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.
When we gather in community, something special happens. This creation of sacred space is something that we can all feel when it happens, but is hard to put your finger on. So, let's try and put our finger on it and attempt to put words to the indescribable.. Join us this Sunday for a worship all about the imagination that it takes to visualize the intangible and magical feeling of being in community. Ministerial Intern Val Frank is preaching
Hairy Toes and Other Signs of Health
In these heartbreaking and challenging times, we look to surprising places for signs of wellbeing, endurance and possibility. Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen is preaching.
The Wisdom of Family Restaurants
Grilled Cheese! Sundaes! Being Yourself! What can we learn from Friendly’s, and other family restaurants, as multigenerational spaces? Join Rev. Stevie–Minister of Religious Education in Arlington, MA–to explore what it means to be a community of practice. Rev. Stevie remembers fondly serving First Parish Cambridge as our Summer Student Minister in 2016, and is glad to return to share this message. Rev. Stevie Carmody is preaching.
Retelling and Retilling
What do we do with the traditions and texts that wound us? How do we know when to abandon the field—and when to dig in our trowels and replant? Eli invites us into his least favorite parable in the Bible, to see if there's any ground so rocky it can't give rise to new life. Guest Preacher, Eli Hardwig, is preaching.
A Faith of Inclusion
As we listened to our leaders describe a war of choice as a "holy war", we witnessed a version of Christianity known as "Christian Nationalism", where anyone who disagrees is considered an enemy and a traitor. What is it that separates us, with our own Christian heritage, from the rage-filled rhetoric of this extremist ideology? Historically, Unitarian Universalists have upheld values of radical welcome and love for all of our neighbors, working to end the oppression of immigrants, the poor, and the disenfranchised; values we believed were enshrined in our constitution 250 years ago. As a "faith of inclusion", how do we reach toward others of faith, whose values seem very different from our own? Rev. Lisa Perry-Wood is preaching.
Finding Meaning in Being Lost
Feeling lost is a sensation we are taught from a young age to fear, a sensation that lives directly alongside turbulence and confusion. But when we are able to live safely in that state of being lost, there can be something beautiful about it. It is only in our moments of knowing the least that we can learn the most and see the world in new and unexpected ways. Join us this Sunday to explore the feeling of facing questions so deep that we don't even know where to begin. Ministerial Intern Valentin Frank preaching.
Though Dwelling in a Land of Freedom
This Juneteenth Sunday Rev. Rob and the First Parish Gospel Choir invite us to confront legacies of enslavement and liberation right here at First Parish. What do these stories mean for us today? As we approach the nation’s 250th birthday, how can these stories point us forward to a more faithful expression of our democratic ideals? Rev. Hardies preaching.
To Become Our True Selves
It is getting harder to find the spaces where we can courageously explore what it means to be our true selves, and be celebrated on that journey. First Parish is one of those places.
Join us for our Pride celebration this Sunday as we celebrate the joy of being unapologetically and wholly us! With music from our choir and reflections from congregants and Rev Sophia. Rev. Sophia Doescher is preaching.
