Unitarian Universalist Audio Sermons

Note: Click on the title to hear the sermon. Sermons are in .mp3 format and will probably take a short time to load. Over 2200 sermons available. Directory is at bottom of page.

Web www.UUAudioSermons.com

Subscribe to UUAudioSermons

Email:

October, 2008

Title	Presenter	Church	Date presented
Science and Religion Christine and Andrew are sharing a sermon about the intersection of modern physics (that’s Andrew’s old career) and modern theology.	Rev. Christine Robinson and Andrew Millard	First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, NM	10/26/2008
What Do We Faith?	Rev. Arline Conan Sutherland	First Parish Lexington Unitarian Universalist	10/26/2008
Faith of the Larger Liberty: Growing Our Spirit	Rev. Charles Blustein Ortman	The Unitarian Church of Montclair (NJ)	10/26/2008
Atheism: The Faith That Dares Not Speak Its Name A 2006 study by researchers at the University of Minnesota involving a poll of 2,000 households in the United States found atheists to be the most distrusted of minorities. What makes atheism such an anathema to so many people?	Rev. Dr. Randolph W.B. Becker	Unitarian Universalist Fellowshop, Key West. FL	10/26/2008
The Dwarfs of Grief	Rev. Kim K. Crawford Harvie	Arlington Street Church, Boston, MA	10/26/2008
UN Sunday: Human Rights: Dignity and Justice for Us All Our denomination has a UU UN office because we believe it is important to be involved in the world. From our UN Sunday program guide: "The year 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is an opportunity to strengthen the fight against poverty, still one of the greatest human rights challenges affecting all countries. Poverty is often both a cause and a consequence of human rights violations. But the link between poverty and a lack of rights is not the focus of policy debates and development strategies, even though there are strong legal foundations and platforms to guide a country. For example, the seven core human rights treaties contain anti-discrimination norms to protect all members of society. They also address exclusion and deficits in State accountability that lie at the root of poverty and other development problems." We don't believe in missionaries to convert natives to believe like we do; we do believe in helping change the world for the better by working with native peoples to help them with poverty, disease, water, education, etc.	Rev. Arthur G. Severance	East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, Kirtland, OH	10/26/2008
Hillary and Sarah owe it All to UUs	Rev. Tony Lorenzen	Pathways Church, Southlake, TX	10/26/2008
Election Sermon	Forrest Church	All Souls Unitarian Church (New York City)	10/26/2008
Reflection on Divali	Jenny M. Rankin	First Parish in Concord, MA	10/26/2008
Stopping for Possums	Scott Tayler	First Unitarian Church of Rochester NY	10/26/2008
Institutionalized Xenophobia in our Melting Pot Ellen tells a tragic tale from her own family's recent experiences. It is an indictment of the American immigration system, of governmental bureaucracy, and of the mind-set - the world-view - in which this profound hypocrisy thrives.	Ellen Taylor	The Unitarian Church of Quincy, Illinois	10/26/2008
Forgiving Others Throughout the centuries people in the public realm have had to be accountable for their destructive or immoral behavior. Some refused to apologize, while others lied and schemed about their illicit deeds. Others have apologized but to what aim? Explore the dimensions of public apologies. Is the common good enhanced or diminished by public apologies and what constitutes the difference?	Janne Eller-Isaacs	Unity Church-Unitarian, St. Paul, MN	10/26/2008
The Urgency of Change	Bishop Carlton Pearson	All Souls Unitarian Church of Tulsa	10/26/2008
Unseen Gifts Generosity and hope are the building blocks of our UU theology and spirituality – personally, they give my life direction and institutionally, they are at the core of our congregational life. How generosity and hope shape our lives is vital and important to name, which is what I will do this morning. My reflections are through the lens of Ron Suskind’s book A Hope in the Unseen (for sale in our bookstore) which has been selected for the state’s "One Book, One Maryland" initiative.	Rev. Fred Muir	Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis	10/26/2008
UN Sunday - Change the World Before the Other Guys Do We can work together to change the world with compassion and justice. Don't let those other guys do it. You may not like their renovations.	Bruce Knotts	The Unitarian Church in Westport	10/26/2008
Reason and Reverence: The Rinvention of Religious Humanism Religious humanism, once dominant among UUs, has been criticized for being too rationalistic, too dogmatic, too human-centered and lacking in spirituality. None of these is essential to humanism, and when grounded in religious naturalism, humanism takes on a larger perspective that has spiritual depth, a place for emotions, and a more realistic understanding of human nature.	Rev. Dr. William Murry	First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, NM	10/19/2008
What They Dreamed Be Ours To Do	Rev. Arline Conan Sutherland	First Parish Lexington Unitarian Universalist	10/19/2008
Doing the Unthinkable	Rev. Charles Blustein Ortman	The Unitarian Church of Montclair (NJ)	10/19/2008
The Open Hand	Rev. Kim K. Crawford Harvie	Arlington Street Church, Boston, MA	10/19/2008
