More or less, here’s the sermon I preached this morning. In hindsight, I probably should have changed the title because the sermon took a slightly different turn than what I envisioned earlier in the week. I ended up approaching the text as a prayer for the disciples Jesus would eventually leave behind. By extension, I…
Tag: Bible
Sermon: The Guardian of the Soul
More or less, here’s the sermon I delivered at Salem UMC and Pleasant Hill UMC on April 30, 2023. 1 PETER 2:19-25 (NLT) For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But…
A Sermon (more or less): “Keeping the Christ in Us”
This is, more or less, a sermon I preached on December 26th at my churches. This sermon is my ordination sermon, meaning this is the one I’m submitting to my annual conference’s Board of Ordained Ministry as part of my application to be ordained as an Elder. I wanted to share it here for any…
A TL, DR Sermon: The Lost Sheep
Matthew 15:21-28Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 Going into my final year at Asbury Seminary, I did an internship where I worked with some of the homeless population in Lexington, Kentucky. The experience was a profound eye-opener that had a major impact on my life and my ministry. Among the lessons I learned was that much of what…
Women, Preach! A Response to John MacArthur
John MacArthur telling Beth Moore that she and other women who preach ought to “go home” has been well documented. He further insisted, “There is no case that can be made biblically for a woman preacher. Period. Paragraph. End of discussion” (something I believe is a load of bunk). Except with those whom also espouse…
It’s Time to Return to Jesus
“When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, ‘You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means…
Anxiety is Sin? Tell That to My Brain
EDIT: Rev. Moore has reached out to me to apologize for her tweet and she has removed it. I have accepted her apology and held/hold no ill will toward her. To be clear: My problem was never with her but with what she tweeted. There is a major difference. – Jonathan Yesterday a prominent evangelical…
Sermon: Stories of the Saints
Here is today’s sermon from Shiloh United Methodist Church in Stanton, KY. We are doing a series based on material from the United Methodist Church Disciple Ministries regarding the saints. In the UMC, our understanding of saints is not the same as our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. We believe that saints are all of…
Abuse is NOT a Christian Value
I have to make an acknowledgment: My home state of Mississippi does not have the best reputation in the world. We rank at or near the bottom in most of the good quality of life indicators and at or near the top in all of the bad ones. One of the negative areas where Mississippi…
Prayerful Hope for President Trump
I have to be very honest: I have had a lot of mixed feelings about the outcome of the last presidential election. Today I had many of those same mixed feelings as I witnessed the inauguration of (now) President Trump. While I did not vote for Mr. Trump (who I voted for is irrelevant and…