Send us Fan Mail

Guest Speaker: Joe Thompson, Interfaith Housing Initiative

Affordable housing isn’t a buzzword when you’re short 14,000 units, and it’s not solved by good intentions alone. We take Mission Sunday seriously by linking Scripture’s call to service with a practical question: what happens when churches decide to build housing instead of only talking about it?

We walk through the ways our congregation already serves Greensboro, from ongoing partnerships that fight hunger and homelessness to the behind-the-scenes work of supporting nonprofits and local boards. Then we zoom in on a deeper thread in our mission history: decades of engagement with housing, including Habitat builds, shelter support through Greensboro Urban Ministry, and the hard, unglamorous decisions that shape what “affordable” can look like in real neighborhoods.

Our guest Joe Thompson from Westminster Presbyterian introduces the Interfaith Housing Initiative and explains how it’s teaming up with Partnership Homes to expand supportive housing. You’ll hear what supportive housing means in practice, how residents are vetted and supported, and why stability plus on-site care can be the bridge from shelter to a life rebuilt. Two stories bring the impact into sharp focus, moving from addiction and loss to college, meaningful work, restored family, and long-term independence.

If you care about homelessness solutions, supportive housing, and faith-based community development in Greensboro, this conversation offers a clear, concrete next step: a six-unit building with a $1.3 million goal that’s already well on its way. Subscribe for more mission stories, share this with someone who cares about housing justice, and leave a review telling us what part of the conversation stayed with you most.

Follow us on Instagram @guilfordparkpresbyterianchurch
Follow us on Facebook @guilfordparkpc
Follow us on TikTok @guilfordparkpreschurch
Website: www.guilfordpark.org

Send us Fan Mail

Text: Philippians 2

Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

We spend so much of our lives trying to get to the top and we’re taught to call that “success.” More followers, more money, more influence, more control. But Philippians 2 confronts that story head-on, not with shame or scolding, but with a song. We walk through Paul’s sharp pivot from tender encouragement to a clear exhortation: don’t chase selfish ambition, don’t treat people like obstacles, and don’t let the church absorb the world’s obsession with status.

At the center is the Christ hymn, one of the earliest summaries of Christian belief and a blueprint for Christian character. Jesus does not exploit power or cling to rank. He empties himself, takes the form of a servant, and goes all the way down into costly love. That vision challenges the loud, distorted versions of Jesus that trade humility for dominance and turn faith into spectacle, grievance, or control. The Jesus we meet here serves rather than shows off, invites rather than imposes, and cares less about public performance than about neighbors being fed, safe, and loved.

Paul also makes it practical by pointing to Timothy and Epaphroditus as flesh-and-blood examples of the mind of Christ: genuine concern, ordinary faithfulness, and self-giving service without a craving for recognition. If you’re tired of the ladder, this is a different way to live and a different way to be church. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review, then tell us: where are you feeling called to take the way down?

Follow us on Instagram @guilfordparkpresbyterianchurch
Follow us on Facebook @guilfordparkpc
Follow us on TikTok @guilfordparkpreschurch
Website: www.guilfordpark.org

Send us Fan Mail

Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Text: Acts 20:7-12

Someone really does fall asleep during a sermon in the Bible, and it’s not just a quirky story. We start with Eutychus in Acts 20 and sit with the uncomfortable truth behind it: many of us come to worship exhausted. We’re worn down by nonstop news, heavy schedules, and the pressure to carry more than feels possible. When we’re that tired, we don’t need louder words or longer explanations. We need grace that meets us in our actual bodies.

From there, we follow the image that won’t let go: Eutychus perched in a window, neither fully in nor fully out. That “window” becomes a spiritual map for modern church life, where people drift between belonging and isolation, faith and fatigue, attention and distraction. We ask what it would look like to become the kind of church that notices those at the margins and brings them to the center, not with guilt, but with warmth, welcome, and practices that engage all our senses.

