Inbound Journey.Love of God
Testimony
I must say, I have not felt "at home" in a church in quite some time (6 years ago!), but I felt at home at Sunday's UVC service. I am very excited about UVC. Six ...
Inbound Journey.Love of God
WORSHIP
Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
- Exodus 8.1
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his[/her] presence with singing.
- Psalm 100.1-2
In worship, who God is and all God has done become a present reality for us. We direct our attention to God and the stories of God so we can affirm and experience once again God’s continual presence, love, and goodness in our lives. In this belief and hope, we are freed to bring all we are to God. Thus, worship entails our thanksgiving and praise, but also our petitions, confessions, and questions. Though this can happen privately, worship is generally a communal act because the table is meant for many; the conversation, the feast, just isn’t as rich and fun when others aren’t present.
SMALL GROUPS | EVENTS | VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
To learn about our Downtown – Sunday A.M. Worship, click here. For our Wicker Park – Sunday P.M. Worship, click here. Listen to sermons online here.
To learn about Baptisms @ Urban Village Church, contact Trey.
Volunteer to help with music. For Downtown – Sunday A.M. Worship, contact Sarah. For Wicker Park – Sunday P.M. Worship, contact Tim.
Volunteer to usher or serve communion at Sunday services. For our Downtown – Sunday A.M. Worship, sign up online here. For our Wicker Park – Sunday P.M. Worship, sign up online here.
Volunteer to read scripture or give your testimony at Sunday services. Contact Trey.
Volunteer to tear-down after our Downtown – Sunday A.M. Worship. Contact Jeff Jones. Volunteer to set-up before and tear-down after our Wicker Park – Sunday P.M. Worship here.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Through a spiritual discipline we prevent the world from filling our lives to such an extent that there is no place left to listen.
– Henri Nouwen, Making All Things New
Pray without ceasing
– 1 Thessalonians 5.17
Scripture assures us we cannot flee from the presence of God (Psalm 139.7-10); God is everywhere. We may believe this, but often either our lives are so full and hurried that we miss God or our learned assumptions about what prayer is or is not keep us from experiencing God. Prayer, in truth, is any number of spiritual practices or disciplines that open us to the presence and voice of God. Practices that clear out space to listen. It is about you connecting to God in ways that “work” for you and are enjoyable, so you can go beyond existing or subsisting to truly living. This is how we come to learn, in time, how to pray without ceasing.
SMALL GROUPS | EVENTS | VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Spiritual Practices Retreat
Living with Loss Retreat
HEALTHY LIVING
For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
- Psalm 139.13-14
It is God’s intention that we be able to claim our bodies as “fearfully and wonderfully made.” When we look in the mirror, God wants us to see Her handiwork, His grace and treat our bodies accordingly. Though for many of us this is difficult, God promises to be present in our struggle as much as peace. The joy of this stop is as we learn to more fully embody our bodies, we discover God: “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you” (1 Cor 6.19). Each breath, each smell and taste, each step or leap is an opportunity to hear the voice of God, draw closer to our Creator, and experience our bodies as the Spirit-fueled wonders they are.
SMALL GROUPS | EVENTS | VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Food, Faith, and Sustainability
Living with Loss Retreat
BIBLE STUDY
Did the Bible live in me today? Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?
– John Wesley, founder of Methodism, “Questions for Self-Examination”
The Bible is a beautiful, God-inspired, complex, and challenging book. Its message of grace and love begins in Genesis, is particularly incarnate in the gospels, and continues through Revelation. It is a story of peoples of faith; it is our story. Given, we are called to study it, breathe it in, and let it renew and inform our lives. In community and guided by the Spirit, the Bible is to be engaged and wrestled with until it becomes what God always intended it to be: the Good Book.
SMALL GROUPS | EVENTS | VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
More than a Moses Movie: Exploring the 10 Commandments
COMMUNITY
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
– Romans 15.7
As iron sharpens iron so one person sharpens another.
– Proverbs 27.17
We are created for community. God decided in the very beginning it was not good for humans to be alone (Gen 2.18). However, being in relationship with others is not always easy. The rest of the Bible pretty much attests to this fact. Despite community’s challenges, life is best lived together. Friends, family, colleagues, and strangers day after day act as the hands and feet and voice of God, pouring grace into our lives. To receive this grace in full requires we be in community with Christians and non-Christians, people who think (and look) like us and people who don’t, friends and strangers, people we can share deeply with about our faith and life journey and those we can’t. These are the people we’re called to accept and allow ourselves to be sharpened by “in order to bring praise to God.” The effects are transformation, reconciliation, joy, laughter, forgiveness, encouragement, celebration, or put simply, the many graces of community.
SMALL GROUPS | EVENTS | VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Faith Basics: A Group for Newcomers
The Minyan: a group for college students and young adults
Volunteer with Hospitality. Contact Melissa Brice for Downtown – Sunday A.M. Worship. Contact Gina Paluch or Kyle Fenwrick for Wicker Park – Sunday P.M. Worship.
Volunteer with Social. Contact Trey Hall.