Dr. Paul Spellman opens by walking us through the ancient liturgical calendar, landing on a season called "Kingdom Tide" — a stretch of time devoted to the tidings of the kingdom of heaven. It's a fitting lens, he notes, because no one speaks of the kingdom of heaven more richly than Matthew's Gospel, where Jesus references it again and again across dozens of chapters and parables. That kingdom, Dr. Spellman reminds us, isn't just a theological concept — it's the heartbeat of everything Jesus came to do and say.

Anchoring in Matthew 4:8–17, Dr. Spellman traces Jesus's journey from Nazareth to the Jordan River for His baptism by John, then into the barren wilderness where He faces temptation — including the devil's offer of all the kingdoms of the world. When Jesus rejects that offer and later hears that John has been imprisoned, He moves north to Capernaum and begins to preach the very same message John had carried: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." But Dr. Spellman draws out a crucial distinction — the word translated "near" can also mean here, making this not a distant promise but a present reality we are called to step into right now.

So what does it look like to live inside that kingdom? Dr. Spellman points us to the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, where the first and last blessings both carry the same reward: the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the humble in spirit, and blessed are those whose faith is so visible and transparent that others take notice — even to the point of mockery or persecution. Jesus himself is the perfect example of both. And the Lord's Prayer, Dr. Spellman reminds us, is our ongoing declaration of that reality: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven — a prayer that calls us, again and again, to be humble in spirit and forthright in faith.

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Drawing from Mark 5:21-24 & 35-43, Pastor Richard centers his message on Jairus, a man who had climbed to the very top of his world — educated, wealthy, respected, and powerful as the ruler of the synagogue. Yet when his twelve-year-old daughter lay near death, all of that status meant nothing. Going to Jesus publicly was no small thing for Jairus; it meant risking his position, his property, his reputation, and everything he had worked for. But he knelt before the Lord anyway, pleading for his little girl's life — and in that moment, he was all in.

When word came that the girl had already died, the crowd laughed at Jesus for suggesting she was only sleeping. But Jesus looked at Jairus and said, "Do not fear, only believe." Pastor Richard uses that powerful moment to speak directly to the congregation — to those facing a devastating doctor's report, a lost job, a broken relationship, or any circumstance that seems final and hopeless. The Lord's answer to despair is not a complicated formula; it is a simple, radical call to trust. Jesus took the little girl by the hand, said "Little girl, arise," and she got up and walked.

Pastor Richard closes with a challenge: are we truly all in with the Lord, or are we sitting on the fence, halfway committed, waiting to see how things go? Like the little frog in the bowl of cream who kept swimming until the cream turned to butter and he could jump free, believers are called to keep going in faith even when they cannot see the way out. The Lord who raised Jairus's daughter is the same Lord who says to us today, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" — and that promise is worth everything.

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In a sermon rooted in Deuteronomy 6:1-9, Pastor Jason Burnham opens with a striking question: What are you searching for in life? Most of us, he observes, long for both longevity and genuine joy. But Pastor Jason points out that Deuteronomy 6:2 ties the enjoyment of long life directly to something deeper — knowing the Word of God, obeying the Word of God, and sharing the Word of God with others. At the center of it all is the Shema (Deut. 6:4), the ancient declaration that the Lord is one and is to be loved with all our heart, soul, and strength — a passage so foundational that Jesus himself quotes it in Matthew 22 when asked about the greatest commandment.From there, Pastor Jason zeroes in on what he sees as one of the most urgent and neglected callings in the church: passing faith from one generation to the next. Citing John Wesley's 1745 Instructions for Children, he reminds the congregation that discipling the next generation is not something parents can outsource to the church. The church is a partner, not the primary disciple-maker. Just as Jesus commissioned his followers in Acts 1:8 to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, Pastor Jason reminds us that our most immediate "Jerusalem" is our own home.He closes with a moment of tender urgency, recalling a man who walked out of an earlier service wishing he had heard this message sixty years sooner. Pastor Jason's response was simple and hopeful: It's not too late. Whether it's a phone call to an adult child, a conversation with a spouse, or a story shared around the dinner table, today is the day to tell the people you love what Jesus has done for you.We invite you to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/faithmcrichmondtx

