MTP Sermon Resources

Matthew 6:5-15 April 8, 2018 • Mount Pleasant UMC What was the first prayer you learned? Do you remember? I can’t say for sure, but I’m fairly certain mine was either, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep,” or it was, “God is great, God is good, let us thank him for this food.” Two important prayers for me still today: prayer for sleep, and prayer for food! Somewhere within us, we have this desire or need to reach out to someone or something beyond us from a very early age, but we’re not always sure how to do it, how to pray. So simple prayers like those we learn in childhood tend to stick with us, and sometimes we rely on them far beyond childhood, well into adulthood. Regardless of how we go about it, most people pray at least sometimes (cf. Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Part One , pg. 57). Pastor Craig Groeschel tells of being on a rough flight sitting next to a woman who told him up front (as soon as she learned he was a pastor) she didn’t believ...

“First Focus” Sermon Study Guide for April 8, 2018 Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15 Everyone prays… The Lord’s Prayer Jewish & Gentile Prayer “Teach us to pray…” A framework… Myths about prayer 2. Praying the Lord’s Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven… Hallowed be thy name… Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in  heaven… Give us this day our daily bread… And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who  trespass against us… And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from  evil… For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  Amen. Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What was the first prayer you remember praying? What questions or struggles do you have when it comes to prayer? What has been your pattern of prayer up to this point? Are you satisfied with your prayer life? Why or why not? Why do we tend to believe “myths” about prayer (li...

John 20:1-18 April 1, 2018 • Mount Pleasant UMC I seriously doubt anyone got much sleep. It had been a long weekend. Jesus had been crucified on Friday, and his body was taken down and put into a tomb just before sunset on Friday night. The weekend was a high holiday, and so there were celebrations and feasts, but I doubt that anyone in their group felt like celebrating. Everything they had been working for over the last three years had died when Jesus shouted, “It is finished” (19:30). His life was finished, and so were their hopes and dreams of a coming kingdom. So Friday night, they went home and tried to sleep. All day Saturday, the day of rest, they would have stayed home, grieving Jesus’ death. The Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday, but no one would get out at night. It was too dangerous. So, again, on Saturday night, they tried to sleep. And somewhere between 3 and 6 a.m., the “final watch” of the night, Mary had had enough of waiting. She couldn’t take it anymore...

“The Last Laugh” Sermon Study Guide for April 1, 2018 Scripture: John 20:1-18 1. From Darkness to ______________________ John 1:5; 8:12; 13:30 2. From Evil to ________________________ Luke 8:2 3. The Worst Thing is ____________________________ “Why are you crying?” They have taken away… Resurrection! 1 Corinthians 15 God always gets… That you may have life (20:31) Questions to Discuss or Ponder: 1. What does “Easter” mean to you? Why is worship on Easter important to you? 2. Where do you see darkness in our world today? What hope do you have for light to break through? 3. In what ways have you seen love triumph over evil? How does the resurrection of Jesus demonstrate that triumph? 4. Why are you crying? What burden do you bring to the empty tomb? 5. Why does Jesus tell Mary not to hold onto him? 6. What about the promise of eternity gives you hope in the midst of difficult, dark days? 7. What does it mean to say that “God always gets the last laugh”? Scripture for the Week: ...

John 19:38-42 March 30, 2018 (Good Friday) • Mount Pleasant UMC In my twenty-five years in active ministry, I have officiated or participated in 167 funerals and attended a whole lot of others. Every occasion is unique and memorable and moving, a celebration of life and, especially for one who was a Christian, a celebration of life yet to come. I find myself sad when people tell me that they don’t want to have a funeral; they don’t want people crying over them, but that’s exactly what we, as human beings, need to do. We need some sort of closure. Funerals, after all, aren’t for the dead; they are for the living, to give us a time and space to mourn, to grieve, to remember, and then to go eat fried chicken and potato salad. But seriously—I know people attend (or don’t attend) funerals for all sorts of different reasons, and some come with more hope than others, but in our culture we have successfully distanced ourselves from death so far that we rarely truly see it up cl...

John 13:1-17 March 29, 2018 (Maundy Thursday) • Mount Pleasant UMC There are a lot of things I don’t understand. Theoretical physics, for one. A lot of financial lingo, for another. I don’t understand everything my son tries to tell me about video games and computer coding and how he creates video animations. When Rachel talks to me about medical things and the parts of the body and how to care for a patient, I tend to only understand the parts I’ve been through as a patient myself. There are a lot of things I don’t understand, but there are a lot of situations I’ve found myself in where I’ve learned even through the experience. Much of the little I know about home repair I’ve learned by going on mission trips; much of what I know pastoral care in the hospital has come because I’ve been a patient myself. We often learn through our experiences, and that truth is what makes the statement in John 13:7 so amazing to me. Even after three years of experiences with Jesus, living a...