One of life’s ironies is that those who are blessed with great abundance give thanks sparingly or not at all, while those with very little give full voice to their gratitude and are always eager to share whatever they have. In this sermon, Pastor Sally explores this disparity and notes that gratitude is not a…
Starting from two scripture passages that describe ancient rituals (Isaiah 61:10-11 and Luke 2:22-40) Pastor Sally explores the role of religious rituals and spiritual practices in modern times. While many people today reject them, she notes that these practices often provide the key to seeing the truths we carry within us. She finds a thoroughly…
On the second Sunday of Advent, Pastor Sally addressed the familiar words of Isaiah 40:3-5. She noted that the hardest part of taking a new path is breaking out of the familiar ruts in our old one, which she illustrated with a fascinating factoid about ancient chariots and modern railroads. This was her starting point for…
What does “Salvation” really mean in today’s world? Drawing on the familiar words of Matthew 25:31-46, Rev. Train suggests that being “saved” has always been about actions more than beliefs or confession. She supports this idea with two moving real-world examples of people who were transformed not by words, but by the hands-on work of helping others.…
This was the first sermon Rev. Sally Train delivered as our Interim Pastor. In it, she draws primarily on The Once and Future Church, by Loren Mead as well as Mark 2:21-22 to examine the big evolutionary changes in the nature of churches since Biblical times. She posits that small churches like ours – –…
Blyth Barnow is a writer, preacher and community organizer in Oakland. In 2015 she launched Feminary, an online ministry with working-class feminist perspective. She is a recent graduate of Pacific School of Religion, where she received a Master of Divinity degree and the Paul Wesley Yinger preaching award. In this sermon, Ms. Barnow draws on the story…
If you’re looking for a church home, this sermon would be a good place to start understanding what makes FCCSR special. Rev Stokstad was our Pastor from 2004 to 2008. In this sermon, she recounts the memories this church that are still alive for her after almost 10 years . . . our commitment to Pilgrim Park .…
Our guest preacher this Sunday was Jean Jeffress. She holds a Master’s of Divinity from the American Baptist Seminary of the West at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She is a Member-in-Discernment with the Northern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ. In this sermon, Jean examines the sibling rivalry between Jacob and…
This was Pastor Tracy Barnowe’s farewell sermon as she left us to take up her new life in Southern California. In it, she shared her memories of a dozen moments in FCC San Rafael that she treasures and which, in her mind, illustrate what makes us special as a church family. (Scripture: Psalm 98)
On her next-to-last Sunday with us, Pastor Tracy took up the Parable of The Sower as a message central to the future of any congregation. She found a parallel between in a small but very meaningful triumph in back yard baseball, and what members of a church can do to improve their “batting average” in hearing and understanding…