Good Friday isn't tidy. It's messy. It's heavy. And it asks something radical of us.

In this Good Friday homily from Oceanside Sanctuary, we reflect on Jesus' true test - not in the desert, but in a garden, surrounded by people ready to fight for him. Faced with real power, Jesus made a choice that still shakes the world: the choice of love over control, vulnerability over violence.

Too often, we've been told that Jesus died because we are inherently bad. But what if Good Friday isn't about guilt - it's about revealing the heart of God? What if it's not about our personal failures, but about the way humanity keeps choosing power over compassion?

In this message, we wrestle with the meaning of the "cup" Jesus accepted, why his death matters, and what it truly means to follow him in a world obsessed with domination and fear.

Released a couple of Fridays late - but maybe right on time for all of us still trying to choose love over power.

This teaching was recorded on Friday, April 18th, 2025 at The Oceanside Sanctuary Church (OSC) in Oceanside, CA. To learn more about our community or to support the work we do, visit us at https://oceansidesanctuary.org.

Welcome to The Collective Table, where we celebrate the intersections of Jesus, justice, and joy! This podcast is brought to you by The Oceanside Sanctuary Church. Each week, we bring our listeners a recording of our weekly Sunday teaching at Oceanside Sanctuary, which ties scripture into the larger conversations happening in our community, congregation and podcast. We’re glad you’re here - thanks for listening.

This week, guest preacher Larry Warner brings us a message entitled "Cultivating Awareness" which is based on the scripture found in Psalm 139:23-24.

This teaching was recorded on Sunday, April 27th, 2025 at The Oceanside Sanctuary Church (OSC) in Oceanside, CA. To learn more about our community or to support the work we do, visit us at https://oceansidesanctuary.org.

Welcome to this bonus re-release episode from The Collective Table Podcast as a part of Season 10, The 50.5%. During this season of the podcast, we have been exploring how women make up more than half of the population - 50.5%, to be exact - and yet, their stories, bodies, and wisdom have too often been silenced, sidelined, or spiritualized out of the frame. For this special re-release, we're honored to return to a soul-stirring conversation with Emmy Award winner Lyvonne Briggs.

Lyvonne is a body- and sex-positive womanist spiritualist - writer, preacher, pastor, and prophet. In this episode, she shares with former hosts Chelsea and Dana the deep truths behind her book Sensual Faith: The Art of Coming Home to Your Body. Together, they explore what it means to honor the sacredness of our physical selves, especially in a world that has taught so many of us - especially women and femmes - to distrust or disconnect from our bodies.

This episode speaks directly to the heart of 50.5%: What does it look like to become whole again when the world - and sometimes even our faith traditions - have split our very selves apart? Lyvonne offers a theology rooted in freedom, pleasure, and coming home to yourself.

Content Note: This conversation includes mature language as well as themes of sex and sensuality. Listener discretion is advised, particularly for younger audiences.

Learn more about Lyvonne’s powerful work: https://lyvonnep.com/
Support her on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/lyvonnep