Camden First United Methodist Church

This week we will look at the timing of God's Covenants with humanity. We operate in chronological time but God operates in "kairos" time. What does that mean?

The fourth covenant God made was with the unlikely king of Israel, King David. Today, we explore what God created kings to do versus what God expected kings to end up doing and God was right. Power corrupts even those near to the heart of God. 

Today our Redemption Story moves to Moses and the covenant God made with the Hebrew people at Sinai.

God began God's plan of redemption with one man, Noah, but now God moves to one family - headed by a man named Abram.

Today we look at the Noah story through the lens of redemption and covenant.

Today we celebrate Baptism of the Lord's Sunday and Holy Communion. Isaiah 43:1-7 reminds of to remember who we are.

Today as we celebrate Epiphany, we come to the end of Paul's letter to the church at Philippi and discover that Paul has had his own epiphany!

Today we learn why Paul was writing this letter to the church but it is a minor point compared to his encouragement to lead a life worthy of the gospel and to be joyful!

In the third chapter of Philippians, Paul provides his credentials. If our salvation depended upon our credentials, Paul would be at the head of the line. Credentials provide certainty, not faith. Paul had to let go of certainty to create space to grow spiritually. We do, too.

In the second chapter of Philippians, Paul reminds us who we follow. We follow a God who humbled himself, took on human flesh, and lived among us. As he came to live humbly among us, so we should live humbly with each other. After all, we are all being refined.

This morning we begin a new series with Paul's letter to the church at Philippi. This is a love letter to this church and today offers hope for us all.

Every sermon series on Leviticus should conclude with a sermon on Jubilee, found in the 25th Chapter of Leviticus. We do not have evidence that this command was practiced but if it had been, it would have been revolutionary. This idea of God making everything right every fifty years was not abandoned. It evolved into a eschatological promise that we call the Day of the Lord or the Second Coming of...

I broke a 25 year streak and spoke about election politics from the pulpit this week. Why? Because not talking is not leading us to a better understanding. In humility, I admit there were legitimate concerns shaping the election that did not have my attention. There are legitimate concerns others have that are also being ignored.  We have legitimately elected a president by popular vote and electo...

Chapter 17-26 in the Book of Leviticus is known as the Holiness Code. Chapter 17 spells out the sacredness of blood as life and Chapter 18 outlines the sexual ethics of the time. We will spend most of our time in Chapter 19 which reads like an extended version of the Ten Commandments but it is really about healthy communities. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all community based faiths. We wal...

Have you ever used the term "scapegoat"? Did you know it comes from the 16th chapter of Leviticus? Let's explore the depth of God's mercy and all that God has done for us through Jesus Christ!

Today we pick up Leviticus 11 that tells us what we can eat and what we must avoid. But then we go to the four chapters we would rather skip - the chapters on body fluids and skin irritations. But can we learn something from the discussion of clean and unclean? Yes, we can.

This has been such a difficult week that I choose to interupt our series on Leviticus to talk about suffering. We used the Lectionary texts for today of Psalm 22 & Job 23.

In today's scripture, Moses ordains Aaron and Aaron's sons as the priests who will keep the Tabernacle holy for the presence of God. By the first century, the priests and religious leaders had stopped being the people's representatives to God. Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king, and everything we understand about God should be witnessed through him.

We previously looked at the standard sacrificies of burnt offering, grain offering and peace offering. Today, we look at offering regarding sin and guilt. Sin is attitudes, behaviors, and speech that are out of line with God's values. Leviticus differieniates between unintentional sins, intentional sins, and what we might call high-handed or plotted sins. The sacrifice depends on who committed the...

This is the second sermon in our series on Leviticus. There are twenty-seven chapters in Leviticus and ten of them are on worship. God is declaring that God cannot be worshiped as other gods are worship. Offering sacrifices are one of the main components of ancient worship and the first six chapters of Leviticus cover the instructions for sacrifice. Today we will look at the voluntary sacrifices -...

This is the first week in our series on the Book of Leviticus. Why is there a book of Leviticus? It is the resolution to an issue in the Sinai wilderness. How does God live among God's people when God's holiness is so powerful. Leviticus is the temporary answer. Times will change but God's holiness is unchanging.

How will the world find out about Jesus. The Church. We are called to be the Light and the Salt. If we are doing it right, everyone should want to know Jesus.

Every great Olympic athlete has a place of training. It is there that they receive the best coaching, the best nutrition, the best nutrition, and the best encouragement. They will compete in a different arena, but at their place of training, they are learning and preparing. For those who follow Jesus, the church is our training facility.

Paul uses the metaphor of the body in speaking about the church. We find this in Romans, I Corinthians, and in Ephesians. He could have used family or team or other metaphors but he uses the body. So let's explore what that means.

Last week, we talked about the joy, the hope, and the promise of God's Kingdom. It is important to remember that because the church is a sign of that kingdom.