“Faithful and Vital: Organizing Community with Intention”
Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11, 27-28; 2:1-4
Rev. Dr. Bruce Epperly, Westmoreland UCC
June 28, 2026

In A.A. Milne’s children’s classic Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet asks his best friend Winnie “What’s the first thing you say to yourself when you get up in the morning?” Pooh replies, “What’s for breakfast?” Piglet responds that when he awakens, he says, “I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” Pooh nods thoughtfully and says, “It’s the same thing.”

Intention is everything in life. How we begin our day, start our car, greet our family or friends, or come to worship or a church meeting can change everything. As Stephen Covey says, “begin with the end in mind.”

For many years, I’ve practiced a flexible daily discipline, that Piglet would affirm: After laying down my book or turning off my British or continental mystery on television I end each day, remembering that for Jesus and the prophets, the day began at sundown.

  • First, I give thanks for the day
  • And I review the joys and sorrows of the day that is ending. Times I was near or far from God’s way in work, play, or relationships.
  • Then I think about the day to come – if I’m working on a book, lecture, or sermon, I spend a few minutes thinking about a phrase from the next day’s writing, trying to discern the main point, or nugget.
  • Finally, I dedicate the next day and the next day’s writing to God.
  • And go to sleep placing my life in God’s hands, trusting God with the future day and what I cannot control during the night or the day to come.

I’m really not that pious, but before dawn, I awaken with the Psalmist, chanting “this is the day that God has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it” and make an intention for the day ahead. (I do this quietly, so I won’t wake Kate up!) Then, I go downstairs, turn on the coffee maker and have a glass of water chased by a cup of coffee while I write, meditate, and then take a three mile walk through our Seven Locks neighborhood in Potomac.

This practice might be a bit much for some of us. But it helps me begin and end the day with focus and direction, and a sense of peace and creativity that lasts even when I look at the morning’s newsfeed! And, better yet, as a writer, I’ve never gotten writer’s block. I assume that once I make my nightly intention and commit it to God, my unconscious mind gets to work and does all the creative thinking I need while I’m asleep. And that’s better than AI!

Today’s scripture from Philippians celebrates the interplay of God’s intentionality and our own agency in embodying God’s Realm “on earth as it is in heaven” in our daily lives and here at Westmoreland.

First, comes Paul’s theological promise to the church at Philippi and to us at Westmoreland. Paul presents a vision of God’s work in the life of the community – “the good work that God has begun in our lives and congregation God will bring to fulfillment and it will produce a harvest of righteousness.” In theological terms, Paul is saying:

  • God is working in our lives and the life our church.
  • God seeks our well-being and supports our efforts in faithful life and ministry.
  • God invites us at Westmoreland to be God’s companions in producing a harvest of righteousness that will bring joy, healing, and peace to the world around us.

Good theology is practical and changes our lives and the world. From the vision of God’s loving and creative presence in our lives and at church comes our commitment to actions that reflect God’s dream for us and our world. What Covey might call the habits of highly effective congregants and congregations.

We each have a role in the body of Christ here at Westmoreland. We each have a vocation that is unique to us and essential to the well-being of this church. Paul tells the Philippians that life in community not only requires a commitment to prayer, but commitment to faithfulness, integrity, humility, and imitation of the sacrificial and relational mind of Christ. Have this mind – the mind of Christ – a generous spirit that looks beyond self-interest to community and world loyalty, that sacrifices for the greater good, listens as well as speaks, and prayerfully opens to divine wisdom moment by moment and for the long haul.

I believe that these words are spoken to us at Westmoreland as we commit ourselves to vital, creative, and transforming ministry for our community, nation, and planet. We are called to be an intentional people, people who put God’s vision in practice at home and at church, and as citizens of a troubled and polarized nation.

Here at Westmoreland, we have a lot to be thankful for – great friends over decades, a tradition of strong worship, music, and preaching, book groups, care for children’s spirituality, social action, care for the world and immigrants to our nation, and entertainment of great ideas. A wonderful fellowship time after church.

The well-being and vitality of Westmoreland is important now more than ever as we proclaim and embody a faithful alternative for seekers, refugees from evangelical Christianity, and people who want a thoughtful, activist, and global spirituality in contrast to the small god, small faith, small mindedness, and backward religion demonstrated at Rededicate 250 just six weeks ago. As we seek to be a home for all people: questioning people, undocumented people, immigrant people, people traumatized by bad religion, people of all races and spiritual identities, and people wanting something to believe in that will change their lives and inspire them to a life of generosity and service to this good earth in its wondrous diversity.

We are called to be an alternative community, to share an alternative prophetic message, to be a place of liberation, love, and affirmation, and hospitality.

While many people have described congregational leadership as similar to herding cats, trying to get the congregation to go in the same direction, despite our unique perspectives and proclivities, I believe that diversity that is found in heart-felt and open-spirited theology, life experience, and vision is a good thing provided we affirm our commitment to a wisdom greater than our own and to healing and transforming our church to serve the community and world.

This is where intention comes in. This is where vision and commitment come in, and where making our congregation a daily priority comes in. We all make a difference. Neither the church, nor our friends here, nor God can do without us. We are the hands and feet of God, as Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila asserts.

The question is: how do we walk by faithful commitment and enable our church to move forward as God’s companion in healing the earth and living toward a positive future for us and the world around us?

Let me suggest a few intentions for your daily life as Westmorelanders and citizens of God’s beloved, broken, and blessed nation and this good earth

First, pray – pray for our church, pray for its ministries, pray for its leadership daily.

Second, listen – be still and know that God is present in each moment of experience, and here at church. God is constantly giving us insights, hints, guidance, and if our eyes are open, we receive this wisdom in our relationships here at church and the words we hear and say to one another.

Third, cast a vision for Westmoreland, asking for guidance in using your gifts to support our congregation’s needs and vision.

Four, take a moment as you go to sleep and wake up each day with to make an affirmation about your gifts to Westmoreland, the world and those around you as well as affirmations related to your personal and professional projects.

Fifth, imagine what our church can be and then do everything possible to make this happen with your unique gifts.

Finally, look beyond yourself, listening to differing viewpoints, accepting diversity of roles and attitudes in the church, and promoting a greater good beyond your viewpoint.

We have work to do. The hosts of destruction, some of them claiming to be Christian, are all around us, seeking to rededicate our nation to a world dominated by wealth, power, exceptionalism, race, and gender and sexual uniformity, and looking backward when God calls us to go forward. We can present an alternative vision of a generous and open-spirited God and congregational life.

We have been placed providentially on Westmoreland Circle, one of the busiest intersections in the DC area, to live out our mission as a faithful, open-spirited, and justice-seeking church. This isn’t predestination or exceptionalism nor are we the only place where people can experience God’s vision. Placed on this circle for service, healing, and hospitality, we can let our light shine – and each of our little lights, intentionally given, shapes the future. We are not finished – we have good work ahead, good trouble to make, and a great God to share – the good work God has begun here at Westmoreland will grow with God’s grace and our agency, and it will be a harvest of righteousness, healing, love, and hospitality.

Glory Hallelujah! Thanks be to God! God’s truth goes marching on for this is the day that God has made and we Westmorelanders will rejoice and be glad in it! In Jesus’ name.

Amen.