University UMC Sermons

We are excited to share with you a beautiful telling of this story from a new book entitled “The Book of Belonging: Bible Stories for Kind and Contemplative Kids” by Mariko Clark. This retelling of the Gospel story will be shared by our own storytellers, Ray Williams and Melissa Wiginton. The sermon text is about Jesus’ visit to Mary following the death of her brother Lazarus. In the sermon, Pasto...

We continue our Sermon Series on Grief and Loss. This Sunday Pastor Teresa will explore the concept of Anticipatory Grief and the scripture reading comes to us from Revelation 21:1-7.

Join us for worship as we celebrate Commitment to Giving Sunday. This is always a special Sunday in the life of our congregation as Stewardship Season concludes and  members of the congregation offer their pledge cards for the 2025 year. The scripture lessons come from Ephesians 3:20-21 and Matthew 19:23-30 and Pastor Teresa will preach.

Join us for worship as we continue our Stewardship Season’s worship theme “People of Possibility and the sermon text is the great love passage from I Corinthians 13. We will also celebrate Holy Communion on this World Communion Sunday.  “Love is not any one emotion. Love is all our emotions: Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love. Anger is what we harness to protect that which we love...

We begin a new sermon series for the Stewardship Season. Our theme this year is “People of Possibility” and Pastor Teresa’s sermon centers on Isaiah 43:19, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?” “There is no greater power than a community discovering what it cares about. Ask “What is possible?” not “What’s wrong?” Keep asking.” - Margaret Wheatley “I have fou...

Pastor Earl preaches on a short yet interesting story in the Acts of Apostles. It’s about Peter’s vision of the bizarre foods delivered to him from heaven. “I didn’t care about bizarre foods. The show I sold was about preaching patience, tolerance, and understanding about things that separated us: different cultures, different sexualities, different skin colors. I wanted to talk about things we ha...

Pastor Teresa’s sermon “A Life of Service concludes our sermon series on “Numbering Our Days” based on Psalm 90 which reads, “Teach us, O Beloved, to number our days that we might have a heart of wisdom.” “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” –...

Pastor Earl’s sermon is about planning and improvising as we continue the sermon series focusing on Psalm 90 “Teach us O Beloved to number our days that we might have a heart of wisdom.”  Are you more like a planner who schedules everything in detail and feels comfortable seeing everything go as planned? Or are you more like an improviser who goes with the flow and feels excited to make decisions...

Pastor Teresa’s sermon continues our focus on Psalm 90 “Teach us O Beloved to number our days that we might have a heart of wisdom.” The scripture text is Matthew’s telling of the Laborers in the Vineyard and the sermon references the history of Labor Day and the important work of labor unions.

We welcome guest preacher Rev. Dr. David F. White. Dr. White served on the faculty of Austin Seminary from 2005 until his retirement in July 2023. Throughout his career, Dr. White’s areas of interest and research  focused primarily on youth ministry. His most recent book, Tending the Fire that Burns at the Center of the World: Beauty and the Art of Christian Formation, further explores the subject...

Pastor Teresa is preaching and continues the sermon series “Number our Days” with a look at belonging and community. We will hear the familiar scripture lesson from I Corinthians 12 about the church being The Body of Christ - one body with many members. “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” - Marian Wright Edelman

We begin a new sermon series inspired by Psalm 90 entitled “Teach us to Number Our Days.” Many activities fill our schedules and days to overflowing and a life of faith can assist us in being attentive and intentional about making choices that foster joy. On this first Sunday in the series Pastor Teresa will preach about the gift of pastimes and hobbies How we spend our days is, of course, how we...

Megan Otto preaches a little about her renewal leave time and the journeys we are on in our lives of faith.

Pastor Earl preaches on the miracle story of feeding the multitude in the Gospel of John and its enduring message of the world that Jesus wants to make with us here and now. “ At its essence, a miracle is a message… A miracle is God’s extraordinary message in the midst of the ordinary; it is an exercise not in the supernatural or in the irregular but in communication.” – Peter J. Gomes

Pastor Teresa preaches and the sermon text comes from Mark 6:30-34 where Jesus invites the disciples to get away for a time of rest. We also hear a reading from Psalm 23 as we remember Jesus The Good Shepherd who extends compassion to our weary souls. “A great benefit of Sabbath keeping is that we learn to let God take care of us — not by becoming passive and lazy, but in the freedom of giving up...

We hear the Gospel story from Mark 6:1-13. Jesus is rejected in his hometown and then sends the disciples out two by two. In her sermon “Shake it Off,” Pastor Teresa reflects on instructions from Jesus in this Gospel Lesson–instructions that just might be helpful for us in navigating these challenging times in our current political landscape.

Join us for worship this Sunday! The Gospel Lesson comes from Mark and is often called “The Healing on the Way to A Healing,” as it includes two healing stories.

Join us for worship! Our sermon text is Mark’s account of Jesus in the storm with the disciples and Pastor Teresa preaches.

The scripture reading includes The Parable of the Growing Seed and the Parable of the Mustard Seed. We welcome guest preacher Ron Welborn (Pastor Teresa’s dad) who will share about his work at a #StayUMC gathering in Seguin following Seguin FUMC’s disaffiliation from The UMC. Ron is a retired band director and in recent years retired from a 2nd career as a pastor in the Río Texas Conference. He ha...

This Sunday, Pastor Teresa preaches and shares about her call to ministry. The Gospel Lesson comes from Mark 2 and focuses on themes of The Sabbath.

We celebrate Trinity Sunday! The doctrine of the Trinity often sounds heavy and makes us wonder what this ancient doctrine about who God is has to do with who we are today. Come with an open heart as we meditate on the meaning of the Trinity and celebrate divine love in its diversity and communion.

This Sunday, we celebrate Pentecost Sunday! Pentecost is the day in the Christian Calendar when we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit that birthed the early church “If we are willing to be amazed, Pentecost is one of the most awe-inspiring days in our Christian calendar. If we are willing to be transformed, it is an opportunity to be renewed in energy and faithfulness toward the work of God’s...

Pastor Teresa shares a brief homily, "Caring for Mother Earth and One Another."