North Decatur Presbyterian Church

 6.23.19. Isaiah Lewis is a left-handed queer from Chester, West Virginia, home of the world’s largest teapot. He graduated with a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology in May 2019. He finds hope in the weirdness of the Bible. The scripture reading is Revelation 5:6-14.

6.16.19. Shannon Ball preaches on Exodus 1:8-22.   Shannon Ball was baptized at NDPC  many, many years ago but moved away as a child.  She came back to Atlanta to attend Columbia Theological Seminary. She has worked as a chaplain, non-profit program director, and now works for Enterprise Community Partners, a non-profit affordable housing advocacy organization. 

6.9.19. Rev. Laura Mariko Cheifetz preaches on Ecclesiastes 1:2-9: It Could Always Be Worse! The Reverend Laura Mariko Cheifetz is an ordained Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She has served in theological education, religious publishing, and social justice advocacy, and she has provided leadership in the national and international church. She is also the co-author and editor of Church on Purpose and contributor to Race in a Post Obama America, Leading Wisdom, and Streams Run Uphill. She is a contributing editor to Inheritance magazine. She lives in Decatur GA with her partner and their two Shih Tzus. 

6.26.19. Rev. Leslie Brogan preaches about the surprising things you can find in the Bible.

5.26.19. Summer is here! It's hotter than blazes, kids are bouncing off the walls, all of us are hoping for a little bit of rest and relaxation. This Sunday, Rev. David Lewicki looks at the story of Mary and Martha from the 10th chapter of Luke's gospel and uses that story to explore how we experience the tension between the work that "must be done" and the rest we all need. What are you discovering about the rhythms of work and rest that make for a healthy--and holy--life? 

5.5.19. Rev. David Lewicki preaches this week on the power of change. How does God’s presence in the world help to make necessary changes in our lives? 

5.12.19. This Sunday, we conclude our yearlong "Faith for a Lifetime" sermon series. We've explored spirituality at every stage of life, from infancy to adulthood. This week, we look at the spiritual opportunities (and crises) that come toward the end of our lives, in a time called "senescence." NDPC's Pastor for Adult Spiritual Formation, the Rev. Mary Anona Stoops, preaches from John 21:15-19.  

5.5.19. Why does Jesus keep showing up?  If we know what to do, why do we need God's guidance?  As we celebrate the Confirmation class with a worship inspired by their statements of faith and the commitments they make, we witness the farcical story of Jesus's third resurrection appearance in the Gospel of John (21:1-12) and ask ourselves will we ever get it right? Rev. Beth Waltemath preaching.

4.28.19. "I believe in the resurrection of the body...." The Sunday after Easter is here, the egg hunts are behind us, there's no brass to brighten our worship, and most senior pastors are resting their gilded vocal cords. This is where it gets real. What did happen to Jesus' body? What will happen to ours? And what shall we make of this core Christian conviction--the hardest of all to believe--in the resurrection of the body? Rev. Lewicki preaches on the story of Thomas from John's gospel.

4.21.19. Easter Sunday. Scripture reading: Luke 24:1-12. "Then they remembered his words."

4.14.19. This week, we include the full service. Beginning with the procession of palms, we tell the story of Jesus’ last days in Jerusalem in five scenes. We end with Jesus’ anointing at Bethany and invite you to receive an anointing as we begin Holy Week. 

4.7.19. How then, shall we relate to one another? What are other people for, if not to serve our needs? What is it to teach, encourage, and nurture another? Rev. David Lewicki preaching.

3.31.19. Hearing the voice of the deeper self. Rev. David Lewicki preaching.

March 24, 2019.  With the gift of new perspective, we awaken to the pain our own past. We see clearly what we should have done, or what should have been done for us. Can we learn to see our own past through the lens of God’s mercy? Rev. David Lewicki preaching.  

March 17, 2019 What wakes us up is most often is a loss—a relationship, a job, our health, a death. It is often only a shock to the system that breaks us open to a deeper truth that lies beyond the loss. Rev. David Lewicki preaching.

March 10, 2019 In order to come alive, we must wake up to the limitations of a life lived according to our own ego needs. We follow Jesus into the wilderness, where he learns that a life that feeds only itself is no life at all. Rev. David Lewicki preaching.

February 24, 2019 We reflect on historical and current attitudes regarding religion and politics. Rev. David Lewicki compares a pre-Civil War theologian’s rejection of abolitionists’ religious arguments with the call for justice in Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. Rev. David Lewicki preaching.

February 2, 2019 Our yearlong Faith for a Lifetime series continues this Sunday with an exploration of the role of physical and emotional intimacy and its intersection with our spiritual life. In young adulthood, identities--recently earned, are transformed through the practice of intimacy with both lovers and also with friends. Intimacy draws us into spaces of closeness, sharing, and honesty. But because intimate relationships mirror and reveal our flaws, they challenge our self-understanding. Spiritual intimacy with God can beautifully support, inform, and bless our most meaningful relationships. Rev. David Lewicki, preaching.

January 27, 2019 We return to NDPC's yearlong series, "Faith for a Lifetime," exploring the particular spiritual opportunities and challenges that meet us at each stage in our lives. As we begin our lives as adults, leaving adolescence behind, we begin to assume full responsibility for ourselves and our place in the world. We ask questions: "What am I supposed to do with my life?" "What am I good at?" "How can I make a living... and a life?" In the church, we call this our search for vocation, or "calling." Every person, we believe, is called. The questions is, to what? By whom? Rev. Lewicki, preaching. 

January 20, 2019 How does the struggle for racial justice look from here? This Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, we gather to reflect on the ongoing quest to create Beloved Community--in our nation, here in Dekalb County, GA, and within our own homes and families. This Sunday's worship will focus on the role of creativity in transforming not only structures and systems, but also relationships and individual hearts. We are created in the image of the One who flips the script: who turns terror into poetry, hatred into protest, heartbreak into hope, sorrow into joy. We share a powerful reflection about Billie Holiday's song, Strange Fruit, as we contemplate our own own capacity for being vessels of God's creative transformation. Rev. David Lewicki, preaching. Today in worship we watched a video about lynching, Strange Fruit, produced by the SALT Project. The recording has Rev. Lewicki's introduction before and reflection after the video and concludes with a recording of Billie Holiday singing the song Strange Fru