MTP Sermon Resources

Wearing God Galatians 3:26-29 April 26, 2020 • Mount Pleasant UMC (Casual Shirt + Dress Pants) “Clothes make the man,” Mark Twain once said. He went on to observe: “Naked people have little or no influence on society.” I’m not exactly sure that’s what the proverb originally meant, but as with most things, Mark Twain had his own slant on things. The proverb, as best as we can tell, actually originated in the Middle Ages; one of the earliest places it’s found is in the writings of a Catholic priest, theologian and social critic named Erasmus. Around the year 1500, he observed what we all know to be true: you can tell a lot about a person by what they wear, and we do tend to judge people on some level by their attire. Most of you are probably used to seeing me in clothes like this; this is what we call today “dress casual,” and it’s what I typically wear when I’m out pastoring, whether working in the office, visiting in the hospital (remember when we could do that?) or preac...

April 26 Questions for discussion 1. In what way do "clothes make the man or woman" today? How do we judge others by what they wear? 2. A consequence of the first sin was shame. How is shame still a big part of our sin today? 3. "Something died so that Adam and Eve could live." How do you respond to that statement? 4. There are three divides Paul describes in Galatians: cultural, social and gender. Which of these do you most struggle to overcome? Why? 5. How do you picture Christ as a garment? In what ways do you seek to "wear" him? 6. Who in your life most exemplifies someone who is "clothed with Christ"? Share about that person. 7. Where is a place in your life where you struggle to live like Jesus? What one step will you take this week to make strides in that area? Scriptures for the Week Monday - Genesis 3:1-24 Tuesday - Revelation 7:9-17 Wednesday - Luke 4:14-30 Thursday - 1 Peter 5:1-11 Friday - Colossians 3:...

April 19, 2020 Questions for discussion When you think of God, what images come to mind first? What word or title do you usually use when you talk to God in prayer? Why do you use that particular word? When you were a child, did God inspire fear or love? Why? What makes for a good friend? What qualities do you most admire in your best friends? (Have you told them that you admire those things?) Read Psalm 145:3. What does “unsearchable” mean? How have you experienced the intimacy of the “unsearchably great” God? What is the difference between being a servant of God and a friend of God? Which are you? “Friendship with God is the entire goal of the Christian life.” Respond to this statement. What do you do to make that goal reachable in your life? Scriptures for the Week Monday - James 2:14-26 Tuesday - Genesis 18:1-8 Wednesday - Isaiah 6:1-8 Thursday - Psalm 145 Friday - Proverbs 18:19-24 Saturday - Galatians 3:23-29

All the Eggs in the Easter Basket Matthew 28:1-10 July 19, 2020 • Mount Pleasant UMC Okay, let’s just be honest and up front this morning: this is not the Easter we planned on. It’s probably not the Easter any of us wanted. I’m an introvert and this isn’t even the Easter I wanted! It’s unlike any Easter we’ve ever experienced, and it’s easy to focus on everything that isn’t happening this year. We had online Holy Week services. We didn’t get to have our Easter Eggstravaganza—now I guess the staff will just have to eat all that candy whenever we get back to the office! Oh, the things we do for this church! Anyway—you’ve probably had to cancel your own Easter egg hunts and family dinners and family pictures and pretty much anything that has to do with leaving home or being with a big group of other people. Many people right now swing between confidence and fear, but mostly I think we’re all just ready for this to be over. When will life get back to normal? No, this is ...

Questions for Study What is your biggest disappointment about the way Easter is being celebrated this year? What is the best thing about the way Easter is being celebrated this year? In what way(s) is this Easter like the first Easter? Why do you think no one anticipated a resurrection, even though Jesus talked about it ahead of time? What proof of the resurrection speaks the most to you? What word of hope does the resurrection speak to you? What are you most looking forward to when Jesus gives you a resurrection body? How do you experience the victorious life or the life of hope? Scriptures for the Week Monday - Mark 16:1-8 Tuesday - Luke 24:1-12 Wednesday - John 20:19-31 Thursday - 1 Corinthians 15:1-34 Friday - 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 Saturday - James 2:14-26

The End is Near Mark 10:32-34 April 10, 2020 (Good Friday) • Mount Pleasant UMC I am an avid reader, and if you are friends with me on GoodReads, you might notice that I put away a lot of pages in any given year. For me, two of the best feelings in the world are starting a new book and finishing one I’ve been working on for a while. There is a lot of satisfaction in reading that last paragraph, though I will admit that sometimes, when I know I’m near the end, I flip over to the last page to get some idea of how it might end. If someone else spoils it for me, I’m not very happy with them, but if I spoil it for myself, that’s a different story. Friends, we are near the end of the story; the end is near, as they say, and every year the temptation is to jump to the real ending. We want to skip over this day and go straight to Easter because it just feels better. Good Friday is hard in any year, even moreso this year when we can’t walk through it together in person. But o...

Overturned Mark 11:15-19 April 9, 2020 (Maundy Thursday) • Mount Pleasant UMC Well, here we are, together virtually during this Holy Week. Thanks for joining me on this Maundy Thursday evening, even if we’re only together online. I never imagined when I began pastoral ministry nearly twenty-seven years ago that I would ever be doing Holy Week services like this. This will be the first Maundy Thursday I have ever celebrated without face-to-face communion and certainly the first one I’ve ever done from home. Of course, Maundy Thursday isn’t solely about communion. In fact, the traditional reading for this night, while taking place on the last night Jesus spent with his disciples doesn’t include the story of the first communion at all. The word “maundy” is a corruption of the Latin word “mandatum,” the first word in the usual reading for tonight. John 13 tells about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, giving them what he says is an example for their future ministry, and...

What Kind of King? Mark 11:1-11 April 5, 2020 (Palm Sunday) • Mount Pleasant UMC Video Opener Sermon Study Guide I have been a Methodist all my life, but I was in college and seminary before I was really introduced to the sermons of John Wesley and the hymns and songs of Charles Wesley. As is usually the case, most people, myself included, remember far more of Charles’ songs than we do John’s sermons, and I fell in love with the way Charles took John’s teaching and put it to music. I mean, can you imagine Christmas without “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” or Easter without “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”? The songs of Charles Wesley have, in many ways, been the soundtrack of my faith these last many years. But there is one song I can’t quite get past, one lyric he wrote in which I think he missed it by a long shot. The song is called “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild,” and I get it that he wrote it for children, to help them relate to Jesus, but to me, the imagery is a...