People Will Never Forget...	Rev. John Rex	East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, Kirtland, OH	10/19/2008
Creating Consensus	Rev. Tony Lorenzen	Pathways Church, Southlake, TX	10/19/2008
Mercy The word "mercy" is most often used to reference the compassion or forbearance given by a God to people. But even if we take away the idea of a supernatural divinity entirely, what might it look like for you to have mercy or to receive it? Would it be a spiritual risk?	Reverend Nancy McDonald Ladd	Bull Run Unitarian Universalists, Manassas, Virginia	10/19/2008
The Counterparty Paradox	Galen Guengerich	All Souls Unitarian Church (New York City)	10/19/2008
On Beauty	Robert D. Richardson	First Parish in Concord, MA	10/19/2008
The Tangle of Fear	Scott Tayler	First Unitarian Church of Rochester NY	10/19/2008
Tripping on My Own Wings and Flying Sometimes, forgiveness in the world outside depends on forgiveness in the world inside, on the delicate grace of self-acceptance, on a turbulent courage that one might call "deepest hope." Sometimes our own best efforts fail us and fail us well...right into the open arms of a noble gift.	Leon Dunkley	Unity Church-Unitarian, St. Paul, MN	10/19/2008
This I Believe	Rev. Marlin Lavanhar	All Souls Unitarian Church of Tulsa	10/19/2008
The View from Unity This past June the press paid attention to the small New Hampshire town of Unity. Primaries over, the nominations decided, senators Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama met on a stage there to talk of party unity. Unity is a town our intern, Bryant, knows something about; it is a place he and his family have lived. There they learned a few lessons about how we can be together.	Bryant Bossler Brown	Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis	10/19/2008
Many Stones Can Form an Arch "We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.".	Rev. Margie Allen	The Unitarian Church in Westport	10/19/2008
Can Fear Control Us? The Roman philospher Lactantius wrote, “Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be.” There have been many times where the actions of my life have resulted from fear that was present in me. Using my own experience of coming out and the fear that impacted me, how can this inform how I deal with fear today?	Rev. Ronald A. Hersom	First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, NM	10/12/2008
Azaro of Nigeria	Rev. Ken Reeves	First Parish Lexington Unitarian Universalist	10/12/2008
We Don't Have to Do It Alone	Dan Kane	Arlington Street Church, Boston, MA	10/12/2008
Association Sunday: Growing a Religion Way back in 1838, Emerson gave the Harvard Divinity School Address - "And now let us do what we can to rekindle the smoldering, nigh-quenched fire on the altar. The evils of the church that now are manifest. The question returns, 'What shall we do?' I confess, all attempts to project and establish a cultus with new rites and forms seems to be in vain...rather let the breath of new life be breathed by you through the forms already existing..." We're still trying to breath new life through forms already existing. What might that look like for the future?	Rev. Arthur G. Severance	East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, Kirtland, OH	10/12/2008
Polity Wonk	Rev. Tony Lorenzen	Pathways Church, Southlake, TX	10/12/2008
Wrestling the Angel In the Hebrew Scriptures, the patriarch Jacob wrestles an angel to force a blessing out of him. In another story, Jacob steals a blessing from his brother Esau. Are we like Jacob or unlike him? What would it mean to stop at nothing in order to be blessed?	Reverend Nancy McDonald Ladd	Bull Run Unitarian Universalists, Manassas, Virginia	10/12/2008
Association Sunday Unitarian Universalism is unique in numerous ways, one of them being that its congregations refer to themselves as members of an association. While we are noted for being independent thinkers, today, we celebrate our lives together and what it means to be part of a liberal religious stream. Come learn more about how the strength in working together enables us to nurture our spirits and helps to heal the world.		UU Congregation of Somerset Hills	10/12/2008
Growing Our Spirit	Angela Herrera	First Parish in Concord, MA	10/12/2008
Those Many Voices	Kaaren Anderson	First Unitarian Church of Rochester NY	10/12/2008
Dragged Kicking and Screaming into Heaven Give me that old time religion because today's world needs 19th century Universalism's proclamation of a loving God as much as it ever has.	Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed	Unity Church-Unitarian, St. Paul, MN	10/12/2008
Unbridled Joy	Rev. Tamara Lebak	All Souls Unitarian Church of Tulsa	10/12/2008
The Forgiving Life An important theme of the High Holy Days is turning and forgiving – something that is never easy. Join me this morning as I explore the challenges and patterns of forgiveness.	Rev. Fred Muir	Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis	10/12/2008
The Wild Braid The poet Stanley Kunitz lived to celebrate his 100th birthday. His final book, The Wild Braid, comes from interviews in the months leading to his death. The title refers to the intertwining of the roots of trees with the snakes in his beloved garden, and, by extension, the poetic 'wild braid' of all existence.	Rev. Frank A. Hall	The Unitarian Church in Westport	10/12/2008
