From The Pulpit of DUMC

Sermon Take Home Notes • Choose trust over fear. Fear can keep us from responding to God’s call. • Use what God has entrusted to you. Your time, resources, and faith can make a difference. • Faithfulness matters more than comparison. The servants received different amounts, but their faithfulness brought the same joy. • Take the risk of loving your neighbor. Care for others, especially those facin...

• Feeling alone does not mean God has left. • Notice what you turn to when life gets hard. • Money, power, and success cannot take God’s place. • Keep living your faith while you wait. Weekly Takeaway When God feels distant, keep trusting. God is with you in the waiting.

Keep God first. Let your relationship with God guide your priorities. Check your idols. Notice when your schedule, possessions, or preferences take God’s place. Honor God’s name. Let your words and actions reflect God’s love. Never use God’s name to manipulate others. Make room for rest. Sabbath renews our connection with God and one another. Let God shape you. Stay open to the Holy Spirit’s corre...

Take-home notes Trust God today. The manna came one morning at a time. Make room for God daily. Becoming takes practice and patience. Remember your neighbor. God provided enough for everyone. This week’s takeaway: Trust God for today, make time to grow, and help make sure your neighbor has enough.

Remember, but don’t go back. Remembering God’s faithfulness gives us strength for what’s ahead. We can honor the past without becoming stuck there. Be still and trust God. Fear can make us want to retreat, complain, or become paralyzed. Sometimes the faithful response is to pause, pray, and trust that God is still at work. Then take the next step. Being still doesn’t mean staying still forever. Go...

Fear can shape our choices. Pharaoh allowed fear to become oppression. We are called to recognize when fear begins driving our own decisions. Courage chooses a different way. Shiphrah and Puah chose life over death, unity over division, and courage over fear. Faithfulness may require resistance. Following God will not always mean following the crowd, the culture, or even what feels safest for us....

Sermon Take-Home Notes God meets us in unfinished places. We do not have to have everything figured out before God meets us. Grace does not wait for perfect people. God met Jacob while he was still growing, changing, and dealing with the consequences of his choices. God is present in the ordinary. A conversation, an act of kindness, laughter, forgiveness, or an unexpected moment can become holy gr...

Sermon Take-Home Notes Grace isn't earned. God's love isn't a reward for good behavior. Stop keeping score. Comparing our goodness to someone else's failures only separates us from one another. Watch for anger and resentment. Being upset when someone else receives grace may reveal something in our own hearts. God comes looking for both sons. Whether our sin is obvious or hidden behind good behavio...

Grace comes first. Jesus approaches the woman with grace before confronting her sin. No one is beyond God's reach. Our past does not disqualify us from God's love, forgiveness, or grace. Jesus crosses boundaries to reach people. The divisions we create do not limit whom Jesus welcomes. Grace leads to new life. Jesus offers living water, a new beginning rooted in relationship with God. Grace is mea...

Sermon Take-Home Notes Don't go alone. We were created to follow Jesus together. Don't leave anyone behind. Look around and notice who is missing, lonely, or disconnected. Hold on to hope. Our hope is grounded in God's faithfulness, not our circumstances. Provoke each other toward good. Encourage, challenge, and spur one another toward love and action. Keep gathering. Worship and Christian communi...

God is present in the chaos. When life shakes around us, God has not left us. Bring your whole self to God. Faith does not require pretending. God can handle our questions, fears, anger, and joy. Look for God along the road. God often shows up through ordinary people who love, help, listen, and stay. Be still enough to notice. In the noise and uncertainty of life, make room to hear God’s voice and...

Loving your neighbor is an action, not just a feeling. Compassion often begins where comfort ends. Don't let busyness keep you from seeing someone's need. Mercy reflects the heart of Jesus. The question isn't "Who is my neighbor?" but "How can I be a neighbor?" Bottom Line / Weekly Takeaway This week, look for one opportunity to stop, show compassion, and love someone the way Jesus loves you. Go a...

Sermon Take Home Notes Worship comes before our mission. Small, faithful steps lead to lasting transformation. The empty tomb gives us hope for every challenge we face. Our habits shape our faith and prepare us for God's work. We are called to share the hope of Jesus with others. Your next faithful step matters. Weekly Bottom Line The path to changing the world begins with worship and one faithful...

