Lakewood United Church of Christ

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, September 15, 2024
The Joys and Costs
Mark 8:27-38
Who do we say Jesus is? Who does Jesus tell us he is? This week in worship we will hear the story from the Gospel of Mark of Jesus asking the disciples “Who do people say I am?”. We get to ask that question alongside Jesus, as we ponder together what it means to follow in the ways and teachings of this servant leader. Join us in worship as Rev. Mollie preaches on these questions and the joys and costs of discipleship.

Good morning to all! Thank you to everyone who joined us online and in person for our Kick-Off Sunday worship service, "Be Opened!" with Rev. Curt Preston. Didn't have a chance to tune in to this Sunday's service? No worries! Simply click the link below to watch yesterday's service and explore all that our YouTube channel offers. We hope to see you next week!

Sunday, September 8, 2024 Worship Service Live, in-person Worship Service

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Be Opened!
Mark 7:24-37
This Sunday is Kick-Off Sunday! It is a celebration of the beginning of the program year and the return of many ministry opportunities that went on hiatus for the summer. This Sunday we’ll hear 2 stories from Jesus’s ministry about widening the welcome and offering extravagant hospitality. Join us for a joyous worship service and an all-church potluck (and additional fun too) afterward.

Good morning to all! Thank you to everyone who joined us online and in person for our Sunday worship service, "In a Day's Work" with Rev. Curt Preston. Didn't have a chance to tune in to this Sunday's service? No worries! Simply click the link below to watch yesterday's service and explore all that our YouTube channel offers. We hope to see you next week!

Sunday, September 1, 2024 Worship Service Live, in-person Worship Service

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, September 1, 2024
In a Day's Work
Matthew 20:1-16
Labor Day is more than just the unofficial end of summer. It is a day to honor the contributions of workers of all industries, but particularly those contributions of organized labor and unions. This year we’ll be hearing Jesus’s parable of the workers in the vineyard. This story speaks both to God’s generosity and also raises questions about what fair and just employment practices look like. Join us this Sunday as Pastor Curt preaches on what is fair, what is just, and what it would take to make our economy look more like God’s economy.

Thank you to all who joined us yesterday for our annual Worship in the Park Service at Anderson Park! It was a beautiful morning of music, sunshine, and community, followed by a fun homemade root beer float fellowship! Until next year!
Services return to regular online and in-person at Lakewood UCC this week.

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Worship in the Park
Please join us for our very special Worship in the Park service on Sunday, August 25, at 10:15 am! On this Sunday, there will NOT be any services at Lakewood UCC. We will meet at the pavilion at Anderson Park (44th and Field St. in Wheat Ridge). Our special guest musician this year will be the former Director of Music Ministries, Allyson Koplen. Please feel free to bring a picnic lunch and a camping chair if you’d like. After service, we will be hosting a root beer float fellowship time. We hope to see you there!

Last weekend in Worship...
What a joy to have Rev. Candace Woods join us in worship Sunday, Candace is the Minister of Gender + Sexuality Liberation at Juniper Formation, a sibling UCC church here in Denver. Candace serves on the Executive Team of the Metro Denver Association of the Rocky Mountain Conference, United Church of Christ. We celebrate our connectedness and friendship!

Good morning to all! Thank you to everyone who joined us online and in person for our Sunday worship service, "What Do We Hunger For?" with Rev. Mollie Landers Hatt. Didn't have a chance to tune in to this Sunday's service? No worries! Simply click the link below to watch yesterday's service and explore all that our YouTube channel offers. We hope to see you next week!

Sunday, August 18, 2024 Worship Service Live, in-person Worship Service

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, August 18, 2024
What Do We Hunger For?
John 6:24-35
This week in worship, we hear from Jesus in John’s Gospel. Jesus shares that we need more than physical bread to have life and life abundant. He tells the crowd that he’s the bread of life, a beautiful but somewhat confusing phrase. What does Jesus mean by this? How does being grounded in God and following in the ways of Jesus nurture and feed us, our whole life long? Join us in worship this Sunday as Rev. Mollie preaches on spiritual nurture and the many ways we can receive it.

