Faith Lift

As we continue to move backwards in time through Mary's perspective, we find Mary at the foot of the cross. Remembering all that was told to her about her son Jesus, all of the tings she pondered in her heart and that this child would pierce her soul. 

Advent Sermon Series: On Adam Hamilton's book "Not a Silent Night" In this series we will look at the birth of Jesus from the perspective of Mary. In this first sermon we look back at the end of Jesus Life, Death and Resurrection and Mary's life after the Ascension. 

YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and HBO want us to be stuck to them so that they can gain our data, our information, and our money. Jesus desires the same type of engagement, but for much better reasons.

Ever climb a tree when you were a kid? Tree Climbers International would like to help you regain the joy of inner child by helping you to reclaim your childhood tree-climbing adventures. This leads us naturally to our text where we encounter the patron saint of tree-climbers and tree-huggers, St. Zacchaeus.

Even in the midst of the pandemic, Americans moved about. Much of this movement is job-related. When companies ask an employee to relocate, they often make the relocation package very attractive. So, when God leads us to new challenges and opportunities, what benefits does God throw into the offer? Anything? Nothing? A lot?

We prefer answers that are quick and easy. The crisis facing many of the ancient Jews demanded a solution. The prophet Jeremiah had a fast, but not necessarily easy answer to their questions: Should we stay, or should we go? Should we accept our new life, or resist it? Should we live in an RV, or build a house?

The disciples called upon Jesus to increase their faith. It was a moment in which they were slowly beginning to understand their need for Jesus. Once they realized they had to receive the Spirit and his teaching and then take that message and birth Christ in others, Is Christ born enough in us that we can take that message to birth Christ in others and the world? 

A recent report of deathbed regrets reveals some surprising data. No one reported missing an important business meeting, or failing to take a bungee plunge off the Royal Gorge bridge in Colorado. The top five regrets of dying people might shock you. But then, consider the case in the Bible of the rich man who ignored Lazarus, the beggar at his door.

Jesus wants all of you and all of everyone who wishes to follow him. Doesn’t that seem like a high price to pay? When we decide to follow Jesus, he expects us to dedicate our whole selves to him. But he’s offering us plenty in return.

Isaiah 2:2-4 John Wesley was on his way to the new world to carry the gospel to any and all when he wrote in his journal the words that we have remembered as the “world is my parish.” He had a heart for the church and worked to shore up the faith of the believers with his system of classes and bands in the Methodist movement. But he knew from the outset that this faith was not one of being cloiste...

 1 John 5:1-4 John Wesley wanted the people called Methodist to stay in love with God, but he was concerned about the means for doing so. The ordinances of God were those things that Wesley identified as being required of God’s people. He categorized them into works of piety and works of mercy. We have come to call them the inward and outward spiritual disciplines. The inward disciplines were...

In the second sermon of the series on BeUMC we look at Wesley's second rule: Do Good

This begins a four part series on the UMC based on John Wesley's Three Simple Rules. In the gifts installment we look at the first rule: Do No Harm. 

In the United Methodist Church, our founder John Wesley, considering the words of Jesus, came up with 3 simple rules as a way to live in chaotic and good times. As Pastor Craig begins this sermon series, we look at the three simple rules. The first installment covers First, Do No Harm. 

God's obsession with humanity has led God to mix with the rabble of the earth and the rubble of human disobedience. Perhaps it is time to make God our "magnificent obsession. In Hosea 11:1-11 we hear the prophet share that God is obsessed with as as a parent takes care of a child. If God feels that way about us, should we not make our goal to "obsessively seek" after God through Christ?

A picture is worth a thousand words. Even mug shots. In Hosea 1:2-10 we hear the story of Hosea and his dysfunctional family. God is fed up with His chosen people. As angry nd out of patience as God is, God uses Hosea to and his family to let the people know God may be out of patience but they are still "children of the living God."

Have you ever been in a circumstance when you have tried everything and then realized there is nothing left to be done? If so you can sense how the prophet Amos felt as God showed him a vision of a basket of summer fruit. God's patience was running out with the people of Israel. He told Amos to tell the people that soon will come a time when the people will hunger and thirst, not for food or water...

The question is: What year was the worst year ever to be alive? Historians have an answer to this question. The prophet Amos also has some ideas. This leads to a discussion of what we can do to ensure that our lives are full of goodness and meaning. How can we live our best and most faithful lives even in the midst of personal or other difficulties that are ongoing?

Artists from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) have developed some urban art ideas that include sidewalk murals visible only when it rains. The beauty of the art only appears in stormy weather. Naaman suffers a skin disease for all his life and ordered to wash in the Jordan River. It wasn't the water but the work of God in and through his life coming through in the midst of a monso...

Pentecost Sunday Acts 2:1-21  The Holy Spirit is an energy source that gives us courage to connect with neighbors in life-giving ways. This Pentecost power isn’t found primarily in programs or policies, but in the Holy Spirit of God. And it helps us bring warmth and light to the world.

On Ascension Sunday Jesus physical presence left but he is always with us so we might be the best disciples and learners as well as the best apostles preaching the message of Christ that we can be

Based on Acts 16:9-15  For many years, livestock have been separated based on ideas about purity. Unfortunately, so have people. In the life of the church, there should be no distinctions based on race, culture or nationality. We should welcome strangers, expand our outreach, and practice true Christian hospitality.

Acts 11:1-18  Some people are hard to say “No” to, especially if you have a relationship with them. Maybe it’s the boss, or a family member with a strong personality. Perhaps the apostle Peter, after some initial resistance to the changes God was proposing, decided that he was not in a position to say “No” to the Almighty.

The sheep and the shepherd. It’s a romantic notion. But today’s sheep ranchers have a Bluetooth headset in the ear, a smart phone attached to a belt, a Venti Mocha perched desktop alongside a GPS receiver. The shepherd sits remote from the flock in a warm ranch house, a crook exchanged for a mouse, perhaps playing a game of solitaire while still on the clock. As Jesus calls to his sheep, we may he...

Before the “Great Resignation” of the Covid era, there was the holy resignation of apostles like Peter, who walked away from the life they knew to follow Jesus. A call to discipleship usually means walking away from something.