Because embodied worship is not a buzzword, it’s how faith becomes real. We share sensory memories that shape discipleship, then celebrate the holy work of a church preschool where children learn “you are safe, you are loved, you belong” long before they can explain grace. If you’re a parent running on fumes, a tired believer, or someone who feels stuck in the window, this message is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with one way you’ve experienced grace with your whole self.

Follow us on Instagram @guilfordparkpresbyterianchurch
Follow us on Facebook @guilfordparkpc
Follow us on TikTok @guilfordparkpreschurch
Website: www.guilfordpark.org

Send us Fan Mail

Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Text: Philippians 1

Joy is easy to talk about when life is calm. It’s harder to trust when the bills stack up, the news cycle stays violent, and your own energy feels gone. We turn to Philippians 1 and listen to Paul do the impossible: rejoice from a prison cell, not because his circumstances are fine, but because Christ is still present and still at work.

We sit with the tender, affectionate Paul we meet in the letter to the Philippians and contrast him with the sharper “grumpy Paul” we sometimes hear elsewhere in the New Testament. That difference isn’t just personality, it’s relationship. Paul has a real partnership in the gospel with the Philippian church, including the care they send through Epaphroditus. The story becomes a grounded picture of Christian community, spiritual resilience, and the kind of faith that shows up with help that can be held in your hands.

From there, we name a liberating truth: joy in Christ is not the same as fixing everything. We talk about what happens when we stop trying to carry what was never ours to carry alone and instead ask, “What has Christ put in front of me today?” The conversation lands in an ordinary backyard dinner where friendship, food, laughter, and welcome become a sign of resurrection life in the middle of it all. If you’re longing for deeper joy, a healthier Christian mindset, and a church community that shares the weight, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs an exhale, and leave a review with one place you’re finding joy right now.

Follow us on Instagram @guilfordparkpresbyterianchurch
Follow us on Facebook @guilfordparkpc
Follow us on TikTok @guilfordparkpreschurch
Website: www.guilfordpark.org

Send us Fan Mail

Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Text: Matthew 28:1-10

Easter starts at a tomb, but it doesn’t stay there. We open with prayer and Matthew’s resurrection story, then sit with a line from Mary Oliver that changes the frame: Easter is not a day for answers, it is a day for astonishment. That single shift gives us permission to stop pretending we’re fine and to bring our whole selves, including fear, grief, and questions, into the light of resurrection hope.

We linger with the women who come to mourn and leave as witnesses. The angel’s commands are simple and urgent: do not be afraid, come and see, go quickly and tell. We talk about why “do not be afraid” doesn’t mean nothing scary has happened. It means fear is not the truest thing anymore. Death is real. Grief is real. Empire is real. But none of them are ultimate, and the risen Christ is already ahead of us.

From there, the story moves to Galilee, the ordinary place where life is messy and holy at the same time. Resurrection doesn’t offer an escape from the world; it sends us back into it, equipped to practice hope where love is needed most. We also connect this to the themes of our Tell Me Something Good series, learning to notice good news in unexpected places.

Finally, we share a personal story of loss and a quiet act of compassion: a hotel housekeeper who leaves a letter and a small gift basket for grieving children. It’s a reminder that the gospel sometimes arrives with an earthquake, and sometimes with tenderness that says you are not alone. If you’re looking for an Easter sermon about resurrection, Christian faith, grief, and hope that feels honest and lived, press play. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review telling us where you’ve seen good news lately.

Follow us on Instagram @guilfordparkpresbyterianchurch
Follow us on Facebook @guilfordparkpc
Follow us on TikTok @guilfordparkpreschurch
Website: www.guilfordpark.org

Send us Fan Mail

Preaching: Rev. Dr. Kathryn G. N. Campbell

Text: Luke 22:47-53; 23:33-38, 44-46

Good Friday is the day we want to fast-forward and we’re convinced that’s exactly why we shouldn’t. We start with prayer and Luke’s Passion narrative, then we tell a true-to-life story that exposes our impatience with the cross: a church that scheduled “Easter Sunday” on Friday night. The reactions are almost automatic, but the question underneath is serious and personal: what happens to Christian hope when we try to reach resurrection without sitting with death?

