Sermon Blog

How often have we used the excuse, among many others, when asked to do something, that “we’re not an expert,” “we’re not trained,” “we don’t know what to do,” “someone else could do it better,” and so on?  Those are the excuses that we are going to attack this week as we consider our vow of service. We have been journeying A Disciple’s Path seeking ways that living out the membership vows of the United Methodist Church can actually help us to grow in our relationship with Christ and become better, stronger, closer disciples…more Christ-like in our lives. We considered how prayer , especially as we pray The Lord’s Prayer is not so much about changing God, as allowing God to change us. We considered how being present , with one another allows us to help one another learn, practice loving, helps us hold one another accountable, it provides us with one another for encouragement and support. We considered, last week, how giving (all we can) —in the ways of John Wesley, after...

Having a yard sale makes you think, doesn’t it?  How many of us have had yard sales, and as we set items out on the tables, blankets, or just out in the yard or driveway, we stop and think about the things we are setting out.  We think about how badly we had wanted those things when we purchased them, how much we thought that we would use them…we think of how much money we may have spent on them…and we think of how little use we actually got out of them, or at least how little use we have gotten out of them lately. Maybe we’re not yard sale kind of people…we don’t go to yard sales, we don’t have yard sales.  Maybe we just decided it is time to organize or clean out the attic.  Maybe we are doing something noble like looking for some things to donate to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or Trollinger’s Treasures.  Yet, just like the yard salers, we climb up into the attic and we stare at the stuff we have accumulated that we just do not use anymore, some of it st...

Most of us know the hymns…we remember the words that have flowed down to us from decades gone by: Shall we gather at the river where bright angel feet have trod, with its crystal tide forever flowing by the throne of God? Yes, we’ll gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river; gather with the saints at the river that flows by the throne of God. or maybe this one I was standing by my window, on one cold and cloudy day when I saw that hearse come rolling for to carry my mother away. Will the circle be unbroken by and by, Lord, by and by? There’s a better home a-waiting in the sky, Lord, in the sky. or maybe this one When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, and the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair; when the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, and the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there. When the roll is called up yonder, When the roll is called up yonder...

There is an issue that many of us struggle with…when we have to pray aloud in a public setting, whether it is one on one with an individual or whether it is in front of a whole group, many of us grasp at how to pray.  There are many formats out there, including the ACTS model of praying that has us begin with “adoration.” “Adoration” would be the way we address and praise God for who God is…such as “Almighty Father,” “Eternal God,” or “Loving Creator.”  There are innumerous other address as well, many that we could find on a quick browsing of the psalms.  Within the ACTS format of praying our next move is to “confession.”  “Confession” is pretty straightforward, it is coming before God and confessing that we are a sinner, confession how we have fallen short of who God would have us be.  Then we come before God with “thanksgiving,” revealing to God our gratefulness for all that God has already done for us.  Then finally we bring before God our “supplicat...