What Comes After

We look at the psalms and how they’re meant to function in a way that shapes us, so that—when we’ve experienced trauma, suffering, grief, injustices—we can learn to articulate our pain […]

Scripture encourages us to love our neighbors, but what does that mean? Helping others and being kind creates connection, reduces loneliness, and increases happiness. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church […]

Rachel Murr, a licensed therapist, shares about resilience and creating communities that help us build it. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church at a2blue.org. You can find recordings of past services, […]

Emily and Caroline have a conversation about mental health and spiritual communities. They touch on the language we use when we speak of mental health symptoms, the overlap of spirituality […]

Faith communities can be healing communities. We start out a new sermon series by talking about the conditions we cultivate as a church to make the space emotionally safe and healthy […]

Using the story of the man who lived among the tombs in Mark 5, we talk about the perniciousness of shame and finding community healing. Learn more about Blue Ocean […]

New scholarship by Rev. Dr. Mitzi Smith suggests the possibility that both Mary and Jesus had a slave status. We use that lens to look at how Jesus may have […]

A claim of the resurrection is that we have a rabbi who is still with us, able to teach and guide us, and—as part of that leadership function—to mediate Scripture […]

On Easter, Christians insist that Death has been overcome because, if the Creator can get through to us that we don’t need to be afraid, then maybe we’ll be less […]

On Palm Sunday, Jesus rides into the heart of Jerusalem—not as a conquering hero, but as a champion of the poor and the oppressed. He signals his commitment to a […]

Jesus understood the incredible power differential between Rome and the his people; he knew the Jewish people would need to be creative in how they fought back against their oppressors. We […]

Jesus lived his whole life under Roman occupation, and the particular region where he grew up—in the Galilee, in the north—bore deep scars from the Roman presence. We talk about the […]

Today, we explore the Pharisees. We look to transform widespread contempt for this ancient group through greater understanding and affirmation. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church at a2blue.org. You can watch […]

We talk about the Maccabean Revolt and the context for some strands of Judaism that existed in Jesus’s day. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church at a2blue.org. You can watch recordings […]

We take a broad-stroke look at the history of the Jewish people (understanding broad strokes mask nuance and complexity); the creation of the Torah; and the early formation of Jewish identity as […]

NOTE: sound quality for this episode is poor due to failure of our sound system. The recorded audio has been processed to try to improve intelligibility, but some sections are […]

God is still experiencing new things in relationship to you and me and all creation. There is more to God than we yet know or can put to words. The […]

Metaphors help us to see reality in new ways, but for some, the metaphor for God as a Big Powerful Person doesn’t work very well. Today, we explore the metaphor […]

We look at the metaphor of God as consuming fire, learning that God’s fiery nature exists because God is in the business of transforming the unjust systems of the world. Learn […]

God being my heart’s rock suggests there’s a place inside of each of us where we can turn for help in times of trouble. A place where we can be fed, and […]