What We’ve Raised so Far (Disciplined: week 3)

When Sean decided to preach on sacrifice, I knew it would likely bring up a lot of feelings for people. It’s a charged word – and a complicated topic.

Except, I also kept thinking that it should be a really comfortable topic for our community. Because actually, we are good at sacrifice. 

Not sacrifice like, human sacrifice in the Temple of Doom, of course. But still, sacrifice where we give up a part of ourselves because we know it will serve a greater love. Sacrifice that breaks our heart wide open. Sacrifice is a necessary part of courageous love.

For example. In February 2017, our congregation decided to move to three services on Sunday.

We all thought this was generally an awful idea – it would require so many volunteers, an exhausting experience for the worship leaders, and the time for fellowship would be reduced to basically nothing.

And yet, given that we were seeing over 350 adults on Sundays, and our worship space holds 320 at a maximum, we knew that if we were going to welcome all those who seek our community, we needed to do it anyway.

It would be a sacrifice – a collective one. And we said yes – because it was and is who we are.

I’ve been thinking about sacrifice a lot over the last few weeks, as we’ve been laying the groundwork for our official launch of our capital campaign.

In order to decide on the right goal for our campaign, we’ve reached out to a small group of leaders to see if they were willing to make a commitment that could be an inspiration for others, and wow.

I have been overwhelmed to hear about the willingness that exists among us to give in ways that will be much harder than having coffee on the patio in winter. A willingness to give in ways that will create so many possibilities for Unitarian Universalism in Northern Colorado for many, many years to come.

How much have your fellow Foothills members and friends committed to so far? You’ll have to come on Sunday to find out! We’ll be kicking off the Campaign this Sunday – so we’ll share the goal – along with a whole bunch of other fun stuff during and between the services.

One of the things we’ll be exploring this Sunday is how what we focus on grows. If you want to grow your sense of human generosity and possibility – join us this Sunday! I’m excited and I so hope you can be there! 8:30, 10, or 11:30.

In partnership,
Rev. Gretchen

Notes from Disciplined: Week 3: Who Me? Sacrifice?  
Listen to the message

Music
Divisionary (Do the Right Thing) by Ages and Ages
At 10 we sang All that I Am
At 11:30 we sang Ever from Heatherlynn

Practices 
Share in a collective practice using our Disciplined Practice Guide. 
In our 11:30, we experienced our Prayer Bead practice together, which you can find on page 3 of the Guide or in this audio recording. 
Text COMMIT to 970-00 to be a part of our tips and reminders throughout the series

Text
We offered this poem from Mary Oliver as our Call to Worship
We adapted this prayer for Veteran’s Day from Amy Petrie Shaw at 8:30

Resources
Check out the message from Rev. Karen Hutt that includes a summary of the story, “Space Invaders,” that Sean told on Sunday.

Remember Often when we talk about sacrifice, we are asking those who are already marginalized or disempowered to give up even more to maintain the status quo. Yet, courageous love asks us to consider what we are willing to give for a collective liberation and wider justice.What is courageous love asking you to sacrifice on behalf of a greater good?

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