Sermon Preview

October 27th  23rd Sunday after Pentecost & Commitment Sunday
Luke 16: 10-13  “Stewardship Series: When We Get It Right”

“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.  11 If you have

not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?

13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

 

November 3rd  24th Sunday after Pentecost, All Saints Sunday & Communion Sunday

Revelations 21: 1-6a & John 11: 32-44

The New Heaven and the New Earth

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them as their God;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them;

4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away.”

5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. 

John 11: 32-44

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 32 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 33 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 34 Jesus began to weep. 35 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 36 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”37 

Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 38 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 39 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 40 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 41 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 42 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 43 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”44 

November 10th  25th Sunday after Pentecost 

Romans 13: 1-7 & 1 Timothy 2: 1-7  “Post-Election Reflection”

Being Subject to Authorities

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 13 Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 2 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval, 3 for it is God’s agent for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the agent of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 4 Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. 5 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s agents, busy with this very thing. 6 Pay to all what is due them: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.7 

Instructions concerning Prayer

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 2 This is right and acceptable before God our Savior, 3 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

 




There is one God;
there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human,
who gave himself a ransom for all6 

—this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth.7

November 17th  26th Sunday after Pentecost 

Isaiah 43: 1-7 & Psalm 29

Restoration and Protection Promise

 




But now thus says the Lord 
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,2 
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,3 
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my sight4 
and honored and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you;5 
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, “Give them up,”6 
and to the south, “Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,7 
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

Psalm 29

The Voice of God in a Great Storm

A Psalm of David

 

1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendor. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders,the Lord, over mighty waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,and strips the forest bare;and in his temple all say, “Glory!” 10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

 






November 24th  Christ the King Sunday; United Methodist Student Day

2 Samuel 23: 1-7 & Psalm 132: 1-12

The Last Words of David

Now these are the last words of David:

The oracle of David, son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man whom God exalted,
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
the favorite of the Strong One of Israel:
The spirit of the  speaks through me;2 Lord
his word is upon my tongue.
The God of Israel has spoken;3 
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
“One who rules over people justly,
ruling in the fear of God,
is like the light of morning,4 
like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”
Is not my house like this with God?5 
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?
But the godless are all like thorns that are thrown away,6
for they cannot be picked up with the hand;
to touch them one uses an iron bar7 
or the shaft of a spear.
And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.
 

Psalm 132

The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion

A Song of Ascents.

 





O, remember in David’s favor1 Lord
    all the hardships he endured;
how he swore to the 2 Lord
    and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
“I will not enter my house3 
    or get into my bed;
I will not give sleep to my eyes4 
    or slumber to my eyelids,
until I find a place for the ,5 Lord
    a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

 




We heard of it in Ephrathah;6 
    we found it in the fields of Jaar.
“Let us go to his dwelling place;7 
    let us worship at his footstool.

 




Rise up, O , and go to your resting place,8 Lord
    you and the ark of your might.
Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,9 
    and let your faithful shout for joy.
For your servant David’s sake10 
    do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

 




The  Lord swore to David a sure oath11 
    from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body
    I will set on your throne.
If your sons keep my covenant12 
    and my decrees that I shall teach them,
their sons also, forevermore,
    shall sit on your throne.”