Canton United Methodist Church

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47 & 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Series: Devoted The church in Acts devoted itself to four practices that we are exploring together. One of them was communion. Why is this simple practice of eating bread and drinking grape juice (or wine if you're from a different denomination) so important? In it we remember all that Jesus did and taught, and as Paul said to the Corinthians, i...

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47 & 2 Timothy 3:16 Series: Devoted The early church devoted itself to four key practices: the apostles' teaching, communion, fellowship, and prayer. How could recapturing these four practices build our faith? This week, we focused on our devotion to the apostles' teaching. We do not have the apostles with us, but we do have their teaching through the Bible. How can we dev...

Scripture: Mark 10:35-45 James and John ask Jesus a series of questions designed to make them the greatest of the disciples in God's kingdom. Jesus uses the opportunity as a time to teach about what really brings greatness in God's kingdom, and unfortunately for the disciples, greatness does not come from where they think it does. True greatness is not found in power or prestige but in being full-...

Scripture: Hebrews 4:12-16 While Pastor Clay was at DakYouth, a conference youth event, Eric stepped into the pulpit to share message about the importance of scripture and the faithfulness of God. As we go through life, may we learn to love scripture and find in it the assurance of God's presence.  Connect with the Canton UMC!

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4-7 & 20-25 The Book of Deuteronomy is Moses' final speech to the Hebrew people before he passes on the leadership of Israel to Joshua and succumbs to death. In this last lecture, Moses recounts all that has happened, the entire faith journey that the Israelites have been on, all that God has done. And his imperative to the people is to pass it on. As we honored our 50...

Pastor Clay and Eric are back again for an episode of the Cut for Time Podcast focusing on the laws God had given the people around worship and what we experience nowadays. Is this what God intended? They also talked about Pastor Clay's message from Sunday and the provision of God. How have you experienced God's provision? Connect with the Canton UMC!

Scripture: Numbers 11:1-11, 31-32 Series: Moses, The Reluctant Prophet After all the drama of The Exodus and God giving Israel the law, the only thing left to do for Israel is to continue moving from Egypt back to the Promised Land. God is already providing them with manna bread, but the Israelites are getting a bit hangry. When they cry out for something more, God provides in dramatic fashion and...

On Sunday, Pastor Clay talked about God giving Moses/Israel the law, beginning with the Ten Commandments. But rather than dig in through all ten of the commandments in one sermon, we focused on the concept of the law. Eric and Pastor Clay met up to talk about the details of the Ten Commandments. What commandment do you struggle to follow? Connect with the Canton UMC!

Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17 Series: Moses, the Reluctant Prophet When we left off the story last week, Moses was preparing to go to Pharoah to demand freedom for the Israelites. That eventually does come to pass, but the Israelites were not freed to create a free-for-all; they were set free to continue the covenantal faithfulness from which they came. In order to guide them, God gave the ten command...

Scripture: Exodus 3:1-11 Series: Moses, the Reluctant Prophet Moses' name has a deeply profound meaning in the story of his life and leadership, which is "Drawn Out." He was drawn out of the waters of the Nile River, which is the reason why he has given that name, but God kept drawing him out further and further. How might God continue this work through you? Connect with the Canton UMC!

And we're back! Hold onto your hats for this one, friends, as Pastor Clay and Eric recap an entire summer of preaching and dig into Pastor Clay's sermon from Sunday, which started our series on Moses. His birth was wild, and clearly God is up to something. But the story is just beginning. Connect with the Canton UMC!

Scripture: Exodus 2:1-10 Series: Moses, The Reluctant Prophet This week we began another one of our deep-dive character studies of a biblical hero designed to help us see that these heroes of our faith have stories that can and should impact us. Today, the heroes were not necessarily Moses but those who helped him be born in a time when it was not safe for a Hebrew baby boy to be born. With these...

