Join us as each week as we explore and practice what it means to express God's love for the world. First Presbyterian is an inclusive congregation located in the heart of Marin County, California. We are a church that feels called to love one another, express gratitude, ease suffering, and work for justice.
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On All Saints’ Sunday, we remember how we have seen God at work in the lives of the saints. This Scripture reminds us that what God is doing in the world is so much bigger even than what eye can see and ear can hear.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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They Persisted - Mark 10:46-52 (Rev. Beverly Brewster, preaching; 23rd Sunday After Pentecost)
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Por Rev. Beverly Brewster
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You Do Not Know What You Are Asking - Mark 10:35-45 (Rev. Eric Beene, preaching; 22nd Sunday After Pentecost)
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Por Rev. Eric Beene
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Over the course of the Scriptures through the Hebrew Scriptures, and really on into the New Testament, again and again, a tenacious people make meaning out of the recurring rubble of their world. Standing in the reality of that rubble, the people lament even as they glimpse a path toward healing, weeping, and shouting, and singing “God is good. God…
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At the Welcome Table, Jesus invites one and all, the deep need of the world becomes clear, and Jesus says to us, “You give them something to eat.”Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Finding Our Way Home Together -- Mark 6:6-13 (Homecoming Sunday; 17th Sunday After Pentecost)
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Jesus gathers us in and sends us out, insisting that we create home for each other along the way. Home is both a place of shelter, steady and sure – and a vital and living place of encounter – moving out into the world – meeting and greeting the world – in ever-expanding circles of hospitality, welcome, and healing.…
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In worship, we welcomed to the pulpit Elder Susan Krehbiel from the Migrant Accompaniment Ministries of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Looking to the experiences of migrants and those who accompany and support, Krehbiel invited us to consider what we have to learn from heart-opening encounters with each other.…
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A sower went out to sow: In the work we do, the life of Christ comes alive in us.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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In these courtroom scenes in Scripture, we have seen a lot of real life, and we’ve seen God right there in the midst of it all – with truth, wisdom, justice, compassion, mercy, and grace. In this Scripture, Jesus invites us to wade into real life and engage the worthy work of reconciliation.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Extending mercy to the brothers who have done him wrong, Joseph recalibrates entirely our understanding of what it is that we deserve, grounding us in our shared humanity. In God’s mercy, God gives humanity what humanity deserves: Love. Life. Dignity. Food. Water. Access to healthcare. The freedom to live without constant fear of violence. All the …
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Por Rev. Scott Quinn, Marin Interfaith Council (MIC)
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We come to the Book of Job – with Job’s big questions – and ours – and we don’t find a neat and tidy answer. We come to the Book of Job – and what we find is a groan and a shout – as ancient as this story, and as fresh and alive as the dawn of this very day. In our suffering, God speaks with us out of the whirlwind, and we live, and we somehow find…
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In the reality of climate unraveling, God speaks truth to us, calls us to change, and invites us to become part of the operative healing reality moving forward.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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God’s wisdom calls us to see each other whole, in the fullness of life, and find together the ways of living that lead to more life.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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We are beginning a sermon series exploring courtroom scenes in Scripture -- scenes that bring real life in focus as we seek some glimpse of the truth. In Jesus' trial before Pontius Pilate, Pilate asks the question, "What is truth?" What we find: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. We are sent now to testify to that truth, that Word embodied…
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God is sovereign by sharing God’s own freedom with us, urging us to live out the self-giving love of Christ.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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In Christ, we are citizens of a new humanity, where all of us belong and participate in the fullness of life. Citizenship is about belonging – that deepest of human needs. And citizenship is about the quality of participation that we put back into the community into which we all have been welcomed.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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In a world that would tear them apart, Jonathan and David choose a better way. Friendship is a chosen relationship with another person in which we come to agree to see and be seen by the other; to act for the other’s good; to be present with each other in challenge and struggle; and to be a loving place to which we can always return. In a world tha…
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Juneteenth calls us to remember and celebrate freedom and liberation, but also insists that we remember slavery and its continuing impact on our world today. God creates us all equally human, and insists that we work for the freedom and equality of all.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Presence & Peace -- Matthew 28:16-20; Philippians 4:4-7 (2nd Sunday After Pentecost; Rev. Bev Brewster, preaching)
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Por Rev. Beverly Brewster, Preaching
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“It Will Not Be Over Until We Talk” --- Luke 7:1-10 (Trinity Sunday; Nick Morris, preaching)
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Por Nick Morris, Preaching
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Pentecost is a tale of wind and flame that becomes flesh and bone before our very eyes and ears – one that we can touch and taste and experience in our very bodies. While the day of Pentecost begins in the loneliness of loss and separation, in its mighty wind and crown of flame, we see connection – God and us – us and us. No separation – a leveling…
