MTP Sermon Resources

Matthew 2:13-23 December 29, 2019 • Mount Pleasant UMC I hope everyone had a nice Christmas this week. We sure did; Christopher was home for a few days and we had a quiet day of food and family. When I think back over my 53 Christmases, I remember so many things. I remember as a kid running downstairs to see what Santa had left, and pestering my mom and dad to get up so we could unwrap presents. I remember sledding and building snow forts in what seemed like much larger snows than we have now. I remember how my Aunt Helen would always make my brother and I homemade pajamas for Christmas. I remember a Christmas when it was warm enough we were walking around town in shirt sleeves, and I remember the first Christmas I was in seminary when we couldn’t get home to Indiana. So we went with some friends that evening to the only restaurant we could find open in Lexington, Kentucky, which was a Chinese restaurant and had a Chinese Christmas meal. I remember the first Christmas with ...

“A Voice in Ramah” Sermon Study Guide for December 29, 2019 Scripture: Matthew 2:13-20 Christmas is… Magi & Bethlehem Herod… Jeremiah 31:15 - Ramah 2. Our Instagram Christmas This story is our story… Two truths… God did not… The baby in the manger… Isaiah 2:4 Matthew 5:39 Matthew 6:14-15 The light shines in the darkness – John 1:5 Questions to Discuss or Ponder In what ways have you heard this story explained in the past? What, do you imagine, might the mothers of Bethlehem have felt, thought, experienced? Whom have you known who has felt similar things? In what ways have you directly experienced the brokenness of our world? How does that or has that affected your relationship with God? Where in our world today do you see the truth “Herod lives again”? What does it mean in your own life that Jesus is the light of the world? What do you need to do in order to find healing or hope in yo...

Christ John 1:1-14 December 24, 2019 • Mount Pleasant UMC Dark. The night was dark, and the world was dark, though some would have thought it otherwise. The Roman Empire was in the height of its glory, but that meant many formerly free people and nations were now, often unwillingly, a part of that “glory.” Augustus was reigning. That was the chosen name of the emperor Octavian. Little Octavian had been born to Gaius Octavius, a Roman senator, but was adopted by the childless Julius Caesar. After his adopted father was murdered, he emerged to seize power and become the first Roman emperor. He wanted to rule the world, but he also did some good things. He brought peace and stability to a dangerous time. He raised Rome’s prestige in the world, but he often did it through power, might and oppression. It quickly became obvious that you were either a Roman citizen and “in” or you weren’t a Roman citizen and you were “out.” He did think pretty highly of himself; the title “Augus...

Peace Luke 1:67-80 December 22, 2019 • Mount Pleasant UMC When I was a kid, my grandparents lived for a number of years near Colorado Springs. So, every summer, we knew where we were headed for vacation. But my parents did this great thing in that we never took the same route to get there. We usually had two weeks, part of which we would spend seeing so many things along the way. We visited the Grand Canyon, the Four Corners, Yellowstone and many other places. But the day would come when we would turn toward Grandma and Grandpa’s home and in the back seat I would watch the road signs. Two hundred miles to Colorado Springs. Then a hundred. Then fifty. Especially in those long-ago fabled days before GPS, the road signs helped my brother and I, in the back of that 1977 Chevette (with no air conditioning), have patience as we got ever closer to our destination. But those road signs also reminded us we weren’t there yet. Every mile got us closer, but we still had a ways t...

“The Gifts of Christmas: Peace” Sermon Study Guide for December 22, 2019 Scripture: Luke 1:67-80 Road signs… 1. “Peace on earth…” Zechariah 2. Shalom Matthew 5:23-24; Romans 12:18 Pursuing shalom … _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ “Silent Night” John 14:27 Questions to Discuss or Ponder: When you think of “peace,” what images come to mind? When is the time in your life you have felt most peace-filled? If you were Zechariah and could not speak for nine months, what would be your first words at the end of that time? How is shalom different from what we think of as peace? In what way(s) is shalom an antidote to fear? What area of brokenness is most prominent for you? Which of the three pieces of shalom are you working on right now? How are you pursuing that? Scripture for the Week: Monday - Luke 1:26-38 Tuesday - Luke 2:1-12 We...

Love Matthew 1:18-25 December 15, 2019 • Mount Pleasant UMC There is a story I heard long ago and is usually popular this time of year. It was written in 1905 by William Sydney Porter, though you may know him better by his pen name, O. Henry. The story is “The Gift of the Magi,” and tells of a young couple who want to show each other how much they love the other. The challenge is that they don’t have any money, and so independently they decide they will show their love for each other by selling their more precious possession so they can purchase a loving gift. When they come together on Christmas Eve, it is revealed that she had her beautiful hair cut off to be able to buy a chain for his gold watch, while he sold the watch to buy a special comb for her beautiful hair (cf. Smith, The Magnificent Journey , pgs. 111-112). Now, I don’t know exactly what O. Henry intended to communicate with his story, though the title gives us a bit of a clue. The magi, or wise men, gave pre...