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At First Church, we honor the yearning for deeper relationships with one another and with God through many spiritual formation approaches, ranging from traditional Bible Study groups to Sunday morning sessions. Led by our ministers and other teachers in our…
This is a story about how even the king of Israel, a man after God’s own heart, had to face the death of a loved one and grieve the tragedy that followed. I. NGOZI And now for something entirely different……
Good morning first church and thank you for joining us this Sunday morning. I am so glad to be back from vacation and what better way to do it than sharing on this second Sunday after epiphany. And speaking of…
Last Sunday afternoon, about 60 leaders, a dozen from First Church and the rest from neighboring Harvard Square congregations, gathered in Margaret Jewett Hall for a workshop led by scholar, activist, and national reparations movement leader Dr. Dave Ragland. The…
I’ve brought with me this morning a prayer book entitled Prayers for the People: Things We Didn’t Know We Could Say to God by Terry J. Stokes. It’s quite unusual. Did you all know you can say anything to God?…
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be pleasing to you Oh God, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. A couple of weeks ago I was talking to someone here at coffee…
Are you hoping to explore what it is like to be a part of our community at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational, UCC? You are in luck! We will be hosting several ways to learn more about who we are…
Video sermon might differ slightly from this written manuscript Good Morning First Church. I hope everyone is staying safe in this heat today. Please, if you are feeling the need for water, grab yourself a cup of it anytime you…
Friends, on this first Sunday in Lent, in this moment of such sadness and anxiety in our wider world, I’d like to begin today by circling back to the hymn we just sang – By Gracious Powers – and to…
May the words of my mouth and meditations on all hearts be always acceptable to you, O God, our rock and our redeemer! Amen! Speaking of rocks, if you’ve been to my office here at the church, you may have…
For this season of Epiphany, as we make room for our imaginations to illuminate God’s Word within and around us, Jim Brown from Earth Stewardship invites us to imagine ourselves as one of the disciples on the boat with Jesus…
Hello First Church, Welcome to a new year with GBIO! There is already much to share starting with an exciting invitation to the GBIO Delegates Assembly, Thursday, January 27 at 7:00 p.m., via Zoom. Register here to join in as…
As Dr. Sharon R. Fennema prayed as a way to process the verdict of the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse this past week, let us pray now: “Christ, who is our only Sovereign, we are longing for your kin-dom to come.…
As I read our passage for this morning, I thought about how – perhaps the past 18 months has felt in some ways like an Exodus for us. We all moved out of public spaces as much as we could.…
Will you pray with me? God, help me to sort out the tangles and untie the knots of your Word in a way that pleases you and speaks to those listening. Amen. Three weeks ago, I fell off my…
Will you please pray with me? May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our rock and redeemer. Amen. This past week I had the joy of going to an…
Will you please pray with me, this womanist adaptation of the lord’s prayer by Rev Yolanda Norton? Our Mother, Who is in heaven and within us, We call upon your names. Your wisdom come, your will be done In all…
We said before, and we’ve been singing all through Lent, “to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.” Today, at last, we come to a time for rejoicing, a time for laughter, a time…
Will you please pray with me? God be with us. May we find the wisdom we need, may we hear the needs of those we meet, and may we love the life that we are given. May the words of…
At the beginning of New Year, we are met with profound theological imagination about what happens at the end of time. I started off this sermon already feeling a bit lost in time. If you are like me, you are…
Let me begin today with an uplifting story from a dear friend who is a landscape architect. Last fall, he told me about and sent a link to his latest project called “Talk Tree to Me.” His firm created an…
Introduction FOR PART I SERIES, Fall 2020 Click here for Youtube videos of the entire series. Throughout the duration of this programming at First Church, we will explore the theme of “Returning to God: Spiritual and Theological Reflections on Racial…
READING At the appointed time the Promised One will come in glory, escorted by all the angels of heaven, and will sit up on the royal throne, with all the nations assembled below. Then the Promised One will…
Building the Beloved Community has been a growing effort at First Church since 2008. A timeline of key learning events, book and film discussions, speakers, and activities are listed here. In addition to these specific events, a large part of…
If you are looking to deepen your connections and friendships with people in Christian community consider joining a small group. Exploring your faith with fellow church members within your age group or your identity is a unique experience that can…
