Timothy Kim - Start Over Forever - January 10, 2016

Co-founder Tim Kim on why new years resolutions are GOOD and why each year is an opportunity for us to start over again.

Listen:
iTunes
Podbean

Reading:

Mark 1:4-11

4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”9 

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 

Neil Ellingson - Taking Care of God - December 20th, 2015

Co-founder Neil Ellingson on the uniqueness of incarnation, seeing the face of God in toast, and how the birth of Christ is God's asking us to take care of others.

Listen On:
iTunes
Podbean

Readings:

Denise Levertov - Annunciation

We know the scene: the room, variously furnished, 
almost always a lectern, a book; always
the tall lily.
       Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whom she acknowledges, a guest.

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions
courage.
       The engendering Spirit
did not enter her without consent.
         God waited.

She was free
to accept or to refuse, choice
integral to humanness.

                  ____________________

Aren’t there annunciations
of one sort or another
in most lives?
         Some unwillingly
undertake great destinies,
enact them in sullen pride,
uncomprehending.
More often
those moments
      when roads of light and storm
      open from darkness in a man or woman,
are turned away from

in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despair
and with relief.
Ordinary lives continue.
                                 God does not smite them.
But the gates close, the pathway vanishes.

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’* 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’* 35The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born* will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

Timothy Kim - Can You See It? - December 13, 2015

R&B Co-founder Tim talks about the anxiety of waiting, the rawness of Christ, and what it might take to see God coming in the distance.

Listen On:
iTunes
Podbean

Readings:

Matthew 3:1-3

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”[a] 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight.’”
___________________________
No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor.
The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything,
look down on others, those who have no need even of God- for them
there will be no Christmas. 
Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone
to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God. 
Emmanuel. God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit
there can be no abundance of God. 

- The God We Hardly Knew by Óscar Romero

Set List on November 15, 2015

What We Sang:

Glory Bound (The Wailin' Jennys)

The Wailin' Jennys- Glory Bound Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House

I Know I've Been Changed (Traditional, here's the Tom Waits Version)

Tom Waits sings I've been changed solo. A nice gospelsong...

The Once and Future Carpenter (Avett Brothers)

This video is for sampling purposes only. Please support The Avett Brothers by purchasing their music. Hear the full album and other folk reviews at http://songchase.com/

This Train is Bound for Glory (Traditional)

This train is a clean train, this train This train is a clean train, this train This train is a clean train, everybody's riding in Jesus' name This train is a clean train, this train.

Timothy Kim - The Racial Gap - November 8, 2015

R&B Co-founder Tim talks about the sin of racism, the way it infects everyone, the way it separates us, and how we might begin to overcome it. 

Listen On:
iTunes
Podbean

Reading:
James 4:7-10. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. 

 

Set List on November 1, 2015

What We Sang:

I Need Thee (Hymn)

On Time God (Dottie Peoples)

On Time God - Gospel Legends Volume 2 soloist Dottie Peoples

Eugene (Sufjan Stevens)

From the album CARRIE & LOWELL Buy it: http://akrec.co/akr099-buy / Album stream: http://akrec.co/1xuiuN0 Available on Asthmatic Kitty Records More info: http://carrieandlowell.com LYRICS: Light struck from the lemon tree What if I'd never seen hysterical light from Eugene?

I'll Fly Away/Will the Circle be Unbroken

Willie Nelson and Family, Live at Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino, Indio, CA, March 9, 2012. See my channel for the complete playlist of the entire show! Lyrics: Will the circle be unbroken By and by, by and by? In a better home awaiting In the sky, in the sky?

Neil Ellingson - Reflections on Tragedy and Transformation - October 18th, 2015

R&B Co-founder Neil Ellingson offers a real talk reflection on the complications surrounding the recent birth of his first son and being angry at a God who returns that anger. This week's passage was from the book of Job, which is a story of tragedy, questioning, theodicy, and the search for answers. 

Listen On:
Podbean
iTunes

Reading: Job 38:1-7, 34-41

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man,
    I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
    Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
    Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
    or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together
    and all the heavenly beings[a] shouted for joy?

