MTP Sermon Resources

Bits, Rudders and Sparks James 3:1-12 August 30, 2015 • Mount Pleasant UMC Sermon Study Guide I would imagine that, when he recalled that day, he could not only hear the words in his mind but also feel the sting of the harshness with which they were spoken. One moment he had been feeling pretty good, and the next moment he was at one of the lowest places in his life. Funny how quickly things can change, isn’t it? It had been a long and tiring time of ministry, so they were all excited when Jesus took them away for a road trip. He took them way up north, presumably where no one could find them, and one night, around the campfire, in the shadow of those pagan temples, Jesus had asked them, “Who do people say I am?” Different disciples had spoken up. “Some say you’re John the Baptist.” “Others say Elijah.” “Still others say you’re one of the prophets, come back to life.” Jesus hadn’t commented on any of that; he had simply asked a different question. Maybe it was the que...

Who’s Your Favorite? James 2:1-10 August 23, 2015 • Mount Pleasant UMC Sermon Study Guide We all have favorites. For instance, who is the best baseball team [shout it out]? How about the best football team? In 2007, when the Colts played the Bears in the Superbowl, we were serving in northwest Indiana, an area that strongly leans toward Chicago sports, though there were several Colts fans in the congregation as well. On that particular Sunday, I was afraid I would have to draw a line down the middle of the room—Colts fans on one side and Bears fans on the other! How about ice cream—what’s your favorite ice cream? And pie? There are a lot of different answers being given! It seems we can’t agree on what is the best in any particular area. We just have our favorites. Rachel is enjoying being an only child; she says it’s her turn anyway because Christopher had a four-year head start on her. But I’ve always told her that she’s my favorite—daughter. And Christopher is...

Do You Hear What I’m Doing? James 1:19-27 August 16, 2015 • Mount Pleasant UMC Sermon Study Guide I went to the doctor for the first time this week, mainly to get established as a new patient but also to get my existing prescriptions refilled. The doctor looked over my medications and asked about this one I had handed him that was shaped like a book. “What’s this for?” he asked. “Well, Doc,” I said, “that one treats an ailment I have suffered from most of my life. In fact, I find a lot of people suffer from it. But, if I follow that prescription every day, I find the occurrences of the disease are less.” The doctor looked skeptical and said, “But you didn’t tell me what it cures.” “Well,” I said, “it cures a lot of things, but right now, it’s mainly treating my ‘foot-in-mouth’ disease.” The doctor shook his head. “I can’t help you with that one,” he said, and wrote out the rest of my prescriptions. Do you ever suffer from “foot-in-mouth” disease? Do you ever say ...

Matthew 28:16-20; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 August 2, 2015 • Mount Pleasant UMC Monday, January 26, 2015—I had just returned to the office after having lunch with a pastor friend of mine, and during lunch, he had asked me (as Methodist pastors tend to do during that time of year), “Do you think you’ll move this year?” We talked about how I had been in Portage for ten years, but that I didn’t think I would be moving this year. I told him I thought it probably wouldn’t be until after Rachel graduated from high school. We had a good lunch, and then I went back to the office. I was working on some things when my cell phone rang and I saw who was calling me: it was my District Superintendent, and when I answered he told me about this place I had been appointed to—some place called Mount Pleasant. “You need to come to Terre Haute,” I was told, “on Thursday evening and meet with the Staff-Parish Team.” But he also told me we couldn’t tell anyone about the appointment until it was offi...