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Peace on Earth, Peace in Connecticut

Our “Journey to Christmas”

How Much Light Do We Have?

An Altered State of Mind

Bringing Back Hell

Boxes Upon Boxes

The Future of Our Faith

The Cure for Democracy

Dia de los Muertos- A Service for All Ages

Religion and Capitalism

It Only Works with Love

Discovering America

To Save or To Savor

This Is the Time

An Inclusive Way of Life

Gay Marriage, the Bible, and Civil Rights

A Celebration of Mothers

Youth Group Sunday

What Kind of Church Is This?

Life + Death = Life

Making It Happen

Respecting the American Indian

Muhammad and the Three Goddesses

Myths of America: The Land of Freedom

Myths of America: The Titanic

Myths of America: The Promised Land

Evolution Sunday

Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom

Theodore Parker, Transcendentalist Activist

It’s What’s In Between That Counts

Ancient Wisdom in the Turning Year

Scrooge or Marley, Bailey or Potter. Take Your Choice

Counting Our Blessings

Standing on the Side of Love – Unity in Diversity

Where Does Our Path Lead?

How My Journey Brought Me Here with You

Dia de los Muertos

Occupy the World

The Ins and Outs of Immigration

The Arrow of Evolution

What Does It Mean to Be Fair?

The Need of Our Time

The Stories We Don't Know

Twenty Years of Life

Evil and the Reptilian Brain

How the Unitarians and the Universalists Got Together and Created Something That Works

Universalism Behind Three Doors

Dragged Kicking and Screaming Into Heaven

The New Wave of Universalists

The Tolerance Paradox

A Vision for the No Hell Church

The Path of Polydoxy

The Critical Mind and the Open Heart

Turn the Principles Upside Down

Stages of Faith Development

A House Divided

A Chance for a Stance

Religion and the Placebo Effect

Breaking Through

The Light of Freedom

The Biology of Belief

Giving Thanks in Anxious Times

Jenkin Lloyd Jones and How Unitarianism Got to Illinois

The Future of Unitarian Universalism

Reading the Crystal Ball

Evolution Toward What?

A Welcoming and Caring Community

Embracing Freedom

Thank God For Evolution

Who Would Have Imagined!

Clara Barton, A Compassionate Response to War

The End of Religion

Flower Communion – Celebrating the Values of Belonging

How to Light a Candle Without Burning Down the Church

The Miracles That Surround Us

What Do You Do When the Baby Cries at Night?

An Evolutionary Easter

The Country That Changed Its Mind

How To Be a Christian without Killing Anyone

Diverse to What End … or Beginning?

The Politics of Love

Beauty: Moving from Chaos, Imagination, and Perfection to Hope

The Subject That Cannot Be Discussed

The Universalism of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our Humanist Roots

Religion, Conflict, and Peacemaking

Candlelight Christmas Eve Service

The New Good News

A Season for UUs, a Season for All

Why Should We Talk to People of Other Faiths?

