Sermons from November 2025
INSISTING ON HOPE THIS ADVENT
Luke 1:5-13, Lamentations 3:55-57 (NRSV) “In the time of Herod …” places Jesus’ birth in a world shaped by political unrest, societal uncertainty, violence and fear. In this context, Luke introduces us to Elizabeth and Zechariah – an aging childless, priestly couple whose life is centered on a deep longing and faithful waiting. This intense longing and waiting creates a particular kind of fear. Although it invokes an “inner shaking, a disruption of body and spirit,” it is not a failure.…
DEEP COMMITMENTS: FRESH EXPRESSIONS OF CHURCH
Acts 2:42-47 In his sermon “On Visiting the Sick”, John Wesley teaches that mercy/reaching in love is not an optional Christian activity but an essential part of discipleship/growing in faith. He roots this conviction in Matthew 25, arguing that Jesus identifies himself with people who suffer—those who are sick, poor, imprisoned, or marginalized. For Wesley, ministry with the vulnerable is a means of grace: a pathway through which God forms the heart, deepens compassion, and keeps the believer grounded in…
DEEP COMMITMENTS: DISCERNMENT
Luke 9:28-36 As we discovered last week, John Wesley believes that reason provides knowledge which informs our understanding of God and life, but reason alone cannot explain everything – thus the need for a faith and “spiritual” experience of God that continually transforms our lives into an expression and embodiment of the love of God, other(s), and self. In other words, although our faith and experience of God will express realities that are beyond the intellectual bounds of reason, our…
DEEP COMMITMENTS: REFLECTION
Luke 2:41-47 John Wesley, the founder of the 18th Methodist movement and what became the worldwide Wesleyan tradition, was an advocate for theological reflection and education for all people (regardless of their social status). Embracing the intellectual component of our humanity, he believed that “reading Christians are growing Christians. When Christians cease to read, they cease to grow.” Consequently, he believed that reason (along with experience, scripture, and tradition) is one of the fundamental sources we draw upon in order…
Giving Generously
In the final chapter of the revised material for the Growing in Faith, we reflect on the great commandment and giving generously. Jesus was frustrated with the religious leaders of his day. Jesus charged, “They do not practice what they teach” (Matthew 23:3). He was concerned with the cumbersome burden of the rules, standards, directives, and laws the religious leaders in his day dictated. In the midst of all this, Jesus called his followers to the great commandment: “Love God…
