Episodes
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’a’lalqilik kiyiswot’: The Caretaker God
November 16, 2025 | Armando David Canchola-Scott | Psalm 23 In celebration of Native American Heritage Month and the sacred act of remembrance, Pastor Armando shared stories about his Chumash ancestors’ resilience through the language of Psalm 23. Armando shares how he sees the spirit of...
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Liturgies for Resisting Empire
November 9, 2025 | Kat Armas Our friend Kat Armas joins us as the 18th woman to guest preach at our church, followed by a thoughtful conversation with Pastora Inés on the importance of a book like this while living in the midst of empire today. In Liturgies for Resisting Empire, Kat provides a...
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Rahab the Resilient Ancestor
November 2, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Psalm 22:4-5, Hebrews 11:31, Matt.1:5 Mother Rahab in Joshua 2 shows us a foreign woman who is clever, resourceful and astute. Her creativity to invite herself into the promises of YHWH wins her a spot in the hall of faith of Hebrews 11. As an ancestor…
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When Joy Defies the Dark: Play as Holy Resistance
October 26, 2025 | Dr. Eleanor Baylon | Psalm 57 Dr. Eleanor Baylon explores how joy and play can become acts of holy defiance in times of fear, burnout, or uncertainty. Drawing from Psalm 57 and David’s cave experience, we are invited to discover God’s presence and freedom through the courage to...
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Wielding instruments of Adoration and Advocacy
October 19, 2025 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | Psalm 150 Pastor Armando explores the powerful themes of praise and adoration found in Psalm 150, complementing it with the life and legacy of the illustrious jazz musician and composer, John Coltrane, affectionately known as Saint John, the Sound...
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Hope Ripens Resilience
October 12, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Psalm 42 In Psalm 42 we see the honest lament of the psalmist who addresses God, cries out for help, longs to be in God’s presence, and hopes to hope again! They essentially say “I was okay, I’m not okay, but I will be okay.” Hope ripens resilience by...
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A Resilient Community is a Grateful Community
October 5, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Psalm 136 Psalm 136 recounts the many seasons and many ways that God has come through for God's people. Pastora Inés explores how gratitude is a practice in a resilient community. We open up the room for people to add to the psalm: What are we thankful…
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A Psalm in Each Hand
September 28, 2025 | Nicola Patton | Psalm 19 and 137 Psalm 19 and 137 are very different from each other. They show us the different emotions that can be had in the psalms, both showing us the human experience. Both are descriptive - but of very different things. Psalm 137 is descriptive of the...
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Childlike Dominion and Christlike Resistance
September 21, 2025 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | Psalm 8 Pastor Armando explores the intricacies of Psalm 8, highlighting how it reveals the profound mysteries of God's power manifested through a divine partnership with humanity. We observe that God's power is not rooted in arrogant domination...
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I Lift My Eyes to the Hills
September 14, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Psalm 121 Psalm 121 has both story in the biblical memory of the people of Israel as well as Pastora’s personal life. This psalm is a psalm of gathering and pilgrimage that Jesus would have sung with his family on his way to one of 3 annual festivals....
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Intro to the Psalms of Resistance
September 7, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Psalms This sermon introduces the manner in which the Psalter is divided in time periods, pre, during and post exilic eras. 150 psalms that include how people prayed in light of living in times of peace or oppression. The psalms span the wide range of...
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Make Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly
August 17, 2025 | Nicola Patton | Micah 6:8 In the final sermon of our summer series, we looked back to the Old Testament for the arc of justice that continued from the beginning all the way to and through Jesus. The gospel of Micah reminds us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our…
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Rhythms and Rituals for the Abundant Life
August 10, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | John 10:1-11 Pastora Inés and Dr. Amy Drennan explore the story of Jesus as the good shepherd in John 10. The sheep know his voice, he knows their name and leads them to green pastures. The life and calling of Jesus have the rhythms and rituals to…
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Building the Good Life
August 3, 2025 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | Matthew 7:24-29 Pastor Armando explores the life, love, and justice of Jesus as expressed in His final remarks during the Sermon on the Mount. In this message, Jesus invites everyone to thoughtfully build their lives upon His teachings and His ways....
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The Artisan Spirit
July 27, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Exodus 31:1-6 In this story that takes places in the wilderness, the wild Spirit fills the artists by the name of Bezalel and Oholiab, to give them wisdom, insight, and knowledge, as well as skills. The gifts of the Spirit are handcrafted by God and are…
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The Wind of the Spirit Respires
July 20th, 2025 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | John 3:1-21 In the second week of exploring how we are a people Moved by the Spirit, Pastor Armando explores his own spiritual ancestry alongside Jesus’ conversation with a renowned Jewish religious leader names Nicodemus. In this conversation…
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The Spirit is a Ligament
July 13th, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a The Holy Spirit orients us towards love in 1 Corinthians 13 - a chapter traditionally preached at weddings, but situated smack in the middle of spiritual gifts. What does love have to do with the Spirit? How is love central to a…
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Community as a Body
July 6, 2025 | Nicola Patton | 1 Cor 12:14-27 Throughout the biblical text, from start to finish, the necessity of community is obvious in myriad ways. From the Old Testament laws and through the stories, all the way to the Gospels and letters, God is continually showing us the need for community…
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The Essentials of Being & Becoming a Beloved Community
June 22, 2025 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | Matthew 7:2-14 Pastor Armando introduces Our Being & Becoming series, by exploring the foundations of Dr. King’s vision of The Beloved Community and how Jesus invites us invites us into this way of being and becoming in His inaugural sermon on the...
