Warrenton United Methodist Church

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered if God might be leading you in a direction you never expected? In this message, Glen Surles explores how God reroutes our lives, sometimes through dramatic moments, other times through quiet nudges and unexpected people. Drawing on Paul's conversion, his own journey of faith, and the people who helped guide him along the way, Glen reminds us that God&ap...

Send us Fan Mail This skit, performed by four members of the congregation, follows a delightfully chaotic women’s auxiliary meeting where tradition, committee delays, and comic misunderstandings threaten to bury every good idea. Newcomer Cynthia keeps asking the questions no one wants to answer: Why do plans endlessly go to committee, and when will the group serve its community? The laughter opens...

Send us Fan Mail What if the small choices we make every day are shaping a life far more meaningful than we realize? In this message, Pastor Ashley explores the wisdom of Proverbs 22 and challenges us to look beyond wealth, accomplishments, and status to what truly matters. Through the everyday investments of our time, energy, relationships, and faith, we shape not only who we become but also the...

Send us Fan Mail Words have the power to hurt, to heal, and to shape how we see ourselves and others. In this message, Pastor Ashley explores how even well-intentioned comments can leave lasting wounds, often touching places of pain we know nothing about. Through Scripture and personal experience, she reminds us that we are all loved, worthy, and enough in God’s eyes. We may not be able to change...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Ashley started with optical illusions, including a moving box and thirteen animals hiding in one picture, and then made a confession: her phone had collected 24 notifications in the few minutes she’d been preaching. Her calendar looked like an optical illusion of its own. Her point is that most of us glance at life instead of really seeing it. Turning to Proverbs 4, she sai...

Send us Fan Mail We have more information at our fingertips than any generation before us, yet information alone does not make us wise. As we begin our journey through Proverbs, Pastor Ashley reminds us that wisdom begins with recognizing that God sees the whole picture when we can see only a piece. Rather than simply following our instincts, relying on others, or turning immediately to Google or...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when life leads us into a wilderness we never expected? Pastor Ashley looks at the Israelites’ journey through the desert and the familiar pattern of need, fear, complaint, and God’s provision. Their story reminds us how easily difficult circumstances can make us forget God’s faithfulness. Yet wilderness seasons do not mean God has abandoned us. Even when we cannot se...

Send us Fan Mail In Jonah, we see a God who is gracious, compassionate, and committed to changing hearts, including our own. Pastor Ashley reminds us that sometimes the people who frustrate us most are the very people God is calling us to see differently. Like Jonah and the missionary who learned to “put on love,” we are invited to pause, pray, and let God shape our response. God’s grace and mercy...

Send us Fan Mail We all come to crossroads in life. Sometimes they are big and difficult, and other times they are quieter moments when we simply wonder, “What’s next?” Drawing from Jeremiah 6:16, Lori Bakewell reminds us that we don’t have to rush into the next decision. Instead, we can pause, be still, pray, and ask God to show us the good way. Listening for God’s direction may take patience, re...

Send us Fan Mail What does it mean to truly “speak life” to the people around us? As Pastor Ashley closes the series, she reminds us that following Jesus is about more than being right. It is about how we love, forgive, listen, and care for one another. Matthew 18 invites us to seek those who feel lost, care for those who are vulnerable, and have the courage to work toward reconciliation when rela...

Send us Fan Mail Lindsay Bennington reflects on her journey from simply attending church to discovering what it truly means to feel at home in a church family. After growing up Catholic and later finding a welcoming Methodist congregation, Lindsay eventually realized that attending Warrenton United Methodist Church wasn’t enough. Through Bible study, volunteering, worship, service, and meaningful...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Ashley invites us to grow gratitude by surrendering our need for control and trusting God’s authority. Drawing from James 4, she reminds us that life is fragile and unpredictable, like a mist that quickly disappears. While planning is valuable, we must recognize that our time, abilities, opportunities, and future belong to God. Using the image of handing Jesus the keys to o...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Ashley’s sermon calls us to confront bitterness before it shapes our words and relationships. Envy, wounded pride, and the desire to feel right can feed resentment, but God’s wisdom offers another way: humility, gentleness, mercy, and peace. Using Moses’ quiet response to criticism and Tim Brown’s choice to help someone who had hurt him, she shows that strength is not retal...

