The prophet Isaiah is a difficult person to pinpoint. Unlike some of the other prophets we have covered so far, where we understood who they were and when they were speaking, there has been great debate about whether the entire “Book of Isaiah” was in fact written by one person. Whether the book is all…
Ordinary Time
God’s Love Never Fails
This is our fourth week with the prophets of the Old Testament, and one of the things I hope you realize is that they weren’t all the same. Every single one of them were called by God to share the word in radically different ways. Elijah was called to do battle with other prophets. Elisha…
I am NOT a prophet
In 1908, a mining disaster in Monogah, West Virginia claimed the lives of 361 men. 250 of those men were fathers and nearly one thousand children in the area were suddenly fatherless. And along comes Grace Golden Clayton, a Methodist, who had recently lost her own father. She felt a call to do something, to…
Cries for Healing
“I alone am left. “ That was what Elijah had started to believe in his heart, as Trevor shared with our congregation last week. But Elijah was not alone. He was not the last of the faithful prophets. In fact, right there in that very cave, Elijah hears the name of the one who would…
Reflections a week after General Conference… #umcgc
As Psalm 146 reminds us: human leaders and human institutions aren’t everything. They won’t save us. We are finite and we make mistakes. Only God is forever faithful. Yet, any denomination or tradition comes from God’s followers attempting to live out their faith and their discipleship together. Fully knowing that we are not perfect, we…
Untitled
Later this morning/This morning, I’m sharing these words with our Confirmation Class – 10 remarkable young men and women who have worked hard all year long to arrive at this moment. This sermon is in part for them, but it is also a message for all of us and so I hope you are willing…
Momentum for Life: Eating & Exercise
About ten years ago, I was living in Nashville and was in the middle of my seminary journey. I was overwhelmed by studying and coursework and I was working full time at a local church as a part of an internship. I was burning the candle at both ends and learning a lot… but I…
Momentum for Life: Vision for Immanuel
God spoke: Write this! Write what you see! Write it out in big block letters so it can be read on the run! And when God gives a vision aids our momentum. It paints a picture of the future that drives us forward because we can’t wait to get there. God’s vision aches for…