Sermon delivered by Rev. Tamara Lebak, Assistant Minister, Oct. 28, 2007.

There is an intensive rehabilitation program that takes troubled teens away from their current environments and their families and throws them into the wilderness with other troubled teens and a group of counseling/survival staff, sometimes for months. Through learning survival skills, the teens learn about their own struggles and gain self-confidence. Before being released, each camper must be taken blindfolded into the woods and left alone to camp overnight. Each fends for his/her own food and fire, and must face their own fears, both internal and external. Alone with no distractions, they journal and think, sing and pray, and write letters to those whom they have harmed and to those who have harmed them.

Jesus also often went into the wilderness to pray. At one significant juncture, he was led into the wilderness alone and was tempted by Satan.  What could be more frightening than to have to prove who you are, when someone is doing his/her very best to prove otherwise? What could be more frightening then to doubt even our own intentions?

What you do with fear when it strikes you at your depths? How are you renewed and re-grounded? What can we learn from this program and the temptation of Jesus when we are facing our own fears? How do you nourish yourself so that you can stand tall in the face of fear to have the strength to (figuratively) say: Get thee away, Satan!

Sermon delivered by Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister, Oct. 21, 2007.

Sermon delivered by Rev. Michael Dowd, Guest Minister, Oct. 7, 2007.

Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow are in Tulsa to celebrate the release of their new book, Thank God For Evolution!

As we begin our month of “Creation,� Michael agreed to join Marlin in delivering the message this week.

Sermon delivered by Rev. Tamara Lebak, Assistant Minister, Sept. 30, 2007.

I have found myself in several situations over the past month recommending the film Crash to many of you. This film is about humanity’s attempts to make meaningful contact with each other and the world, sometimes even through desperate means. The film grapples with the intense human desire to move beyond the facades of everyday politeness in order to interact with that which really matters: our yearnings, our pain, our hopes, our desperation, and the core of another person. A character in the film says "We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."

Those of us who have been touched by substance abuse are familiar with this sort of interpersonal wreckage: when those we love cannot stop themselves from drinking or using drugs. I have yet to meet a person who has not been affected by substance abuse, whether directly or through a friendship or family member. Tragically, fear and misunderstanding – the stigma we are all so familiar with – keep people from seeking care, limit public support for expanded services, and make it difficult for individuals to rebuild their lives once they are well. I believe that addiction is a disease and that the human experience in modern culture perpetuates a desire to make real contact with others and only offers cheap substitutes for that meaningful contact: drinking, drugs, shopping, video games, television. The holes in our soul cannot be filled by the idols our culture offers to us. Join me this Sunday as I explore the stigma of substance abuse and our common need for contact.