Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast

Rev. Eric Ogi
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Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast

Hear weekly Sunday messages from Pastor Eric as he reflects on scripture and our world to cast a vision for—and invite us to live—a more just, generous, and authentic version of our faith.

  1. -3 J

    Hope Is Worth The Risk (Advent Reminders for New Seasons)

    In this Advent message, Pastor Eric explores how the story of Mary and Joseph speaks to this week's reminder: "Hope is worth the risk." While it may seem obvious--we all know we want and need hope--actually moving forward in hope amidst the endings and new beginnings woven throughout our lives can be immensely difficult. When we've been worn down by suffering, disappointment, loss, rejection, or broken trust, it can become easy to be cynical. It's easy to build walls around our heart and try to protect ourselves--to tell ourselves: no more making ourselves vulnerable; it's not safe! But if we're honest, we know this is an act of hopelessness because, in time, it makes us a shell of who we once were, and who God created us to be. Hope, then, is not merely a feeling; it is a discipline--a commitment to keep moving toward life and the things that nurture life even in the face of life's many challenges, even with all the risks that it carries. Hope is worth the risk. Listen in for how the story of Mary and Joseph can inspire and en-courage you on your own journey of hope.

    20 min

  2. 16 DÉC.

    Do The Good That Is YOURS To Do (Advent Reminders for New Seasons)

    In this Advent message, Pastor Eric continues exploring the reminders we need to hear again and again throughout life, especially as we navigate new seasons. This time, amidst the various endings in our lives and world, when it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the world's disasters, uncertainty, and grief we are reminded that we are neither called to be heroes who do it all, who hold everything together, nor to succumb to despairing, wondering: "what can I possibly do to make a difference?" Instead, Jesus calls us to ask: "what IS mine to do?" You are simply called to do the good that is yours to do; to do small acts with great love--where you are and with what you've got; to use your gifts and passions and creativity in service of others in small, easy to overlook kinds of ways. Indeed, THIS is how the world is changed--many hands working together, each playing their own part, each part indispensable, and none too small to matter. So: what is YOURS to do in this season?

    18 min

  3. 11 DÉC.

    You Cannot Go Alone (Advent Reminders for New Seasons)

    In this message, Pastor Eric continues our Advent series exploring "reminders for new seasons;" those truths we need to hear again and again throughout life as we navigate endings in order to move toward new beginnings. Drawing in the powerful story of Ruth and Naomi and the Book of Ruth, this message explores the reminder that "You cannot go it alone." It's a message that we can all pretty readily accept; and yet, most of us resist it--especially when life is difficult; we tend to pull away from others precisely when we most need to draw near; when we most need support. In your own season of life, amidst whatever might be ending and just beginning to emerge, what is this reminder that you cannot go it alone calling you to move toward? Where are you being invited to risk, to vulnerability and courage in order to belong in community and in relationships that are vital to your well-being? This Advent, may grace hold you as you lean into this simple yet ever-difficult invitation.

    21 min

  4. 2 DÉC.

    YOU are a Blessing (Advent Reminders for New Seasons:)

    Advent, like Lent, is a season that is meant to prepare our hearts to hear and receive the good news of God's incarnate love anew. Advent marks a beginning, a new year, in the "church calendar." As we begin our journey toward the manger, we also consider the beginnings--and endings--in our own lives. As we do, we open ourselves to hearing ancient promises anew, beginning with "YOU are a blessing." Could letting this simple reminder--so easy to offer a little child and yet so easy to dismiss as an adult--wash over us amidst our beginnings and endings hold transforming power for us? This Advent, may you know this blessing deep in your soul--right where you think your blessedness ends.

    21 min

  5. 28 NOV.

    The Transforming Power of Giving Thanks

    In this message, Pastor Eric shares a few stories from his own life and faith journeys to help us reflect on small things in life that are actually the big things; the easy-to-overlook moments that are actually the moments that matter the most. The great Medieval German theologian, Meister Echkart, said: "If the only prayer you say in your life is 'thank you,' it would be enough." What if we learned to pay attention to these small things, to pause for a moment and say "thank you" when notice them? What if we sincerely practiced expressing gratitude to one another instead of keeping it to ourselves--or waiting until a funeral to say what someone means to us? How might this small thing be a big thing; how might this simple practice transform us in big ways? Will we let ourselves find out?

    22 min

  6. 11 NOV.

    YOU are called to Be A Minister of Hope

    In this message, Pastor Eric concludes our Stewardship series on being a Community of Hope. It also being the first Sunday after the 2024 election, he reflects on how Jesus himself lived in a difficult, chaotic, and uncertain social-political time. In the midst of that, he built a community of disciples--students--who were themselves being formed by the gospel of peace and compassion and justice, and then he sent them out to proclaim and embody that message with others. In doing so, he offers a model for us as we seek to be a community of hope in our own turbulent times.  Like them, we might wonder: How will we make it through? What do we do now? What does this moment ask of us? Like them, we recommit ourselves to the healing and liberating work that has always been ours to do. And we do it together, knowing that none of us can do it alone.

    23 min

  7. 6 NOV.

    A Community of Hope--for Who?

    In this All Saints Day stewardship message, Pastor Eric reflects on remembering our ancestors as a way of looking toward a future with hope. In doing so, he invites us to think of ourselves as "ancestors in the making" and reconsider what it is that God is calling us to be stewards of.  Rather than merely passing on possessions, what does it mean to steward "a community of hope" in a world of violence, fear-mongering, isolation, and hopelessness?  What will future generations say when they look back at us, on this moment in history, and consider how we responded? After all, hope is not merely wishful thinking; hope is a choice; hope is an action; hope is choosing to act in alignment with our deepest values, with who God calls us to be, even when the world feels like it is ending.

    19 min

  8. 21 OCT.

    The Church as a Field Hospital

    In this Stewardship message, Pastor Eric invites us to reflect on one of Jesus' most famous parables--often dubbed the "Parable of the Prodigal Son"--and ask ourselves how God has sought us out, lavished love on us, and invited us into a future where there was hope--just when we were at our lowest and most despairing? How has this church been a space and community that has loved you back to life, offered you hope during a difficult season? Drawn forward by these experiences, how might God be calling us to more boldly embody God's prodigal--God's wastefully extravagant--love? In a world where so many of us carry around wounds--visible and invisible--how might we be like a "field hospital" for the spirit? And how might doing this as a community create "a future with hope"?

    21 min
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Hear weekly Sunday messages from Pastor Eric as he reflects on scripture and our world to cast a vision for—and invite us to live—a more just, generous, and authentic version of our faith.

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