Bozeman United Methodist Church Sermon Podcast

I’ve Been Meaning to Ask… What Do You Need? Mark 10:46–52 | Rev. Zach Bechtold When someone shares what they’re going through, how often do we start offering answers before we’ve finished listening? In this message, Pastor Zach explores Jesus’ encounter with Bartimaeus and the dignity of being invited to name what we need. Drawing on lessons from his days selling nuts and bolts, Zach reflects on h...

I’ve Been Meaning to Ask… Where Do You Hurt? | 1 Samuel 1:3–18 “How are you?” is a question we ask all the time. But how often do we make room for the real answer? In Hannah’s story, we meet someone carrying years of pain. Those closest to her see that she is hurting, yet struggle to hear what she needs. When Hannah pours out her heart to God, she asks to be seen and remembered. This week, Pastor...

In the opening message of our series,  I’ve Been Meaning to Ask… , Pastor Zach explores the question, “Where are you from?” Through John 1:35–51 and Nathanael’s assumptions about Jesus of Nazareth, we consider how easily we mistake knowing where someone has lived for truly knowing their story. Jesus invites us to “come and see”—to move beyond assumptions, ask another question, listen with curiosit...

In this Youth Sunday message, Rin Stearns and the youth of BUMC reflect on John 21:1–17, where the risen Jesus meets weary disciples beside the water and welcomes them to breakfast around a charcoal fire. Through Scripture and personal stories, they remind us that faith is formed in community—through honest questions, shared meals, second chances, and the people who walk beside us. Around Christ’s...

Camp BUMC: Trail Mix Faith | Luke 10:1–9 Faith was never meant to be a solo journey. When Jesus sends out seventy-two followers, he sends them two by two—reminding us that sharing God’s love depends not on one person having every gift, but on a community willing to journey together. In this week’s Camp BUMC sermon, Pastor Zach explores what ultrarunning, camping, and a bowl of trail mix can teach...

In a culture that treats exhaustion as a virtue, Jesus offers a different invitation: “Come away and rest for a while.” Yet when the disciples’ retreat is interrupted by a hungry crowd, Jesus responds with compassion—not panic, shame, or the demand to do more. In this opening message of Camp BUMC, Pastor Zach explores rest as a holy act of trust: trusting that our worth is not measured by producti...

In the conclusion of  The Comforting Whirlwind , we turn to Job 42:1–6 and discover that restoration does not mean replacing what was lost or pretending grief never happened. Job receives no tidy explanation for his suffering. Instead, his understanding of God widens, harmful theology is confronted, relationships begin to heal, and a community returns to help him rebuild. Job’s story reminds us th...

In this message from  The Comforting Whirlwind , we come to the moment Job has been waiting for: God finally speaks from the whirlwind. But God does not offer Job the explanation he longs for. There is no tidy answer for suffering, grief, or the questions that stay with us throughout our lives. Instead, God opens Job’s eyes to a world wider, wilder, and more mysterious than the small explanations...

Where Is God? The Long Silence What do we do when we cry out to God and hear only silence? In this sermon from  The Comforting Whirlwind  series, we sit with Job in the painful space between prayer and response. Through Job’s honest lament—and the story of a grieving mother who stood in the street throwing rocks and shouting her prayers—we explore a faith spacious enough to hold anger, doubt, grie...

The Comforting Whirlwind: Unhelpful Friends—When Theology Hurts Job’s friends begin by offering exactly what he needs: they show up, sit beside him in the ashes, and remain silent. But when their need to explain Job’s suffering becomes stronger than their willingness to listen, their comfort becomes another source of pain. In this sermon on Job 4:1–11, Pastor Zach reflects on the harm caused by re...

What does faith look like when life no longer makes sense? In this opening sermon from  The Comforting Whirlwind , Pastor Zach begins a journey through the book of Job—a story that makes room for grief, anger, doubt, protest, and the questions we are often afraid to say aloud. Job’s suffering is not punishment, and his faithfulness does not protect him from pain. When his world falls apart, Job do...

Jesus and the woman at the well in John 4 and confront one of the heaviest burdens many of us carry: shame. Shame tells us that we are broken, unworthy, or beyond the reach of grace. Yet when Jesus meets this woman, he knows her whole story without using it against her. He does not condemn her, diminish her, or make shame the center of their conversation. Instead, he offers her living water—grace...

