Reflections from Irvington United Methodist Church
Here you will find random reflections on God, Jesus, the Spirit, and walking in faith. You might find short devotionals, sermon notes, and or other thoughts from our pastors to encourage and challenge your walk with the Lord.
Green Eggs and Ham
by: Denise Robinson
09/29/2022
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The Gospel in Children’s Stories: Green Eggs and Ham
2 Cor. 5:11-17; John 6:60-69
Before we dive into our sermon for this morning, here are a few Dr. Seuss trivia questions. What was Dr. Seuss’ real name? Theodor (Ted) Seuss Geisel. Was he really a doctor? No, but his father wanted him to be one, so he borrowed the title when he began to write. What was the first Dr. Seuss book to be published? And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. It was rejected 28 times before it
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The Very Hungry Caterpillar
by: Denise Robinson
09/18/2022
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The Gospel in Children’s Stories: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
John 6:35-40; Matthew 5:6
We are born hungry. In the most literal sense, one of the first things a newborn does, after its first cry, is eat. A baby doesn’t need to learn to cry when he or she is hungry, but it doesn’t take long for that same baby to learn that when it cries someone will come along with food. But hunger isn’t just about food. Hunger is defined as “having a strong desire or craving for something.”
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The Day the Crayons Quit
by: Denise Robinson
09/13/2022
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The Gospel in Children’s Stories: The Day the Crayons Quit
Philippians 3:12-14; 2 Timothy 4:1-8
Have you ever wanted to just quit? Stay in bed and pull the covers back over your head? Tell your employer to take your job and … look elsewhere. Run away from home. Well, in our non-Bible story that Lori read for us, The Day the Crayons Quit, Duncan has a problem: he just wants to color, but his crayons have sent him letters of complaint saying they have had enough and want to qu
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The Church
by: Denise Robinson
09/05/2022
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Wesley’s Greatest Hits: The Church
1 Corinthians 1:10-17; Ephesians 4:1-6
We’re in the last week of a sermon series called Wesley’s Greatest Hits, in which we’ve been examining some Wesleyan truths about faith as preached by the founder of Methodism. Thus far we have learned that in a word, the purpose of Christianity is salvation, that is the forgiveness of sin and the restoration of a right relationship with God; the means through which we are drawn to God is by God’s grac
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True Religion
by: Denise Robinson
08/29/2022
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Wesley’s Greatest Hits: True Religion
Matthew 5:13-16; 1 John 3:18
We’re in the fourth week of a sermon series called Wesley’s Greatest Hits, in which we’ve been examining some Wesleyan truths about faith as preached by the founder of Methodism. Thus far we have learned that in a word, the purpose of Christianity is salvation, that is the forgiveness of sin and the restoration of a right relationship with God; the means through which we are drawn to God is by God’s grace; an
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The Image of God
by: Denise Robinson
08/23/2022
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Wesley’s Greatest Hits: The Image of God
Genesis 1:26-27,31; Romans 5:12-21
If, as we learned from two of John Wesley’s sermons, that the word “salvation” sums up the purpose of Christianity and the word “grace” sums up our Wesleyan understanding of how God draws back into a right relationship with Him, we probably have unanswered questions. Of course, I think one of my finer qualities is that I always have questions! The one for this morning begins with, “Why?” Why does God
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The Means of Grace
by: Denise Robinson
08/16/2022
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Wesley’s Greatest Hits: The Means of Grace
Luke 18:1-7; Malachi 3:6-7
If there is one word that more than any other sums up Wesleyan theology, that word would be “grace.” While other pastors and theologians of his day preached of the wrath and judgment of God to frighten people into the pews of the churches, Wesley took a different approach. The grace of God, he said, should so overwhelm us that we respond willingly out of love. Which is not to say Wesley didn’t believe in a
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The Way of Salvation
by: Denise Robinson
08/08/2022
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Wesley’s Greatest Hits: The Way of Salvation
John 3:16-18; Ephesians 2:8-9
It seems, more and more, loaded words are all around us making us cautious about what we say and to whom. What’s a loaded word? The term is used to refer to a word or phrase that induces a strong emotional response and carries a positive or negative connotation beyond its literal meaning. Are we experiencing global warming or climate change or a shifting climate? Do we have bureaucrats and public serv
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Colossians: A New Life in Christ
by: Denise Robinson
08/01/2022
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A New Life in Christ
Colossians 3:1-17
For the past two weeks, we’ve been looking at lessons from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians. The letter was written to a church Paul neither started nor visited but, as we learned last week, he was responding to a report of false teaching in the church that went to the very core of the Christian faith: When it comes to salvation, is Jesus Christ enough? Paul opened his letter by commending the believers in Colossae for their
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Colossians: Rooted and Built Up
by: Denise Robinson
07/25/2022
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Rooted and Built Up
Colossians 2:6-15
The city of Colossae was one of three once-important cities in what was called Asia Minor, now known as south central Turkey. Situated in a valley, it was known for two characteristics: the first was its earthquakes and the second was the chalk formations that dotted the landscape. Despite these not-so-positive factors, Colossae was at one time wealthy – the land was rich pastureland for sheep making it a leading center for the woolen in
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The Promise of Our Faith
by: Denise Robinson
07/11/2022
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The Promise of Our Faith
John 1:6-13; Ephesians 1:3-14
For the past three weeks, we’ve examined our faith through the words of several of our great hymnwriters. The first week our focus was on the joy of our faith through the hymns of Philip Bliss who wrote the music to It Is Well with My Soul and the words, “Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life.” Two weeks ago, we thought about the importance of the word “grace” to our faith through the words of John Newton i
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The Freedom of Our Faith
by: Denise Robinson
07/04/2022
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The Freedom of Our Faith
John 8:31-36; Galatians 5:13-16
For the past two weeks, we’ve examined our faith through hymns. The first week our focus was on the joy of our faith through the hymns of Philip Bliss. Last week we thought about the importance that the single word “grace” has to our faith through the words of John Newton in perhaps the greatest hymn ever written, “Amazing Grace.” Today is July 3 and as Americans we our focus this weekend is on our nation’s birthday an
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The Grace of Our Faith
by: Denise Robinson
06/27/2022
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The Grace of Our Faith: John Newton
1 Timothy 1:12-17; Galatians 1:13-24
Last week, through the hymns of Philip Bliss, our focus was on the joy of our faith, those wonderful words of life and beauty that run throughout the Bible, particularly in the words of Jesus. Today’s focus is on a single word that forms the entire foundation for our faith: grace. Grace reminds us that we don’t have to work to earn God’s love, because love can’t be earned. Grace reminds us that we don’t
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The Joy of Our Faith
by: Denise Robinson
06/20/2022
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The Joy of Our Faith: Philip Bliss
Romans 5:1-5; Matthew 5:14
If you were asked to write a few words that best describe your faith, what words would you use? There are so many from which to choose. Perhaps you might focus on the act of creation and how faith begins with an understanding that we are created in God’s image. Or you might focus on the incredible love of Christ, on full display as he died on the cross for our sins. Then there’s the meaning and purpose faith gives
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Peace With Justice Sunday
by: Denise Robinson
06/13/2022
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Peace with Justice Sunday
Micah 6:6-8; Isa. 59:9-15 and 61:1-3, 8a
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of people and is not concerned about the social and economic conditions that can scar the soul is a religion waiting for the day to be buried.” Today is Peace with Justice Sunday. This was a difficult sermon to write because while I strongly believe in the power of prayer, it’s not enough to pray for peace and justic
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