 Photo by Delaney Van on Unsplash In This Week's E-Pistle, You Will Find:
This Week's Service: First Sunday in Lent Photo by Ronoldo de Oliveira on Unsplash Maybe you are never tempted to throw someone off a bridge, or steal classified documents from the government and give them to Russia. But then there are the small, victimless temptations we face every day: speeding, eating too many sweets, telling a little lie. Nobody suffers but us. So, how do we understand the story of the temptations of Jesus? If you have spent any time doing a good thing but found no joy in it, you know this temptation. There are many things we are tempted to do, and some of them, if we do them, result in a harmless use of time. But some of these supposedly good things we are tempted to do can actually undermine our life's calling. Join us to explore these temptations on Sunday. Please join us on Sunday at 10am in our Sanctuary, or online, live on our YouTube channel. Message: Rev. Jody Betten Music: Peter Black, Jeff Spangler You will always find our latest church bulletin and service music at Bit.ly/DUCCBulletin 
Last Week's Service: Transfigurationalism Nobody gets excited about Transfiguration Sunday. Not even preachers, if they’re honest. The transfiguration of Jesus, which is recorded in three out of four of the gospels, is seemingly other-worldly and barely relatable to more important concerns, like a dozen eggs selling for $10. And yet . . . I’ve experienced transfigured moments. I’m guessing you have as well.... Walking into an empty medieval cathedral. Sunrise at Arches National Park in Utah. Sunset at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The way a heavy fog hugs a hilltop. In inexplicable ways heaven touches earth, the beyond nears the present. The Celts of Ireland called such occurrences "thin places." If you missed last Sunday's service, you can watch it here. Jody and Dan's Office Hours
Wisdom for Wild Days A 40-Day Lent Journey of Grounding, Guidance, and Discernment “Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.” – John Lewis Just one look at the news or social media reveals just how wild the days are that we are living in. So many pressing concerns and injustices demand our attention and response. At the same time, our heads swirl with distractions meant to sow chaos and disorientation. In this wilderness, we may find ourselves tempted to retreat into our privilege if we can, or to cling to whatever semblance of power we have to protect ourselves, whatever the cost may be to others. Or we may feel overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of what we are facing. Whatever the particular shape of our wilderness, we may find ourselves wondering where to turn for guidance and grounding. How can we resist the distractions of the chaos machine and discern our calling in these wild days? At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus found himself living in some pretty wild days too. Journeying with outsiders, the marginalized, and those deemed criminals, facing the oppression and violence of Roman occupation, Jesus encountered chaos meant to distract him from his calling. Like us, he faced the temptations of materialism and resource hoarding, of the safety and comfort provided by privilege, and of the unbridled power to steal, own, and occupy. To discern his calling during his own wild days, Jesus turned to the wisdom of his ancestors for guidance and clarity. Reaching back to those who had first made the journey from exile and slavery toward freedom and learning from what kept them grounded and connected to each other and the Holy, Jesus was empowered to gather folks around him and join the movement his ancestors began, a movement of revolutionary love and world-changing justice. So this Lent, Join the Movement toward Racial Justice invites you to find grounding and guidance by reaching back, as Jesus did, to the wisdom and experience of our freedom-making ancestors. Each week of Lent, we will gather wisdom from a different movement toward justice as our guides. As you make your way through these wild(erness) days this Lent, we offer daily nuggets of movement wisdom and weekly reflection questions and practices to help you stay grounded in your faith, nourished by the Spirit, and discerning how you are being called to respond during these wild days. Join us on this Jesus-journey, building on the revolutionary work of our movement ancestors to cultivate intersectional solidarity with healing and repair at the center, as we align with the movement of the Spirit toward justice.
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