Making Correct Change: Cashiers and Christians
by Doug Hammack | Dec 18, 2016 | Advent, Message Audio
It’s our Christian mandate to change the world . . . and Lord knows it needs changing these days. But how do we do good – but do it better? How do we make change – that matters? Paul points us to some tools that help. Even in the quantum era, we...
A Shout Out to Sweet Baby Jesus
by Doug Hammack | Dec 11, 2016 | Advent, Message Audio
In this lesson we are reminded of the story of hope the Baby Jesus represents. When we are despairing, Baby Jesus reminds us the light is bigger than darkness, life is bigger than death, love wins over fear. And it is only from a position of hope that we garner the...
You Can’t Make the Journey to Oneness Alone
by Doug Hammack | Dec 4, 2016 | Advent, Message Audio
Our embattled world needs repair. Developing a oneness orientation will be key to unlocking our entrenchments and releasing us to deep transformation. In this lesson we continue discussing our community’s intention to be a heterogeneous church. We believe the...
Family Recipe for Tense Times – Stir in a Pinch of Gratitude
by Doug Hammack | Nov 27, 2016 | Advent, Message Audio
Advent 2016 – Week 1 During this season of Advent, we focus on waiting in the darkness (and especially so, in this present time of darkness) with hope. With gratitude being the fountainhead of hope, our tradition points us to intentionally stirring gratitude to...
11-20-16 (Post Election Firestorm)
by Doug Hammack | Nov 20, 2016 | Community Meeting, Message Audio
https://media.blubrry.com/north_raleigh_community_church/s3.amazonaws.com/nrccaudio/2016/11-20-16_Sermon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window |...
A Call to Care (Part 2) – Chris Graebe
by Doug Hammack | Nov 13, 2016 | Guest Speaker, Message Audio
by Chris Graebe This is the last lesson in the series that Doug started on Amos and what he had to say about social divisions and their impact. https://media.blubrry.com/north_raleigh_community_church/s3.amazonaws.com/nrccaudio/2016/11-13-16_Sermon.mp3Podcast:...
A Call to Care – Scott Shackleton
by Scott Shackleton | Nov 6, 2016 | Guest Speaker, Message Audio
By Scott Shackleton Today is Orphan Sunday. It is a time to reflect on those who really need our caring for them and it gives us a chance to expand our empathy. Have a listen. ...
A Tale of Two Brains… Or… This is your Brain. This is Your Brain on Affluence
by Doug Hammack | Oct 30, 2016 | Amos and Social Solidarity, Message Audio
We continue our discussion around talking across the divide. In today’s lesson we look at the effects both affluence and poverty have on our brains, and the corresponding ways those effects influence our spiritual journeys. Have a listen, Doug ...
There’s an Elephant in the Room. You’re Riding It.
by Doug Hammack | Oct 23, 2016 | Amos and Social Solidarity, Message Audio
In this lesson, we continue our discussion on civil discourse across the divide. I encourage us to be suspicious of our own righteousness. It’s a default response served up to us by our lower brains, which our upper brains dress up with nice justifications and...
Lefties Aren’t Right. Righties Have Work Left.
by Doug Hammack | Oct 16, 2016 | Amos and Social Solidarity, Message Audio
In this lesson we continue exploring how to listen across the political divide by examining the six moral foundations of humanity. Discover which three moral foundations the liberals value most highly and which four traditionally underlie conservative positions....
Amos, Partisan Politics, and Afflictive Emotions
by Doug Hammack | Oct 2, 2016 | Amos and Social Solidarity, Message Audio
https://media.blubrry.com/north_raleigh_community_church/s3.amazonaws.com/nrccaudio/2016/10-02-16_Sermon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window |...
From Hole Sexuality to Whole Sexuality (2)
by Doug Hammack | Sep 25, 2016 | Individual Lesson, Message Audio
Our sexual ground rules no longer serve us well. We developed them when we were agrarian and industrial societies. Now we live longer, we enter puberty earlier, and we marry later. Now, there is an average 15 year gap between sexual maturity and marriage. It is time...
From Hole Sexuality to Whole Sexuality (1)
by Doug Hammack | Sep 18, 2016 | Individual Lesson, Message Audio
All signs point to the fact that we are not handling our sexuality well. When we reduce sex to “the act” and miss its much broader context, we also reduce our experiences and relationships. Have a listen, Doug ...
Do the Right Thing! The Ancient Prophet Amos (part 2)
by Doug Hammack | Sep 4, 2016 | Amos and Social Solidarity, Message Audio
As we saw last week, we can sum up the message of the ancient prophets pretty simply. “Do the right thing . . . or suffer the consequences.” That idea riled up some folks in our community this last week. It poked some old church hurts — preachers...
Do the Right Thing! The Ancient Prophet Amos (part 1)
by Doug Hammack | Aug 28, 2016 | Amos and Social Solidarity, Message Audio
We can sum up the message of the ancient prophets pretty simply. “Do the right thing . . . or suffer the consequences.” To many religious folk, that sounds like a threat from God. In a recent TED talk, we realize, it’s a pretty accurate description...
Recapping Our Summer of Listening
by Doug Hammack | Aug 21, 2016 | A Summer of Listening, Message Audio
It’s been our focus this summer — the spiritual practice of listening. As the summer comes to an end, we revisit the important themes of the summer lesson, and point ourselves forward. Have a listen, Doug ...
Toward A Better World: Doing Our Bit
by Doug Hammack | Aug 14, 2016 | A Summer of Listening, Message Audio
We’re nearing the end of our “summer of listening.” We began this summer with the premise that when people set aside time for spiritual listening, one thing they have heard through the ages is the call to repair the earth. And it is clear to anyone...
The Law of Three . . . And Hating Your Mom
by Doug Hammack | Aug 7, 2016 | A Summer of Listening, Message Audio
Jesus said it, not me! Hate your mother! Hate your father. But maybe that’s not the point. Maybe the point is being alert to the powerful pressure to conform — best exerted on us by our people — can keep us from discerning our ways forward. Yep. I...
The Law of Three . . . And the Jerk at Work
by Doug Hammack | Jul 31, 2016 | A Summer of Listening, Message Audio
You have jerks in your life. Sure you do. But have you noticed that we usually have two categories of jerk around us? There are jerks that are “our” jerks, and those who are not. The one is not any jerkier than the other, but we somehow “get”...