Life Lessons: Miriam

Life Lessons: Miriam

“A Story of Redemption”

Exodus 1:22-2:10; Numbers 12:1-15; Micah 6:4

The past weeks we’ve been looking at the stories of people in the Old Testament whose lives provide lessons for us today. In most cases, we found that while we may have known something about their lives, we were lacking the complete picture. We may have known about Daniel and the lions’ den, but missed the fact that he was 80 years old when he faced that challenge. Or we knew about Jonah

Life Lessons: Jonah

Life Lessons: Jonah

“Beware Whales and Bushes”

Jonah 3:1-10; 4:1-11

Our series, Life Lessons, continues this morning with the story of Jonah. Last week we looked at the life of Daniel and discovered his story much deeper and richer than his encounter with lions in the lions’ den. We looked at the lions we face in life and how, by studying Daniel’s story, we can learn to face any lion through a faith that is fearless, persistent, and based on the constant presence of God in ou

Life Lessons: Daniel

Life Lessons: Daniel

“Facing Lions”

Daniel 1:1-7; 6:1-9

Our series, Life Lessons, continues this morning with the story of Daniel. Two weeks ago, we looked at Esther’s life and learned how, although seemingly absent, God worked behind the scenes to use her life in such a way that impacted others. Then last week, we jumped 40 years forward from Esther’s time to a man named Nehemiah, a Jew living and working in Persia who acted out of love for his country but never lost sight o

Life Lessons: Nehemiah

Life Lessons: Nehemiah

“For Love of Country”

In our look last week at the book of Esther, we were surprised to find God seemingly absent. There are no prayers, no prophets, no apparent presence of God in the lives of Esther or Mordecai; and yet, in the absence we see a pattern of God’s continual movement in the lives of God’s people. In contrast, however, from the very beginning of the book of Nehemiah God explodes from its pages. Esther was a Jew living a secret identity in

Life Lessons: Esther

Life Lessons: The Story of Esther

“Between a Rock and a Hard Place”

Esther 2:5-11; 9:26-28 (4:14)

 Have you ever faced a time in your life when things just didn’t seem to be going your way? A time when it seemed that things couldn’t get worse until they got worse. I suspect at one time or another we’ve all felt that way but for different reasons. Perhaps it was due to a death or illness, a financial hardship, a job situation, marital difficulties, problems with children – and

Be a Methodist: Why?

Be a Methodist: Why?

Romans 10:5-14; Acts 1:8

For the past four weeks we’ve been in a sermon series called Be a Methodist, and we’ve looked at several aspects of traditional Methodism as envisioned by our founder, John Wesley. A Methodist has caught the fire of the Holy Spirit, loves God, loves others, and follows Wesley’s three simple rules: do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God. But what, if any, makes Methodism unique? Aren’t all Christians supposed to do all the

Be a Methodist: Do No Harm, Do Good, Stay in Love with God

Be a Methodist: Do No Harm, Do Good, Stay in Love with God

Galatians 5:13-15, 6:7-10; Colossians 2:6-7 

From shortly after birth, we learn that there are rules to life. Rules taught to us by our parents, most of us by our mother. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. That one, if followed, can lead to a lot of silence. Eat your vegetables, they’re good for you. Why? Go play outside – said every mother who wants some privacy and quiet time. Look both way

Be a Methodist: Love Others

Be a Methodist: Love Others

1 Cor. 13:1-13; 1 John 3:11-18

What is it in Jesus that draws us away from our own natural desires, that makes us even entertain the notion of leaving all for his sake, to follow him in difficult times and even, for many throughout history, to death? It is his teaching? Those who heard him, according to John 7:46, said, “No man ever spoke like this man!” Is it the power of his miracles? Could it be perhaps the fact that unlike any of us, he was ab

Be a Methodist: Love God

Be a Methodist: Love God

Matthew 22:23-40; Romans 8:31-39

We know of John Wesley as an Anglican priest and the founder of Methodism, but did you know that except for a short two-year period in which he pastored his father’s church at Epworth when his father was ill, Wesley never pastored a local congregation? He was an itinerant preacher in the truest sense of the word, preaching thousands of sermons across England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland – and even coming to America o

Be a Methodist: Catch on Fire

Be a Methodist: Catch on Fire

Acts 1:6-14; John 16:5-15

If you’re a modern-day Methodist (or Catholic or Presbyterian or Baptist for that matter), you’re probably a little uncomfortable with Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. I wouldn’t say that we’re exactly comfortable with God or Jesus, but when it comes to the Spirit, we’re not sure what to think. For many, impressions come to mind of people speaking in tongues, saying things that seem gibberish and that we can’t understand,

Games We Play with God

Games We Play: With Ourselves and With God

James 4:1-10; Rev. 3:14-17

We’ve been looking at popular games we play and what they have to teach us about our faith, but this morning we’re going to turn the question around and look at games we play with God. Most of us like to play games: sports, TV game shows, board games, card games, computer games, party games. For some, games are a way of socializing, of getting to know other people, of relaxing. For others, games are a sour

Games We Play: Connect Four

Games We Play: Connect Four

Phil. 4:6-13; 2 Pet. 1:3-11

 We continue our sermon series this morning on Games We Play, looking at what popular games have to teach us about our faith. Today, our game is Connect Four, which was first introduced in 1974. In case you’re not familiar with it, Connect Four is a two-player game. It consists of a simple plastic grid with seven columns and six rows. The players take turns dropping discs or checkers into these columns trying to “connec

Games We Play: Sorry!

Games We Play: Sorry

Matthew 18:21-25; Jer. 31:31-34

Our sermon series, Games We Play, continues this week with the board game “Sorry!”, which was released in the UK in 1929. Something I never knew, but learned from Wikipedia, so it must be true, is that Sorry! and the U.S. game Parcheesi (released five years later in 1934), are both based on an ancient Indian game, Pachisi. All three games have similar rules. The goal is to get each of your four pieces out of “Start” and ar

Games We Play: Jenga

Games We Play: Jenga

Luke 6:47-49; Eph. 2:13-22

We are in a sermon series looking at games we play and how they relate to our faith. We began with Monopoly, the bestselling board game of all time, and then last week talked about the popular card – and computer – game, Solitaire. Today, we are focusing on Jenga. According to its official website, Jenga was created by Leslie Scott and was based on a game that evolved within her family in the early ‘70s using children’s wood bu

Games We Play: Solitaire

Games We Play: Solitaire

Heb, 10:23-24; Rom. 12:1-8; Acts 1:1-5, 12-14, 2:44-47

This Sunday, we continue exploring our faith, looking at games we play. Last week we looked at Monopoly; today’s game is Solitaire. It can be played with a deck of cards, on a computer, or even on most of our phones. The game of Solitaire first appeared in 1765 in Great Britain, where it was known by the name, Patience; it may have been played earlier in France under the name, Success. Napoleon r