34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
    so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
    and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,[c]
    or given understanding to the mind?[d]
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
    Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust runs into a mass
    and the clods cling together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
    or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens,
    or lie in wait in their covert?
41 Who provides for the raven its prey,
    when its young ones cry to God,
    and wander about for lack of food?

Set List on October 18, 2015

What we sang:

Be Still My Soul (Hymn)

This hymn was written by Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel (b. 1697) in 1752. The tune is attributed to Jean Sibelius. It is sung here by a the traditional acapella boy's choir, Libra, complete with lyrics. Visit my blog at http://life-incessant.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-why-of-this-blog.html 'When Suffering Doesn't Stop" for more on the subject of suffering and hope.

I Want Jesus to Walk With Me (Spiritual)

Graceland (Paul Simon as sung by The Tallest Man on Earth)

Tallest Man on Earth - Graceland Recorded Live: 1/3/2011 - Paste Magazine Offices (Decatur, GA) Subscribe to Paste on YouTube: http://goo.gl/AU2nKB Visit Paste Magazine: http://www.pastemagazine.com

Glory Glory (Traditional)

Since I've Laid My Burdens Down Mississippi John Hurt Pictures are from the Library of Congress, American Memory Project and are of various people and places in Mississippi. The dates range from 1935 - 1945. Mississippi John Hurt had two albums of very limited success in 1928.

Keron Blair - Black Lives Matter - October 11, 2015

Keron Blair, a longtime Root and Brancher by night and community organizer by day, talks about the Black Lives Matter movement, the particularity of blackness in America, and what it means to do something about racism as a church.

Listen On:
Podbean
iTunes

Timothy Kim - Impossible Love - September 27, 2015

R&B Co-founder Tim Kim concludes the sermon series, "Could've Moved Mountains," about faith, doubt, and what it takes to move mountains in our lives. This final talk tries to make the case that it is indeed possible to move mountains by faith, but that it is so hard, it is basically impossible. If that makes any sense, you're good. If not, listen! 

Listen On:
Podbean
iTunes

Reading:
“Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Mark 11: 22-24

The Faith of Christ - Rich Pak - September 20, 2015

This is part two of our series "Could've Moved Mountains" in which we examine faith, doubt, and the possibility of doing the impossible. In this sermon, guest preacher Rich Pak talks about the difference between us having faith in God and God having faith in us. 

Listen On:
Podbean
iTunes

Reading:
Romans 5:1-5
5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access[b] to this grace in which we stand; and we[c] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we[d] also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 

Mark 11: 22-24
“Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Timothy Kim - Whole Faced Faith - Sept. 13, 2015

R&B Co-founder Tim Kim starts a series called "Could've Moved Mountains" about faith, doubt, and what it takes to move mountains in our lives. This first sermon is about Jesus' teaching that if you truly believe then what you pray will happen, the difficultly of that formulation, and the differing types of faith we might find in ourselves.

Listen On:
Podbean
iTunes

Reading:
“Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Mark 11: 22-24

Set List on September 13, 2015

What We Sang:

Crossing The Water (Bill Staines)

Provided to YouTube by Entertainment One Distribution US Crossing The Water · Bill Staines The Second Million Miles ℗ Red House Records Released on: 2005-09-06 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Canticle of the Turning (Rory Cooney, unfortunately not a lot of great versions out there on the interwebs)

Canticle of the Turning is a song written by Rory Cooney based on the Magnificat (Song of Mary). The melody is the popular Irish tune "Star of the County Down" which first appeared as the song "Gilderoy" from Pills to Purge Melancholy by Thomas d'Urfey, published between 1698 and 1720.