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The Calling: Right Place, Right Time
June 15, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Acts 2:42-47, Isaiah 61:1-4 The calling of the new community in Acts was fueled by the Spirit for the purposes of the Spirit. The Spirit redraws the boundaries of all who are welcome. In these difficult times in LA as we see an escalation of violence…
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God Welcomes All
June 8, 2025 | Michael Shetler | Acts 2, John 14:26-27 Acts 2 illustrates three key aspects of the Holy Spirit’s presence: how it arrives, is responded to, and ultimately lived out. A notable emphasis in Acts 2 is on the Holy Spirit’s availability to all people, including those who are often...
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Brokenhearted and Still Believing: Reframing Thomas’ Hopelessness
June 1, 2025 | Krystin Bruan | John 20:24-28 We encounter Thomas not as a doubter, but as a grieving disciple who shows us that asking questions is not a sign of weak faith, but of honest, embodied, and persistent belief. His story gives voice to all who have felt left out, questioning whether…
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Food and Love are Resurrection
May 11, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | John 21:12-17 About: The Church We Hope For is a beloved community moved by the Spirit to follow the life, love, and justice of Jesus. For more information, visit our website...
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Bless the Children
May 4, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Matthew 19:13-14, Mark 10:13-16, Luke 18:15-17 Jesus centers the children and informs everyone within earshot, including us, whether you’re a parent or not, that children belong and blesses them. He invites them, carries them, lifts them up, and welcomes…
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Trails and Tables
April 27, 2025 | Nicola Patton | Luke 24:28-33 On the road to Emmaus, two disciples encounter Jesus without recognizing him. It is not until they sit at a table with him that they understand who has been walking with them. The same is true of us: Not all who wander are lost; Jesus is with us on…
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Easter: Resurrection is Rising
April 20, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Luke 24:1-12 NRSV Resurrection is about looking for the Living One among living ones. Those living into the way, the truth and the life of Jesus. Those who find life after death, not only eternal life, but present life. Resurrection is rising up and…
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Good Friday Tenebrea Service: The Last Seven Saying of Jesus from the Cross
April 18, 2025 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | The Last Seven Saying of Jesus from the CrossIn this contemplative liturgy of sight, sound, and solidarity, we center a table of remembrance and reflect on the last seven sayings of Jesus on the cross. In this Tenebrae-style service, exploring…
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A Peaceful Resistance
April 13, 2025 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | Luke 19:28-44 & Zechariah 9:9-10Pastor Mondo explores the significance of Palm Sunday, when Jesus arrives in the capital city of Jerusalem as a rival king, promoting a counter-kingdom agenda that embodies a peaceable kingdom. This pivotal moment…
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Return to our Goodness
April 6, 2025 | Nicola Patton | Luke 15:11-32 As we look deeper into the background of repentance, we step further back into the traditions that have kept us from seeing our true selves. In the beginning, God called us very good. How can we call something bad that God has called good? God's...
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Returning to One Another
March 30, 2025 | Armando David Scott-Canchola Pastor Mondo re-explores the familiar story of the Good Samaritan by focusing on Jesus' pivotal conversation with a religious scholar, culminating in Jesus telling one of his most favored parables. We discover that Jesus is having a healthy, not…
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Return to Our Minds
March 23, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Matthew 14:13 and 22This time, we will focus on the theme Returning to the Mind and have a brilliant panel of therapists from our own Church familia speak to us. We are privileged to have the wisdom of Dr. Jennifer Arias [Clinical Psychologist], Dr.…
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Return to the Vine
March 16, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | John 15:1-11In John 15, Jesus repeats the word "abide" 12 times in the famous statement, "I am the vine". We lean into the common agricultural method of vineyards, science behind grapevines, and converse with the work of Susie Lipps and "Conversations in...
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Return to the Questions
March 9, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | John 1:37-48In John 1:37-48, we find two intimate conversations and the call narratives between Jesus and Peter and Jesus and Nathanael. The questions that lead Jesus and these disciples to interact, invite us into curiosity, and intimacy of relationship....
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Who Do You Say I Am?