Living For Real

The Dance of Being: The Individual, Community, and Ideals in Covenant

Theology of Possibilities

Standing on the Side of Love

Beyond Theism and Atheism: A Spectrum, Not a Chasm

The Engineer and the Ocean: The Reason of a Religious Life

Searching for Community in a Divided World

Categories

Calendar

	June 2023
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
				1 Thursday Afternoon CC Thursday Afternoon CC June 1, 2023 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm sr high room Sarah A See more details Flower Communion Decorating Flower Communion Decorating June 1, 2023 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Sanctuary See more details • •	2	3 CUUPs Meeting CUUPs Meeting June 3, 2023 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm Conference Room See more details •
4 A Course in Miracles - Adult RE A Course in Miracles - Adult RE June 4, 2023 8:45 am - 10:00 am Conference Room Room #3 See more details Worship Service Worship Service June 4, 2023 10:30 am - 11:30 am Sanctuary See more details Coffee Hour Coffee Hour June 4, 2023 11:30 am - 12:30 pm Patio See more details ARE-Humanist Discussion Group ARE-Humanist Discussion Group June 4, 2023 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Zoom using TV and Harry's laptop See more details Congregational Budget Meeting Congregational Budget Meeting June 4, 2023 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Fellowship Hall See more details Sunday Afternoon CC (Hybrid) Sunday Afternoon CC (Hybrid) June 4, 2023 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Sr. High Room Galen See more details • • • • • •	5 OLLI Practice OLLI Practice June 5, 2023 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Sanctuary See more details •	6 GA Delegate Info Meeting GA Delegate Info Meeting June 6, 2023 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm Conference Room See more details SGM Facilitators Meeting SGM Facilitators Meeting June 6, 2023 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm See more details Virtual only: ARE Humanist Discussion Group via Zoom #2 Virtual only: ARE Humanist Discussion Group via Zoom #2 June 6, 2023 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm See more details • • •	7 Administrative Team Administrative Team June 7, 2023 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Zoom 3 - conference room or library See more details In person: Men's Group In person: Men's Group June 7, 2023 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm conference room See more details UUkulele Strum Group UUkulele Strum Group June 7, 2023 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Foyer See more details • • •	8	9 Game Night Game Night June 9, 2023 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Fellowship Hall See more details •	10 Offsite: Loaves & Fish Offsite: Loaves & Fish June 10, 2023 9:45 am - 1:45 pm Off site ST See more details •
11 All Church Picnic All Church Picnic June 11, 2023 Herm Farm See more details Church Picnic Church Picnic June 11, 2023 9:30 am - 1:30 pm See more details Worship Service Worship Service June 11, 2023 10:45 am - 11:45 am Herm Farm See more details • • •	12 Bonnie Hedges Memorial Service Bonnie Hedges Memorial Service June 12, 2023 11:00 am - 3:00 pm Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall See more details OLLI Practice OLLI Practice June 12, 2023 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Sanctuary See more details Covenant Circle Covenant Circle June 12, 2023 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm See more details • • •	13 In person: Senior Group In person: Senior Group June 13, 2023 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm Conference Room See more details Faith Coalition Faith Coalition June 13, 2023 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm Zoom # 2 and at University United Methodist Church Joyce Harant See more details In person & Virtual: Caring Committee In person & Virtual: Caring Committee June 13, 2023 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm Conference Room See more details Virtual only: ARE Humanist Discussion Group via Zoom #2 Virtual only: ARE Humanist Discussion Group via Zoom #2 June 13, 2023 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm See more details Covenant Circle Covenant Circle June 13, 2023 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm See more details • • • • •	14 Administrative Team Administrative Team June 14, 2023 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Zoom 3 - conference room or library See more details UUkulele Strum Group UUkulele Strum Group June 14, 2023 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Foyer See more details Wed. Wonder Women Wed. Wonder Women June 14, 2023 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm Conference Room (Zoom office3) See more details • • •	15 Ladies Lunch Ladies Lunch June 15, 2023 11:30 am - 12:30 pm Untamed Chef, 7338 N University St, Peoria, IL 61614, USA See more details Thursday Afternoon CC Thursday Afternoon CC June 15, 2023 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Patio/Sr. High Sarah A See more details • •	16	17 Litha Litha June 17, 2023 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm Fellowship Hall See more details •
18 A Course in Miracles - Adult RE A Course in Miracles - Adult RE June 18, 2023 8:45 am - 10:00 am Conference Room Room #3 See more details Worship Service Worship Service June 18, 2023 10:30 am - 11:30 am Sanctuary See more details Coffee Hour Coffee Hour June 18, 2023 11:30 am - 12:30 pm Patio See more details Welcome Committee Welcome Committee June 18, 2023 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm RE Meeting Room See more details Sunday Afternoon CC Sunday Afternoon CC June 18, 2023 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm RE Meeting Room/Sr. High Room Galen See more details • • • • •	19 Juneteenth - church office closed Juneteenth - church office closed June 19, 2023 See more details OLLI Practice OLLI Practice June 19, 2023 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Sanctuary See more details • •	20 Virtual: Finance/Personnel Committee Zoom #2 Virtual: Finance/Personnel Committee Zoom #2 June 20, 2023 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Bill K See more details NOW* NOW* June 20, 2023 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Conference Room See more details Virtual only: ARE Humanist Discussion Group via Zoom #2 Virtual only: ARE Humanist Discussion Group via Zoom #2 June 20, 2023 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm See more details • • •	21 Administrative Team Administrative Team June 21, 2023 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Zoom 3 - conference room or library See more details In person: Men's Group In person: Men's Group June 21, 2023 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm conference room See more details UUkulele Strum Group UUkulele Strum Group June 21, 2023 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Foyer See more details Worship Committee Worship Committee June 21, 2023 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Conference Room See more details Builder Deadline Builder Deadline June 21, 2023 11:45 pm - June 22, 2023 12:45 am See more details • • • • •	22 Builder Deadline Builder Deadline June 21, 2023 11:45 pm - June 22, 2023 12:45 am See more details •	23	24 Great Grove Trail Work Great Grove Trail Work June 24, 2023 8:00 am - 10:00 am See more details UUkulele Group UUkulele Group June 24, 2023 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Foyer See more details Up All Night at UUCP Up All Night at UUCP June 24, 2023 6:00 pm - 11:00 pm RE and Fellowship Hall See more details • • •
25 A Course in Miracles - Adult RE A Course in Miracles - Adult RE June 25, 2023 8:45 am - 10:00 am Conference Room Room #3 See more details Worship Service Worship Service June 25, 2023 10:30 am - 11:30 am Sanctuary See more details Coffee Hour Coffee Hour June 25, 2023 11:30 am - 12:30 pm Patio See more details UUCP Drum Circle UUCP Drum Circle June 25, 2023 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Sanctuary See more details • • • •	26 OLLI Practice OLLI Practice June 26, 2023 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Sanctuary See more details (Virtual: Monday Night Mixed CC - Zoom #2) (Virtual: Monday Night Mixed CC - Zoom #2) June 26, 2023 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm Conference Room Amanda and Maureen See more details Covenant Circle Covenant Circle June 26, 2023 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm See more details • • •	27 Virtual & in Person: ACLU* Virtual & in Person: ACLU* June 27, 2023 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Conference Room See more details Virtual only: ARE Humanist Discussion Group via Zoom #2 Virtual only: ARE Humanist Discussion Group via Zoom #2 June 27, 2023 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm See more details Covenant Circle Covenant Circle June 27, 2023 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm See more details • • •	28 Builder Mailing Builder Mailing June 28, 2023 9:00 am - 10:00 am Conference Room See more details Administrative Team Administrative Team June 28, 2023 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Zoom 3 - conference room or library See more details UUkulele Strum Group UUkulele Strum Group June 28, 2023 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Foyer See more details In Person Board Meeting (virtual option) In Person Board Meeting (virtual option) June 28, 2023 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm Conference Room Zoom #2 See more details Wed. Wonder Women Wed. Wonder Women June 28, 2023 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm Conference Room (Zoom office3) See more details • • • • •	29	30 Men's Last Friday Lunch Men's Last Friday Lunch June 30, 2023 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Childer's Eatery on University See more details •

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