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: Jesus Christ
Embracing the Digital Age: The Importance of Digital Ministry for the Church
In an era where digital technology permeates every aspect of our lives, the church must adapt and embrace the opportunities presented by the digital age. Digital ministry, the use of technology to share the Gospel, build communities, and minister to people, has become increasingly crucial in fostering spiritual growth and connecting with the world. Let’s…
Sermon: Revival!
More or less, here is the sermon I preached today at Salem United Methodist Church and Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church. Initially, the title was “I Say…” but I made a game-time decision (appropriate since it’s the day of that big football game that I don’t have permission to use the name of) to talk…
Epiphany Sermon: “Magi, Did You Know?”
More or less, here’s my sermon from Epiphany Sunday at my two churches. As soon as I started studying for this sermon, the title popped into my head and wouldn’t leave, so I ran with it. I hope my attempt to share the story of the Magi and ponder whether they knew who they were…
A Christmas Eve Devotion: Light Has Come!
This is, more or less, the devotion I gave at the Christmas Eve service for my charge tonight. We held a combined service at Pleasant Hill UMC in Lucedale. A video of the service can be found here. Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and…
The Church’s Identity Crisis
This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family…
Worship Wars: Christmas Day Edition
The last time Christmas Day fell on a Sunday was in 2016 and I remember the appalling feeling I had when churches began to announce that they were canceling their worship services for that week. The reason most often given was to allow parishioners and staff to spend time with their families. I was shocked…
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…
Rescue the Lost Sheep
A few years ago, I attended a ministry conference where the featured speaker made a statement that I often recall: “God is in the rescue business.” One of the occasions where I found myself thinking of this statement was in a conversation this morning with one of my friends, who said, “I don’t like churches…
We Don’t Get to Choose Who Receives Compassion
If you didn’t know, I’m a former paramedic. During my time on the ambulance, I responded to my share of overdose calls and I also expressed by share of frustration over them. Part of the reason was that I was simply following the example of my peers – I was expected to deride and offhandedly…