Sermon Central

Today, we are in week 5 of our series Get Off Your Donkey 2.0. In 2023, we spent six weeks looking at Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan—a Samaritan man traveling along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and finds someone lying on the side of the road—robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Instead of continuing on his way (like those before him), the Samaritan gets off his donkey, cleans up the man’...

Today, we are in week 4 of our series Get Off Your Donkey 2.0. In 2023, we spent six weeks looking at Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan—a Samaritan man traveling along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and finds someone lying on the side of the road—robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Instead of continuing on his way (like those before him), the Samaritan gets off his donkey, cleans up the man’...

In 2023, we spent six weeks looking at Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan—a Samaritan man traveling along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and finds someone lying on the side of the road—robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Instead of continuing on his way (like the priest and religious man before him), the Samaritan gets off his donkey, cleans up the battered man’s wounds, and takes him to an i...

Get Off Your Donkey - a Woman's Place by BrecksvilleUMC

Get Off Your Donkey - Healthcare by BrecksvilleUMC

If this is your first time with us, know that today is not a “regular” Sunday. Just one week ago, we celebrated Easter together—singing, praying together, and connecting scripture with our daily lives. And while we will do all those things today, we are also acutely aware of just how much can change in a week. This past Tuesday, Dana Schwendeman, our Youth Director for the past 8 ½ years, passed a...

Everything In Between Grief and Hope by BrecksvilleUMC

PALM / PASSION SUNDAY everything in between shouting & silence Luke 19:29-40 (Jesus enters Jerusalem) Jesus doesn’t instigate his own parade. Instead, just his quiet presence alone inspires the multitude to shout out and praise God. When the religious leaders try to silence the crowd, Jesus tells them that the noise level isn’t the point—even the stones would cry out if they were silent. It takes...

The story of Zacchaeus and Jesus - Luke 19:1-10 The crowds grumble at Jesus’ self-invitation to stay with Zacchaeus, and their righteous indignation isn’t without cause. As a tax collector, Zacchaeus has extorted money and acted in collusion with the empire, using his position to oppress his own people. It is important to call out oppression, and yet, Jesus offers mercy. That mercy then begets mor...

Our Sermon Series, Everything In Between, is studying stories and parables found in the Gospel of Luke. Each story shows how Jesus addressed the polarities people were living in, challenging his listeners to think of things in a new way. So for us– thousands of years later–this series invites us to spend Lent navigating the polarities in our own lives with more faith, intention, and openness… so t...

THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT Luke 10:38-42 (Mary & Martha host Jesus) In many translations, Jesus says that “Mary has chosen the better part,” which has been used to create a divide between Mary and Martha. However, in the Greek, Mary has chosen the “good portion,” and Martha’s tasks are called “ministry.” Therefore, perhaps Mary represents our faith, our desire to know God intimately, and Martha rep...

Everything In Between Stranger and Neighbor by BrecksvilleUMC

Today we conclude our worship series Fully Alive, based on the book of the same title by Elizabeth Oldfield. The book reminds us of the wisdom our Christian faith tradition holds. There are a million places for us to find meaning and wisdom for our lives, and so often Christianity gets overlooked as irrelevant—out of touch with current reality. But within the Christian faith, there are signposts t...

Fully Alive: Gluttony - From Numbing to Ecstasy by BrecksvilleUMC

Today we continue with our worship series Fully Alive, based on the book of the same title by Elizabeth Oldfield. We are each searching for meaning in our lives—searching for wisdom. And there’s millions of places for us to find it. In Fully Alive, Elizabeth Oldfield reminds us of the wisdom that our Christian faith tradition holds. Within Christianity, there are signposts that show us how to beco...

Today we continue with our worship series Fully Alive, based on the book of the same title by Elizabeth Oldfield. We are each searching for meaning in our lives—searching for wisdom. And there’s millions of places for us to find it. In Fully Alive, Elizabeth Oldfield reminds us of the wisdom that our Christian faith tradition holds. Within Christianity, there are signposts that show us how to beco...

Fully Alive - Avarice: from stuffocation to gratitude and generosity by BrecksvilleUMC

Today we continue with our worship series Fully Alive, based on the book of the same title by Elizabeth Oldfield. This book focuses on the question, “Who am I becoming?” In a world that is rife with division, pointing fingers, selfishness, and ecological destruction, am I becoming someone who is part of the problem or part of the solution? Am I becoming someone who is fully alive, or am I simply g...

Today we begin a new worship series entitled Fully Alive, based on the book of the same title by Elizabeth Oldfield. This book focuses on the question, “Who am I becoming?” In a world that is rife with division, pointing fingers, selfishness, and ecological destruction, am I becoming someone who is part of the problem or part of the solution? Am I becoming someone who is fully alive, or am I simpl...

Today, we conclude our worship series, “Words for the Beginning.” It’s a series that’s led us through Advent and Christmas, giving us reminders like, “Hope is worth the risk,” “Love knows your name,” “We can’t go alone,” and “Do the good that is yours to do.” These words have been like steady ground as we walk forward into the unknown of the future. At first glance, they seem like words we would t...

This week, we are in the gospel of Luke, with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus, challenging the people then as well s us now, asking: what good am I called to do here and now?

One of life’s most essential lessons is that we are never meant to go alone. And yet, modern culture pushes us more and more into lonely silos. If Ruth had followed her culture’s norms, she would have gone home to her family of origin after her husband died, but instead, she commits herself to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Together they form a new family and covenant. Ruth and Naomi travel together to...

As you journey through this season, may you find words for belovedness and hope. May you find words for beginning again. For no matter what you are facing, no matter what this new day brings, love is your beginning.

In scripture, we find stories that were written in and told through even more turbulent times than ours. They’ve provided forms of collective resistance, and spiritual steadying for billions of people throughout the centuries. And God is still speaking and working through these scriptures today.

"This past week, voters decided who the next president of the United States would be. And the feelings about this decision run the gamut of human emotion: excitement and relief and validation, and shock, disappointment, and grief. In many ways, this election has felt like the ultimate fight between “us” and “them.” Both sides convinced that their candidate would bring in a new era for “their peopl...