Sermons

UPCOMING SERMONS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2026 – “RITUALS FOR A NEW YEAR”

As this 2026 dawns, how do we summon all the resolve, intention and luck that we can? Join Rev. Leslie for an interactive service which includes ritual and reflection, restoration and recalibrating. This is a wonderful chance to remember what we CAN do even in the face of all beyond our power. AND we will have music from the UU Ukes!

SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2026 – “COURAGE, MY FRIEND.”

What does courage look like in 2026? What are the resources of our faith tradition when it comes to venturing into roiling waters? Join Rev. Leslie Takahashi and Rodney Lemery for a conversation about how to greet this new year with honor and in the frame of our UU values.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2026 – “DO YOU STILL HAVE A DREAM?”

More than six decades ago, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of a dream that he had. Nearer to his death, he spoke of the dynamics that would make that dream harder to realize. As we enter into this 2026 when our optimism towards the human enterprise has been challenged, how do we reenegage with meaning and purpose and from the values which also undergirded the wor of this great, martyred civil rights leaders? Join Rev. Leslie Takahashi and Linda Russell for this service.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2026 – “SEEDS OF OUR TRADITION”

Join us for a brief focusing service before our congregational meeting. Join the board and your worship team to recognize important milestones in the last year of our congregation. We will welcome, mourn, honor and SING!

PAST SERMONS

Videos of past sermons are available HERE

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2025 – “Keep It All The Year.”

Charles Dickens’ famous tale marks the transformation of its main character by his promise “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year long.” For those of us not quite ready to let the holidays go, what lessons might we carry with us through the coming year? 
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CHRISTMAS EVE, DECEMBER 24, 2025 AT 8PM – “The Star On The Far Horizon.”

A celebration of choir, carols and stories. As we gather this Christmas Eve, let us fill our hearts with anticipation. 
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FAMILY CHRISTMAS EVE – DECEMBER 24, 2025 AT 5PM – “The Camel’s Eye: A Do-It-Ourselves Pageant.”

Join us for this family-friendly service about questing for wisdom on an uncertain journey. Come and participate in this joyous celebration. Bring a snack to share and stay for a time of cheer! 
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2025 AT 6PM – “The Longest Night: A Winter Solstice Service.”

Join us for a very special Solstice service, rooted in the turning of the earth and also taking time to recognize the fate of our neighbors who will feel the weight of this night. 
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2025 – “The Light We Make and the Light We Find.”

Please join us as the longest night settles around us and the Hanukkah candles flicker against the dark. We hope you can make it for a service that will have you reflecting on a sacred tension: When do we kindle our own flames, and when do we trust the light will return on its own?…
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2025 – “Holiday Pageant.”

This year’s pageant invites you to the wedding of… Kris Kringle Jr. and Solstice Evergreen! Join us for a hilarious and heartwarming original production exploring love, interdependence, and climate justice—all woven into a playful, festive story told in true MDUUC fashion. With community performers of all ages, this is a joyful service you won’t want…
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2025 – “A Year to Remember.”

How do we say good-bye to a year such as 2025? How do we glean what can be taken from it? How do we leave what should be left in its fold? How do we carry forward seeds to plant anew in 2026? Join Rev. Leslie Takahashi who apparently has a lot of questions…. 
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2025 – “NOT YOUR MAMA’S COMMUNION.”

We affirm that each human life is sacred and also that we welcome people of many identities to our open table. Come and reflect with the ministers on these beliefs and enjoy an embodied practice of sharing the ancient ritual of communion with homemade bread and with cider. Have terrible memories of communion? This is…
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2025 – “THE COST OF PROPHETIC WITNESS.”

Prophetic voices throughout history have disrupted the status quo by breaking the comfortable silence in favor of uncomfortable truth telling. If we are to be a prophetic faith, we cannot do so without counting the cost. Join Intern Minister Aiden McMahon for this service.  
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2025 – “OPTIMISM. A BID4LOVE SERVICE.”

Come and see how we rise to the challenge put to Revs. Leslie and Rodney by Les and Sue Polgars, the 2024 winners of the Bid4Love sermon! As believers in the potential for goodness in each person, we do have a link to an optimistic view. The Polgars put forward the premise that optimism is…
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2025 – “RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND OTHER TOPICS TO AVOID AT THE DINNER TABLE.”

As with many of the freedoms we have come to take for granted, religious freedom has a central place in our tradition. As we approach this holiday time when we often engage with others who have different ideologies, this is a good time to affirm this basic principle and also to reflect on how we…
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2025 – “JOY IS THE SECRET OF RESISTANCE.”

Alice Walker says “resistance is the secret of joy” but the inverse is also true. Joy is the secret of resistance. In these tough times we often focus on resistance and forget to be joyful together. But Joy is essential! Our joy is what scares them, our joy is what we are fighting for. Please…
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