by Doug Hammack | Jan 17, 2016 | Hospitality vs. Out-Grouping, Message Audio
If hospitality is about tea cozies and finger sandwiches, it’d just be a matter of tidying up the house and having people over. But in the spiritual tradition, hospitality is a much more demanding proposition. It means “radical inclusion of the other, the...
by Doug Hammack | Jan 10, 2016 | Hospitality vs. Out-Grouping, Message Audio
“The Prince of Peace…” That’s one of the things our tradition calls Jesus. Which is certainly an apt description… Unless your religious posture was to out-group others… In which case, he had some rather choice words. Have a listen,...
by Doug Hammack | Jan 3, 2016 | Hospitality vs. Out-Grouping, Message Audio
The Twelve Days of Christmas doesn’t mean much any more. But back in the day, each of the days celebrated an important story — the last day, the story of the three magi. It is a story about God abolishing sectarianism. What? Yep. It’s a story about...
by Doug Hammack | Dec 27, 2015 | Message Audio, New Year
. Janus. The Roman god of transitions. https://media.blubrry.com/north_raleigh_community_church/s3.amazonaws.com/nrccaudio/2015/12-27-15_Sermon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window |...
by Doug Hammack | Dec 13, 2015 | Advent, Message Audio
https://media.blubrry.com/north_raleigh_community_church/s3.amazonaws.com/nrccaudio/2015/12-13-15_Sermon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window |...
by Robin Camu | Dec 6, 2015 | Advent, Guest Speaker, Message Audio
by Robin Camu https://media.blubrry.com/north_raleigh_community_church/s3.amazonaws.com/nrccaudio/2015/12-06-15_Sermon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window |...
by Doug Hammack | Nov 22, 2015 | Message Audio, Thanksgiving
https://media.blubrry.com/north_raleigh_community_church/s3.amazonaws.com/nrccaudio/2015/11-22-15_Sermon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window |...
by Doug Hammack | Nov 15, 2015 | Message Audio, Time
Today we conclude a long series of lessons on the prayers of detaching. And we conclude the last in this series of lessons – “the prayer of detaching from the power of time,” or . . . “the prayer of this next breath; this next step.” Have...
by Doug Hammack | Nov 8, 2015 | Message Audio, Time
We don’t use the word “sin” very often at NRCC because it has gotten kind of encrusted with toxic meanings over the centuries. However, it is an important spiritual concept. In this lesson we look at the double nature we tend to carry inside...
by Doug Hammack | Nov 1, 2015 | Community Meeting, Message Audio
A lot has happened to our community recently. Our minister (me) got the boot from the denomination we were part of. Our community voted to keep the minister (again, me), which meant our vote was to both leave the denomination, and since the denomination owns the...
by Doug Hammack | Oct 25, 2015 | Message Audio, Time
Last week, we saw how our brains have a built-in motivation system to get us up, out of bed, eating, drinking, procreating, and doing the things we need to further our lives and the species. The whole system is a real blessing. But it’s also a curse. It sucks us...
by Doug Hammack | Oct 18, 2015 | Message Audio, Time
There are some chemicals in our brains that create a motivation cycle which really helps us. These chemicals get us out of bed, and motivate us to eat, and work, and make babies — all the stuff we need to do to sustain life. What a relief! When something goes...
by Doug Hammack | Oct 11, 2015 | Message Audio, Prayer of Detachment
This lesson is about staying engaged in the present moment. It is about not borrowing regrets from the past — or anxiety from the future. But sometimes we don’t borrow regret or anxiety — we borrow relief, or respite. In our painful moments, it is...
by Robin Camu | Oct 4, 2015 | Enneagram, Guest Speaker, Message Audio
by Robin Camu We can still receive grace from God in a season of uncertainty and discomfort. (apologies about the low volume for the first 5:30 minutes of the recording) ...
by Doug Hammack | Sep 27, 2015 | Message Audio, Prayer of Detachment
Before you dismiss the idea of time not being the solid thing we all live in – you should hear what philosophers and physicists have to say. If time really is a persistent illusion in which we all live — what Jesus said about staying in the present moment...
by Doug Hammack | Sep 20, 2015 | Message Audio, Prayer of Detachment
“Staying present to the moment.” It’s a buzz-phrase in contemplative circles these days. But what does it mean? Does it mean we don’t plan our futures? Does it mean we don’t interpret our pasts? If so, we’re pretty much out of luck....
by Doug Hammack | Sep 13, 2015 | Message Audio, Prayer of Detachment
We took a break in August, from our lesson series on rethinking prayer (lots of change going on in our community). Today we return. In this lesson, we rehearse some context — why prayers of detachment are so valuable on the spiritual journey. We give this...
by Doug Hammack | Sep 6, 2015 | Message Audio, The Move
Last week we had a community vote to leave our denomination. It was a gutsy thing for the community to do, because in the denomination we were part, the local church doesn’t own the church building. We will be renting back the building for a while, but...
by Doug Hammack | Aug 9, 2015 | Individual Lesson, Message Audio
Jesus gave us a handful of really straightforward things to do… Love God. Love people. But as long as false identities define the “me” that I think I am, I’ll take off to follow those straightforward things — and screw them up badly. All...
by Robin Camu | Aug 2, 2015 | Enneagram, Guest Speaker, Message Audio
by Robin Camu https://media.blubrry.com/north_raleigh_community_church/s3.amazonaws.com/nrccaudio/2015/08-02-15_Sermon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window |...
