While Psalm 139 is most known for its incredibly affirming beginning ("I am fearfully and wonderfully made"), it also has a dark, troubling turn ("I hate with perfect hatred"). What holds it all together? The final verses that reveal "the God of the Gut Check"...

PsalmsVincent BrackettJuly 11, 202321 Psalms for the 21st CenturyComment

God, who liberates (Psalm 146)

While there are many unhelpful pictures of power and control, we can find in Jesus a power that is rooted in compassion and trust. On this Juneteenth and Father’s Day weekend, we look at the Psalms’ portrayal of God as a source of help and liberation. (Art: "Christ Breaks the Rifle" by Kelly Latimore)

Psalms, Matthew, Mark, Luke, JohnVincent BrackettJune 20, 202321 Psalms for the 21st CenturyComment

God, our Song (Psalm 150)

Continuing our series inspired by the Psalms, Hayley & Vince share experiences of music and song connecting them with God. (Photo by Aaron Burden via Unsplash)

PsalmsVincent BrackettJune 13, 202321 Psalms for the 21st CenturyComment

God of Downcast Souls (Psalm 42)

Psalm 42 offers comfort in the form of validating our present struggles. How do we navigate the ebb and flow of hope and despair? What do we do when our experiences of God change?

PsalmsVincent BrackettMay 23, 202321 Psalms for the 21st CenturyComment

God, our Mother Refuge (Psalm 91)

For Mother's Day, Vince takes us to Psalm 91, inspired by reflections from feminist process theologian Marjorie Suchocki (Art: The Child's Bath, by Mary Cassatt, 1893)

PsalmsVincent BrackettMay 16, 202321 Psalms for the 21st CenturyComment

Grief

Special guest Natasha Huang, a hospital chaplain, joins us remotely to talk about spiritual practice, God, and community in the midst of grief. (Image from Shifaaz Shamoon on Unsplash)

Mark, PsalmsVincent BrackettNovember 8, 2022Comment

Where is God when you pray?

For our online-only service the weekend of 4th of July, Vince reflects on three different imaginations of where God is when we pray (and recommends one of them)...

Acts, PsalmsVincent BrackettJuly 5, 2022Comment

A Lens of Love, Not Judgment, wk 2 (Fearfully and Wonderfully Made)

What does it mean to be fearfully and wonderfully made? (Psalm 139) From a lens of judgment, scriptures like this are a weapon for controlling marginalized bodies. From a lens of love, they speak to God's companionship in the complexity of our embodied experiences.

PsalmsVincent BrackettMay 12, 2022A Lens of LoveComment

Some pastoral comments on disappointment and the month ahead for BLC

This is Vince's last Sunday on the mic for a month. He offers some pastoral comments for the moment.

Luke, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Job, PsalmsVincent BrackettApril 26, 2022Comment

It's been 20 years since 9/11. Wow.

Join us as we attempt to capture and give expression to the many feelings and thoughts and complicated prayers we all might have bouncing around inside us 20 years after 9/11.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, PsalmsVincent BrackettSeptember 14, 2021Comment