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The Way of Resurrection is “enfleshed freedom” – an end to every separation and the freedom of every body. By the power of the Spirit, the Way of Resurrection moves us ever and always into more healing, more freedom, more life.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Radiating out with God’s expansive embrace, the Way of Resurrection unfolds in the complexity of human relationship – in the complexity of community.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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In the Way of Resurrection, the Spirit radiates out in ever-expanding circles of embrace. In the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch, we see that God welcomes everyone all the way in.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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The "Way of Resurrection" is embodied in us. In the Body of the Risen Christ, "Stretch out your hand to heal and bring to life signs and wonders in the name of Jesus."Por First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo
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We are witnesses to the Resurrection in what we have seen and heard, and in the lives we live.Por Rev. Eric Beene
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The Good News of Easter Morning is a Word of life, love, and abounding grace.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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As the Hosannas! of Palm Sunday fade, and as the NOs of Holy Week begin to build, Jesus continues to say YES.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Jesus is the Christ we follow into the suffering of the world, who raises us up into life.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Out of our fear, Jesus calls us to take courage, trust, and walk out into the storm – like Jesus, with Jesus – to sink and rise up again.Por First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo
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Teach Us How to Find Forgiveness -- Matthew 18:15-22 (Rev. Marissa Danney, preaching; Second Sunday in Lent)
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Forgiveness can come to life in many forms. Jesus encourages us that we can find (and extend) forgiveness in more ways than we think.Por Rev. Marissa Danney, preaching
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Jesus seeks out and calls Peter (and us) into relationship - into community that embodies good news for the poor, healing for every hurt, and freedom from every oppression.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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In experiences that are beyond us, God is always bigger, always stronger, always moving the world toward justice, healing, and peace.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Embodying good news, Jesus heals, and takes on the powers, and takes a breath, and keeps on moving.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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God is always calling us, always inviting us to pay attention, listen, and live.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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What glad news of justice do you bring to the world?Por Rev. Dvera Hadden
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On the wilderness road to freedom, God supports and sustains the weary. God encourages us to join the hard work of freedom with humility and mutuality, in ways that also help create some rest for the weary.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Jesus interrupts a world already in progress, and turns power on its head.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Simeon and Anna hold the Christ child and proclaim: This is God’s saving help come yet again, once for all – light and liberation for all people.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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With folks all around the world, today is the day we tell the story: In the birth of the Christ, the fresh presence of God comes to life in the fullness of humanity.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Joy is “the fresh presence of God... the fresh action of God,” rising up from the steady and sure saving action of God across all time. Joy is God’s forever longing for human flourishing. In this sermon, we consider “joy because” of the goodness we experience in life, “joy notwithstanding” the challenges and sorrow of life, and “joy against” everyt…
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In a hurting world, Jesus invites us to keep watch for the Advent of God in every moment, as together we make the long journey toward joy.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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Listen in as Rev. Dr. Janie Spahr preaches at First Pres San Anselmo.Por Rev. Dr. Jane Spahr
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A Place of Thanksgiving -- Psalm 78:1-8, Philippians 1:2-11 (Thanksgiving Sunday; 24th Sunday After Pentecost)
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Our experience of grace and gratitude is not in any way bound or determined or limited by circumstance. In Jesus Christ, God’s grace reaches us and embraces us even in the mire and the muck.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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God’s New Creation comes to life, not just in the words we say and sing on Sunday, but in the life we live on Tuesday.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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God embodies God’s love for the world in the communion of the saints, all of us embraced, drawn together in one Body. All Saints Day gives us a moment to look back in gratitude, forward in hope, and present in the intention to live so that everyone can be free.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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There is a place for you here if you come with questions- about Scripture, about community, about how to live well in the world. There is a place for you here to learn and grow through questions.Por Rev. Dvera Hadden
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"In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Whoever you are, wherever you are, in the Body of Christ, there is a place for you... here.Por Rev. Scott Clark
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In Christ, creation groans in suffering and in hope. In the body of Christ, climate collapse invites us into a practice of reverence, relinquishment, reconciliation, restoration, resilience, and resistance. The sermon included a presentation of Peter Anderson's photos from Standing Rock, which you can see and hear on the worship video (available on…
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