Mount Olivet UMC

Welcome to worship at Mount Olivet! In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus is navigating more legal questions. When asked about which law is the most important, Jesus answers with beautiful simplicity, explaining that all rules for living flow from love of God and love of neighbor. As we witness the chaos and confusion in the world around us, may you find a few moments of peace and gentleness in the spac...

Welcome to worship at Mount Olivet! God calls us to give all that we are and all that we have in service to Christ. But we hold tightly to our resources, afraid we will not have enough for ourselves; we hold back our talents, sure that these gifts are not "good enough" or that they will fall short. Jesus tells us to give to God what is God's; in so doing, may we find ourselves free t...

Welcome to worship at Mount Olivet! We hope that you feel the presence of Christ and a deep peace as you worship with us today. Our scripture today focuses on that deep love, joy, and peace of Christ. We are observing the one year anniversary of the building fire that has not consumed us, but has altered so many of the ways that the life of the church functions. We are celebrating the resiliency a...

Jesus tells a story of a landowner and a vineyard, field hands and fruit. This is one of those hard parables that leaves us wondering a bit about destruction as judgment or consequence. This reminds us of the messengers throughout the centuries, who, like Jesus and the first disciples, risked violence in order to share this message of justice, mercy, and sacrificial love.

In Jesus, we see a glimpse of the kingdom of God: not so much a place as an action—a way of living that lifts up those who have been laid low; that brings to “the front of the line” those who have been shoved to the back; that exalts the undervalued and remembers those who are forgotten. May we enter God’s kingdom here and now.

The United Methodist Church realizes and affirms the responsibility of every United Methodist to care for God’s creation. We are called to participate in the redemption of individuals and all of humanity and the healing of the Creation itself. Therefore, ministries encouraging care for God’s creation are significant in our mission as United Methodists. The Virginia Annual Conference began a Green...

Jesus was a talker, there’s no getting around that. As he traveled with his disciples, he taught about the Kingdom of God and how this kingdom would be different from the kingdom of Caesar. Through conversations with His disciples, parables, and even confrontations with the chief priest and elders of the temple, Jesus was constantly proclaiming that the Kingdom of God had arrived. Much of what Jes...

Jesus was a talker, there’s no getting around that. As he traveled with his disciples, he taught about the Kingdom of God and how this kingdom would be different from the kingdom of Caesar. Through conversations with His disciples, parables, and even confrontations with the chief priest and elders of the temple, Jesus was constantly proclaiming that the Kingdom of God had arrived. Much of what Jes...

Welcome to worship at Mount Olivet, we are so glad you are here. This season we have been exploring the language and teaching of Jesus throughout the Gospel of Matthew. This morning we encounter the stern and challenging rebuke towards Peter and the call from Jesus to take up our cross and follow him. Whether you are a new visitor or a long-term member we pray that through worship, fellowship, and...

This morning we will be exploring the story of Jesus walking on the sea and calming the storms. What storms are currently raging in your life? Do you have the courage to trust that Jesus can calm them?

Whether you are visiting from out of town, resting amidst the heat, or about to set off on another summer vacation we are glad you are here. This morning we will be exploring the story of the feeding of the 5,000. Asking what we are to bring when we have nothing to provide, and experiencing what God provides in Christ in response.

Today we are continuing the readings from the gospel of Matthew. Jesus is using parables, his unique storytelling tool. We will consider how yeast, pearls, seeds, fish and treasure are all part of the illustrations about what God's Kingdom is like.

Welcome to worship at Mount Olivet! This Sunday we are continuing our Summer Sojourn with Jesus through the Gospel of Matthew. Today we are continuing to think about the nature of the Kingdom of God and our role in terms of agriculture. We are thinking about a field with a good crop that is infiltrated by evil and injustice. We are mindful of the ways that health and harm are intertwined as we see...

This Sunday we are continuing our Summer Sojourn with Jesus through the Gospel of Matthew. Today we are thinking about dirt and seeds, sunshine and roots as Jesus tells us the parable of the sower. As you enter this space, let us think of the seeds that we are planting and the ones being planted in our midst. Let us contemplate that which roots and grounds us and gives us our being.

Doesn’t it seem like we are never satisfied? We exhaust ourselves in pursuit of our goals, and when they are realized we find we are still unfulfilled. We expect much from our world, from our leaders, from our God. We expect much from ourselves. All this expectation is tiring. In Matthew we learn that the solution is aligning with Christ, the true source of fulfillment and rest.

Almost every church and business has the word "Welcome" on it's building or website. But do we mean it?

This morning we are thrilled to welcome guest preacher Rev. James C. Turner, Jr. to our pulpit. Rev. Turner pastors LaPlata AME Church in Maryland and is a member of the Howard Thurman D.Min cohort with Pastor Sara.

We gather today to celebrate transitions and vocation honoring both seniors and students who have graduated and asking a deeper question of what God in Christ Jesus is beckoning us towards in our life. As the story for this morning says, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Through prayer, proclamation, and worship we seek to labor for whom our labor is never in vain.

If we add anything, any should or must, any label, then Paul is absolutely correct, as Jesus would have died for nothing.

Today is Trinity Sunday or the first Sunday in the season of Pentecost. As we ponder the nature of the community within the triune God, we will also welcome our Confirmation class into the membership and community of Mount Olivet. We hope that you find inspiration and peace this morning as well as the reminder that we are never on our own.

If Jesus is Lord of all Creation, then Dr. Stanley Hauerwas is correct in his assertion that everything else is...

There is no urgency in the church other than to proclaim God's amazing grace. The only urgency is the urgency of grace.

As we celebrate the Easter season, we are living into hope together. We have pondered joy, love, and strength during hard times. Today we are considering our identity as followers of Jesus. We are like living rocks and our value comes from the God who loves us and claims us!

Last Sunday we explored the concept of loving each other “deeply from the heart,” not to be better at doing good, but because we are first loved by God. Today we celebrate our freedom from sin through the healing power of Christ. Jesus is our good shepherd who welcomes us home, into the safety of the fold, where he will guard our souls.

Last Sunday we explored the joy of Easter and today we turn our attention to verse 22 in our epistle reading. "Love one another deeply from the heart." 1 Peter is imploring us to love one another not because it is a good idea to be a loving person, rather we are to "Love one another deeply from the heart" because we are first loved by God. There's been no greater display of...