MTP Sermon Resources

Matthew 6:9-13 July 20, 2025 • Mount Pleasant UMC One of my favorite cartoons shows a pastor, apparently in his office, kneeling in prayer. As the pastor prays, the heavens are opened and God is reaching down. It’s a moment of true spiritual connection, and just at that moment, on the other side of the cartoon, someone opens the door and says, “Oh, good, you’re not busy.” We might laugh, but we only laugh because it’s painfully true. Increasingly today, people see prayer as having very little value, or maybe even as a waste of time. Whenever tragedy hits, we hear politicians, preachers and pundits all saying, “We don’t want your prayers. We want you to do something.” The prevailing idea today is that prayer doesn’t accomplish anything. Increasingly, even for Christians, prayer is considered a foolish endeavor. We seem to forget that prayer was an integral and important part of Jesus’ life. If prayer is wasted time, why is it the only thing his disciples directly asked Jesus to ...

  “On Our Knees” Sermon Study Guide for July 20, 2025 Downloadable Version Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13 1. The “Lord’s” Prayer Luke 11 - “Teach us to pray…” Matthew 6 - Sermon on the Mount a. ___________________ prayers (6:9-10) Matthew 26:39 - “not my will” b. ___________________ prayers (6:11-13) 6:14-15 - forgiveness conditions 2. Our Prayers “when” you pray James 5:16 Three types of pray-ers Questions to Discuss or Ponder: Have you heard people say that prayer is a waste of time? How did or do you respond? Who taught you to pray? What have been the biggest influences on your life of prayer? Why are we tempted to use a lot of words in our prayers? How do your prayers match the model Jesus gave us in his prayer? What do you begin your prayers with? Of the “human-ward” prayers, which one(s) occupy your attention the most? In what way(s) does that align or not align with God’s priorities? Which “type” of pray-er do you most relate to? Why? What one step will you ...

1 John 4:9-12 July 13, 2025 • Mount Pleasant UMC When I answered God’s call to be a pastor, to spend my whole life in the church, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. Many of you know that Mount Pleasant is the fourth church I have served, the third one I have been the lead pastor for. For the first four years of my ministry, I was an associate pastor, and as Pastor Rick will tell you, that’s the best job in the world because you have someone to blame for everything! Then I was appointed to a country church and the first day I was there, the Trustee chairperson called me and wanted to have lunch. Well, that’s really nice, I thought. And it was nice, and he has become a lifelong friend, but that day who I met was a fairly young Christian who was beginning to step into leadership in the church finding himself honestly shocked by the way things happened. He told me he went to his first Council meeting and almost quit after that because of the way people treated each ...

  “At One” Sermon Study Guide for July 13, 2025 Downloadable Version Scripture: 1 John 4:9-12 Life in the church… 1. A Letter from John the last living disciple the “core” 2. Atonement legal religious a parable - Matthew 18:21-30 3. Forgive One Another a. ___________________________ b. ___________________________ c. ___________________________ d. ___________________________ Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What has been your biggest challenge in dealing with others in the church? Why do we treat each other in ways that aren’t loving? Why are there so many different denominations in the world today? Do we tend to focus on our similarities or differences? Why? Why is atonement so important? How does it help explain what Jesus has done for us? Why is it easier to be forgiven than to forgive someone who has hurt us? In what way(s) do others see Jesus when we forgive someone? What first step do you need to take to leave behind the prison of unforgiveness? Scripture for ...