Santa Monica Church of the Nazarene

If you have missed any of Pastor Scott's recent sermons, or if you just want to give them another listen, check out our church podcast! It is available for listening on Spotify and Apple Podcast.

Sunday morning worship.

This winter we are adopting a unit at the Upward Bound House here in Santa Monica. This will help a family that is transitioning from living on the streets into new housing have everything they need for their new home. If you want to select some items to purchase for this project, check out the wish list here. https://www.amazon.com//wi/genericItemsPage/2JNGEC8FYK7XX

https://mailchi.mp/cdc/june-samonaz-our-common-life-5004582

Thankful for having a Pastor who made space to talk about what happened yesterday.

In this sermon we talk about spiritual transformation of learning how to see. We consider how the envious laborers and power-hungry disciples are focused on first-half of life questions (thank you Richard Rohr). We consider how maturing into the second half of life (which has nothing strictly to do with age) is about moving away from the mode of self-interest, individualism, consumerism, etc. and towards a real posture of love and joy in God’s creation. In the end, we see this journey of learning how to see as the real work of contemplation that Jesus has always called us to.

Yesterdays worship gathering, in case you missed it.

Our next book club pick is "Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know" by Malcolm Gladwell. We hope that you will join us for this discussion. The book is available in multiple formats from SMPL and LAPL. Email Patti Senior ([email protected]) to receive more information.

Online worship gathering today!

In this sermon we focused on the story of the Canaanite woman. Here we see a Jesus we are not used to, a seemingly offensive Jesus acting from his privilege against this woman from another culture. We explore the possibility that maybe in this moment Jesus is doing the redemptive work of overcoming his social situatedness for the sake the kingdom. We also explored the dynamic that this woman approached Jesus the way Israel approached Yahweh, with lament and urging for God to ...make good on God’s promises. We see her holding Jesus accountable to the fullness of the promise that the gospel is not just for Jews but Gentiles, too. In the end we considered three things: (1) that this woman looks a lot like Lady Wisdom calling out to us about righteousness, justice, and equity; (2) that the gospel is for those who are not like us; (3) that even Jesus as fully human had social particularities that gave him privilege and power that he had to address and overcome, and that we are called to face the particularizes of our own lives in this same way. See more

A few lines from todays mornings prayer... "Let us bless our Savior who enlightens the world by his resurrection. Let us humbly beg him: Keep us, Lord, on your path. Lord Jesus, we honor your resurrection in our morning prayer, the hope of your glory enlightens our day. Accept, Lord, our prayers and petitions, as the first fruits of our day. Grant that we may progress today in your love, and that all things may work together for our good and the good of all. Make our light shine so brightly before people, that seeing our good works they may give glory to our Father. Amen."

Thought this was worth sharing. -Patti

Our next book for discussion will be Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. It's available on Hoopla. Most of the story is set in Calcutta and describes the rich culture and traditions of India as it follows the lives of two girls. If you are interested in joining the discussion, please let me know by emailing [email protected] and I will add you to the notification list. ~Patti

Untamed book discussion today at 9:30 am. If you did not get a link from me and are interested in joining the discussion, please email me at [email protected] and I will send you the link. Also, if you are interested in future book discussions, email me and I will add you to the notification list.

In this sermon we find, with the help of David Foster Wallace, a common thread strung throughout Matthew 7. Beginning with Jesus’ instruction not to judge, we consider what it means not to think ourselves more superior to others, but to look inward first before we do anything in order to let compassion guide us in our relationships.