We talk about Holy Week as formation, not just tradition. Good Friday names what is real in us and around us: betrayal, fear, public cruelty, and the urge to meet violence with violence. Yet Luke shows Jesus stopping the sword, healing the wounded, and praying forgiveness while he is mocked. We linger on what that means for anyone searching for a Good Friday sermon, the meaning of the crucifixion, or a Christian response to suffering. The waiting is not weakness. It’s a revelation of the heart of God: love to the end, mercy stronger than violence, forgiveness deeper than hatred.

The central image is the waiting room, that “hurry up and wait” space we all know from hospitals, airports, and repair shops. Good Friday is that hallway between promise and fulfillment, where we expect one outcome and receive another. If you’re carrying grief, anxiety, anger, or unanswered prayers, this message invites you to wait attentively with a Savior who does not rush past pain but sits with it and transforms it.

If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs steadier hope, and leave a review so more people can find these Holy Week reflections.

Follow us on Instagram @guilfordparkpresbyterianchurch
Follow us on Facebook @guilfordparkpc
Follow us on TikTok @guilfordparkpreschurch
Website: www.guilfordpark.org

Send us Fan Mail

Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Text: John 13:1-35

Judas at the table is hard enough. Judas with clean feet is worse. We start with an honest confession: we don’t naturally know how to live in a world where the betrayer receives the same kneeling love as everyone else. And yet that’s exactly the world Jesus creates with a basin, a towel, and a quiet act of service that refuses to play by our rules of payback.

We trace why this scene triggers us so deeply, especially in a culture shaped by outrage, canceling, and endless scorekeeping. If you’ve ever felt tired of the wicked prospering, frustrated with Jesus’ non-coercive way of changing the world, or tempted to reduce people to their worst moment, you’ll recognize the uncomfortable mirror. We talk about mercy and forgiveness without pretending harm doesn’t matter: reconciliation requires accountability, and grace does not erase what was done. But we also name the trap of retribution and how it deforms both the oppressor and the oppressed.

Along the way, we lean on a surprising guide from Les Miserables. Javert can’t survive the disruption of grace when Jean Valjean spares him, and his crisis exposes a question we all face: can we live in a world where our feet get washed too? If you’re hungry for a more human way forward grounded in Christian faith, Maundy Thursday meaning, and the radical practice of foot washing, press play. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review telling us: where do you most need mercy to interrupt vengeance?

Follow us on Instagram @guilfordparkpresbyterianchurch
Follow us on Facebook @guilfordparkpc
Follow us on TikTok @guilfordparkpreschurch
Website: www.guilfordpark.org

Send us Fan Mail

Text: Mark 11:1-11

Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Power rarely looks the way we expect it to. We start with prayer and Mark 11’s Palm Sunday scene, then sit with an uncomfortable truth: we often fail to recognize what we most need. We miss grace when it is right in front of us. We overlook beauty when the world feels too broken. We ignore our bodies asking for rest because urgency gets mistaken for faithfulness.

Palm Sunday pushes back on every version of leadership that relies on spectacle. Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, surrounded by ordinary people and borrowed things, while the crowd cries “Hosanna,” meaning “save us.” In Mark’s Gospel, that moment becomes a recognition test. Can we see God’s power when it arrives as humility, service, and vulnerability rather than aggression and domination? Can we follow a king who moves toward the cross instead of around it?

We also lean into the verbs that drive the story and refuse to let us stay in the bleachers: go, untie, bring, spread, shout, follow. We talk about untying what has been bound in our lives and communities, bringing what we have in practical care, spreading mercy in quiet daily ways, and letting “Hosanna” become public witness that rejects cruelty and “us versus them” thinking. If you are walking into Holy Week asking where Jesus is showing up now, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review, then tell us: what will be your Hosanna?

Follow us on Instagram @guilfordparkpresbyterianchurch
Follow us on Facebook @guilfordparkpc
Follow us on TikTok @guilfordparkpreschurch
Website: www.guilfordpark.org