22Jul 2016 by Pastor

Advocating for peace on the opinion page

Reflections
Yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle published a brief letter from Louise Neal, "Remove Nuclear arms from Turkey." It won't be up on the Chronicle's website for long, so see the attached PDF. Louise wanted to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to to send their own letters, on this issue or another one. She reminds us that one thing Stephen McNeil said in his Shared Security talk was that Letters to the Editor is one of the most-read sections of the newspaper. Good job, Louise! RemoveArmsTurkey.pdf
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11Jul 2016 by Stephanie Strait

Message for July 10, 2016

Sermons
[audio mp3="http://www.berkeleyfriendschurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016-07-10-message.mp3"][/audio] Listen to the most recent message from our pastor Brian C. Young.  The scripture reading was Psalm 22: 1 - 2, 14 - 15. The reading at the end is the "Litany for Those Who Are Not Ready for Healing" mentioned in a previous post; note that Brian re-orders it slightly from the way it was originally written.
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10Jul 2016 by Pastor

A Litany for Those Who Aren’t Ready for Healing

Reflections
Once again this past week, the depth of our national sicknesses has been made clear. I have very few useful words at this juncture, but today I have been challenged by the words of a litany written by Rev. Dr. Yolanda Pierce of Princeton Theological Seminary. She originally drafted it in the wake of the killing of Michael Brown in 2014, but lamentably it remains almost entirely relevant today. Much more can be said, but for the time being, here is A Litany For Those Who Aren't Ready For Healing.
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26Apr 2016 by Pastor

At whose table would we not be caught dead?

Sermons
...this was a question I asked in the message this past Sunday. If you were there, you remember that we read Peter's summary in Acts 11 of the great vision he has of all of the animals of creation, clean and unclean, and God's voice bidding him to eat of all of them--and then, when Peter demurs, saying, “don't call unholy what I have made clean.” Of course, once Peter comes into contact with the Gentile centurion Cornelius and his household, Peter realizes that the vision is about people and not food, and the Spirit confirms this by descending upon Cornelius and his people just as it did upon the apostles at Pentecost. Once Peter returns to Jerusalem, some of the Judean apostles take him to task for visiting and…
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22Apr 2016 by Pastor

Weekly Stoking the Fire Devotionals

Reflections
The Stoking the Fire leadership team and planning committee have been writing devotions for use as we approach the retreat weekend. There should be a new one each Tues or Weds. Please take a look and pray along with those preparing for the event!
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30Mar 2016 by Pastor

Stoking the Fire Reflection: God’s Consuming Fire

Reflections
Friends United Meeting's 2016 Stoking the Fire conference is coming up! We are posting here a devotional Brian Young originally wrote in preparation for last year's gathering, and will post others in coming weeks. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29, NIV The image of God as a consuming fire may give us pause. What does it mean to be consumed by such fire? Is this the fire of judgment? Is it a fire that would mean our utter destruction? (more…)
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10May 2013 by Pastor

Thoughts from Dallas Willard

Reflections
Dear Friends: Some of you have already heard of the death this past Wednesday of this past Wednesday of influential Christian author and philosopher Dallas Willard, who left this mortal life at the age of 77, as a result of cancer. Dallas was personally known to many of the long-timers at BFC, through his having led at least one retreat for us in the mid-70s, and then later when he spoke at conferences that various of us attended. Dallas was an important leader in the Renovare Christian formation movement, which he helped to shape along with the movement's founder, Friend Richard Foster. Renovare has an appreciation of Dallas's life, with links to others, here. For those of us, like me, who never had the privilege of meeting him, there are…
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