Kuna United Methodist Church Sermons

Pastor Steve Tollefson guest preaches on how God gives us a purpose, not as benevolent dictator, but as the one who guides and nurtures. God gives each one of us a unique song to sing, and our purpose can change over our lifetimes.

Why am I here? It's a question that takes right to our purpose in life. And its question that drives us to God. This week Pastor Mia connects how Nicodemus in the gospel was searching for meaning and how we can ask questions like Nicodemus, searching for our own meaning. Then we open ourselves be being born anew in the Spirit and living being blown around by winds of God — being blown to purpose a...

When we can’t find a cause for people’s suffering, we blame God. After all, what good is God if he can’t stop the suffering of the innocent? One of the primary sources of suffering, however, is not the Lord. When God gave humans free will, he took a tremendous risk. This week Pastor Mia assures us that God would never support illness, accidents, and unjust pain. Instead we need to think of sufferi...

God hears more than our words when we pray. He also takes in our thoughts, emotions, and desires. God’s response, however, requires us to have patience and an understanding that the answer or lack of an answer contributes to our spiritual journey. So how do we handle the reality of answered and unanswered prayers? Guest preacher Randall Feaster shares useful guidelines for maintaining a resilient...

Is heaven real? Initially, people didn’t think of an afterlife. However, thousands of years later, Jesus described heaven as a house with a place prepared for each of us. Despite Christ’s extensive teaching about heaven, doubt surrounds the reality of life after death. Reported near-death experiences are evidence of heaven’s existence, but they aren’t concrete proof. Perhaps then, Pastor Mia expla...

If Christianity is the one true religion, what happens to non-Christians after death? This week Pastor Mia looks at how doubt can help you ponder this question. Are generous non-Christians excluded from heaven, while mean and nasty Christians are allowed? When you apply doubt to this equation, it doesn’t add up because action matters and so does being Christian.

The Bible includes an assortment of contradictions. So how do we reconcile the texts that aren’t in agreement? How do we choose which one to follow, or how to trust the inspiration of God? In this week’s message, Pastor Mia explains that using doubt as a spiritual tool can help you sort through the contradictions. Interpretation matters, because it mattered to Jesus. And faithful interpretation in...

The disciples doubted and the demons didn't. Discover how doubt can be a spiritual tool.

We all have crucifixion moments in our lives — when darkness, despair, pain, or grief seem to get the upper hand. But with resurrection, the worst thing is never the last thing. This week Pastor Mia invites us to resurrected life, where there is joy and hope. That's how it was for the first witnesses to the resurrection, and how it is for us today.

In Luke 16 The Story of the Dishonest Steward is a parable that was meant to shock the first audience to hear Jesus. In this lesson, a rich man fires his manager for wasting his estate and the manager responds by writing off debt owed to the rich man. Then story concludes with the unexpected; the rich man applauds the manager’s cleverness. So what is the point of this surprising outcome? As Pastor...

This week Pastor Mia guides us through Luke’s account of the events leading up to the Crucifixion. During those five days in Jerusalem, Jesus preached about peace to an audience who didn’t get the point of his teachings. Jesus’s message didn’t sink in for his disciples as well. “Do you understand what I am saying to you,” he asked them during the Last Supper. Jesus wants us to answer that question...

This week, Pastor Mia takes us on the journey Jesus made from Galilee to Jerusalem. Luke’s account of the trip includes many great stories. In one narrative, Jesus cures ten lepers and in another he sees the pure heart of a despised tax collector. In both of these encounters, Jesus doesn’t scorn the outcasts. Instead he takes opportunity to heal and set free.

Luke’s Gospel includes sixteen stories in which Jesus uses familiar examples to make a spiritual point. The characters include righteous Pharisees, rich men, tax collectors, the homeless, and ungrateful children. And in story after story, Jesus describes how the sinners get it right and the religious folks don’t. When we hear the parables, Pastor Mia encourages us to ask the question, “Which chara...

We absorb sexism, even when we don't want to, but Jesus wasn't like that. In Luke 7:36-50, a nortious sinner barges into a dinner party so she can annoint Jesus's feet with valuable oil. In this story, Jesus doesn't see the sexism. Instead he sees the dignity and worth of a person showing up for her faith. This story isn't Luke's only example highlighting the prominence of women in Jesus's ministr...

The Gospel of Luke includes stories in which Jesus lifts up the lowly. In one, Zechariah and Elizabeth, a couple well beyond their years, were blessed with a pregnancy and their son grew up to became John the Baptist. In the other, a teenage girl named Mary learns that she will give birth to Jesus. These stories are just two examples of God performing great acts through people who are “not right.”...

Blinded by grief after the death of Jesus, it seemed like things were going to get worse for Mary Magdalene. When she went to visit Jesus’s tomb, she discovered it was empty. She thought someone stole the body. Then Mary saw the resurrected Jesus, and her grief turned into joy and hope. In this Easter message, Pastor Mia shows that in resurrection, the worst thing is never the last thing.

Jesus wept over Jerusalem and it drove him to holy action. We also lament and it drives us to holy action. Following Jesus pattern: 1) we lament our sorrow & grief & brokenness, 2) we pray for guidance and vision, 3) and then we act. What do you lament, and how it driving you to take action?

This week Pastor Mia talks about a controversial topic — the death penalty. It's controversial because Christians reach different conclusions. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says, “But I say to you that you must not oppose those who want to hurt you.” Challenging words that could glorifying victimhood. Or perhaps Jesus was saying that there’s something worse than being the victim of violence. In this...

Lament and surrender occupied the heart and mind of Jesus as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane .  Jesus was both reluctant and willing to go to the cross, and he had a deep and honest conversation about God with his feelings. In the end, Christ trusted in the will of God. This week’s guest speaker Randall Feaster examines the Christian practice of lament, and he helps us face the cha...

You might’ve been told that there is something wrong with lament, that you should only be in praise and gratitude of God. Lament, however, is a way of connecting with God. When we lament, we share our grief and sorrow with God in honest prayer. In this message, Pastor Mia shows how lament is a spiritual discipline that is okay because God always accompanies us in our hardship.

We are created for connection and we suffer without it. Wanting to belong is part of human nature, but belonging comes with a challenge. That hurdle is accepting those who are different from us. To belong you only need a hunger for Christ . This week Pastor Mia shows us why belonging means valuing community and fellowship over preference.

Saint Paul was skilled at the spiritual discipline of detachment. He let go of his attachment to things, his position, as a Pharisee, and his knowledge of the law. By letting go, Paul was free to fully focus on Jesus. The result was immense joy, the grit to be extraordinary, and the courage to be first in the worst of circumstances. Be like Paul!

Courage comes in many forms. It is not success or winning, but risk taking for the greater good. This week Pastor Mia examines the real courage demonstrated for us through the vulnerability of Jesus. See how vulnerability fits into your spiritual journey and why church is the place where you can grow the courage to be vulnerable.

With God's way, there is enough of what we want for EVERYONE. King Herod of Judea, however, lived with a scarcity mindset. After learning about the birth of Jesus, he panicked. Herod believed the arrival of a new king meant less power for him and ultimately families throughout Bethleham endured great loss. Centuries later, the opposition continues and many of us live with self-inflicted suffering...

This week, Pastor Mia examines the story of Joseph, an example of love made possible (Matthew 1:18–25). When Jospeh learned his fiancee Mary was pregnant, he decided to seek a divorce. And then an angel delivered this message: God chose you to be the earthly father who will raise and nuture Jesus, the son of God. Upon hearing this life-changing news, Joseph made a decision and took action—he would...