MTP Sermon Resources

“Leave the Light On” Sermon Study Guide for December 13, 2020 Downloadable Version Scripture: Luke 2:8-15 1. The Night-Shift Shepherds “living out in the fields” “an angel of the Lord” two signs Judaisms and “the sinners” 2. Leave the Light On welcome at the manger our “shepherds” people in our own lives… Questions to Discuss or Ponder: Recall a time when someone “left the light on” for you (either literally or metaphorically). How did that impact you? How did it make you feel? How does celebrating Jesus’ birth complement celebrating his death and resurrection? If an angel appeared to you, how do you imagine you would react? How would you describe the experience to someone else? What is significant about the two “signs” the angels give the shepherds? Who do we tend to put in the category of “sinner” today? (How has the concept of “sin” changed from Jesus’ world to ours?) What can you do this week to “light a candle” rather than “curse the darkness”? Who are you “leaving a...

Matthew 2:1-12 December 6, 2020 • Mount Pleasant UMC I know you’ve heard it; maybe you’ve said it or something like it. “Don’t go to that part of town. It’s too dangerous.” I remember being with a group driving through the south side of Chicago when someone said, “Roll up your windows. It’s dangerous here.” As if rolling up our windows would somehow protect us from harm! But I'm guessing you get it; from our earliest days we are conditioned to avoid strangers (cf. Robb, Making Room , pg. 29). “Stranger danger,” we tell our kids; strangers are scary. Pastor Ed Robb puts it this way: “What we don’t know about another person seems to threaten our own well-being” (29). Of course, not every child listens to or learns that lesson. I remember being at a McDonald’s play land and cautioning Christopher about some people he was talking to. “They’re strangers,” I told him. “You need to stay away.” Christopher, the extrovert that he is, looked back at me confused and said, “They’re not stra...

  “From the East” Sermon Study Guide for December 6, 2020 Downloadable Version Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12 1. The Magi’s Journey Herod… Jerusalem… Unexpected visitors… 2. Our Journey Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (John 4:1-42) The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37 Jesus the Refugee (Matthew 2:13-23) A community in Chicago… Getting to know “the other” Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What is your earliest memory of being in a place that was considered “not safe”? What do you know about the Magi? How is our popular understanding of them different from what we’re told in the Gospel? Who do you know who still hasn’t found what they are looking for spiritually? Where does our world encourage people to look for meaning and purpose? Why do you think the chief priests and teachers of the law were uninterested in going to Bethlehem? What are some other examples of Jesus welcoming a stranger? How does the church welcome “strangers” today? In what way do we fail to welcome strangers ...

Luke 2:1-7 November 29, 2020 • Mount Pleasant UMC Yep, I’m with you. This is not the Advent any of us planned. I think I said something similar back a few months during the season of Lent, leading up to Easter! And I’ll be very honest: I’m frustrated and a little angry that we’re online again at this time of year. Yes, we will make the best of it, and yes we will get through it, but of all the times of the year that I most want to be together with friends and family, it’s this time of the year. Of all the times I want to be in our worship center, decorated for Christmas, it’s this time of year. I imagine I am not alone in that, and so I want you to know: I understand, I get it. This is not the Advent we hoped for. This is not the Advent we wanted. But it’s the Advent we have, and at this point, we don’t know what the next four weeks will hold. It’s an uncertain Advent at best. But then I got to thinking—or maybe it was the Holy Spirit whispering—that it really wasn’t much diffe...

  “The Holiest Thing” Sermon Study Guide for November 29, 2020 Downloadable Version Scripture: Luke 2:1-7 1. “In Those Days…” Caesar… “No room in the inn…” 2. Hospitality… Doing what needs to be done… _______________ is the holiest thing… Connected but lonely… Questions to Discuss or Ponder: In what way(s) were Joseph and Mary challenged by the circumstances of “those days”? What difference does it make to understand Joseph’s choice for lodging as a home? What is your definition of hospitality? In what way(s) do you regularly practice such hospitality? Why is your neighbor “the holiest object” you can see? Where have you experienced the pandemic of loneliness in your world? What is a way you will live out the Biblical demand of hospitality toward your neighbor today or this week? Scripture for the Week: Monday - Matthew 22:34-40 Tuesday - 1 John 2:3-11 Wednesday - 1 John 3:11-24 Thursday - Romans 12:9-21 Friday - Isaiah 54:2-3 Saturday - Matthew 2:1-12 In resp...

Luke 19:1-10 November 15, 2020 • Mount Pleasant UMC All right, everybody together, if you know the song—let’s get this out of the way because I know you’re thinking it. Zacchaeus was a wee little man, And a wee little man was he! He climbed up in a sycamore tree For the Lord he wanted to see! And as the Savior passed that way, He looked up in the tree, And he said, “Zacchaeus, you come down! For I’m goin’ to your house today! For I’m goin’ to your house today!” I remember singing that song so many times in the basement of the Rossville United Methodist Church—along with, of course, the motions (most of which I still remember). So whenever I hear the name “Zacchaeus,” I naturally and immediately think, “wee little man.” But there’s so much more to this man than his height. This morning, Zacchaeus will show us how to respond to Jesus and his generosity. This morning, we’re in the second part of a two-week series called “The Generosity Challenge,” and last week, I challenged you...