Island United Church of Foster City

09/16/2026

For many of us, faith is our map of reality, our map of the universe. It tells us where we are, where we’ve been, where we’re going, where to turn. But as soon as our trusted map stops matching reality, we feel disoriented.
—Brian McLaren

Celebrate with us Sundays at 10:00 am in person, Zoom or Livestream. iucfc.org
Weekly Communion

Rev. Michael Cronin, Pastor



Image: Orlando Ferguson
Public domain
Orlando-Ferguson-flat-earth-map edit.jpg

09/15/2026

I trusted God to be God even if I could not say who God was for sure. I trusted God to hold me and those I loved, in life and in death, without giving me one shred of conclusive evidence that it was so.
—Barbara Brown Taylor

Celebrate with us Sundays at 10:00 am in person, Zoom or Livestream. iucfc.org
Weekly Communion

Rev. Michael Cronin, Pastor



Image: Junyu-K
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
202408 The sea horizon was only two seabirds fishing at the distance in the morning.jpg

09/14/2026

Doubt need not be the death of faith. It can be, instead, the birth of a new kind of faith, a faith beyond beliefs, a faith that expresses itself in love, a deepening and expanding faith that can save your life and save the world.
—Brian McLaren

Celebrate with us Sundays at 10:00 am in person, Zoom or Livestream. iucfc.org
Weekly Communion

Rev. Michael Cronin, Pastor



Image: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. T. Patterson (New Mexico State University)
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09/13/2026

To hold the full mystery of life is always to endure its other half, which is the equal mystery of death and doubt. To know anything fully is always to hold that part of it which is still mysterious and unknowable.
—Richard Rohr

Celebrate with us Sundays at 10:00 am in person, Zoom or Livestream. iucfc.org
Weekly Communion

Rev. Michael Cronin, Pastor



Image: Anil Mohabir on flickr, licensed as CC BY-SA 2.0

09/13/2026

Beloveds,

It equals 490, right? A fixed number. But when Jesus gives the “70x7” response to Peter’s question about how many times to forgive, he is suggesting forgiveness beyond our limited thinking. In other words, ad infinitum.

That’s a tall order, especially in these times.

Let’s gather Sunday at 10 am on 1130 Balclutha, Zoom, or Livestream to look at Matthew 18:21-35 as a lesson for today.

Continue the invitation.

Love,
Rev. Michael

Anchor image by Vitaly Gariev.

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Island United Church of Foster City
“Whoever you are, wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.”
https://iucfc.org

We are happy that our livestream is able to touch so many people who cannot get to our sanctuary in Foster City, CA. If you are able to help offset the costs associated with our livestream, please go to https://iucfc.org/give and choose the General Operating Fund. Every little bit helps!

Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard:

09/12/2026

No Snakes, Please
Rachel Hackenberg

Moses said to God, “Suppose the people don’t believe me?” God said, “Take the staff in your hand, and throw it on the ground.” So Moses threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses recoiled. Then God instructed, “Reach out and seize the snake by its tail.” Moses grabbed it, and the snake became a staff again. - Exodus 4:1-4 (adapted)



I would’ve walked away from God’s calling the moment that staff turned into a snake.



Nope, no, no thank you, not happening, hard pass. I’m out, God. No snake signs for me.



I’d prefer a purring cat sign. A windy whisper through the trees sign. An open window, closed door sign.



Maybe there’s no heavenly reason for God to exclude snakes from the potential list of divine signs, but to my mind, there’s no earthly reason for them to be included, either. Plenty of other options!



Jesus was often troubled by people’s preoccupation with signs: The false prophets who made a showy spectacle of signs. The disciples who anxiously asked how to recognize the right signs. The crowds that followed him for the thrill of gawking at signs. The doubters who demanded on-the-spot performative signs.



They all wanted signs to be answers. Undeniable answers. Preferably, undeniable answers they already knew.



Instead, Jesus pointed to signs that raised questions. Signs that challenged assumptions. Signs that interrupted routines.



Like a snake on the ground, stopping you in your tracks.



Like a loud clap of thunder, overwhelming you with awe.



Like the return of sunshine after a storm, revealing plainly the damage all around you.



The question is not whether we recognize a divine sign, but whether we accept its divine interruption.



Prayer
Grant me a receptive spirit, O God.

Celebrate with us Sundays at 10:00 am in person, Zoom or Livestream. iucfc.org
Weekly Communion

Rev. Michael Cronin, Pastor



Image: Booksandbonsai
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The Alleged Staff of Moses in the Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul

09/11/2026

Wishing our Jewish siblings a blessed 5787.

09/11/2026

Twenty-Five Years Later: A Prayer
(inspired by Psalm 46)

Holy One, our refuge and strength,
in whom all things live and move and have their being:
twenty-five years ago the earth shook
and mountains seemed to fall into the sea.

You did not will that morning.
You felt it with us, and you felt it first,
holding every life lost in a love where nothing is ever lost.
Be a very present help to all who still mourn,
for whom twenty-five years is no time at all.

Open our eyes to the goodness that rose from the ashes
and has never stopped rising:
those who ran toward danger,
strangers who carried one another to safety,
neighbors who lit candles, gave blood, and shared bread.
Love did not fall that day. Love climbed the stairs.

Where fear goes looking for someone to blame, teach us better.
No people and no faith is our enemy.
You who make wars cease to the ends of the earth,
lure us toward the harder courage:
to remember without revenge,
to grieve without hatred,
to build a just world for all.

When grief would place a period, you place a comma.
Be still, and know: love is in our midst.
The world is not finished, and neither is love.
God is still speaking. Amen.



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09/10/2026

Wither
Quinn G. Caldwell

And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.” - Matthew 21:19b-21 (NRSV)



It’s hard to believe how much power we’ve been given.



We can move mountains if we want to, Jesus says. That’s what many of us focus on; moving mountains has become proverbial, after all.



Because remember, please, that he has just withered a tree with his words, and has promised that we can do the same. Some of us don’t need Jesus’s reminder. Some of us—most of us, maybe?—already know that words can wither you fast. We finger the shriveled places inside and know exactly who said the thing about our bodies, or our identities, or our selves, that withered us right the way down to the roots. Some of us feel like we’ll never be green and growing again.



So here are some words that have all my mountain-moving faith behind them:



You are fruitful—and you are worthy whether you bear fruit or not.



You are juicy and delightful—and even if you weren’t, you’d still be precious.



You have the life-force of the universe inside you—even if it’s all stored underground in the roots, for now.



Moving mountains is fine, I guess. But maybe a better use of all this power is to do what we can to make the sap rise and the branches unfurl in somebody’s withered heart.



Prayer
Let me never again wither someone with a word. Amen.

Celebrate with us Sundays at 10:00 am in person, Zoom or Livestream. iucfc.org
Weekly Communion

Rev. Michael Cronin, Pastor



Image: Dead tree at Rush Creek Open Space Preserve, Novato, California
Frank Schulenburg
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

09/10/2026

https://conta.cc/4d5dExa
Join us on Sunday, September 13 for combined in-person and Zoom worship

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