Good morning to all! Thank you to everyone who joined us online and in person for our Sunday worship service, "Looking at the Heart" with Rev. Curt Preston. Didn't have a chance to tune in to this Sunday's service? No worries! Simply click the link below to watch yesterday's service and explore all that our YouTube channel offers. We hope to see you next week!

Sunday, August 11, 2024 Worship Service Live, in-person Worship Service

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Looking at the Heart
1 Samuel 16:1-13
When most of us think of the Biblical figure of David, we think of the boy who slayed Goliath. Some of us perhaps think of other stories, most of them positive, most of them showing what a tremendous leader David became. But David’s story didn’t start out that way. He was the least likely of all his brothers to be picked to be the next leader of Israel. God saw something in David that no one else could see. Join us this Sunday as Pastor Curt preaches on how God sees beyond our outward appearances and draws upon gifts and skills we didn’t even know we had.

This weekend in worship...
We are excited to offer a Blessing of the Backpacks!
Children of all ages, parents, educators, and workers, bring your backpacks, lunch boxes, briefcases, and workbags to worship on Sunday, August 11. We’ll bless the bags and those who carry them as we start a new school year held in God’s love!

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, August 4, 2024
Metro UCC Combined Worship!
This week, over a dozen UCC churches from the Metro-Denver area will join together for worship at First Plymouth UCC. Our guest preacher is Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. There are three ways to participate in this service:

1) Go to First Plymouth UCC and participate in person
2) Watch from home on YouTube on First Plymouth's YouTube channel.
3) Come to Lakewood UCC and watch the livestream with your community. Communion will be offered as part of worship.

Please note that this service begins promptly at 10:00 am and not our usual 10:15 am time slot. We hope to see you there!

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, July 24, 2024
Abundant Blessings
John 6:1-14
This week we hear John’s version of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. With just a few loaves and a few fish, somehow Jesus is able to feed everyone and collect leftovers as well. What are we to make of this story? What does it say about us? About God? About Jesus? Join us this Sunday as Pastor Curt preaches on faith, abundance, and daring to believe.

Good morning to all! Thank you to everyone who joined us online and in person for our Sunday worship service, "A Quiet Place" with Rev. Curt Preston. Didn't have a chance to tune in to this Sunday's service? No worries! Simply click the link below to watch yesterday's service and explore all that our YouTube channel offers. We hope to see you next week!

Sunday, July 21, 2024 Worship Service Live, in-person Worship Service

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, July 21, 2024
A Quiet Place
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
For most of his ministry, Jesus is going at a pretty frantic pace. He’s always moving from one town to another as there are so many who need what he has to offer. And yet, even Jesus took a break from time to time. This Sunday we hear of one such occasion when Jesus implored his disciples to stop, to rest, and to refuel. Join us this Sunday as Pastor Curt preaches on the importance of getting real rest while continuing the good work to which Christ calls us.

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, July 14, 2024
Shake It Off
Mark 6:1-13
Sometimes we forget that not everyone was excited to hear what Jesus was saying. Not everyone wanted the kind of new life that he offered. Even the folks in his hometown had a hard time making sense of the person they knew and the person he’d become. Join us this Sunday as Pastor Curt preaches on rejection, authenticity, and shaking the dust off your feet when it’s time to move on.

Good morning to all! Thank you to everyone who joined us online and in person for our Sunday Taize-Style worship service, "Rest & Renewal" with Rev. Curt Preston. Didn't have a chance to tune in to this Sunday's service? No worries! Simply click the link below to watch yesterday's service and explore all that our YouTube channel offers. We hope to see you next week!

Sunday, July 7, 2025 Taize-Style Worship Service Live, in-person Worship Service

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, July 7, 2024
Rest & Renewal
Annual Taize Style Worship with Communion
Sunday, July 7 will be our Taize-style worship service. What is Taize-style worship? The Taize community is an ecumenical monastic order in southern France founded in 1940. Taize worship is known for its simplicity of style. It uses short phrases, sung repeatedly, and periods of silence to draw us into the experience of finding God’s presence where we are. One Taize monk said, “It is a time to rest in God, to let the words listened to and sung pe*****te one’s being.”

