Ministry & Worship
sermons - audio & written

These sermons have been offered at our church by our minister, Reverend Tim Ashton, and guests who have been invited to address the congregation.

Each audio sermon is accessible for those using dsl.

January 10, "Worship!" Why Do We Use that Word?
Such a word in our times may bring to mind the image of “bowing and scraping, offering sacrifices to an idol, or the effort to cajole the gods to gain favor or exemption from bad fate or punishment. So what is it that we are doing on Sunday morning? Shouldn’t our religion be about good values and a well-lived life? – Rev Tim Ashton (audio)

January 17, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday
The great leader of the civil rights movement forced the transformation our society. Yet many puzzle how Thomas Jefferson could have kept slaves. At the same time there is nostalgia for a past that seemed so much more civilized and well ordered, yet a past so firmly founded on racial inequality.
Many of the era were clear that civility came at a necessary cost. Was that cost racial entitlement and knowing your place? – Rev Tim Ashton (audio)
**Betsy Reeds, flutist for the BPO and a member of our church, will play J.S. Bach's Flute Sonata in G Minor during our service.

January 24, Is Love More Than an Idea?
Chris Barry for his Fantasy Auction sermon requested a reflection on this idea: Some believe that love is a power, perhaps the power which holds the Universe together. Is love the concrete attraction of the elements of a molecule? And thus, is love another name for god? – Rev Tim Ashton (audio)

January 31, Conversation and the Art of Relationship
How can you tell you’re having a conversation? The exchange is filled with question and feeling. In conversation people gradually and gently enter into each other’s lives. A relationship grows; and, this is the “dangerous” part, we become gradually responsible for each other.
Conversation may be a defining element of a church community and humanness. – Rev Tim Ashton

December 6, 2009;  Kwanza
From a humanist’s perspective, Kwanzaa comes close to being the perfect holiday. Kwanzaa is the preeminent example of creating religion for ourselves. Kwanzaa celebrates the ethical center of community life.
As Emerson said of the nineteenth century, “Our age is retrospective. It writes biographies, histories, and criticism. The foregoing generations beheld God and nature fact to face; we through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should we grope among the dry bones of the past?” Looks like we have finally taken Emerson’s advice. – Rev. Tim Ashton (audio)

November 11, 2009, Religion in the Electronic Age
Accessibility to information: has it changed our relationship with religion? Has it changed religion it self or our expectations?  – Rev. Tim Ashton (audio)

October 18,  I Accept the Universe
Margaret Fuller was reported to have said these words. To which Thomas Carlyle retorted, “By God, She’d better!” My question is this: How do we make peace with the Universe? Atheist, agnostic, theist, existentialist, humanist. Such turns of fate befall us. How beautiful, inspiring, cold, detached, and crushing as it may be, each of us has to try to pick up the pieces and go on. Is that what religion is about? How do we “praise the mutilated world” in the words of poet Adam Zagajewski. What do we do when we are hurt and crushed? – Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon)

October 11, 2009 - War Does Not Work
Maybe the alternative to war isn’t pacifism, but there is increasing evidence that forcing others to do things never really solves problems. The situations in Afghanistan and Iraq form perfect examples. Torture is another case in point. With such notable interest in market economies, why is Big Brother supposed to be so helpful in political matters? – Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon)

May 31, 2009 - New Member Sunday
A special thanks to all the new members who have joined our congregation over the past year. And, a look at all the joy and responsibilities, that a committed connection can bring to those who engage with us.-  Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon)

April 19 - Al Parker, Seneca historian, speaks on the meaning of Earth Day and the native culture of our area. (audio sermon)

April 12 - Easter, 'April is the Cruelest Month of All'

 Poet T.S. Eliot stated in The Wasteland that there were three responses to life: attachment, detachment and disinterest. For Eliot the danger was disinterest, take it or leave it, life in a fog of self-sbsorption. To the disinterested the thunder of living rain was disturbing, unsettling. The living force requires a response. -  Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon)

April 5 - Palm Sunday; Beware the Heroes' Welcome! The crowds sang hosanna and then they turned Jesus in. The story brings up perennial questions. should we say what we think? Why not go home when things get dicey? So I ask, What would a pragmatist do? Considering what would work well, the pragmatic approach, might have been a better way to manage. – Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon, written)

March 22 - Living Our Lives for Ourselves Karen Kuhn's question for her Fantasy Auction sermon is this: why are we doing what we are doing? Are we living our own lives or are we still trying to make our parents or someone else happy? It's time to take charge of our own lives and finally grow up. Perhaps that's what becoming a UU is all about. – Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon)

March 15 - Passover, the Pagan Equinox and the Celebration of Spring Measuring the flow of time may be the most elemental religious & communal activity of the conscious being. We are aware of our brevity. Each spring we celebrate the wonder of new life and rue the passing of time. How do we affirm life in the face of death? – Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon, written)
March 1 - An Unusual Teacher from Palestine Yes, I could say Jesus, but I won't. I want all of us to think outside of the box. As with our deist ancestors (for example, Thomas Jefferson), I am intrigued by the teachings of Jesus because of their moral truth and unusual perspective. Can we find a very unexpected Jesus who was nearly hidden from sight in just two generations after his death? This man may yet speak to our age. – Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon, written)

February 15 - Erotic Spirit It is usually called a pulpit exchange, but it makes a lot more sense to call it a minister exchange. Rev. Joel Miller, minister of the UU Church of Buffalo, will speak in Amherst, and Tim Ashton, our minister, will speak at the UU church downtown. Rev. Joel Miller  (audio sermon, 2.57MB)

February 8 - Why Doesn't Anyone Talk About Children on Valentine's Day? Certainly children are often the result of love (even if they aren't one's biological off spring), and caring for children is surely one of the supreme monuments to the power and sacrifice that love calls forth in us. So for Valentine's day, I plan to address Shawn Whitecar's fantasy auction sermon topic and question, "How do we raise good UU children?" Aren't they among our greatest expressions of love? Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon, 2MB, written version)
January 25 - They Don't Have Any Crucifixes! - But we do have 'Joys & Sorrows.' Sharing the stories of what hurts & demoralizes us is essential to worship. To know that we are not alone or cast aside for what can seem like our private failure brings healing & perspective. We can listen with intention, caring and love. And such listening can make all the difference. Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon, written)
January 18 - Pop Culture, Big Business & the End of White America/ Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday - We are continuing from the Kwanzaa sermon -- I want to return to an idea from Leon Wynter's book American Skin Pop Culture, Bug Business and the End of White America. Much as we sometimes resent mass culture, it has been one of the agents of the transformation of America, communicating across class & racial lines. Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon, written)
January 11 - I'm Glad I'm Different! - Becoming a Unitarian Universalist isn't usually a 'conversion' experience. The experience of finding one's first UU church is more like 'coming home' or better, 'coming home to the home you always wanted.'. It is a great experience to reach the middle of one's life and say, "I'm glad I'm different; and now I know where I belong!" Rev. Tim Ashton (audio sermon,  written version)

Golden Compass (audio sermon, written)


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