Can Fear Control Us? The Roman philospher Lactantius wrote, “Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be.” There have been many times where the actions of my life have resulted from fear that was present in me. Using my own experience of coming out and the fear that impacted me, how can this inform how I deal with fear today?	Rev. Ronald A. Hersom	First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, NM	10/12/2008
The Paradox of Choice Over the next couple of weeks we will be choosing a future for our building. Basically, we have four choices. If only the rest of our lives were so easy. It turns out much of modern production from food to cars to 401(k) plans is designed to give us more choice, which leads to less satisfaction. We'll look at ways to deal with this.	Reverend Dr. Daniel O'Connell	Eliot Unitarian Chapel, Kirkwood, MO	10/12/2008
Atonement	Rev. Arline Conan Sutherland	First Parish Lexington Unitarian Universalist	10/05/2008
God's Chosen People… It's All of Us!	Rev. Charles Blustein Ortman	The Unitarian Church of Montclair (NJ)	10/05/2008
A little nosh with Hillel Exploring the religious insights of Rabbi Hillel the elder.	Rev. Dr. Randolph W.B. Becker	Unitarian Universalist Fellowshop, Key West. FL	10/05/2008
And the Tiger shall Lie Down with the Piglets	Rev. Kim K. Crawford Harvie	Arlington Street Church, Boston, MA	10/05/2008
Is Not God Love? Celebrating National Coming Out Day National Coming Out Day is an internationally-observed civil awareness day founded by Dr. Robert Eichberg and Jean O'Leary in 1988, and many of our churches make this an annual celebration. Our denomination has designated the closest Sunday as Association Sunday, where we raise funds for growth, so I thought we would celebrate National Coming Out Day on October 5. As a "Welcoming Congregation," we are a liberal and loving "oasis" in an intolerant and sometime hateful desert for folks who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, (GLBT); indeed, it is not us and them, anymore, it is only us! For the "we" that we speak about are now intermixed so lovingly that you can't tell us apart!	Rev. Arthur G. Severance	East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, Kirtland, OH	10/05/2008
You, Me, and Mr. Crankypants	Rev. Tony Lorenzen	Pathways Church, Southlake, TX	10/05/2008
Devotion Sufi poets describe their spiritual quest as one centered primarily on devotion - devotion to God, to beauty, and to the world. How might we live out a sense of devotion in our lives? To whom or what might we be so devoted?	Reverend Nancy McDonald Ladd	Bull Run Unitarian Universalists, Manassas, Virginia	10/05/2008
The Varieties of Moral Hazard	Galen Guengerich	All Souls Unitarian Church (New York City)	10/05/2008
The View from Above	Jenny M. Rankin	First Parish in Concord, MA	10/05/2008
Who Cares?	Jen Crow	First Unitarian Church of Rochester NY	10/05/2008
Your Waves Washed Over Me We enter into the spirit of the Jewish High Holy Days contemplating the story of Jonah the reluctant prophet. But we won't focus so much on his reluctance as on his inability to forgive.	Rob Eller-Isaacs	Unity Church-Unitarian, St. Paul, MN	10/05/2008
Dying To Get In	Rev. Marlin Lavanhar	All Souls Unitarian Church of Tulsa	10/05/2008
Imagine a Church What is your vision of our faith home and church community? When you imagine UUCA, where does your imagination take you? This congregation, as does Unitarian Universalism, has a deep history and transformative answers to these questions which remain shaping and energizing. I hope you will be present as we answer these questions.	Rev. Fred Muir	Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis	10/05/2008
For Shame The essential significance of the Jewish High Holy Days, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, are deeply human issues. We'll celebrate these holidays and dig into their deeper meanings.	Rev. Frank A. Hall	The Unitarian Church in Westport	10/05/2008
The Spiritual Path of Living Without a Why Plagued by the ubiquity of the contemporary book, "The Purpose Driven Life," Rob draws a contrast to the profound philosophy of the 14th century Dominican Mystic, Meister Eckhart.	Rev. Dr. Rob Manning	The Unitarian Church of Quincy, Illinois	10/05/2008
What is the Meaning of Life? In the second of our "Big Questions" series, we explore perhaps the most popular philosophical question of all time. People have pondered the meaning of life for millennia, but the answer remains elusive. Be excellent to each other? 42? What is the meaning of life? Is this even a valid question?	Rev. John Cullinan	The Unitarian Church of Los Alamos, New Mexico	10/05/2008
At-One-Ment The Jewish High Holy Days bring UUs(some of whom have Jewish roots) an opportunity to explore the nerve-wracking word atonement. Both the Unitarians and the Universalists rejected Christian ideas about atonement, but the Jewish understanding of this concept has a lot to offer us.	Rev. Christine Robinson	First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, NM	10/05/2008
Love in Action Our mission statement declares we are a religious community of love. What does this mean? Is it possible to be bound by a greater love for each other? During this month of the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, what can we learn from our Judeo – Christian roots about the relationship between forgiveness and love? What does love have to do with fear? Big questions …….. Courageous action required.	Claudia Frost	Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Durham, NC	10/05/2008

Here's a source of lots more UU Sermons both text and audio.

This site is maintained by Paul Wilczynski