Hyde Park United Methodist

Pentecost (Greek for 50th) is the holy day celebrated 50 days after Easter. It is the moment that the Holy Spirit descended on the early disciples and sent them out into the world. It's a message of expansion and inclusion. And it calls us to widen our reach—to be carriers—of love and inclusion to all.

The 12 Steps have helped people overcome hurts, habits, and hang-ups. These steps help us do the work of self-examination that leads to a deeper relationship with God and with others. In many ways it is a form of discipleship where we grow and are changed through practices.  This week we conclude our series with Steps 10, 11, and 12. How can we abide in Christ by practicing perseverance, integrity...

The 12 Steps have helped people overcome hurts, habits, and hang-ups. These steps help us do the work of self-examination that leads to a deeper relationship with God and with others. In many ways it is a form of discipleship where we grow and are changed through practices.  This week we explore Steps 8 and 9. How can integrity and restitution lead us toward identifying and forgiving those we&apos...

The 12 Steps have helped people overcome hurts, habits, and hang-ups. These steps help us do the work of self-examination that leads to a deeper relationship with God and with others. In many ways it is a form of discipleship where we grow and are changed through practices.  This week we explore Steps 6 and 7. How can willingness and humility help us begin breaking old patterns?

The 12 Steps have helped people overcome hurts, habits, and hang-ups. These steps help us do the work of self-examination that leads to a deeper relationship with God and with others. In many ways it is a form of discipleship where we grow and are changed through practices.  This week we explore Steps 4 and 5. How can honesty and courage combat our resentments?

The 12 Steps have helped people overcome hurts, habits, and hang-ups. These steps help us do the work of self-examination that leads to a deeper relationship with God and with others. In many ways it is a form of discipleship where we grow and are changed through practices.  This week we explore Steps 2 and 3. Together with Step 1, we get the movement of faith—I can't; God can; I think I&apos...

The 12 Steps have helped people overcome hurts, habits, and hang-ups. These steps help us do the work of self-examination that leads to a deeper relationship with God and with others. In many ways it is a form of discipleship where we grow and are changed through practices.  Discover how the first step—admitting you are powerless—resonates with the story of God and Jesus found in the Bible and in...

According to Luke, Peter was "amazed" at what had happened at the empty tomb on Easter morning. What can we learn from Peter's amazement? Where in our lives do we need to see God at work and lean in closer? And how did Peter's experience transform him?

God is brazen in turning tears into joy. Not so long after their brother, Lazarus, dies and is raised from the dead, Mary and Martha joyfully welcome Jesus into their home. Mary pours out the fragrant perfume (perhaps originally intended to anoint her brother’s body after death) and it fills the whole room. This is a brazen act of beauty. Beauty is resistance to death; beauty is an act of love. He...

As Jesus enters Jerusalem, the multitude of disciples begins to joyfully shout with praise. The Pharisees try to silence them, but Jesus responds: “I tell you, even if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” All of creation cries out with praise—that message rises above the noise, even if the oppressive powers want to silence it. As we begin our walk through Holy Week, let us ask: What can...

The word “prodigal” is commonly used to describe the son who squanders his inheritance. Yet, this parable invites us to consider how God’s grace is also prodigal—extravagant, lavish, illogical. This parable disrupts and expands our definitions of grace. Once again, grace is not earned. After wasting his resources, the younger son becomes destitute and returns home to his father, saying, “I am no l...

Like the fig tree, you are worthy. You’re not a lost cause. You’re not a waste of resources. You deserve to be nurtured. Your fruit will come. Like the gardener, you are invited to see others with audacious hope and budding potential. The lesson of the fig tree invites us to unpack the source of our worth in a system and society that often measures worthiness by commerce, production, output, succe...

God is our refuge. There is nothing that can separate you from God, or could keep God from gathering you in, protecting you fiercely. Jesus’ lament for Jerusalem is surprising given how he is treated by Jerusalem. And yet, no matter how much we try to separate ourselves from God, God will run to protect us. God’s love for us is fuller than we can imagine.

Even in the desert, Jesus expands our definitions of a full life. It’s not the life the Tempter presents: a life defined by excess power, control, or reign. Excess is not abundance, but there is more. There is a fuller life we are called to live. Even in the midst of struggle, oppressive forces, hardship, and grief—God’s promises spill over, like the bounty of the first fruits from the ground. Eve...

As we bring our series on Nehemiah to a close, we are honored to have award-winning author and expert in religious studies, Diana Butler Bass join us. Diana reflects on resiliency through the lens of gratitude—her latest book is “Grateful: The Subversive Practice of Giving Thanks”—and how gratitude can flow out of a resilient life. 

In the pivotal eighth chapter of Nehemiah, we come to realize that the rebuilding of the bricks and mortar of the wall was not the only renovation project God intended for the people. In fact, it was not the most important one. God was more interested in a rebuilding of the hearts of the people, and a renewed commitment to faithfulness and integrity. The reformer Ezra stood at the WaterGate and be...

The third chapter of Nehemiah is tempting to gloss over and read quickly. On the surface, it reads like a trivial listing of random names who contributed various parts to rebuilding the wall. But the list also underscores a crucial principle in developing and maintaining resilience: none of us can do it alone. We need the companionship and partnership of others in the journey. In modern terms of s...

Few characters in the Bible fit the role of antagonist quite like Sanballat and Tobiah. Shortly after Nehemiah and the people began construction on the wall, these two showed up to mock, criticize, and undermine their work. They ramped up their criticism in chapter 4, leading Nehemiah to double-down on his determination to inspire the people and get the job done. He offered this prayer to God in 4...

Much of Nehemiah’s prayer constitutes much of what one would expect: petition, confession, praise. But then there is this. At the end of the prayer, something happens to Nehemiah. God does something within his heart and his spirit to give him the courage to do something about the situation. The result of the prayer is that Nehemiah heard this message from God: “You, Nehemiah, are the answer to you...

Perhaps the most famous verse in Philippians is from 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” The broader context is important to remember. Paul is not talking about doing something superhuman or in the realm of comic book superheroes. He is talking about living a faithful life despite the pressures and adversity of life. It begins with contentment, an acknowledgement that...

Paul’s most vivid and encouraging word in Philippians is in verses 13 and 14: “Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.” The Bible sometimes uses the metaphor of a race to depict the spiritual life (Hebrews 12...

In this famous Christ hymn of the early church, Paul encourages us to have the mind of Jesus Christ. It is in the kenosis (self-emptying) of Jesus that he shows us that the way to true life is not through selfish ambition and rising to greatness, but through service, humility, and obedience. That can be a gateway to joy, as we are liberated from the needs of self and freed to love God and others....

Paul begins with this encouragement in verse 6: “the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus.” For Paul, joy comes from the acknowledgment that since the beginning, God has been working in our lives, and will be relentless and reliable in working in us through every challenge of life. God is not only with us along the way, but is ahead o...

Jeff Morton (Seminary Student and Chaplain at Tampa General Hospital) considers what our lives would look like if we re-gifted more often in our lives—specifically regifting forgiveness, encouragement, kindness, and presence.

Everything has a beginning. And returning to explore those beginnings can help us understand what we are meant to be doing in the present. Tonight, we return to the beginning of the Christian story—the birth of Jesus—and discovered what it means to be full of grace and truth.