Sermon Central

Sitting in a hospital waiting room, watching/listening/reading the news, a painful conversation you didn’t want to have, staring at a list of all that is yet-to-be done, wondering, Is any of this worth it? There are moments in life when our hope feels threadbare—like the smallest movement will cause it to fall to pieces at our feet. The future feels hazy, our effort feels fruitless—the world’s bro...

“In the time of Herod…” Luke’s gospel begins the story of Jesus’ birth with these words. It sounds like simply a timestamp—a historical reference to let us know when Jesus was born. But it’s much more than this. What if someone began a story with, “In 2020…?“ It sounds like just a year. But for those of us who know—who lived through it, the year 2020 conjures up memories of a global pandemic and s...

Today we continue our short series on “Practices of our Faith.” We often think of religion as confined to certain texts or spaces, and the practices of faith as things we do in addition to “regular life.” But our faith can be so much more — actually, that’s what Jesus’ life is an example of—he challenges us to live our faith—having it guide our life’s purpose and inspire the seeming minutiae of ou...

We often think of religion as confined to certain texts or spaces. But our faith can be so much more — from guiding our lives’ purpose to enriching the seeming minutiae of our daily routines. Christianity offers timeless practices that help both Christians — and the world — to flourish. Practices that—woven together, form an entire way of life. Today we begin a short, three-week series in which we...

I once heard grief described as standing on the seashore. At first, the wet sand is uneven beneath your feet, and even the smallest wave causes you to wobble and sink deeper into the sand. Eventually, though, you come to a point where you’re steady (enough) and you’re better able to handle the waves. Until a large wave comes—completely out of nowhere—and you’re tossed off-balance, arms flailing, s...

We have come to the final week of our Curious Church series. For many reasons, we are heading into a new chapter as a church—as we think about how we use our building and prepare for a capital campaign, and as we pray about hiring a new staff person to attend to the people God has placed in our care; as we think about the way culture’s relationship with the church has changed over the past several...

Today, we continue in our worship series—Curious Church: Wondering Our Way Forward. For many reasons, we are heading into a new chapter as a church—as we think about how we use our building and prepare for a capital campaign, and as we pray about hiring a new staff person to attend to the people God has placed in our care; as we think about the way culture’s relationship with the church has change...

For many reasons, it seems we are heading into a new chapter as a church—as we think about how we use our building and prepare for a capital campaign, and as we pray about hiring a new staff person to attend to the people God has placed in our care. The best way I know how to attune myself to God’s Spirit is through curiosity—asking questions, and then opening myself to the Spirit’s prompting. So,...

I have been at Brecksville United Methodist Church for 6 years, and together, we have stayed attuned to where God is leading us, allowing the Spirit to direct our every move. Even as the world has continued to change at a surprisingly fast pace, and we’ve had to modify and change to meet people where they are. And I’m proud of the ways we’ve stepped out in faith, trusting God even when we weren’t...

We are in week 4 of our worship series—Curious Church: Wondering Our Way Forward. How do we stay attuned to the leading of God’s Spirit? I’ve found that the best way is to come to God with curiosity. “What does the next season look like for us?” “How is God calling us to be a safe space here and now, at this time in history?” So, in this series, we’re going to get curious together: what is God up...

We are in week 3 of our worship series—Curious Church: Wondering Our Way Forward. I’ve found that the best way to stay attuned to the leading of God’s Spirit is to come to God with curiosity. “What does the next season look like for us?” “How is God calling us to be a safe space here and now, at this time in history?” So, in this series, we’re going to get curious together: what is God up to—in us...

We are in week 2 of our worship series—Curious Church: Wondering Our Way Forward. A lot has happened in the past six years—both within our church, and in the world. Pastor Heidi says, "Through it all, we’ve stayed attuned to where God is leading, allowing the Spirit to direct our every move. And I’m proud of that. And yet, I find myself wondering, what does the next season look like for us? How is...

Our world feels like it’s one of those dryer balls tumbling around in a clothes dryer—tumultuous presidential elections, civil unrest from just about every corner as people have reached the breaking point—sick of being pushed to the margins and ignored for centuries. The relationship between the church and greater culture had drastically changed. Trends that we had been seeing for years have final...

Jesus calls us to make some good trouble, to turn the world upside down.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been taking a look at some occasions in scripture when people of faith had “holy meltdowns”—when pillars of our faith like Moses, Jonah, and Elijah had big emotions. Because right now, there seem to be a lot of big emotions in the world. Something that might have bothered or annoyed us before, now has the potential to really set us off. It’s like we each have less of...

For the past few weeks, we have been taking a look at some occasions in scripture when people of faith had “holy meltdowns”—when pillars of our faith like Moses, Jonah, and Elijah had big emotions. Because right now, there seems to be a lot of big emotions in the world. Many—if not most—of us are struggling with something: grief, sadness or depression, anxiety, anger… because life seems to be part...

What was Jesus so mad about, anyway?

In this series, Holy Meltdowns, we’re taking a look at some occasions in scripture when people of faith had big emotions—like Moses hitting a rock, Jonah getting bitter, Jesus flipping tables, and more. Because right now, there seems to be a lot of big emotions in the world right now. Many people—I would go as far to say “most of us”—are feeling overwhelmed by life and the news cycle, and we’re re...

God asks Jonah "Do you do well to be angry?" It's a question we should all ask ourselves. As the world swirls through a period of division and change, when things don't turn out as we had planned, do we do well to be angry? Guest speaker, Rev. Sharon Seyfarth Garner, delivers an inspiring message that encourages us to stay curious, not judgmental.

Today, we begin a new worship series, “Holy Meltdowns.” Have you noticed that there seem to be a lot of big emotions in the world right now? Many people (most of us?) are feeling overwhelmed by life and the news cycle, and we’re responding in ways that we may not normally—getting angry, impatient, frustrated, sad, or feeling hopeless. Traditionally, the church tells us that "good" or "faithful" Ch...

Today we conclude our worship series, “Road Trip: On the Go with God.” Each year, we spend a few weeks taking a look at the stories our kids will delve into at Vacation Bible School. As Navigator Matt and Scout shared, this past week, our kids went on a figurative road trip, discovering that God’s presence is everywhere. Each day, they explored stories from the Old and New Testament that show this...

Today we continue our worship series, “Road Trip: On the Go with God.” Each year, we spend a few weeks before Vacation Bible School taking a look at the stories our kids will delve into at VBS. Tomorrow, our kids will be going on a figurative road trip, and discover that God’s presence is everywhere. The theme verse for the whole week is Joshua 1:9— “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”...

June 29, 2025 The LORD your God is with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9 Today we continue our worship series, “Road Trip: On the Go with God.” Each year, we spend a few weeks before Vacation Bible School taking a look at the stories our kids will delve into at VBS. In just one week, our kids will be going on a figurative road trip, and discover that God’s presence is everywhere. The theme verse...

Today we begin a new worship series, “Road Trip: On the Go with God.” Each year, we spend a few weeks before Vacation Bible School, taking a look at the stories our kids will delve into at VBS. In just a few weeks, our kids will be going on a figurative road trip, and discover that God’s presence is everywhere. The theme verse for the whole week is Joshua 1:9— “The Lord your God is with you wherev...

Today, we are in our final week of our series Get Off Your Donkey 2.0. The first iteration of this series was back in January 2023, when we looked at ways people in our congregation were “getting off their donkeys” and putting their faith into action. The concept of “getting off your donkey” comes from Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan—a man is traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho and he finds s...