First Houston United Methodist Church

As we dig into what the Bible says about mourning, Ken reminds us: it’s not a curated experience. As he considers “blessed are those who mourn,” Ken tells the story of the Israelites in exile, and how God promised to comfort not just them, but to the ends of the earth. We are called, as a church, to comfort. We have grief. We have broken pieces. But we can invite God to build something new from th...

A reader sends in a Twitter link about a possible mistranslation of a Scripture passage, and it leads to some combatitiveness over different Biblical translations, trying to read multiple* Biblical translations, and a surprising argument over whether we should be bothering to read the Old Testament at all. * https://twitter.com/lllogannnnn/status/1520393475790979072 , though it looks like the user...

As he continues through the Beatitudes, Jim defines what it means to be “poor in spirit” - and the things we need to guard against. “Poor In Spirit” is often a misunderstood phrase. Jim warns us against allowing our ego to fill up the room without our noticing. Humility is a rare thing. Our instincts are to create our own divinity and push God out of our lives. True humility is lifting others up....

Jim is glad to be out of prison, and to be starting a new series on the Beatitudes. He asks, “are you happy with your life?” Then he breaks it down further, teaching us about “the happiness quotient,” and the ways we find meaning in our life. “Life is made up of wobbling and hobbling along the way.” fmhouston.com

On Confirmation Sunday, Amanda tells a story about a man who tried to make a pond ready for the fish - and what happens when you aren’t intentional. It also reminds Amanda of what Timothy wrote, trying to help a church that had gone all “cattywampus,” despite being a young man whose advice they might not yet respect. 1 Timothy 4:11-17 fmhouston.com

When Jesus came out of the tomb, he said the most important thing that could have said to Mary: he called her by name. He showed her that he knew her. But Mary had a lesson to learn, even as she had finally found him: she had to learn how to not lose Jesus, even when he went away. “When hope fades, we lose the ability to see what’s right in front of our face.” John 20:1-18 fmhouston.com

The phrase "He descended into hell" was removed from the Apostles' Creed a long time ago, and a listener wants to know the reason why. Of course, that leads to a lot of much bigger questions about the nature of hell, the humanity of Jesus, and what answers preachers are supposed to give to tough questions. Ask us a question! You can reach us at fmhouston.com/streets.

Jim is struggling with Murphy’s law, as everything goes wrong for him before he steps up to preach today. Sometimes life is more than just a bit of bad luck, though. Sometimes, storms do come into our lives. At the moment that Jesus came into the city, Jesus brought with him the perfect storm. Luke 19:28-40 fmhouston.com

With Palm Sunday approaching, a question comes in of whether we're celebrating the day completely wrong. Why is it a joyous celebration if we're remembering the crowds that turned on Jesus only 5 days later? Ask us a question! fmhouston.com/streets

The waves that rock the boat are going to come for us. But as Jesus said to his disciples, “let us not be afraid.” After all, if God is for us, who can be against us? As Holy Week approaches, Jim focuses on a steady faith. He tells the story of Jesus asleep on the boat, and how we can learn to have faith that God’s protection is with us, even in the most difficult storms. Luke 8:22-25 fmhouston.co...

Part two of our conversation, and it turns out there's almost nothing that Jim can't talk about for hours on end, and it's a fascinating ride. We start with "what's going to be happening at the church?" and end up at "is there a true limit on the universe?" in very short order. Ask us a question! fmhouston.com/streets

Our new interim pastor, Jim Welch, introduces himself to the church and dives right into the story of Elijah fleeing into the wilderness in fear. There, God shows Elijah His awesome power - and shows him that he does not have to be afraid of what the world brings. Likewise, Jim sees the same for our church - the need to have a chance for God to come and show us his limitless power, and to learn to...

If you've been aware of what's been happening at First Methodist, you'll know: it's been a very topsy-turvy week. Here to hopefully settle some things down is interim pastor Jim Welch, who answers some questions and allows us to start getting to know him a little bit. Ask us a question! fmhouston.com/streets

Waiting On God: “Waiting On Hope and Confidence” - Bishop Scott J. Jones As he looks at the story of Elijah teaching the King to pray and wait on God, Bishop Jones considers the properties of hope. “Hope is not optimism.” And evil is powerful in the world. Bad things happen. Sometimes the world all around us seems dark. But God is at work in our world. I Kings 18:41-48 fmhouston.com

Amanda, Ken, Jordan, and Ben talk about some positive sides to how their ministry has changed over the course of Covid, while admitting that they've seen the church atrophy in some ways over the past two years. Ask us a question! We'll address it on the show. You can reach us at fmhouston.com/streets .

A listener talks about how a betrayal from a long time ago has left them unable to forgive the person who wronged them. The group talks about the difficulty of forgiveness, how to work towards reconciliation, and the things inside ourselves that keep us from moving forward. Ask us a question! fmhouston.com/streets

Some of the Scripture is about finding a way to humility. Ash Wednesday we got a taste of that. “What God may be waiting for is a faith response on our part.” Sometimes we need to have these conversations on God’s timetable than our own. Exodus 2:23-25; 32:1-6

A member comes from a faith tradition that doesn't allow for female clergy, so they're asking whether there should be pastors who are women or not. Jordan and Amanda talk about female preaching and leadership in the Bible, their journeys to get to where they are now, and some of the road bumps they've run into. Oh, and if you're looking for the Instagram picture we're talking about, it's here . As...

Kathrin is the Executive Director of Neighbors in Action. On this special Sunday Kathrin describes how NIA strives to be like the body of Christ. www.fmhouston.com www.neighborsinaction.com/

Andy, Ken, and Ben are divided on the nature of bad churches and whether they can still do good, which leads to Andy coming out against the Bible (not really. Or does he?), and Ken announcing that First Methodist is going to war. There are some stirring pronouncements about the spiritual character of Houston, and at the end of it all, we try and buy Andy a yacht. Leave us a response or ask us a qu...

We need to learn to see then things inside ourselves that we need to take action about. In Corinthians, Paul shows us how. These verses are about a church struggling and doing everything wrong. Paul writes back to help show them a way through: The Holy Spirit is there to help us see things inside ourselves that we need to take action on, ways we need to change. If we keep coming and praying and li...

A question about finding peace and rest gives us stories about various intentional practices, romantic dinners at Waffle House, and the time Amanda thought she was going to die at Disney World. Ask us a question! Hit us at fmhouston.com/streets to leave a question or a comment about the show.

Amanda Sermon Hard problems that don’t have easy answers require that we work together. Amanda talks about a scripture she loves - Acts 2, “the church in a snow globe.” People come in and they grow and they grow, and other people see what’s happening and want to come and be a part of it. Life inside the church can be more complicated today. We want clear, concise answers, but we live inside a life...

The group takes a question about why the church has embraced the Sinner's Prayer when it never appears in the Bible, leading to a brief history of revivals and the Sinner's Prayer, plus the questionable theology we keep running into, and figuring out just what our role is in bringing people to Christ. Got a comment or a question? Visit us at fmhouston.com/streets

Andy is working on his evangelism - trying to be a person who is always on the lookout to make connections. It’s a hard time to meet people. But people are more hungry than they’ve ever been. God is trying to wake us up, to recreate us. We are called to love people just as He loves us. “Ask yourself a question: Do I love my friends, my spouse, my neighbor the way that God loves me? And if not, I n...