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Becoming Children

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Galatians 3:23-29 May 10, 2026 (Mother’s Day) • Mount Pleasant UMC Well, let me start off by wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day! Every year on this day, I think of Jerry Stowers, a parishioner at a previous church who has since gone home to be with Jesus. At this particular church, we had an annual Mother’s Day breakfast after worship, and when I got out to the fellowship hall, Jerry was the first in line. I said, “Jerry, it’s Mother’s Day! Shouldn’t you let your wife go first?” To which Jerry said, “She wouldn’t be a mother without me!” And Jerry went on through the line. So happy Mother’s Day, everyone, whether you are a mother or had a mother—motherhood is a good thing and a good reason to celebrate. I think it’s appropriate that today, Mother’s Day, we come to this particular word in our journey through the New Testament “Words of Life”—because our word today is “faith.” Many if not most of us learned our faith from our mothers. Sorry, Dads, but it’s been that way for mu...
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Becoming Children (Study Guide)

  “Becoming Children” Sermon Study Guide for May 10, 2026 Downloadable Version Scripture: Galatians 3:23-29 1. What Faith Is Torah / instruction Galatia and “many gods” Guardian / pedagogue pistis 2. Putting Your Whole Self In a. ______________________________ b. Social ________________________ Philemon 16 c. _____________________________ “Give me your hand” Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What sorts of emotions and thoughts does Mother’s Day stir up for you? From whom did you learn your faith? What does “faith” mean to you? What does it mean to “have faith”? When do you think someone has gone “too far” with their faith? What does it mean that the law was our “guardian”? How did Christ’s arrival change that? What is the difference between obeying “Torah” and following Jesus? How does faith upend ethnicity? status? gender? In what way(s) have you experienced a change in such things because of your faith? What way(s) do we still find to divide ourselves? A questio...
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The Only Thing Worth Knowing

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1 Corinthians 2:1-5 May 3, 2026 • Mount Pleasant UMC Well, let’s just get this out of the way right off the bat: “Star Wars Day” is tomorrow so let me be the first to tell you, “May the Fourth Be With You.” I’m sure you will be celebrating by watching your favorite Star Wars movie or TV show. Like any franchise or fandom, especially one that has lasted for almost 50 years now, opinions vary widely on which movie or set of movies is the best, and there are endless online arguments about this movie or that series, which ones are good and which ones aren’t. And there are people who make arguments that this movie or that movie should be erased or remade, that it shouldn’t really be part of the story. We like this part of the story, but not that part of the story. It shouldn’t have happened that way. But, like it or not, those films and series actually are part of the story. The same thing is true in our faith and in particular of the writings that define our faith. There are parts...
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The Only Thing Worth Knowing (Study Guide)

“The Only Thing Worth Knowing” Sermon Study Guide for May 3, 2026 Downloadable Version Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 1. Corinth Romanitas Paul’s message 2. The Powers a. Power of ________________________ John 14:18, 26; 16:7 Hebrews 13:8 1 Corinthians 1:18 b. Power of ________________________ 3. Cruciformity 1 Corinthians 1:23 Philippians 3:10-11 a. Status b. Table c. Love Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What part(s) of the Biblical story or of the story of Jesus do you wish were not included? Why? What part(s) are you most tempted to skip over or ignore? Corinth wanted to imitate Rome. Who do we most try to imitate? Why do we try to ignore the brutality of the cross? How has the cross become “acceptable” in our culture? How do we most often experience the power of the Holy Spirit? When do we rely more on our own power than on his? Why is the resurrection necessary to understand the full meaning of the cross? What is cruciformity? What does it look like i...
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