North congregational church UCC

08/27/2026

Prayers going up....😓🤲🕯️

08/26/2026

08/24/2026

Let's give thanks for today! 🤲🌄

08/24/2026

Prayer is not simply asking God to give us what we want and hoping that our requests will be granted. When prayer becomes a transaction, “I ask, and God provides”, we can lose sight of the relationship prayer is meant to nurture.
Prayer is more like communication within a loving relationship. Its purpose is not to change God, but to open ourselves to God and allow our hearts and attitudes to be changed. Rather than asking only for what we want, perhaps we should ask how we can do better, love better, forgive more freely, and become more compassionate toward others.
Prayer can still include our needs, fears, hopes, and desires. But instead of treating God as someone we must persuade to act on our behalf, prayer invites us to bring ourselves honestly into the presence of Love.

08/03/2026

This prayer, written by Fr. Esther Bouquerel but long associated with the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, beautifully captures the heart of the Gospel. It echoes Jesus' call to be peacemakers, to love our neighbors, to forgive as we have been forgiven, and to bring hope where the world breeds despair. These are not simply admirable virtues; they are the way, the truth, and the life that Jesus revealed. As we learn to love more deeply, to seek understanding before being understood, and to give ourselves for the good of others, we begin to experience even now the eternal life that is born wherever divine love takes root.

07/28/2026

Today's word! 👐📖

07/27/2026

🙏🏾 A Christian Tibetan Prayer for Peace:

May all beings be safe, fed, & free from harm.
May all immigrants and refugees find shelter & care.
May all LGBTQIA+ individuals be loved & embraced.
May all wars end, all weapons be silenced, & the cries of the oppressed be heard.
May justice roll, mercy flow, & love shine in every corner.
May I be a vessel of God’s radical love, serving the silenced, the oppressed, & the forgotten.
May justice roll like waters, mercy flow like a river & love shine in every corner of the world. Amen.

-Reed Kirkman
McKinney, TX

👉🏾 Share your prayers with us: https://ow.ly/M39p50ZsYGP

07/24/2026

Jesus gave us the key by which every law, every prophecy, and every interpretation is to be measured. There are no exceptions, no traditions that stand above it, and no beliefs that can justify setting it aside. To love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves is the fulfilment of everything God desires.
This love is not limited by religion, nationality, race, or any human boundary. It embraces the Creator through loving all that the Creator has made. Whoever lives this way shares in the family of Christ, for Jesus said that those who do the will of God are his brothers, sisters, and mother. We become one family, united not by doctrine alone but by the living reality of divine love.
Whenever an interpretation of Scripture produces hatred, exclusion, or cruelty, it has departed from the very purpose for which Scripture was given. Only love reflects the fullness of God's nature. Everything else, however sincere it may seem, falls short of the completeness of the Creator, whose very essence and source is divine love.

07/21/2026

💫 Christ’s Posture

It’s striking how often we forget that Jesus didn’t come to reinforce the religious systems built in His name — He came to free us from the parts of religion that no longer lead us toward God or neighbor.

Richard Rohr puts it plainly: “Jesus tried to change people by loving & healing them. His harshest words of judgment were reserved for those who perpetuated systems of inequality & oppression & who, through religion itself, thought they were sinless & untouchable.” Rohr isn’t attacking faith; he’s reminding us that Jesus’ fiercest love was aimed at whatever kept people small or unseen — even when that “whatever” was religion itself.

Matthew gives us one of the clearest pictures of this. Jesus tells the religious leaders they’ve “neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness” – Matthew 23:23–24 (NIV). You can almost hear the ache in His voice. They knew the rules but forgot the Love behind them.

And then Luke shows us the other side of His ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me… to proclaim good news to the poor… to set the oppressed free” – Luke 4:18–19. No confrontation here — just an open door and a promise of liberation.

These two moments aren’t in tension at all. They’re simply two expressions of the same Love — one heals, one confronts, and both liberate.

Jesus’ love transforms because it never coerces. It meets people where they are and calls forth the truth of who they already are in God. Coercive religion does the opposite — dividing insiders from outsiders, pure from impure, righteous from unrighteous.

And when Christians slip into coercive religion, we start to resemble the accusers more than the Christ. But when we embody His posture — healing where people hurt, confronting where systems harm — we participate in the same Love that turned fishermen into apostles and outcasts into prophets.

🤟 Royce