Past Sermons
Did you miss a recent sermon? Or want to share one with a friend? Would you like to get a flavor of the kind of messages you might hear at First Parish? Click one of the sermons below, or browse our video archive on YouTube.
Hymn writer Harry Emerson Fosdick expresses the longing of our hearts in a time marred by fear: Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of the hour, for the living of these days. Increasingly, our daily lives and our moment in history call on us to be courageous. But where does courage come from? And how can we become more brave? Guest Minister, Rev. Lauren Smith preaches.
In Unitarian Universalism, we often speak about the love at the center of our values and principles, the love that guides us. But what is this thing we call love? And what if we don't all agree? Join us this morning to hear members of First Parish's Young Adult Group reflect on the meaning of Love in this heartbreaking world. Assistant Minsiter Sophia preaches.
Since the pandemic, facial coverings have become a regular—and now sinister—feature of American life. Once a staple of PPE, masks are now a significant element of urban streetwear, protest culture, and, chillingly, federal “law enforcement.” My concern about masks is as much about what they hide as what they reveal. What they reveal about who we’ve become, and how we’ve allowed ourselves to be governed. What’s the meaning of a mask? Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.
Our spiritual ancestor Thoreau wrote: “Heaven is under our feet.” With these words he encourages us in our religious search to “get our head out of the clouds,” as it were, and discover the sacred all around us. What does it look like to build a spirituality not from thin air, but from the solid matter of our beautiful world. Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.
Worship on ZOOM Only at 10:30 am
The City of Cambridge has issued a Snow Emergency Parking Ban beginning at 10:00 am tomorrow, therefore, in-person worship at First Parish is cancelled. Instead we will gather at 10:30 am on Zoom (Meeting ID 155 025 783). Guest preacher, Phoebe Eckart-Lee will deliver a morning message and Assistant Minister, Sophia Doescher will assist with the rest of the service.
We will hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
In his I Have a Dream speech, Dr. King speaks of a faith that allows us to fashion hope from despair. What is this hope born of despair? And what are the practices by which we chip away at our mountain of despair until all that remains in our hands is small, sturdy stone called hope? Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.
Once upon a time, there were people who believed wealth and power could be hoarded and kept forever. And once upon a time, there were those who knew how to take it back: the tricksters, the mischief-makers. How might we be the mischief-makers of our time? Sophia Doescher preaches.
The psychiatrist Rachel Naomi Remen writes, “What we do to survive is often different from what we need to do in order to live.” And the religious life is an invitation to live life fully and abundantly—to not merely survive but to thrive. After a year of collective hunkering down and survival, how can we reclaim our lives and thrive in the New Year? Rev. Rob Hardies preaches.