Our gospel reading for today follows last week’s healings and the feeding of the 5000. One verse popped out, verse 15: “When Jesus realized that they (the crowds) were about to come and take him by force to make him…
Be mindful of urgency. We’ve repeatedly learned the need to slow down, to pause, to question our tendency to want “to do” something in response to what we are learning. Our impulse to yield to urgency may unwittingly center ourselves…
As many of you know, longtime sexton George Williams has been on medical leave for many months as he has been experiencing a difficult recovery from a traumatic brain injury. Additionally, our Sunday morning sexton Jonathan Splaine will not be…
On Sunday, April 7, 9:30 – 10:15 a.m., join First Church’s 5th graders to hear about their learning during this Church School year. Prepare by reading Stella By Starlight, a middle reader novel set in rural North Carolina during the…
Let’s start where our scripture starts – on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Our text is set just outside of Capernaum, a coastal village nestled into the base of a lush hillside that meets the Sea of Galilee,…
The Unpageant Sunday, December 24 at 11:00 a.m. Sanctuary and via livestream On the fourth Sunday of Advent, we gather for our untraditional take on the Christmas pageant: the UnPageant! The UnPageant is First Church’s unrehearsed, low-stress, multigenerational telling of…
By what authority? It’s a good question. A question that gets asked at interesting times, at vulnerable times. Is authority something you are granted? Or something you claim? Where does it come from? How does authority shape our conversations and…
Will you please pray with me? May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to you Oh God, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. Do you know where the word goodbye comes…
Before we hear this morning’s gospel reading from Matthew, let me say a word about its narrative context. Just before this passage, Jesus has learned of the brutal execution of his teacher and mentor, John the Baptist. And in the…
If these texts sound familiar to you, they also sound familiar to me. This is the third time I’ve preached on these same texts at First Church over the past decade, or more precisely, the past nine years. The Common…
I love when Issa comes, and Nola, too of course, and it’s not only because of the powerful music they bring. It also means I get to connect with this beautiful man before the service, about the hymns, themes, and…
First Church is an amazing community, and each of us makes a difference here! We each bring a wide variety of life experiences, our own unique humor and insights, and differing gifts or skills. The magic happens when we share…
Juneteenth at Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters Sunday, June 18, beginning at 4:00 p.m. 105 Brattle St., Cambridge Gather for Juneteenth to honor those who endured slavery and seized freedom on Brattle Street before the American Revolution, their living descendants, and the…
The Friday Café’s 2023 Spring Fundraising event was a great success. We raised over $10,000! Thank you so much to all who planned, attended, and/or generously donated. It was wonderful to welcome members of our community who had never connected…
A Fundraiser for the Friday Café Tuesday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. First Church Sanctuary and via livestream The Friday Café is honored to welcome distinguished journalist Michael Kimmelman as guest speaker at a benefit event in support of our…
“Preachers and teachers would make their appeal, Fighting as soldiers on great battlefields; When to their pleadings my poor heart did yield, All I can say, there is something within.” “Have you that something, that burning desire? Have you…
The Truth That Sets Us Free: Contemplation and Courage for the Common Good Lent is a season of special depth and intentional observance at First Church in Cambridge. Each year we reflect on the forty days leading up to Easter…
Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love Divine, Love was born at Christmas, Stars and Angels gave the Sign. So, writes Christina Rossetti. Stars and angels, indeed. They gave the sign! So, let’s start there. And let’s…
Our campaign for 2023 is based on Paul’s words to the church at Philippi: If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of…
Texts: Luke 14: 25-33 25 Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and…
Will you please pray with me? When our words fail your Spirit remains. Spirit of God, be with us here today as we reflect on your word and work in the world. Amen. My heart has been lingering on…
Ah, beloved… How shall we open the word of God today? What words can we find, what meaning are we to look for in the face of the unspeakable? Our hearts are broken into pieces yet again, and Jesus is…
Introduction from Dan Smith Before I turn to Duncan to offer reading and his words, allow me to first share my brief part of our shared reflection and to set some context for the theme of contemplative prayer at First…
First, how ‘bout a shout out to the choir for that glorious anthem and to Kate for the last line? “Threads of glory,” indeed! Will you pray with, please? May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all…