Scripture: Ephesians 5:8-15 Series: Reflecting the Source Do you look like someone in your family? Is the resemblance strong? In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul told the Ephesians that because of Jesus they had become a part of the Lord's People and share a resemblance with one another and with all Christians. We are people who resemble the light of God inwardly and outwardly! Shine...

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16 Series: Reflecting the Source From God creating the light to Jesus shining the light, we are focusing further in on how we then reflect Jesus' light into the world. Our joy and responsibility as followers of Christ is to be the light for others so that they can discover God's love in their own lives. Who needs a little bit of light today? Connect with the Canton UMC!

Scripture: John 8:12-15 Series: Reflecting the Source It is comforting to know and even better to feel God's presence in the midst of dark times in life. But sometimes we need more than just being comforted; we need help finding the right next step. Thank God for Jesus who is the light of the world and shows us the way out of darkness and into God's marvelous light! Connect with the Canton UMC !

Scripture: Genesis 1:1-5, 31 Series: Reflecting Our Source Despite all that divides us in the world today, one thing we can probably all agree with is that we know what it is like to be in darkness. Life is hard and strange at times, which means it is good that we follow a God who said, "Let there be light" and who truly is light. May you find God's light in any darkness you experience.  Connect w...

Scripture: Galatians 5:1, 19-23 Series: Cultivating Holiness Pastor Clay admitted that he wanted to skip talking about self-control because self-control is not easy. While that is true, it is also too important to skip or downplay. Without self-control the rest of the fruit of the Spirit might not grow in our lives as we are distracted by other good things (at best) or so lost in bad things (at wo...

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23 & Matthew 11:25-30 Series: Cultivating Holiness It is becoming a recurring theme in this message series, but gentleness as a fruit of the Spirit has a far larger definition than we first may think. We hear gentleness and think of meekness (or even weakness). If we are going to be gentle, surely we must become a doormat for the sake of the gospel, right? Actually th...

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23 & Deuteronomy 32:1-6 Series: Cultivating Holiness When we think of our own faithfulness, it always has to be weighed against God's faithfulness. And even though we can and will grow in faithfulness, it will never match God's, and it shouldn't. But we should be faithful to God and follow through with our commitments to others. How can you grow in faithfulness today?...

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23 & Luke 10:25-37 Series: Cultivating Holiness As we continue our look at the Fruit of the Spirit, we are looking at goodness and the motivation behind doing good. Why do we do the good things we do?  Connect with the Canton UMC!

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23 & Matthew 18:15-17 Series: Cultivating Holiness What comes to mind when you think of kindness? Does a particular person come to mind? Kindness to our friends or even strangers is a valid part of how kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. But the kindness we are called to grow is even bigger. How does kindness work with people we don't care for? Connect with the Canton...

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23 & Jonah 1:1-17 Series: Cultivating Holiness While Pastor Clay focused on church camp, Eric Stearns stepped in to talk about patience at the end of a week that required much of it. What can we learn about God and ourselves while we are waiting? Connect with the Canton UMC!

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23 & John 14:16-27 Series: Cultivating Holiness There are all kinds of opinions out there about what "peace" looks like. Usually someone's definition of peace includes the product they're trying to sell you. But it is not so with peace that is a fruit of the Spirit, or the peace that Jesus provides for his disciples. What kind of peace are you looking for?  Connect wi...

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23 & Isaiah 55:10-13 Series: Cultivating Holiness As we continue looking at the Fruit of the Spirit, we take a look at joy. The Prophet Isaiah proclaimed a joyous message to God's people when he said that God's intention was for them to return to Israel, and that they could trust Isaiah's words because God intends to fulfill every promise that is made. How does knowin...

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23 & John 13 Series: Cultivating Holiness In the life of the Church, we have been through so many big, holy moments that Ordinary Time can feel like a real let down. Yet this is the perfect time to dig into our lives of faith and grow closer to God. When we do, our lives produce what the Apostle Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit. May this summer be a time of cultivat...