From The Pulpit of DUMC

Shane, Kevin, and Karen discuss the theological virtue, hope. Hope is more than just wishful thinking and being optimistic. Watch/listen to this week's episode to learn why hope is important.

This Sunday we continue our reflections on passages within Jesus’s sermon on the mount. This Sunday we will hear the Lord say, in my paraphrase, “You’ve heard it said ‘you shall not commit adultery,’ but I say to you that if you have lust for another you have committed adultery in your heart.” In a sex-obsessed, lust-laden culture like ours, our Lord’s words strike like a thunderbolt. Parents of y...

Shane, Kevin, and Karen discuss the emotion of anger. What the Bible tells us about it and how we can be better Christians at managing it.

This Sunday our reflections on portions of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount continues. We will spend time considering perhaps his most radical teaching, a teaching so singular its shockwaves reverberate to this day. Love your enemies. Where does Christianity depart from almost every other religious tradition? Precisely here.

Shane, Kevin, and Karen share news on in-person worship resuming and what the plans are for Christmas Eve. Click on the link to also hear updates on what has been happening at DUMC with regards to nominations, Confirmation, audio/video updates, General Conference, and don't forget about the Pumpkin Patch!

This Sunday we continue our reflections on Jesus’s sermon on the mount as presented in Matthew’s gospel. This week Jesus begins issuing, as the new Moses, the Torah for his people; and yet before doing so he insists his Torah is by no means a displacing of the first Torah but is rather what the Law, the Writings, and the Prophets had anticipated all along.

This Week on Page - Turner... Can science and religion work together? Shane, Kevin and Karen discuss the similarities and differences of science and religion, and can you still be religious and fact based?

This Sunday and through October we will begin a new sermon series during which we will reflect on the great text of Matthew's gospel, the Sermon on the Mount. It is, in many ways, the great charter of the Christian life, what our Lord expects us, and even demands us, to be. This week Jesus launches into the sermon by first telling us less what we should do--Jesus seldom trafficked in moralisms--th...

What does a banana, a 16th birthday and the beatitudes all have in common? It's what was discussed on this week's episode of Page-Turner!

We continue in our lectionary-based sermons this week with another gospel lesson from Matthew 18:15-20. Some find this passage offensive, with it’s hard-hitting instructions about how to handle conflict in the church. This passage is an example of how the Bible has instruction about every aspect of our lives, including our relationships with each other. It gives us a picture of what healthy relati...

Shane and Kevin answer a viewer's question regarding other religions and their follower's fate if they don't believe Jesus is the Son of God. Karen shares her frustrations about technology and Shane gives an update on small group meetings and communion.

Last week we heard Peter making his bold profession that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter’s profession, as we discussed, is the true key, the true rock on which the Church stands today. Jesus intended to form a community of people whose lives would demonstrate that a New King sits on the throne. This Sunday the tone shifts. After Peter makes his bold pronouncement conc...

What is the church? Shane, Kevin, and Karen answer this question that seems so simple, but is quite complex. Also, Karen shares some interesting 2020 online data statistics.

We continue to follow the schedule of appointed readings for each Sunday during the current closures. This Sunday we come to a climactic moment in Matthew’s gospel: Peter’s great declaration that Jesus is indeed the Messiah (Matthew 16:13-20). Every generation must confront the same question Jesus poses in this lesson: Who do you say that I am? This Sunday let’s reexamine ourselves in light of thi...

This week on Page - Turner, Shane, Kevin, and Karen discuss the topic of how to discern God's will and steps to get started in doing so. Also Shane let's go of a piece of his heart. If you have a topic or question for future episodes, please contact Karen Payne.

This week we come to the next appointed gospel lesson for the season as we contemplate Jesus’s healing of the daughter of an anonymous Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28) It is, of all of Jesus’s healing stories, one of the strangest and, for our eyes and ears, discomforting stories in the gospels. Tucked in size this bewildering encounter, however, is, if we will dig deep enough, good news indeed.

This week on Page - Turner, Shane pitches a new reality television show series to Kevin and Karen! They discuss the results of the congregation survey, the planning that has been happening to return to church, and what/when returning to in-person worship may look like.

This Sunday we will pick up where we left off last Sunday after Jesus fed the five thousand the loaves and fishes. This week (Matthew 14:22-33) Jesus sends his disciples into the boat while he spends an evening in prayer and solitude. While in the boat, a violent storm buffets the disciples’ vessel and Jesus finally comes, walking on the water. Down through the centuries, this passage has served a...

This week on Page - Turner, Rev. Jim Humphries is our guest pastor! Shane, Jim, and Karen talk about Jim's first year at DUMC and what it's like being the Pastor of Congregational Care. They also answer a viewer's question about evangelism and Jim gets put in the "hot-seat" and answers the famous eight questions!

The Gospel reading for this week is the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:13-21). This passage teaches us about the nature of God, ourselves, and our calling. We will reflect on how we react and how Jesus calls us to respond. As you prepare for worship, think about how you respond during stressful situations and come to worship to hear how Jesus invites us to respond to these situations. Re...

This week on Page - Turner, meet our new pastor of Education, Rev. Dianne Lawhorn! Dianne tells us about her past and how she got to DUMC, and how she is getting accumulated to her new position during this time. Karen shares another animal story and explains to Dianne what it's like working down at the end of the hall next to Kevin.

This Sunday we continue our journey through the parables of Jesus in Matthew. This week we will spend time reflecting on the parable of the buried treasure, the pearl of great price. How do we resonate with the main character of the story? How does the main character strike us as odd, crazy even? What is the treasure of our lives? Let’s reflect on these questions this week.

This week on Page - Turner, meet our new pastor of Missions and Involvement, Rev. Brad Hinton! Brad talks about his journey to DUMC, what he hopes to accomplish while working at DUMC and gets put in the "hot seat" at the end of the discussion to answer eight important questions.

This Sunday we remain in the great chapter of Matthew 13, a chapter filled with some of the great parables of Jesus. This Sunday we will spend some time thinking on Jesus’s parable of the wheat and the weeds. It’s a parable regarding the wrongs of the world and yet contained within it is God’s curious response to them. Let’s think about these things during our Sunday live stream.

This week on Page - Turner, Shane, Kevin, and Karen talk about parables and Kevin and Shane share their favorites. Shane also answers a question, submitted from a listener, about General Conference and the possible split of the denomination. If you have a topic or question for future episodes, please contact Karen Payne.