March 2, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Mark 8:27-30 In this pivotal moment in Mark 8, Jesus begins to make his way to Jerusalem and to the cross by asking 2 questions: Who do people say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Jesus asks 309 questions in the gospels and is asked 183 in return. On…
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Thirsty Deers, Parched Souls and Jesus
February 23, 2025 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | Psalm 42 Pastor Mondo focuses on Psalm 42, delving into the deep lament expressed by the Psalmist as he struggles to make sense of life and faith in the midst of tragedy. He explores how lament serves as an honest and appropriate reaction to…
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Love Letters
February 16, 2025 | Dr. Phil Allen, Jr. | Phil 2 Dr. Phil Allen preaches for our Black History Month celebration. Paul and Martin Luther King, Jr. both write love letters to the church. Paul applauds the church in Galatia for their witness, while King challenges, even rebukes the clergy in...
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Lydia’s River Church
January 26, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Acts 16:11-15 and Phil 1:1-9 As we do a soft launch into the book of Philippians, we dig into the origin story of the Philippian church. Lydia and a group of women found the river church, outside of the city gates, as there is no synagogue in Philippi....
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Shrewd Epiphany
January 5, 2025 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde Epiphany means revelation and the wise magi that followed the stars found revelation in the dark night sky. Their rhythms were simple: waking, watching, and walking. God spoke in a language that anyone could understand. Keywords: Epiphany, Magi…
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Shrewd Joy
December 22, 2024 | Nicola Patton | Luke 2:22-38, Isaiah 45:3, Matt 19:13-15As the world around us gives us little reason to find joy, we must be shrewd in actively looking for joy, becoming like children who find wonder in mundane things. Shrewd joy is a muscle we exercise, a means of healing…
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Shrewd Peace
December 15, 2024 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | Isaiah 11 / Luke 2:8-16 On this 3rd week of Advent, Pastor Armando tracings the wise roots of shrewd peace through the story of King David's ancestral lineage. Isaiah the poet prophet gives us a vivid picture of how God provides us with a picture...
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Hannah Song - Mary's Song
December 8, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | 1 Sam 2:1-10 Luke 1:46-55 Mother Hannah in 1 Samuel has a melody of hope that is harmonized by Mary's Magnificat. Both matriarchs of the faith point to an ancient present hope as we are rooted in the promised Messiah to arrive. They give us the gift of…
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Blessed are Those Who Release
November 24, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Hebrews 12:1-3 The liturgy of the leaves teaches us something about letting go as a spiritual practice that nourishes our understanding of Hebrews 12:1-3. In the fall, toxic waste is secreted in the leaves that fall. If the trees don't let go of this...
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Blessed are the Shrewd
November 17, 2024 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | Luke 18:1-8 In celebration of Native American Heritage Month and sacred act of remembrance, Pastor Armando shared stories about his Chumash ancestors’ resilience and the sacred shrewdness. Armando weaved it with the shrewdness of the persistent...
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Blessed are Those Who Mourn
November 10, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Psalm 31, Matthew 5 The gift of lament in Psalm 31 is a reminder that we can openly call out and say that things aren't as they should be. It reorients us towards the sermon on the mount where Jesus speaks to a community marginalized by both empire and...
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Blessed are the Ancestors
November 3, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | 1 John 1:1-5, 1 Thess 4:13-18, Heb. 12:1-3 Abuelito John writes to a diverse community of churches in 1 John in the latter part of his life. He writes as an old man to churches that had not been eyewitnesses of Jesus, thus highlighting that they had…
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Blessed are the Disenfranchised
October 27, 2024 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | Mark 10:46-52 In this service, we "grew young" and center our emerging generation of youth and young adults. It was such a vital moment to acknowledge the growing number of young people who have felt disenfranchised from the American Church. We…
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Blessed are the Resisters
October 20, 2024 | Gillian Garcia | Jeremiah 29:4-11 (NRSV) In this sermon, guest preacher Gillian Garcia draws a parallel between the Babylonian Exile and the Filipino American experience to point out that God calls God's people in exile (be it an external, geographical exile, or an internal…
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Blessed are the Accused
October 13, 2024 | Armando David Scott-Canchola | Mark 1:21-24, 3:20-35 In this series, we have drawn from the margins of scripture to see how God is setting a pattern of disruptive radical inclusion. In this sermon by Pastor Armando, we explore how this belonging reaches its culmination in God...
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Blessed are the Embodied
October 6, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Psalm 139 v1-16 Belonging begins IN our bodies and belonging is cultivated in community. The beginning of our belonging begins in the womb of God's imagination and in the womb of our mothers who carried us. In Psalm 139 we see that Creator God who gave…
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Blessed are the Little Ones
September 29, 2024 | Janet Hale | Matthew 19:14 Our very own Janet Hale, a kindergarten teacher of 30 years, teaches us how Jesus shows us his true nature by welcoming children into the kin-dom. She shares provocative truths about how children have taught her the inclusive love of God and how to...
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We are a beloved community moved by the Spirit to follow the life, love, and justice of Jesus. For more info, visit www.thechurchwehopefor.com
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