Programs & Services » Sermons
Sermons
We offer two worship services on Sunday, the first at 9:15am and the second at 11:00am. Our Sunday services are both minister and lay lead and deal with topical issues that affect our lives and the development of our religious framework.
Due to popular demand, we are digitally recording the audio of our sermons by Rev. Wendy Williams. The recordings have been edited to contain only the Readings and Sermon from the service. Each recording is available as an MP3 file. MP3 audio files may be listened to directly on your computer, on an MP3 player (e.g., Apple iPod), or burned to a CD and listened to on a CD player.
Upcoming Sermons
Past Sermons
10/28/2007
Making a Difference
Stephanie Ludwig
Stephanie Ludwig will host members of our congregation offering their reflections on living our values by participating in Make a Difference Day on Saturday, Oct. 27.
10/21/2007
Caring and Community
Rev. Wendy Williams
How do we care for each other without enabling? What can we expect of each other? Potluck to follow with the Caring Cadre.
10/14/2007
Association Sunday
Rev. Wendy Williams
Religare, the Latin root for the word religion, means to bring together for greater strength. In this service we celebrate and strengthen our common values and purpose as we join the national campaign to grow and deepen our faith. We will also recognize new members.
10/07/2007
Common Courtesy – Or Is It?
Rev. Wendy Williams
Author Lynn Truss describes this time as "an age of lazy moral relativism combined with aggressive social insolence." Is there still a connection between manners and morality? How do we work toward the common good if we are busy "talking to the hand?" Coming of Age youth and their mentors will be honored.
09/30/2007
Open or Ambiguous?
Rev. Wendy Williams
In this sermon, Rev. Wendy discusses whether our different beliefs, backgrounds, and views can co-exist under the Unitarian Universalist umbrella and if so, how. What unites us? How do we speak about our faith? Do our liberal views prevent us or encourage to act in the larger community?
09/23/2007
The Poetry of Meaning and Spirituality
Led by Sam Piper
Led by Sam Piper, several of our members will share their path through their poetry.
09/16/2007
Discipleship
Rev. Wendy Williams
What does discipleship mean? Can Unitarian Universalists be disciples? What has this meant in other faiths? Rev. Wendy explores these questions and their implication for our faith and church.
09/09/2007
Our Story
Rev. Wendy Williams
We all have stories. What is ours and how do we tell it? By sharing our story we not only better understand our roots, but help each other find a place in the story so that the next chapters can be written. Join Rev. Wendy as she reflects on our story. The UUFF Board of Trustees will be installed.
09/02/2007
Religion and Terror
Rev. Wendy Williams
In this service, Rev. Wendy’s sermon addresses the observations of one of the auction-winners from our fundraiser last November. Many of the choices made by our government in reaction to 9/11 erode our Constitutional rights (i.e. free speech and thought). All of the changes were to protect the citizens from the stateless enemy. In the U.S. many of the Christian sects have acted the same as the Islamic sects (KKK or killing of abortion clinic personnel) The main distinction is that few of the Christian sects are suicidal. Is there a sickness in the world?
08/26/2007
Consensus, Conflict and Community
Rev. Wendy Williams
Led by Rev. Wendy. As our community grows in numbers and deepens in connection and commitment to each other and the wider world, we will work toward consensus. Sometimes that will be reached easily and sometimes not. What do our principles ask of us in the times it isn’t so easy?
08/19/2007
Simple Gifts
Stephanie Ludwig and Beth Lyall-Wilson
Life is full of simple gifts. Some of the most profound gifts are intangible, like love, freedom and community. Nationally renowned artist P. S. Gordon was commissioned by All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma to represent the simple gifts at the heart of Unitarian Universalism and his artwork will be the heart of this lay-led service.
08/12/2007
Let Peace Begin With Me
Rev. Wendy Williams
Join Rev. Wendy as she explores our desire for peace set against a backdrop of chaos and busy-ness. What dimension might a rhythm of rest add to our abilities to make peace?
