What Comes After

Sheerah is a builder of cities. Her brief story is tucked away as a remnant within a book of remnants, but it’s an important one for helping some people see […]

Guest speaker Crystal Harding leads the Ypsilanti Youth Choir in a couple songs and then shares about her experience of speaking truth to power. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church […]

Guest Speaker Christian Axelgard shares a bit of his own story and why he connects with the story of Jonah. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church at a2blue.org. You can find […]

Ruth is a story all about deeds of loving-kindness. When we are tempted to judge others or use the Bible for harm, Ruth the “compassionate friend” teaches about the greatest […]

Pastor Emily shares a lighter sermon about why she loves Barnabas—and how his story shaped her spirituality and influenced how we do church here at Blue Ocean. Learn more about Blue […]

We draw inspiration from the story of the Exodus to talk about the importance of supporting reparations. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church at a2blue.org. You can find recordings of past […]

Churches have been part of the American myth-making machine since colonial settlers stepped foot on the continent. White theologians and pastors over the centuries created theologies justifying white supremacy. So it’s […]

We have a story in our tradition that I think can help us get at ways of talking about some ways a faith community can help diminish shame. Using the […]

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 […]