Marvin Methodist Church | Sermons

God is the greatest host of all. He has made room for everyone in His grace so that we are no longer strangers to Him or with other believers. In Christ, we are “brought near” by being citizens of heaven, fellow members of God’s family, and a holy temple where God dwells. Remember your true identity. Sermon text: Ephesians 2:19-22

Mary and Martha are good friends of Jesus and there is a story in the bible about the time they hosted him for dinner. One of them is running around the house being a host and the other is sitting at Jesus’ feet deep in conversation. This narrative invites us in to consider the impact of hurry and the ways it robs us from God, our loved ones and from ourselves. Sermon text: Luke 10:38-42

We live in a world filled with the constant dance between advertiser and consumer. In so many ways our lives are wrapped up in this dance and it steals opportunities to experience God. Jesus seemed to know this possibility has he talked about the damage money can do in our lives. It is clear that Jesus was not after poverty, but after our hearts…so why do we read him like he wanted the former? Ser...

We are at an immediate disadvantage when we talk about Sabbath in our day. Surrounded by an endless work expectation and 24/7 onslaught from technology and advertisement eager for your consumption, taking a day off seems novel. What if the Sabbath was made for us so that we could be who we were created to be? That seems to be what God thinks of the Sabbath and maybe we are tired because we have ig...

The first practice in our journey to eliminate hurry from our lives is a consistent practice of silence and solitude. Jesus practiced this in his own ministry as represented in the gospels. It did not matter how demanding things got or how busy he was, Jesus found time to retreat to the wilderness. And spoiler…the wilderness is not what you think! Sermon text: Mark 1:9-13

Our world is more efficient, more connected and more saturated with distractions than ever before. We are always in a hurry and are unaware of the impact it has on our faith and our lives. What if we are too busy for God? We begin a new series inspired by The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. Sermon text: Matthew 11:25-30

The conclusion of our series and the creed ends with the resurrection of the body and the everlasting life. To profess belief in this is to anchor our ultimate hope in our eternal promise in Jesus. The resurrection is the promise that our life is with Jesus forever and eternal life is a future reality with present implications. Sermon text: 1 Corinthians 15:12-18

In the final lines of the Apostle’s Creed the focus turns to implications for the church and Christians. The forgiveness of sins is the outpouring of Grace bound in the creed. In many ways we have lost context for sin, but Christ came so that we can be truly human. This involves forgiveness and freedom. Sermon text: Romans 3:8-18

We have made it to the part of the Apostle’s Creed that turns from the trinity to the expression of God in the world. This week we consider the implications of the Church of Jesus Christ; both universal and local. Sermon text: Matthew 16:15-19

The Holy Spirit is the animating presence of God at work in the world. Scripture talks about the Spirit from the beginning of the Bible and not just after Pentecost, showing us an important framework and expectation for the purpose of the Spirit in the world. As Christians we believe in the indwelling of God’s Spirit in us and the work of the Spirit in the world. Sermon text: Acts 2:1-4; 14-21

The goal of God’s final judgment is not reward and punishment but victory over all that is godless.  The judgment will mark “a new creation” - in essence a restoration of the purity and beauty of God’s original creation – free of sin and evil. Sermon text: Matthew 24 & 25

We believe that Jesus has died and risen from the dead but that was then, what is Jesus doing right now? The reign of Jesus as a result of the ascension is as fuzzy as bad Hollywood representations of Jesus floating away into the sky. The truth is the ascension is one of the most critical and central parts of our current reality as Christians. Sermon text: Luke 24:50-53

The creed takes a wide pass at the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The theological and doctrinal truths hold layers that the church has often struggled to represent in the full presentation of redemption for the world in Jesus. Jesus' death is more than forgiveness from sins and his resurrection is so much more than a ticket to heaven. Sermon text: Mark 15-16

Jesus is fully God and fully man—this is one of the great mysteries of our faith. How can we talk about such a mystery and why is it important for our faith? Sermon text: Luke 1:26-38

The first line of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” Found in these first few words is a symmetry of power and relationship. God is infinitely powerful and intimately personal all at the same time. This truth shapes how we experience God and the world around us. Sermon text: Genesis 1:1-2, Matthew 7:9-11

The Church has professed faith through statements of beliefs called creeds since the beginning. These creeds contain the contents of the Christian gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. They tell of a God that has revealed himself and of the Church’s witness to the world. How can we know the God of the Apostle’s Creed and how can we trust in this God? Sermon text: 1 John 1:1-4