08/05/2007
Wisdom, Wonder, Worship, and the World
Stephanie Ludwig
Lifespan Religious Education Director Stephanie Ludwig will reflect on how humans mature religiously and spiritually and what that means for Unitarian Universalism and UUFF. School supplies collected for Killip School.
07/29/2007
Divergent Pasts and One Future
Rev. Wendy Williams
Join Rev. Wendy as she discusses the difference between Unitarianism and Universalism. Why the long name? What might a true integration look like?
07/22/2007
Celebration, Appreciation and Transformation
Rev. Wendy Williams
One service only at Ft. Tuthill, 11 am, as part of Church Picnic. A look at life in community – ours – led by Rev. Wendy. Potluck, games and merriment to follow. No Religious Education this week.
07/15/2007
Fear
Rev. Wendy Williams
What are we afraid of? Do we get to a point when we don’t have fear?
Should that be our goal? Rev. Wendy describes some of what fear has to teach us. No Religious Education this week.
07/08/2007
Guilt: Baggage or Gift?
Rev. Wendy Williams
Rev. Wendy explores whether guilt is baggage (theological or otherwise) or has something to offer.
07/01/2007
Why I Am a Unitarian Universalist
Hosted by Stephanie Ludwig
Several members will offer their answers to this important question.
06/24/2007
The Challenge of Choice
Rev. David Cooper
Each one of us faces choices daily. Some are minor; others are momentous. Yet, all of our choices have consequences. Faced with a choice, how do we determine the correct one? Rev. David Cooper is the guest speaker.
06/17/2007
Belonging
Rev. Wendy Williams
Rev. Wendy welcomes our new members and explores the meaning of hospitality, home, and belonging.
06/10/2007
Bearing Witness
Rev. Wendy Williams
In a time in which hurt in the world abounds, we are often at a loss on how to fix it. Perhaps, as Rev. Wendy suggests, we are not so much called to solve the world’s problems as we are to simply (and not so simply) bear witness as Unitarian Universalists.
06/03/2007
Ordinary Acts and Everyday Resurrections
Rev. Wendy Williams
Unitarian theologian James Luther Adams believed in "the prophethood of all believers." In this service, Rev. Wendy explores this Adams wisdom and how it might guide our lives.
05/27/2007
Guest Speaker: Dana Prom Smith
Dana Prom Smith
05/20/2007
Building Bridges
Rev. Wendy Williams
In this intergenerational service led by Rev. Wendy, we will take a look at what it means to work together. How do we empower each other? What are ways in which, despite our best intentions, we hinder our progress toward building a joint vision? We explore these questions and more through song, story and activity.
05/13/2007
Conscience, Reasoning and Faith
Rev. Wendy Williams
In the 19th century, Unitarian minister Theodore Parker built on the work of the transcendentalists and suggested that the message of the divine had been etched in the human heart long before Jesus. Thus, eternal truth was rooted in the human soul and could be found in all faiths. Join Rev. Wendy as she tells another chapter of our Unitarian Universalist story and examines its lasting legacy.
05/06/2007
This I Don’t Believe: One Man’s Path to Atheism
Samuel Piper
Samuel Piper has accepted Rev. Wendy’s invitation for someone in the congregation to speak about his personal approach to atheism. "My favorite theologian is Mark Twain, who noted that ‘Man is the only animal with the True Religion – several of them!" and ‘It’s man’s idea that the Deity sits up nights to admire him.’ While it may seem a contradiction to some, I find that I have a lot of company as an atheist who is also an amateur scholar of religion." (Rev. Wendy out of pulpit to fill in for Rev. Dan Spencer who is on sabbatical from Granite Peaks in Prescott.)
04/29/2007
Mayday Celebration
CUUPs
Beltane is an ancient Gaelic holiday celebrated around May 1. Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPs) will be creating sacred space to host a Beltane Service at 9:15 and a Maypole Dance at 11:00. Bring a 14-foot ribbon in a color that represents what you would like to weave into your life in the next year.
