Message & Music

August 14, 2016, Our Summer Storytelling Series Concludes with… The Prophet Micah The Bible in One Sentence

This Sunday, August 14, 2016, at 9:30 a.m., we’ll time travel back 2,800 years to Jerusalem when the prophet Micah lived nearby. Micah was called by God to tell devout worshippers that their best efforts to please God were not pleasing God AT ALL.  In one of the most well [...]

August 7, 2016, Our Summer Storytelling Series Continues with… Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones God Breathes Life into Dry, Dead Places

This Sunday, August 7, 2016, at 9:30 a.m., we’ll get to know the prophet Ezekiel, a priest called to be God’s spokesperson during hard times.  Ezekiel may be most remembered for literally eating sad words (a scroll of lamentation) and for his astonishing conversation with God in the valley of [...]

July 31, 2016, Our Summer Storytelling Series Continues with… The Feminine Face of God in the Old Testament

Last week we enjoyed stories about Moses and Abraham, and we explored whether the God of the Old Testament is as wrathful as Hisreputation. But we can’t limit our exploration to a few stories which show us the angry face of a male God. This Sunday, July 31, 2016, at 9:30 [...]

July 24, 2016, Our Summer Storytelling Series Continues with… Portrait of God from the Hebrew Scriptures Wrathful? Just? Tender?

Whatever our experience with the Bible, the old, old stories of the Hebrew Testament play a significant role in shaping our ideas about God. Is the God of the Old Testament as wrathful as His reputation?  How does this match up with the God of Love revealed by Jesus, and [...]

July 17, 2016, Our Summer Storytelling Series Begins with… Heroes and Sheroes of the Old Testament

What have the familiar stories from the Hebrew Bible taught us about what it takes to be a hero or sheroe?  Moses parts the Red Sea, Esther is beautiful and outsmarts the enemy of her people, Daniel survives the Lion’s Den – How do these stories shape our ideas about [...]

July 10, 2016, Celebrating Five Years of Shared Ministry

This Sunday, July 10, 2016, at 9:30 a.m., we’ll celebrate five years of shared ministry with Pastor Bev and Michael, whose first Sunday at SHPC was July 10, 2011.  We have a lot to celebrate!  Let’s look back at how God has blessed SHPC and rejoice in the many signs [...]

July 3, 2016, Report from General Assembly … Radical Christianity? On Being “a Matthew 25 Church”

What does it mean to be the church?  Is this something that happens inside our sanctuary?  In the Justice Garden?  Yes and yes.  But does God mean for us to focus our efforts and energies mostly within the boundaries of 100 Tarry Road? Our national church, the PC(USA), met for [...]

June 26, 2016, June is World Mission Month … On the Ground in Today’s Cuba

So far this month we’ve traveled to Mexico with our home building teens, and to Africa with our South African Liaison, Doug Tilton. This Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 9:30 a.m., we’ll hear from our own church member, who’s just back from a worldview expanding trip to Cuba! They traveled to Cuba [...]

June 19th, 2016, World Mission Month Continues with… Mexico Mission Return Sunday

This Sunday, June 19, 2016, at 9:30 a.m., let’s all welcome back our Mexico Mission Team with a service of storytelling, song, and celebration of shared humanity. All are welcome for this youth-led service, and for potluck brunch afterwards.  Bring something delicious to share, and please stay for the wonderful slide show. [...]

June 12th, 2016, World Mission Month Continues with… What is our Church Doing in Africa?

What does world mission look like in the Presbyterian church today? A great example:  SHPC is sending our Mexico Mission youth off on a bus Saturday morning to build homes in Northern Mexico.  Our MM team works in partnership with Amor Ministries, and Amor works in partnership with local pastors. [...]