Sermons by Matt Smith (Page 30)
Christmas is Waiting to Be Born
Matt’s message is rooted in Jeremiah 33.14-16 and Howard Thurman’s poem Christmas Is Waiting to be Born. What is waiting within you this Advent season? (1 of 4)
Deep Commitments to Community
Matt’s message is rooted in Parker Palmer’s Healing the Heart of Democracy and the Great Commandment of Jesus. What might our deep commitments be for the coming year? How will we root our lives in Grace? How will we grow in faith? How will we reach in love? How will we share our financial resources generously? Kevin Webb, a seminary student at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC, joined us for the morning to read Scripture.
Baptism
We continue our worship series based on Parker Palmer’s Healing the Heart of Democracy with a celebration of baptism. Eight people were baptized in worship. Jesus was named as God’s beloved child while being baptized by John in the River Jordan. Through the sacrament of baptism we celebrate our belovedness and respond to God’s call in our lives. The baptismal liturgy used in worship is adapted from a renewal of baptism worship service written by Marcia McFee for Annual Conference…
From Illusions of Scarcity to Abundance of Community
Matt’s message is rooted in Parker Palmer’s Healing the Heart of Democracy and the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6.30-44). How is God calling us from scarcity to abundance in our day?
Clear Eyes, Full Hearts
Matt’s message is rooted in Parker Palmer’s Healing the Heart of Democracy, Friday Night Lights, and Hebrews 4.12-16. How are we dividing in our country? Who do we see as “other” and when are we seen as “other”? What might it be like to value “otherness”? God as holy Other came into the world in the concrete form of Jesus. How might this reality shape our lives as we encounter otherness today? (Part 2 of 5)
Lot, Sodom, & Hospitality
We continue our series on Hospitality with reflection on Genesis 19. One of our seminarians, Susan Goodman, reflects on her own experience of hospitality. Matt’s message is rooted in the story of Lot and the men of Sodom. What might we learn about hospitality from this biblical story?
Abraham & Sarah
We begin a new year of Godly Play, our children’s ministry. Matt’s message weaves hospitality, Godly Play, and the story of Abram and Sarai from Genesis 18. We welocmed Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith and Dr. Jerry Campbell for worship. This message concludes with words from Lorenza.
Olympic Medals
Matt’s message continues our series on Olympic Faith with reflection on Olympic medals, Chic-Fil-A, and John 6.24-35.
Crossfit & Faith
Matt’s message invites reflection on Crossfit & church. The message is rooted in Ephesians 6.10-20. What might the church learn from Crossfit’s high intensity, constantly varied, and funtional philosophy of fitness? How might we measure our growth as followers of Jesus?
The Church Today
This is the final worship in our series on The Evolution of Church. Matt’s message is rooted in Mark 6.30-34, 53-56. What does it mean for church to be evolving? How might the deep traditions of our past inform and form our unfolding into God’s future?
Second Great Awakening
We transition this week from the Reformation of sixteenth-century western Europe to the movement of religious fervor that spread across the United States in the nineteenth century. Matt’s message invites reflection on the dynamic experiences of personal religious conversion that defined the Second Great Awakening. The message is rooted in Romans 8.14-16 and calls our community to consider how we might take next steps in our own faith journeys.
Classical Christianity
We transition from the earliest followers of Jesus gathering secretly in homes to Christianity “coming out” as the imperial religion. Worship begins with reflection on music of this era (150 CE – 650 CE) and Matt’s message traces the development of doctrine and ecclesiology in the era of Classical Christianity.