On Sunday, March 9th, Children of Uganda’s Tour Of Light dance troupe will join us — singing, drumming, dancing, and sharing East African culture through stories and songs. The organization benefits orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda, and this tour is their program of outreach to meet new people, raising both funds and awareness.

Worry and anxiety are two of the spiritual plagues of humanity that persist since ancient times. While our current age may also have pharmacological solutions to extreme anxiety, most of us could benefit from a spiritual approach too. What spiritual practices are helpful to you when you are worried or anxious? See you in Celebration this Sunday at 10:00 a.m. as we explore this topic using Matthew 6:24-34 AND we’ll have a special musical Time with the Children created by our MPC choir! Stay afterward for the Pancake Brunch hosted by youth…

How do we respond to violence? Disrespect? Oppression? Put up with it? Ignore it? Engage? Fight? What do we do when there’s nothing we can do? These are some of the questions that arise as we consider this week’s text from the Gospel of Matthew 5: 38-48. Join us in Celebration at 10:00 a.m.

Thursday, March 13th at 7:00pm, Pulitzer Prize-winning humor author Dave Barry will be at MPC discussing his new book “You Can Date Boys When You’re Forty: Dave Barry on Parenting and Other Topics He Knows Very Little About”. We hope you can join us for what will surely be a wonderful evening of humor and (a tiny bit of) parenting insight.

This Sunday during morning Celebration at 10:00 a.m., we’re off to the ancient city of Corinth to learn from that early community of faith. Like many diverse communities, the Corinthian church struggled to find common ground and to continue to welcome more and more members. They also developed divided loyalties to different teachers. Of course, we never worry about such things in Oakland . . . Our service will also feature musical selections from french horn soloist Avery Hawthorne.

Are you a “salt of the earth” type of person? Would others say that you “bring light” into dark places? We’ll take a look at these famous phrases from the gospel of Matthew and see what wisdom we can extract. Leave your bushel baskets at home and come join us for Celebration this Sunday, February 9th at 10:00 a.m.

In Celebration this Sunday, we will honor the life and legacy of Pete Seeger by singing a rousing version of “I Had a Hammer” for our closing song. So tune your guitars, ukes, banjos, harmonicas, and mandolins, or shake the dust from your tambourines and then bring them at 9:45 a.m. for a quick run-thru. We’ll play it in G and click through to practice the harmonies with Peter, Paul and Mary. At the core of Pete Seeger’s remarkable life was the notion that everyone can participate and everyone can make a difference in the world. He often spoke of himself as a “song leader”, but not a performer because his goal was to get everyone singing, not just listening to him.

Throughout the season of epiphany (which lasts until Ash Wednesday, March 5) we will be exploring the wisdom of Jesus while developing our own abilities to be wiser and more loving people. Our text this week is Matthew 4:12-23, the story of Jesus calling a bunch of fishermen to be disciples. Wise or not wise? Join us during weekly Bible study on Wednesdays from 12 noon – 1:30 p.m. and at Celebration on Sunday at 10:00 a.m.

In our Sunday Celebration this week we will remember the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Chestnut Choir will be singing “Precious Lord” and everyone who wants to sing should simply show up at 9:15 a.m. Pastor Melinda’s sermon will be focused on Matthew 5: 43-45. Please join us at 10:00 a.m.