In this week’s message, guest preacher Rev. Dan Wanders reflects on Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:12–14 and invites us to consider what it means to walk the narrow way. The way of Jesus is not always the easiest road, the widest path, or the choice that draws the largest crowd. It is the way of love, humility, mercy, and faithful attention to how we treat one another. Through the familiar words of the...

In this week’s message from our  Unraveled  series, we turn to Acts 9 and the conversion of Saul. Before Saul becomes Paul, before his words shape churches and communities of faith, he has a backstory. He is certain he is right, convinced he is being faithful, and yet his certainty causes real harm. On the road to Damascus, grace interrupts him, stops him, opens his eyes, and begins to lead him to...

In this sermon from our  Unraveled  series, we turn to Matthew 14:22–33 and the story of Peter stepping out of the boat and sinking beneath the waves. Peter’s story reminds us that faith is not always steady, certain, or untouched by fear. Sometimes we step forward with courage, only to realize how deep the water is and how strong the wind has become. But this story is not simply about doubt, and...

Absolutely — here’s a podcast description for Betty’s sermon: Unraveled: Journey to Joy | Betty Merta This week, Betty Merta begins our  Unraveled  sermon series with Sarah’s story and her own journey toward joy. Sarah’s life did not unfold the way she expected. She carried disappointment, frustration, waiting, and an impossible promise from God that sounded almost too good to believe. And yet, ov...

In the final week of  The Holy Ordinary , Pastor Zach reflects on Romans 12:9–18 and the simple, powerful truth that love looks like something. Love is more than a feeling, more than an idea, and more than something we talk about. Love becomes visible in the way we honor one another, welcome strangers, share joy and sorrow, refuse to repay harm with harm, and practice peace as best we can. Through...

In this sermon from our  Holy Ordinary  series, Pastor Zach reflects on Galatians 5:22–25 and the fruit of the Spirit. Following Pentecost, we ask: if the Spirit sets ordinary lives on fire, what does that fire begin to grow in us? Through stories from youth and college ministry, we are reminded that faith does not have to be dramatic to be real, and holiness is not something we perform to prove o...

On Pentecost, the Spirit shows up with wind and fire—but not to make ordinary people less ordinary. The Spirit comes to remind them, and us, that God’s grace is poured out on all people. In this sermon, Pastor Zach reflects on the beauty of ordinary faith, the power of being seen and heard, and the way Pentecost invites us to stop chasing spiritual fireworks and start paying attention to where gra...

In this week’s sermon, we continue our  Holy Ordinary  series with Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and the invitation to love God with our whole selves—not just on Sunday, but in the everyday rhythms of life. On Graduation Sunday, Pastor Zach reflects on the wisdom we would share with our younger selves, the faith we hope to pass on, and what it means to practice God’s presence at home, on the road, in our conv...

The Holy Ordinary: Breakfast on the Shore In this week’s message from John 21:1–14, Pastor Zach continues the  Holy Ordinary  series by looking at the risen Christ’s invitation to the disciples: “Come and have breakfast.” After a long night of empty nets, uncertainty, and weariness, Jesus meets them on the shore not with shame or a lecture, but with grace, presence, bread, and fish. This sermon in...

This week, BUMC Youth Director Rin Stearns brings a powerful message from Genesis 16:1–13 and the story of Hagar, one of the most unseen people in scripture. Through Hagar’s encounter with God in the wilderness, Rin reminds us that God does not look past those who have been ignored, harmed, or pushed to the margins. God sees, listens, names, and blesses. In this sermon, we are invited to consider...

Holy Ordinary: Wisdom Sets a Table Proverbs 9:1–6 In this sermon from our  Holy Ordinary: Meeting God After Easter  series, we explore the invitation of Woman Wisdom in Proverbs 9. Wisdom does not begin with a lecture or a test; she begins with hospitality. She builds a house, prepares a feast, sets a table, and invites people to come in and live differently. Together, we reflect on the kind of wi...

In this week’s sermon from our  Holy Ordinary: Meeting God After Easter  series, we turn to Exodus 3:1–12 and the story of Moses at the burning bush. What begins as an ordinary day in the wilderness becomes a holy encounter, reminding us that God often meets us not outside our daily lives, but right in the middle of them. Together, we reflect on what it means to stand on holy ground, to recognize...

What does faith look like after Easter? In this opening sermon of our new series,  Holy Ordinary: Meeting God After Easter , we turn to  Micah 6:6–8  and the simple, challenging call at the heart of discipleship: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with God. “Faith in Motion” reminds us that following Jesus is not just about what we believe, but how we live each day. Grounded in...