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Giants in the Land

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Numbers 13:26-33 February 22, 2026 • Mount Pleasant UMC Every time we drove highway 68 from Wilmore to Harrodsburg, Kentucky, we saw it. In fact, after a few of those trips, I started to look for it. Just around one of those sharp bends in the road that ran along the side of the mountain, if you looked down you could see it: a car hanging suspended above the valley floor. Apparently, its driver had missed the curve of the road and drove off the side of the mountain. Now I don’t know if the driver made it to safety or was injured in the crash. All I know is that when we left Kentucky, the car was still hanging there. For all I know, unless it rusted out, it may still be hanging there. One thing I learned: while I had grown up thinking of valleys as peaceful places, that car taught me that, depending on how steep the slopes around it were, a valley could also be a dangerous place. This Lenten season, we are walking through the Holy Land—from the comfort of our pews—to visit some ...
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Giants in the Land (Study Guide)

“Giants in the Land” Sermon Study Guide for February 22, 2026 Downloadable Version Scripture: Numbers 13:26-33 1. Spying Out the Land Valley of Eshkol (“cluster”) flowing with milk and honey 2. The Valleys a. The Valley of __________________________ grasshoppers minority report - Caleb & Joshua b. The Valley of _________________________ the blessing lies ___________________ forty years… Questions to Discuss or Ponder: Why does transformation take so long? Why, do you think, does God ask Moses to send spies into the promised land? When have you felt like a “grasshopper” compared to the circumstances around you? How did that lead to a valley of discouragement? Why do the people refuse to accept the minority report? When have you been tempted to listen to the loudest voices rather than the true voice? How does the valley of discouragement become the valley of rebellion? Why is it so easy to forget the things God has already given us or the things he has promise...
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A Glimpse of Glory

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Matthew 17:1-9 February 18, 2026 (Ash Wednesday) • Mount Pleasant UMC It was an audacious request that had placed him in this situation. He knew it as soon as it came out of his mouth. As if he hadn’t been given enough already. Moses had led the people out of slavery and had seen amazing things on the journey—water parting, the most powerful army in the world defeated, water from a rock and the very finger of God writing on stone tablets. Amazing, miraculous things. And on that day he had been talking to God, trying to make sure God was going to go with them. He told God, “If you don’t go with us, then we’ll just stay here. There’s no point in moving forward without you.” And he really believed that. So when God promised to go with him and them—well, that’s when he said it. He couldn’t believe the words came out of his mouth. Before he even thought about it, he said, “Show me your glory.” And that’s how he ended up in this cramped little cave. That God actually considered his r...
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As You Go

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Matthew 10:1-8 February 15, 2026 • Mount Pleasant UMC One of my favorite classes when I was in seminary was called the “worship practicum.” That’s a fancy seminary name for “you get to practice doing stuff.” Professor Don Boyd would tell us to meet him somewhere for that week’s class and we would practice communion, weddings, even a funeral. Now, he didn’t do it for our class, but I’m told he occasionally would be in the casket laying there when the class arrived. But the day I remember the most was when we practiced baptism. Because most Methodist churches don’t have a baptismal for immersions, we went to a Baptist church. Professor Boyd gave us instruction and then paired us up, and I don’t remember the name of the student I was paired with but I do remember that he was over 6 feet tall. A lot taller than me. Now, to do a successful immersion baptism when you’re standing up means the person who is being baptized needs to bend their knees; then they can help you by pushing back ...
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