MTP Sermon Resources

Psalm 46 September 8, 2024 • Mount Pleasant UMC The irony was not lost on me. I was sitting in my office, preparing to work on this very sermon, and as I started to read through the psalm I got interrupted. Then I tried again, and there was an eruption of noise from the preschool downstairs. Good noise. We love hearing the kids downstairs. So then I sat down to read again and I couldn’t focus because there were so many things going on in my head, things I had to attend to or think about or work on. Every time I sat down to read this psalm, something happened. And when I finally got through it, I chuckled as I read the most famous verse in the psalm: “Be still, and know that I am God” (46:10). Like I said, the irony was not lost on me. This fall, we are talking about the brokenness of our world, the places where it seems things have been torn apart and torn down. But we’re not just talking about it; we’re seeking to become people who are helping repair the brokenness. And so this se

  “Still” Sermon Study Guide for September 8, 2024 Downloadable Version Scripture: Psalm 46 1. Anxiety Around Us fortress 2. The Psalmist’s Response a. Come and see __________________________ (46:8) “city of God” b. _____________ and know that I am _______ (46:10) c. God is our _____________________ (46:11) Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What most causes anxiety for you these days? How do you generally respond at first to those things? Is anxiety a minor inconvenience for you or a major hurdle? How do you experience it? How do you remember/recall what God has done in your life? What things distract you when you try to get quiet? What are your hindrances to praying or sitting in God’s presence? What practices help you to stop doing and start being? When you think of a fortress, what image comes to mind? How is God a “fortress” in your life? What area of anxiety do you most want to tackle this week? What one thing will you do this week to practice stillness? Scripture for th

Galatians 2:11-14 September 1, 2024 • Mount Pleasant UMC Have you ever sat down at a table with someone you disagreed with? At that table, have you ever had a discussion, maybe even a heated one, about some political topic or maybe even a religious one? Have you ever left the table upset or even angry? Of course you have. Most of us have. Those times are called “family holiday gatherings.” Or maybe you’ve engaged someone on social media about a particular topic and before you know it you’re down the rabbit hole and mad at someone who was a friend. If you’ve ever engaged in discussions like these, if you’ve ever disagreed with someone, if you’ve ever been in the middle of a conflict that left you upset or frustrated, I have a word for you. I have a name for you: human. You are perfectly normal, because as much as we’d like to avoid it, conflict is normal and it can even be healthy. It shows up everywhere, even in the church, dividing people who are all committed to the same Lord and S