Send us Fan Mail In week two of the “Speak Life” series, Pastor Ashley explores the power of our words, focusing on the harm caused by gossip, rumors, and hearsay. Drawing from Scripture and the story of “Mildred,” she reminds us that seemingly harmless observations can spread like wildfire, damaging relationships, reputations, families, and communities. Pastor Ashley identifies three motivations...

Send us Fan Mail In the first message of the Speak Life series, Pastor Ashley reminds us that our words carry far more power than we often realize. Drawing from James 3, she invites us to consider how the words we speak reveal the condition of our hearts. While criticism and careless speech can damage relationships and diminish others, words shaped by God’s wisdom can bring hope, encouragement, an...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered, “How do I know if this is God’s voice or just my own thoughts?” In this powerful conclusion to the Experiencing God series, Pastor Ashley explores the challenge of recognizing God’s will and learning to trust God’s direction. Through stories, Scripture, and practical wisdom, she reveals how our thoughts can shape our actions and how God’s truth can become t...

Send us Fan Mail n week two of the Experiencing God series, Pastor Ashley reminds us that while Scripture reveals many attributes of God, the defining truth is that God is love . Drawing from 1 John 4, she encourages believers to evaluate every teaching, opinion, and even their own actions by one question: Is there love in it? If not, it does not reflect God’s character. She explains that although...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Ashley begins the Experiencing God series by inviting us to move beyond ideas about God into a genuine relationship with God. Drawing from Jesus’ invitation to “ask, seek, and knock” in Matthew’s Gospel, she reminds us that faith grows through persistent prayer, honest questions, and intentional time with God. Rather than relying on our own strength, we are called to humbly...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Ashley concluded the B.L.E.S.S. series by focusing on the power of our personal story. Drawing from John 9, she reflected on the healing of the man born blind, whose simple testimony, “I was blind, but now I see,” became a witness to God’s work. She reminded us that sharing our faith is not about having all the answers or winning debates. It is about telling others how Jesu...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Ashley’s sermon centered on Jesus’ example of washing the disciples’ feet, reminding us that true greatness is found in humble service. Through personal stories of cleaning college bathrooms and the inspiring ministry of Oni Johns in Memphis, she illustrated how simple acts of service can create “world-changing shifts” in both ourselves and others. She challenged the congre...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Ashley’s sermon, part of the B.L.E.S.S. series, focused on the transformative power of sharing meals as a way to love neighbors and reflect Christ’s ministry. Building on previous weeks’ themes of prayer and listening, she emphasized that Jesus often used meals to create belonging, build relationships, and reveal God’s love. Drawing from her own experience at Warrenton UMC’...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Ashley’s sermon focused on the “L” in B.L.E.S.S.— Listen —as a practical way to follow Jesus and love others. She emphasized that while life and people are complicated, listening is a simple yet powerful act of faith. True listening means giving someone our full attention without interrupting, fixing, or preparing our response. Using examples from her own life, a missionary...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Ashley launched the new sermon series Bless by encouraging the congregation to rethink evangelism. Drawing from the story of Zacchaeus and the book Bless , she emphasized that sharing faith is less about converting people and more about building genuine relationships and being a blessing to others. Jesus modeled this approach by befriending people, meeting their needs, and...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Ashley’s sermon uses her poor sense of direction as a metaphor for the human tendency to become spiritually lost. Reflecting on Isaiah 43:16-19, she explains how the Israelites’ exile resulted from relying on themselves rather than God, yet God’s faithfulness remained unchanged. Through biblical examples and personal stories from church members, she illustrates how God cont...

Send us Fan Mail Rev. David Lucey’s Pentecost sermon focused on how the Holy Spirit works differently in each person and within each church community. Using readings from Acts, John, and Corinthians, he described both the dramatic coming of the Spirit at Pentecost and the quieter, personal experience of Jesus breathing the Spirit onto the disciples. He shared personal stories about faith, includin...