Take Home Notes Jesus sends ordinary people to do extraordinary things. We do not go alone. Christ goes before us and with us. The first gift we offer others is peace. Hospitality and welcome are part of sharing the Gospel. God can use simple acts of kindness to prepare the way for Christ. Weekly Takeaway This week, ask yourself: "How can I bring the peace of Christ into the places and people I en...

Sermon Take Home Notes We all struggle, and God meets us with grace, not condemnation. You don't have to earn God's love. You already belong. Shame says, "Try harder." Grace says, "Come closer." Spiritual growth is learning to live as the person God created you to be. Open hands receive what closed hands cannot: God's transforming grace. Bottom Line You have nothing to prove because you are alread...

Take Home Notes: • God loved us first We do not earn God’s love. It is freely given through grace. • Love should shape how we see others Every person is created in the image of God and worthy of dignity. • Faith without love misses the point Religion, knowledge, and tradition mean little if love is absent. • We cannot receive love and refuse to give it God calls us to extend the same grace we have...

1. You Are Not Running Alone God has surrounded you with people who encourage, guide, and strengthen your faith. 2. Keep Your Eyes on Jesus What we focus on shapes how we live. Fix your heart on Christ above everything else. 3. Joy Comes Before the Struggle We do not earn God’s love. We live from the joy of already being loved. 4. Worship Changes Perspective When life feels overwhelming, worship h...

What to Remember This Week: • Peace is not the reward after life gets easier. It starts with God. • You do not need all the answers to trust God with what’s ahead. • God’s presence is more powerful than explanations. • Christ has already gone before you, so you are never walking alone. • Whatever lies ahead, the peace of Christ is already with you. Short Bottom Line (great for graphics/video overl...

Remember This Week: • God is present in every transition. • Change may be uncomfortable, but it can also be a blessing. • God is still shaping and transforming us. • Faith means trusting God with what comes next. • You're not finished because God is not finished with you. Weekly Practice When you face a change this week, pause and pray: "God, help me trust what You are doing, even when I cannot ye...

God Is Love God is not waiting for you to become worthy of love. God already loves you. The Gospel Brings Hope Jesus did not come to condemn the world. Jesus came to heal, restore, and save it. Love Is Our Calling The church is not a museum preserving the past. The church is a movement bringing God's love to the world. Build Bridges, Not Walls Keep welcoming. Keep serving. Keep reaching outward. T...

God is not the God of “the way it was,” but the God of something new. Change is hard, but God can bring renewal through it. Jesus’ ascension was not abandonment. It was a sending. We are called to carry hope into everyday life. Witnessing to faith is often simple and relational. Walk with people. The resurrection proves that endings are not final with God. The church is called to be a people of ho...

Jesus promises: “I will not leave you orphaned.” The Holy Spirit is seen through love in action. Loving others makes Christ visible to the world. Compassion speaks louder than words. We can help people experience the love of Jesus today.

1. Don’t let fear lead your life The world runs on anxiety, but the Gospel invites us into trust. 2. Jesus doesn’t give a map. He gives himself Faith is not certainty. It’s relationship. 3. “The Way” is a way of living Not a path to get somewhere, but a life shaped by love, grace, and presence. 4. Love is the antidote to fear Fear builds walls. Love breaks them down. 5. Following Jesus is a daily...

Jesus brings unlikely people together Unity across differences is part of the Gospel.   The early church lived differently They shared, cared, and made sure no one was in need.   Love was their defining mark People noticed because it wasn’t normal.   The church is called to be different Not shaped by culture, but shaped by Christ.   Faith is a way of life Generosity, sacrifice, and community.   Fo...

1. We all live by a “song.” The world is constantly shaping what we believe and how we live. 2. Not every song is good for the soul. Messages of power, fear, and division are loud, but they are not God’s song. 3. Worship teaches us God’s song. We gather not just to hear it, but to let it take root in our hearts. 4. God’s song is love. It begins with this truth: “I love you.” 5. We are meant to car...