MTP Sermon Resources

John 11:17-26; 20:1-18 April 4, 2021 (Easter) • Mount Pleasant UMC Sometimes it’s the small things that have great power—just ask my wife! Seriously, though, think about what we’ve been through in the past year. A tiny, unseen virus wreaked havoc on our lives, changed our lifestyles, shut businesses and lives down. A year ago, we were sequestered away and some still are. A microscopic virus held the power of life and death over us, caused great fear among us. Small things have great power. Small words have great power, too. In our Gospel reading this morning, Martha is focused on one tiny little word: “If.” Her brother had been sick, and she and her sister Mary had sent word to their friend, Jesus, the healer from Nazareth. “Lord,” the messengers had said, “the one you love is sick” (11:3). And Jesus had listened, taken in the information…and stayed where he was. He was in Perea, about twenty miles from Bethany, the town Martha, Mary and Lazarus lived in, just over the Mount of...

  “What You Never Imagined” Sermon Study Guide for April 4, 2021 Downloadable Version Scripture: John 11:17-26; 20:1-18 1. A World of Death Lazarus and Martha Disciples and Jesus 2. The Shocking Answer “I am…” (11:25) Martha Mary Magdalene 3. Resurrection Life The future brought to the present Resuscitation vs. resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:20 Two “places” of resurrection Do you believe this? Questions for Discussion and Reflection How are you feeling as you approach Easter? In what way(s) has the last year threatened to remove the hope of Easter? When have you “been Martha”? What are the situations that cause you most to ask, “Where were you, Lord?” What “comforting answers” do you offer in times of loss? In what ways are they not so comforting after all? What does it mean that Jesus brings the future into the present? What is the difference between what Lazarus experiences and what Jesus does? In what way is Jesus’ resurrection a promise of our own? How should...

John 19:38-42 April 2, 2021 (Good Friday) • Mount Pleasant UMC And so, Jesus was dead. The worst thing the disciples could imagine had happened. Most of them had run away when he was arrested, but a few of them had stayed at the cross until the last minute, until the moment he was taken down. Some, mostly the women, followed the soldiers to the tomb and watched them roll the stone over the entrance. Jesus was dead; there was no doubt. It was over. Roman soldiers were many things, but inefficient at death was not one of them. I try to picture what that Sabbath was like between the crucifixion and the start of the work week on Sunday. So many of us usually rush to the resurrection. We love the high celebration of Palm Sunday and then we move right to the high celebration of Easter and we miss it. We miss the whole point of both days. The center of our faith is not in the celebrations; it's actually found in the days between. Without the crucifixion, we have nothing to celebrate o...

John 10:1-10 April 1, 2021 (Maundy Thursday) • Mount Pleasant UMC It was probably as close to home as they could make it, this rented upper room. Passover was typically a meal you celebrated with your family, in your home, and these thirteen men were as much family as anyone ever was. They had spent the last three years together—traveling, teaching, sharing life—and the Twelve had witnessed things they could only have dreamed about before. But tonight was not a time for miracles. It was a time for good food, good friends, good conversation, and remembering who they were as a people. It was a time to celebrate home and family and life. The food was beyond good; those who had prepared it had outdone themselves this time. The liturgy was just as they remembered it, and even though Jesus was, as always, serving as the host, there didn’t seem to be the joy in his face that normally was there on this special evening. He was saying the words, but there was a deep sadness in his eyes t...

John 15:1-8 March 28, 2021 (Palm Sunday) • Mount Pleasant UMC I’ve never been much of a gardener. My dad has always been good at it. When I was growing up, we had a big garden and we would spend many hours in late summer on the back patio snapping green beans and helping with other gardening chores. But I did not inherit his green thumb, though I’ve tried my hand at it. Two of our parsonages had a garden space and I felt like I should plant something there. So I’ve tried growing corn and peppers and cucumbers and pumpkins and green beans—none of which I could keep alive very well. About the only thing I was consistently successful at growing is tomatoes—which, of course, is God’s little joke on me because I don’t eat tomatoes though I do like making them into chili and spaghetti sauce. But one of our parsonages had a grapevine. The pastor before me had planted it and she told me in another couple of years it would be producing grapes. So I watched it grow and I got so excited w...