MTP Sermon Resources

“The Power of Love” Sermon Study Guide for June 29, 2025 Downloadable Version Scripture: John 13:1-7 NLT Washing Feet… 1. Last words… Romans 12:21 - overcome evil “a new command” Judas - grabbing power & control 2. What You Believe… 1 John 4:7-21 “loved them to the end” the mind of Christ… bottom line: “Love one another.” Show your love by your _______________________ Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What do “last words” say about a person? What would you want your last words to be? When have you seen evil overcome by good as Paul suggests? How does the power of love transform any situation? Why did Judas miss Jesus’ way and instead choose the world’s way? When are we tempted to do that as well? How does what you believe shape who you become? When have you seen that for good or for ill? What does it mean to love someone “to the end”? How can you live out this week’s bottom line in practical ways: “Love one another”? What are some ways you can show your love by your ...

Matthew 9:35-38 June 22, 2025 • Mount Pleasant UMC I’ve been thinking about the prayers we pray, and I even got to thinking about the prayers we learn as young children. How many of you prayed this one before bed: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” You know, that’s kind of a morbid prayer for kids to pray, don’t you think? Especially before bed? More upbeat, I suppose, is the prayer many of us learned to pray at dinnertime: “God is great, God is good, and we thank him for our food.” Or the alternate form of that prayer which I learned at church camp: “Good grub, good meat, good God, let’s eat.” Prayer is one of those mysteries that we don’t really understand. When we ask for things, sometimes we know when we get an answer and other times we don’t. People will pray, “Bless so and so,” but what does that mean and how do we know when we or they are blessed in answer to the prayer? Some pray...

  “The Answer to the Prayer” Sermon Study Guide for June 22, 2025 Downloadable Version Scripture: Matthew 9:35-38 prayers… 1. Jesus and the Crowds “great compassion” sheep and shepherds Numbers 27:17 Ezekiel 34 ask the Lord of the harvest… 2. A Recipe for the Local Church a. ______________________________ Matthew 28:29 John 13:34-35 Romans 12:7 b. ______________________________ c. ______________________________ Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What prayers do you remember learning as a child? Why have they stuck with you? What sorts of things hit you “in the gut”? How does that compare to what Jesus is feeling? Why is Jesus so urgent in asking for workers? What is his church not so urgent? Where, in your observation, are the “centers” where people gather today? How can we be effective in reaching people where they are? What are the “idols” or substitute gods that we most worship today? Which one is most tempting in your own life? Why do we shy away fr...

John 14:5-7 June 15, 2025 • Mount Pleasant UMC The doctor stared at the papers on the desk. The math and the test results all added up. it really was true; he had discovered a cure to the dreaded disease. And it wasn’t just a dreaded disease; it was a disease his closest friend had, which is what had set him on this course several years ago. He wanted to find a cure for his friend, and if it benefitted everyone else, then so be it. His colleagues had laughed at his single-minded dedication to finding a cure. It wasn’t possible, they told him. He couldn’t do it, his family said. And while his friend appreciated the research, he had been skeptical as well. But now he had done it. Years of research and tests and trials and late nights, and now the evidence was clear. He had, in fact, found the cure. But as he reached for the phone to tell his friend, he hesitated. He remembered all of those mocking voices, all of those people who said he could never do it. He thought of his friend...