"Gone fishing" is the sign on the door of many an angler this time of year. The long days, the warm breezes, and the hope of a good catch lure expert fishers and weekend casters, alike. And the stories that come home can be real whoppers! The high adventure intensifies with every telling and the fish get longer with every measure of outstretched arms. The fishing is fun, the stories are engaging, and the remembering is almost as good as the doing. The Bible gives us a whopper of a fish story, too. Only in this tale, the fish does the catching. God gives Jonah a specific assignment. But not wanting to obey God's instruction, Jonah heads the opposite direction... on a boat... and out to sea. Everything goes terribly wrong, and Jonah finds himself in the belly of a great fish. Thinking he was walking away from a difficult task to live on easy street, Jonah finds himself in deep water. Thinking he could flee from God, Jonah finds that God is with him even in the belly of the fish. There's no place we can go where God's mercy can't reach us, even in the middle of the storm. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Q-_lTOlVo

Sometimes we get to glimpse the idea that life is amazing and wonderful, and we are excited by the great adventure that awaits us each day. More often, however, we approach our days as the routine experiences they turn out to be. But could those routine days be so because we expect little else? And what about our lives of faith... Are most of our faith encounters 'routine' because we expect them to be so? What if we showed up to worship or dinner church or any faith gathering expecting a moving, awesome, larger-than-life encounter with the great God of all time and space? Might our experience be much more so? Our expectations matter, so let's expect more when we gather as God's people! Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWjPldXHJoU

Every club, organization, and company has its official documents that guide its activities and operations. From charters to bylaws to mission statements to manifestos, every entity finds its direction in its core documents. The church is no different. For Christians, our book is the Bible. The 66 books that make up the Protestant Christian Bible contain code of law, poetry, wisdom literature, parables, narrative, letters and more. There is so much in the Bible that it can be overwhelming to attempt to read it, much less understand it! Got questions about the Bible? Great! Let's take a closer look at the what the Bible is and how it still speaks to us today. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZilRHPq7BY

Mother's Day in the Midwest is generally assumed to be a 'safe' time to put tender starts and flowering plants into the ground. Rarely will we experience a freeze after this date to threaten the young garden seedlings. But we know that planting is only the start of the bountiful harvest or beautiful bouquet to come later in the year. In faith, gardeners plant, water, and nurture toward a hoped-for outcome. In that same kind of faith, we plant seeds of love into those around us, water those seeds with kindness, and nurture with grace until God produces a bounty of hope and promise. On this Mother's Day, thank you to all who tend the spirits and lives of others with care, and mercy, and faithfulness. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WEEou5PeCM

By one count, there are more than 45,000 Christian denominations around the world today. That number represents a mind-boggling amount of diversity in theology, religious thought, and faith practice. It's no wonder that those in the church - and especially those who are not - have questions about these things! What does my tradition believe about this or that? Why does my relative/friend/co-worker understand such-and-such so differently than I do? And why are there so many ways to think about religion, faith, and the Bible... isn't there one God, one Jesus, and one Bible? I'm so glad you asked! This week as we explore questions of faith, Pastor Elizabeth responds to the question, "So what's the deal with heaven and hell?" Together we'll begin to explore what the Bible says, and what the United Methodist tradition says, about these things. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx6EIcaOOLU

It has been a great pleasure to unite in musical collaboration and love with the choir at All Souls Unitarian Church under the musical leadership of UCI's Minister of Music, Andy Riggs, and All Souls' Director of Music, Gabe Perbieri. Thanks to all who worked to make the music beautiful and meaningful -- and to all who made the trips to UCI and All Souls to meet new friends and support our respective choirs. May the sacred web that unites us with all people and all creation, ignite magnitudes of hope in a hurting world! Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOAtghpaAJo

Students know the power of a pop quiz to both terrify and challenge them. Even the possibility of such a test keeps a student in the books and challenges them to internalize new information and insights. Questions from teachers - and others - invite us to dig deep and pull out bits of information to apply in this current moment. Deep in the Jewish tradition (and thus Jesus' religious tradition) is the power of questions to drive spiritual growth and deepen one's understanding of the Divine. Jesus asks lots of questions in the stories we find in the Bible. But he never asks them because he needs to know the answer. Jesus used questions to draw his listeners into deeper thought, more significant reflection, a new way of seeing things, and meaningful action. Got questions? Jesus sure did! Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IxWcLezuRc

To encourage learning, dialogue, and new discoveries, many of us were taught that "there is no such thing as a dumb question." Though, few children need to be taught to ask questions. They are naturally curious and full of wonderment. But somewhere along the line many of us become uncomfortable with not knowing and go to great lengths to appear as though we know everything. By one source, in the biblical Gospels, Jesus is asked 187 questions. He answers (maybe) 8 of them. He himself asks 307. Maybe faith isn’t about certainty, but learning to ask—and sit in the complexity of—good questions. Got questions? Great! Jesus loves a good question (and doesn't think any of them are dumb!) Union Chapel Indy 2720 E. 86th Street Indianapolis, IN 46240 unionchapelindy.org #unionchapelindy #questions #questioning Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgNFnCj_Rn4

In today’s job market, you can compete with people from all over the country for just one opening. So there’s a lot of pressure to prove you’re the best candidate. You can spend hours optimizing your resume and preparing for interviews. When we go through all this work and don’t get picked, it’s easy to feel not good enough. Thankfully, Jesus doesn’t ask us to meet a list of requirements before he’ll start loving us. We are already qualified. And as we walk with Jesus, he helps us grow in love, wrestle with our faith, and spread God’s message of love and grace. Today, let’s see what Jesus has to teach us about love, faith, and belief. Our Preaching Pastor this weekend is Bree Dunscombe, a member of Plainfield United Methodist Church, where she attends worship with her husband, Luke, and three children. Originally from Chicago, Bree came to Indiana to attend Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer and ended up in Indianapolis a few years after graduation. She works full-time in communications and enjoys serving PUMC as a liturgist, prayer leader, council member, and lay preacher. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6omu51AJe8

The best surprises catch us off-guard and wow us with their sudden joy. Like a group of much-loved friends and family jumping up from behind the furniture to wish us a 'Happy Birthday!", the best surprises delight us deep in our spirits as it dawns us that we are loved, all is well, and happiness is present. The Easter celebration is really about being surprised and awed by God's mighty power and amazing deeds. We might forget this as we busy ourselves with family meals, egg hunts, and new clothes. But this year, let us remember what a glorious surprise it is to find the tomb empty, Jesus alive, and new life bursting out all around us! Jesus is risen! He is risen, indeed! Happy Easter! Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnwO0V5b030