MTP Sermon Resources

Luke 2:1-7 January 24, 2025 (Christmas Candlelight) • Mount Pleasant UMC Video Opener An elderly couple are holding a baby just six months old. A paranoid king looks out from the top of a manmade mountain toward the sleepy village of Bethlehem. Magi in a far-off land notice a strange sight in the sky and wonder what it means. And shepherds, dozing in a field nearby, are about to have the shock of their lives when the sky lights up and they, of all people, get to hear the worship of eternity. Every one of these unlikely characters have somehow prepared the way for this night of nights. A baby is about to be born. Angels will sing, shepherds will spread the news, Magi will begin a long journey and Herod will become murderous. All because a baby is about to be born, a baby who will change the world. And so, Mary and Joseph, soon to be parents, have made their way to Joseph’s hometown of Bethlehem, a small town about six miles south of Jerusalem. They have been ordered there by the...

Luke 2:8-20 December 21, 2025 • Mount Pleasant UMC So I have to confess something to you all this morning. I’ve been denying it for months, but it feels like Christmas week might be the right time to come clean. Here we go: I lost some of my travelers during our “Journeys of Paul” trip this past September. I’ve been saying I didn’t, but I did. Whew, boy does that feel better. Like a weight off my shoulders! Here’s what happened, though. There were gobs of people getting off the ship all at the same time, and when you are trying to find your tour bus, it’s like being in a cattle chute. So our group got separated into two smaller groups. We were in Turkey, Istanbul to be specific (not Constantinople). And as we came out of the ship terminal into the bus terminal, and there were people yelling, trying to give directions. The problem, I discovered, is that the people were yelling one thing but the signs, the directional signs, said something else. The question became: do I listen to ...

  “Looking for a Sign” Sermon Study Guide for December 21, 2025 Downloadable Version Scripture: Luke 2:8-20 1. The Shepherds Bethlehem - sheep & shepherds (Psalm 23:1) at night… angels 2. The Signs He will be ______________________________ He will be ______________________________ God shows up in the _____________________ Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What are some of your favorite road signs? What do they tell you to do? Why do you think God sent the message to these particular shepherds? Who would God send that same message to today? Do you believe it matters whether or not we know the date of Jesus’ birth? Why? Why do you think God sent one angel each to Mary and Joseph but a multitude to the shepherds? What is unique about each of the “signs”? Why would these be helpful to the shepherds? What do each of the signs tell us about Jesus? In what way(s) do you plan to worship the newborn king this Christmas? How does he want you to worship him? Scripture for the We...

Matthew 2:1-12 December 14, 2025 • Mount Pleasant UMC Eleven days. That’s how long you have to get your Christmas gifts purchased and wrapped, Pastor Rick. Eleven days. Of course, these days you can just get on Amazon, find someone’s wish list, click “purchase” and with prime shipping have it in a matter of hours or at most a couple of days. I guess you know now how I did my Christmas shopping! Mostly gone are the days where you go to the store, agonize over the options, and then wonder if they really do like it or not. But it is an odd thing we do, isn’t it? We give gifts to each other on a day that is not our birthday. Because it isn’t. Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, or at least when we celebrate his birth, and we say we give gifts because the so-called wise men gave gifts. But they gave gifts to Jesus, though I don’t know that the gifts they gave would have been on Mary and Joseph’s Amazon wish list. This morning, we’re continuing our Advent series looking at some of the folk...