04/22/2007
The Search for Truth and Meaning
Stephanie Ludwig
Wendy Williams
This is an intergenerational service led by Stephanie Ludwig and Rev.
Wendy in which our Fourth Principle is examined with story, activity and music.
04/15/2007
Step It Up!
Rev. Wendy Williams
As Unitarian Universalists, we agreed upon a Statement of Conscience about the urgent need to address the issue of global warming/climate change. There may be agreement among us regarding the reality of global warming, but what are we willing to do about it? Will we lead or follow? How are we called to respond?
04/08/2007
Suffering, Death and Resurrection: The Presence of Addictions in our Lives
Rev. Wendy Williams
Few of our lives and families are untouched by addictions. Why? What do we do with the anger, hurt, fear and disappointment that results? Join Rev. Wendy as she explores faithful reflections on addiction.
04/01/2007
A Theology of Gratitude
Members of Worship Committee
In the recent spring issue of U.U. World, Galen Guengrich expresses what he feels to be the heart of UU faith and theology: gratitude. This service, with the help of Guengrich’s article, will explore the idea of gratitude and the role it plays in our UU faith and community. Rev. Wendy away; led by members of the worship committee.
03/25/2007
Life Beyond Violence
Rev. Wendy Williams and Mary MacKenzie
Rev. Wendy and Mary MacKenzie together examine the principles of non-violence in celebration of the lives of Ghandi and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This is an inter-generational service.
03/18/2007
Something Out of Nothing
Jeff Chamberlain
While Rev. Wendy is away, Jeff Chamberlain, a musician from the Northwest Tucson congregation, will lead the service. He writes, "This universe seems to have arisen out of nothing - there is certainly a lot more nothing than something in this cosmos of ours. The music I write comes from an unknown place. It is, perhaps, a compilation of my training and practice, but those now are not much more than ephemeral memories. Even as I write these words, I am unsure where they come from. The Tao is unseen and yet all things arise from it. In the beginning was the logos - the word, the logic. So much comes from so little, and I try to explore this through words and music that I would like to share with you."
03/11/2007
Addictions
Rev. Wendy Williams
Few of our lives and families are untouched by addictions. What do we do with the anger, hurt, fear and disappointment that results? Join Rev. Wendy as she explores faithful reflections on addiction.
03/04/2007
Messengers from the Mystery
Rev. Wendy Williams
Rumi wrote, "Love is the way the messengers from the mystery tell us things." Who are the messengers of the mystery? In a culture that places a premium on knowing the right answer and correct citations to books and online sources, Rev. Wendy asks about other sources of information.
02/25/2007
Speak and It Shall Be Done - An Intergenerational Purim Service
Today we hear the story of Queen Esther who saved the Jewish
people from destruction and who is celebrated each year during Purim. While learning about the Jewish tradition we are reminded to use our voices to speak our truth and protect others.
02/18/2007
An Ethic of Generosity and the Spiritual Value of Money
Rev. Wendy Williams
Jim Wallis, among others, have urged all of us to view budgets as moral documents so that our values are readily revealed in the numbers. In a very different way, the "What’s in your wallet?" commercial campaign says that what is in our pockets says something about who we are and how we want to live. Rev. Wendy takes a closer look at what UUFF might look like if we presumed money had a spiritual value and we employed an ethic of generosity.
02/11/2007
To Love Abundantly
Rev. Wendy Williams
Scottish writer Henry Drummond wrote, "To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever." Drummond was modeling upon the teachings of Jesus. Sharon Salzberg, an American Buddhist writer and teacher from a totally different approach, concludes that a life free from suffering calls us to love abundantly.Neither is speaking of romantic love. Rev. Wendy explains why and how to begin to love abundantly this Valentine’s Day.
02/04/2007
Life Isn’t Fair
Rev. Wendy Williams
Why do we expect life to be fair? How does our expectation color our response? Even when change is positive, there may be parts of it we aren’t so excited about. What is the balance? Join Rev.
Wendy for a closer look at our interest in fairness and the fallout when we don’t get it.