Happy July 1st! Pride month may be over, but we still love you and live out pride at Lakewood UCC every day!

Good morning to all! Thank you to everyone who joined us online and in person for our Sunday worship service, "She Felt It" with guest preacher Rev. Tamara Boynton. Didn't have a chance to tune in to this Sunday's service? No worries! Simply click the link below to watch yesterday's service and explore all that our YouTube channel offers. We hope to see you next week!

Sunday, June 30, 2024 Worship Service Live, in-person Worship Service

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, June 30, 10:15 am
She Felt It
Mark 5:21-43
This week, we welcome guest preacher, Rev. Tamara Boynton, to lead our sermon. Through the stories of two women, one older and one younger, this Sunday’s service will explore the ways in which our bodies, our social location, societal norms, and the resources we reach out to impact our healing and wholeness. Although neither of these women is named in the Biblical text, their stories have inspired a long tradition of bringing the face of Christ into clearer focus in some very unexpected ways.
Rev. Tamara Boynton is a long-time member of Lakewood UCC and an ordained UCC minister. She currently serves her ministerial call at Regis University as the Minister for Spiritual Diversity and the Director of Student Belonging.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
From the Sanctuary to the street, Lakewood UCC is following Jesus and walking with PRIDE!
Happy Pride from Lakewood UCC!
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Good morning to all! Thank you to everyone who joined us online and in person for our Sunday worship service, "Living in Pride" with Rev. Mollie Landers Hatt. Didn't have a chance to tune in to this Sunday's service? No worries! Simply click the link below to watch yesterday's service and explore all that our YouTube channel offers. We hope to see you next week!

Sunday, June 23, 2024 Worship Service Live, in-person Worship Service

What a week with Be the Neighbor!

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, June 23, 2024
Living in Pride
2 Corinthians 6:1-13 (The Message)
Happy PRIDE Lakewood UCC! Some of us will be walking, witnessing, and proclaiming God’s love for all in the Pride parade with other metro-UCC churches, and some of us will be proclaiming God’s love for all in worship! We’ll hear from Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, about not living small. Pride is the perfect day to be reminded of our worth as we were created, especially in our rainbow of sexuality and expression. Q***r and ally, bi, and curious, we are called to live an authentic, bold life. On the streets or in the pews, join us for worship as Rev. Mollie preaches on the power of living a life wide open with God’s love.

Good morning to all! Thank you to everyone who joined us online and in person for our Sunday worship service, "From Tiny Seeds" with Rev. Mollie Landers Hatt. Didn't have a chance to tune in to this Sunday's service? No worries! Simply click the link below to watch yesterday's service and explore all that our YouTube channel offers. We hope to see you next week!

Sunday, June 16, 2024 Worship Service Live, in-person Worship Service

(from Rev. Mollie) What a joy to be part of Cohort 1 for the pilot program of Bethany Congregations. Rob Cass, Sandi Little, and myself spent last weekend in Kansas at the final Bethany Congregations retreat, celebrating and closing out two years of living in the Bethany Way with the congregation and on behalf of the congregation. The Spirit and work of this time together will continue, especially in our Love Leads initiatives as we build more capacity for inclusion! Thank you Rob, Sandi, and the Lakewood UCC congregation for continuing to trust God's work and saying yes, let's give this new thing a try!

This Sunday in Worship
Sunday, June 16, 2024
From Tiny Seeds
Mark 4:26-34
This Sunday, we hear Jesus share parables about the Kingdom of God. He uses parables, a way of storytelling that does not give clear-cut answers but draws the disciples (and us!) into mystery, deeper thinking, and practice. In this week’s scripture, Jesus compares The Kingdom or Kin-dom to a few different types of small seeds, that grow in unexpected ways. Join us this Sunday as we ponder what the “Kin-dom” and “realm” of God is, and how we’re part of the planting and growing of it.