United Methodist Chucks

Today's installment of The Word in Song is "Love's Divine" and finds inspiration in the song of that title by Seal. What is love? What isn't love? Do we still act childish? How does love help us know who we are? Find inspiration anywhere and everywhere, and hear the Word in song! I scripture reading comes from 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. The musical inspiration comes from "Love's Divine" by Seal.

As we continue in The Word in Song, we come to "Happy." This familiar reading might sound strange, but it makes us ask an important question. Are we happy? What do we have to be happy about? What does Jesus say about being happy? Does God make us happy? Find inspiration anywhere and everywhere, and hear the Word in song! Our scripture reading comes from Matthew 5:1-12. The musical inspiration comes from "Happy" by Pharrell Williams.

Today marks the beginning of our third installment of The Word in Song with "Hungry Heart." What does your heart long for? What do you desire? It it good? Is it bad? Do we consider our intentions when we act? The intentions of others? What does God want? Find inspiration anywhere and everywhere, and hear the Word in song! Our scripture reading comes from Jeremiah 17:9-14. Our musical inspiration comes from "Hungry Heart" by Bruce Springsteen.

The last message of our Lens of Christ series revolves around an important meeting. "Claimed by Christ" looks at the law of circumcision and the gospel. Are the laws meant to drive us apart? If Christ brings us together, how do we handle the law? What happens when tradition divides instead of unites? We see things differently when we see things through Christ. Our scripture readings come from  Genesis 17:9-14 and Acts 15:1-21.

The next message in the Lens of Christ series is "Contamination." When we look at the Old Testament dietary law, how do we understand it? How does Jesus change out understanding of this? What can we learn from these rules about cleanliness? About contamination? What makes us truly clean? We see things differently when we see things through Christ. Our scripture readings come from Deuteronomy 14:3-21 and Mark 7:14-23.

We continue to look at the letter and spirit of the law in our series Lens of Christ. This week we look at "Law and Punishment" as we compare the Old Testament laws on adultery to the New Testament account of Christ and the woman caught in adultery. What happens when we use the law for unrighteous reasons? What happens when we then judgement inward? We see things differently when we see things through Christ. Our scripture readings come from Deuteronomy 22:22-24 and John 8:2-11.

We begin a new series this Sunday called Lens of Christ. Our first message is "On the Sabbath" and in it we look at the Old Testament and the New Testament and the Sabbath. What is the difference between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law? What does Jesus teach us about the Sabbath? And what do we learn from his response to the Pharisees? We see things differently when we see things through Christ. Our scripture readings come from Numbers 15:32-36 and Mark 2:23-3:6.

The last sermon in the Discipleship in 3G series is "Gather." What does it mean to gather? In what ways do we gather together? Have we answered the call to fish for people? Do we proclaim the good news? What path do we choose? We make disciples by being disciples. Our scripture reading comes from Mark 1:14-20.

The second part of our Discipleship in 3G series is today's message, "Give." What did the poor widow teach us about giving? Do we really think about giving? How much time and love do we actually put into our gifts? Can we give in a way that makes our discipleship clear? That makes disciples of Christ? We make disciples by being disciples. Our scripture reading comes from Mark 12:41-44.

Today is the first in a 3 part series, Discipleship in 3G. Today's message is "Go Out" and in it we discuss the need to go out into the world to do God's work. But do we always recognize Christ when we're out? Do we always do what we are called to do? What does Christ's love in action look like? We make disciples by being disciples. Our scripture reading comes from Matthew 25:31-46.

So, though the series is over and I took this week off, I had a short after thought on the series. A little bit of the "how" and "why" behind the 7 Deadly Sins series. I hope you enjoy!

Today marks the final of the 7 Deadly Sins as we end with "Sloth." Is sloth really just being lazy? Or is there something more to it? What happens when we don't go out and do what we are supposed to do? And do we get slothful by being too busy? Do our words match our actions? We explore this and more as we explore the 7 deadly sins. Our scripture reading comes from Luke 10:25-37. Transcript information will be available later. There will be no message August 12th.

We come closer to the end of our 7 Deadly Sins series with today's message, "Lust." We hear about David and his giving in to lust, bit what is lust? What makes it so deadly? What does honesty have to do with it? How do we avoid dangerous desires? We explore this and more as we explore the 7 deadly sins. Our scripture reading comes from 2 Samuel 11:2-16. Transcript information will be updated later.

The last half of the 7 Deadly Sins focuses on three that seem trickiest to understand. We begin with "Gluttony" and explore what gluttony really is. Is it simply over eating? Or is it about how we consume? What can we be gluttonous about? How do we avoid it? And where does love come into play? We explore this and more as we explore the 7 deadly sins. Our scripture readings come from Amos 6:1-7 and Ezekiel 16:48-50. Transcript information will be updated later.

We reach a midpoint in the 7 Deadly Sins with today's sermon, "Wrath." What is wrath? How does it destroy us? Our relationships? What can we do to fight it? We explore this and more as we explore the 7 deadly sins. Our scripture reading comes from Daniel 3:10-27. Transcript information will be available at a later date.

This week our 7 Deadly Sins series brings us to "Envy" our 3rd sin. Is envy always bad? Who can we be envious of? What's the danger of envy? Do we ever get envy wrong? We explore this and more as we explore the 7 deadly sins. Our scripture reading comes from 1 Samuel 18:6-16. The transcript can be downloaded from the link above or viewed online.

Week 2 of our 7 Deadly Sins series brings us to "Greed." What is greed? How does greed impact our lives? Our community? Our nation? How do we fight greed?  We explore this and more as we explore the 7 deadly sins. Our scripture reading comes from Acts 4:32-5:11. A transcript of this sermon may be downloaded above or you can read it online here.

This week starts our 7 Deadly Sins series, and we begin with "Pride." Is pride always a bad thing? What happens with pride? How can we keep pride in check? We explore this and more as we explore the 7 deadly sins. Our scripture reading comes from Luke 18:9-14. A transcript of this sermon may be downloaded using the provided link, or can be read online here.

The last message in this run of The Word in Song is "My Back Pages", inspired by the time by Bob Dylan. This Father's Day message reflects on what it means to be like a child. Do we still ask questions like a child? Be humble like a child? Find inspiration anywhere and everywhere, and hear the Word in song! Our scripture reading comes from Matthew 18:1-5, 10-14. The musical inspiration comes from "My Back Pages" by Bob Dylan.

The latest in The Word in Song is "I Knew You Were Waiting," inspired by the duet by George Michael and Aretha Franklin. How do we handle feeling alone in times of great difficulty? Do we lose sight of God? Will Christ ever not be there for us? Is God faithfully waiting? Find inspiration anywhere and everywhere, and hear the Word in song! Our scripture reading comes from Lamentations 3:19-33. The musical inspiration comes from “I Knew You Were Waiting” by George Michael and Aretha Franklin.