Lord of the Dance (Sydney Carter)

Jim Mccan performing Lord of the dance

Could've Moved Mountains

Could’ve Moved Mountains: A sermon series on faith, doubt, and moving mountains. 
September 2015

“Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11: 22-24

Is there some sort of relationship between faith, doubt, and things coming to pass? Jesus’ remarks here makes it seem pretty straight forward: have lots of faith, do not doubt, and the craziest impossible things will happen. Yet the straight forwardness of this formula is deceptive. It contains an almost, if not totally, impossible standard. Is it not laid out in such a manner that one could never argue against it? For if whatever it is we want does not come to pass, than surely we must’ve doubted. Or perhaps we were looking at the wrong mountain. Or the mountain is metaphor. Or what you thought was a mountain was no mountain. So we seem to always have ready to hand a quick response and an easier dismissal. A Jesus taken out of context, a failure of translation, a literary allusion to a foregone prophecy not meant to be taken literally—or, perhaps, a Jesus that is just wrong.

But we have mountains to move do we not? There is the possibility of resigning ourselves to our own efforts and limits, and there is the risk of taking on an impossible task. No answer can be given here but join us as we try to figure it out. 

Set List on August 23, 2015

What we sang:

I Want Jesus to Walk With Me (Spiritual)

Eric Bibb is a folk singer and song-writer who draws on the American traditions of spirituals, blues and gospel music. Born in New York City to a musical family, he is the godson of Paul Robeson, and has performed with the likes of Pete Seeger and Odetta.

Old College Try (The Mountain Goats)

I am NOT The Mountain Goats, nor do I take ANY credit for these songs, they are property of John Darnielle and 4AD Records.

Down By the Riverside (Old song)

Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee perform "Down by the Riverside" on Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest.

Liz Bajema - A History of Violence - August 23, 2015

Liz Bajema frames a discussion about the ambiguous relationship between religion and violence using examples from the bible and the slave rebellion of Nate Turner. Liz is a longtime member of Root and Branch and spends her days conducting experiments on unsuspecting elements from the periodic table (a chemist as it were).

Listen On:
Podbean
iTunes

Readings:

Ephesians 6:10-20
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

19Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

The Peaceful Shepherd
by Robert Frost

If heaven were to do again,
And on the pasture bars,
I leaned to line the figures in
Between the dotted starts,

I should be tempted to forget,
I fear, the Crown of Rule,
The Scales of Trade, the Cross of Faith,
As hardly worth renewal.

For these have governed in our lives,
And see how men have warred.
The Cross, the Crown, the Scales may all
As well have been the Sword.

Stephen Colbert Does it Well

It is a strange thing to see public figures talk about their faith and for it to not be totally cringeworthy and unrepresentative of the kind of religion we think is meaningful. 

Unlike all of that, Stephen Colbert's recent profile in GQ is pretty amazing. Here is an unreasonably long but worthwhile excerpt. Read the whole thing here.

That day after he got back from Michigan, we eventually got around to the question of how it could possibly be that he suffered the losses he's suffered and somehow arrived here. It's not just that he doesn't exhibit any of the anger or open-woundedness of so many other comedians; it's that he appears to be so genuinely grounded and joyful...

“So my reaction when I hear that question isn't”—he shifted into a somber, sonorous voice—“ ‘Oh, I don't want to talk about that.’ It's that I don't want to say this—ready?” He snapped his fingers and locked eyes with me in a pose of dramatic intensity. “MY. MOTHER.” His face softened. “But the answer is: my mother.”

He lifted his arms as if to take in the office, the people working and laughing outside his door, the city and the sky, all of it. “And the world,” he said. “It's so…lovely. I'm very grateful to be alive, even though I know a lot of dead people.” The urge to be grateful, he said, is not a function of his faith. It's not “the Gospel tells us” and therefore we give thanks. It is what he has always felt: grateful to be alive. “And so that act, that impulse to be grateful, wants an object. That object I call God. Now, that could be many things. I was raised in a Catholic tradition. I'll start there. That's my context for my existence, is that I am here to know God, love God, serve God, that we might be happy with each other in this world and with Him in the next—the catechism. That makes a lot of sense to me. I got that from my mom. And my dad. And my siblings.”

