Matt Smith – Page 21 – The Table UMC

Christianity as a School for Love

Sep 11, 2016
Matt Smith

Matt’s message invites reflection on Christianity as a school for love. The message is rooted in Psalm 86.11 and the Trappist monks of Tibhirine whose lives are depicted in Of Gods & Men. The abundance of God’s love compelled these men to be in deep ministry with their Muslim neighbors. How might God’s abundant love compel us to be in ministry with our black and brown neighbors today?

Vengeful Widow & Co-opted Judge

Aug 14, 2016
Matt Smith

Matt’s message invites reflection on Jesus’ parable on the vengeful widow & co-opted judge found in Luke 18.1-8. Olympic Reconciliation: Widow, Judge & Rio 2016.

Pharisee & Tax Collector

Jul 31, 2016
Matt Smith

Matt’s message holds The Music Circus’s production of Cabaret in conversation with Amy-Jill Levine’s prophetic reading of the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18.9-14).

Pearl of Great Price

Jul 17, 2016
Matt Smith

Matt’s message celebrates the election of Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto as a Bishop in the United Methodist Church. The message is rooted in the parable of the great pearl (Matthew 13.45-46) and asks how we might go all-in for the great pearl in our lives? What is of ultimate concern for us? What will we need to let go of in order to go all in?

Good Samaritan

Jul 3, 2016
Matt Smith

Matt’s message invites us to reconsider the Parable of the Good Samaritan based on Amy-Jill Levine’s Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi.

Lost Sheep. Lost Coin. Lost Son.

Jun 26, 2016
Matt Smith

Matt’s message invites us to be rooted in the relationships in which we find ourselves. We look back at three parables to hear a challenge for how we might live faithfully right now. The message is rooted in Luke 15 and Amy-Jill Levine’s Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi. Music by Joe Kye is woven into the message and the opening song is a clip from his newly composed song called Part Of.

Fasting & Abstinence

Jun 19, 2016
Matt Smith

Matt’s message invites reflection on how we might interrupt cycles of violence through creative acts of fasting and abstinence. How might this way of staying in love with God empower us to respond to the massacre of LGBTQ people in Orlando and the celebration of this violence by a pastor here in Sacramento. The message is rooted in Exodus 16.