MTP Sermon Resources

“Upward” Sermon Study Guide for July 1, 2018 Scripture: Acts 8:26-40 Good Questions… Philip’s Moment The early church… Promptings… The Ethiopian… Isaiah 53:7-8 - Suffering Servant 2. Is Jesus Real To Me? Baptism Communion John 12:32 - lifted up The Wesley Challenge: Sunday: Is Jesus real to me? Monday: Am I enjoying prayer? Tuesday: Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy? Wednesday: Did the Bible live in me today? Thursday: Did I disobey God in anything? Friday: Do I pray about the money I spend? Saturday: Do I give time for the Bible to speak to me every day? Scripture for the Week: Monday - Luke 11:1-4 Tuesday - Philippians 4:4-9 Wednesday - John 15:1-8 Thursday - Deuteronomy 5:28-33 Friday - Luke 12:13-21 Saturday - Hebrews 4:12-13 Resources for The Wesley Challenge Folmsbee, Chris. The Wesley Challenge . Abingdon, 2017. Hamilton,

John 14:8-14 June 17, 2018 • Mount Pleasant UMC Lulabel Seitz was only a few minutes into her valedictory speech at Petaluma High School in Petaluma, California, on June 2 when her microphone went silent. Seitz was listing the challenges her class had been through when she brought up a topic that she had been told by school officials not to mention: a sexual assault she says the school mishandled and covered up. When she went off the approved script, the school officials turned off her microphone in order to keep the ceremony, in their words, “appropriate and beautiful.” Seitz took her seat after a few moments, only later recording herself giving the unedited speech which she posted on YouTube. As one law professor observed, “Probably many more people have heard it now than would have ever heard it before” ( https://nbcnews.to/2JCsc7L ). Now, this is not a sermon about sexual assault or free speech or first amendment rights. What struck me about the story of Lulabel Seitz,

“Out Loud” Sermon Study Guide for June 17, 2018 Scripture: John 14:8-14 Greater Things “Show us the Father…” Matthew 4:17 - “the kingdom” Works 2. Living Out Loud “Works of Piety” a. ____________________ b. Searching the ___________________ c. ____________________ d. ____________________ e. Christian ____________________ “Works of Mercy” a. Do _________________________ b. Do _________________________ c. Stay _______________________________ Questions to Discuss or Ponder: Recall an experience you had when you felt silenced in sharing what you believe. What happened? How did you respond? What is the role of “works” in our faith? How do our works give “evidence” of what we believe? Of the “works of piety,” which one needs the most attention in your spiritual life? Which “work of mercy” could you build on in your life? How will you go about it? What is one way you can specifically live “out loud” this week

Matthew 5:43-48 June 10, 2018 • Mount Pleasant UMC So last Sunday evening, my youngest, my baby, graduated from high school, the second of two graduations our family is celebrating this year. Of course, a lot of you were there, because you had graduates to celebrate as well. It was a great night, just as Christopher’s was a month ago, and both of those graduations have made me more than a bit nostalgic. It made me think back thirty-three years to the Sunday afternoon when I graduated from Rossville High School. My class had a whopping 49 people in it, nothing to compare to the 330+ that made up Rachel’s class, but I’m thankful for that little school and the education I got there. That afternoon in 1985, though, when I stood on the stage to receive my diploma, I was thinking about how my last semester had messed up my “perfect” educational career. Now, I told you a few weeks ago about my academic struggles with “Happy Horsemanship,” but the first class that challenged my academi