He was tracing an arc on the table with his fingers and speaking with such deliberation and care. “I was left alone a lot after Dad and the boys died.... And it was just me and Mom for a long time,” he said. “And by her example am I not bitter. By her example. She was not. Broken, yes. Bitter, no.” Maybe, he said, she had to be that for him. He has said this before—that even in those days of unremitting grief, she drew on her faith that the only way to not be swallowed by sorrow, to in fact recognize that our sorrow is inseparable from our joy, is to always understand our suffering, ourselves, in the light of eternity. What is this in the light of eternity? Imagine being a parent so filled with your own pain, and yet still being able to pass that on to your son.

Neil Ellingson - Drink the Blood - August 16, 2015

R&B Co-founder Neil Ellingson: 
This week we turn to the Lectionary, which saves us from the crippling anxiety of having always to decide what to talk about on our own. Every week there are readings from the Older Testament (or the Book of Acts), a Psalm, a reading from the Epistles or the Book of Revelation, and a reading from the Gospels. So there's still some room to choose your own adventure. This week the readings are all related to wisdom or food/drink or both. I decided to postpone a sermon on a prohibition against getting drunk (which is a sermon some of us may need to hear, or wished we had, especially that one night...), in favor of one exploring how to taste eternity.

Listen On:
Podbean
iTunes

Readings:
“We're always thinking of eternity as an idea that cannot be understood, something immense. But why must it be? What if, instead of all this, you suddenly find just a little room there, something like a village bath-house, grimy, and spiders in every corner, and that's all eternity is. Sometimes, you know, I can't help feeling that that's what it is.” 
-Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

John 6:51-58
6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
6:52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
6:53 So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
6:54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day;
6:55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
6:56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.
6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.
6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."

Set List on August 16, 2015

What we sang:

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Hymn)

Music Video for Sufjan Stevens - Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, from the Hark! Christmas EP. All photographs by Nick Brandt; http://www.nickbrandt.com http://www.muziektelevisie.nl

On Time God (Dottie Peoples)

On Time God - Gospel Legends Volume 2 soloist Dottie Peoples

No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross (Sufjan Stevens)

From the album CARRIE & LOWELL Buy it: http://akrec.co/1y05i0M Available now on Asthmatic Kitty Records More info: http://carrieandlowell.com LYRICS: Now that I fell into your arms My only lover Give out to give in I search for the capsule I lost Drag me to hell In the valley of The

These Days are Numbered (The Head and the Heart)

Uploaded by theheadandtheheart on 2013-11-04.

What are They Doing in Heaven Today (Washington Phillips)

Listen to the full album at http://bit.ly/14aMMSW "What Are They Doing In Heaven Today" by Mavis Staples from the new album 'One True Vine,' out now! Get it on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/OneTrueVine

Neil Ellingson - Sticks and Stones - August 2, 2015

R&B Co-founder Neil Ellingson concludes our sermon mini-series on healing by reflecting on the power of words to harm and heal, the lessons we learn from kids who say whatever, and trite street art. 

Listen On:
Podbean
iTunes

Readings:
Matthew 8:5-17:
When he came into Kfar Nahum (Capernaum), a centurion, a Roman officer, came near, beseeching him. “Sir, my servant boy is lying paralyzed in my house, and in terrible pain.”
And he said to the centurion,
I will come to heal him.
The centurion answered, “Sir, I don’t deserve to have you under my roof. Only say a word and my son will be healed. I am also a man under orders, with soldiers under me, and I say to this man, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Hearing him, Jesus was amazed and said to his followers,
Yes, I tell you, in all of Israel
I have found no one with such deep faith,
and I tell you, many from the east and west
will come and lie down beside the table
to eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
in the kingdom of the skies.
And other sons of the kingdom will be thrown out
into the far outer darkness.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus said to the centurion,
Go back to your home. Since you have had faith,
let the event take place for you.
And his son was healed in that hour.

Then Jesus went into the house of Peter, whose mother-in-law he saw lying in bed with a fever, and he touched her hand and the fever left her. She got up and served him.
That same evening they brought him many who were afflicted with demons. With a word he cast out the spirits and he healed all their sicknesses. He was fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah:
He attended our sicknesses
and removed our diseases.

Second Reading:
Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.