Drawing from Mark 10:17-27, Pastor Richard uses the story of the rich young ruler to illustrate a truth that cuts against every human instinct — you cannot save yourself. The young man came running to Jesus, full of confidence in his wealth, his religious standing, and his moral track record. Yet Jesus, looking at him with love, exposed the one thing he lacked: a willingness to surrender everything and follow. Like so many of us, the young man wanted to know he had his "ticket" to eternal life without truly giving his heart over to the Lord.Pastor Richard makes clear that salvation is not a matter of checking religious boxes. Whether it's the monastery monk beating himself into holiness or the synagogue ruler trusting in his alms-giving and fasting, no human effort bridges the gap between a sinful heart and a holy God. Jesus doesn't just want good behavior — he wants total surrender. Repent, believe, and follow. That is the call.The sermon closes with a deeply personal story about a young woman named Jacqueline, a prostitute Pastor Richard befriended and witnessed to in his younger years. Her tearful confession — "I'm too evil, Christ didn't die for me" — gave him the opportunity to speak the very heart of the Gospel: that Jesus died exactly for sinners like her, and like all of us. We are, as Pastor Richard reminds us, sinners saved by grace, transformed by the power of God.We invite you to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/faithmcrichmondtx

In his final sermon at Faith Methodist Church, Pastor David draws on a lesson he learned from a longtime Bible study member named Herb Nay, who persistently redirected him from the greatest commandment to something even deeper — the new commandment of Jesus found in John 13:34-35: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Pastor David acknowledges that while most churchgoers know the call to "love God and love people," Jesus raises the standard by removing the subjective measure of self-love and replacing it with His own example — a love that washes the feet of both the faithful and the betrayer.

Pastor David emphasizes that this kind of love is not rooted in personal feelings, but in obedient action. Pointing to John 14:15 and John 14:23-24, he reminds the congregation that the measure of God's presence in our lives is directly tied to how well we obey His teachings. He broadens the congregation's understanding of service to include prayer, sharing stories from his summer travels where simple, spontaneous prayers for strangers — an oil change technician whose mother had cancer and a Subway employee having a terrible day — cost him nothing but reflected the heart of Christ's command.

As he closes his six years of ministry at Faith, Pastor David calls the congregation to remember their purpose in Fort Bend County, one of the most diverse communities in the country. He reminds them that whether people are receptive or not, they are called and commanded to love as Christ loved.

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Pastor Leo wraps up the sermon series "The Faith We Sing" by addressing a truth every believer eventually faces — battles will come, and some of them cannot be hidden from. Drawing from 2 Chronicles 20, he walks through the story of King Jehoshaphat, who found himself surrounded by enemy armies and terrified. Rather than relying on his own strength or the wrong alliances, Jehoshaphat called the nation to prayer and fasting, stood before God in honesty, and rehearsed God's faithfulness — not because God needed reminding, but because he did.

God's response to Jehoshaphat's prayer is the heart of the message: "Do not be afraid or discouraged by this mighty army. For the battle is not yours, but God's" (2 Chr. 20:15). Pastor Leo pairs this with Ephesians 6:10-17, reminding the church that our enemies are not flesh and blood, and our weapons are not criticism, gossip, or contempt. Instead, we fight with the armor of God — truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, the Word, and persistent prayer.

Pastor Leo closes with the powerful story behind the song I Raise a Hallelujah, written during a desperate season when a two-year-old boy was fighting for his life in the hospital. When the parents were too exhausted to pray or sing, the church rose up as an army around them. A melody was born out of that battle, declaring that praise is a weapon and that heaven comes and fights for those who lift their voices. The church, Pastor Leo reminds us, is not here to fight against each other — it's here to fight for each other.

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In this message rooted in Acts 16:16-30, Pastor Leo challenges the common assumption that hardship is always a sign of God's disfavor. Paul and Silas weren't thrown into prison because of sin — they were there because of obedience. Life, Pastor Leo reminds us, can go "from magical to tragical in the blink of an eye," and the real question isn't whether dark seasons will come, but what we choose to do when they arrive.

At the heart of the sermon is the striking image of Paul and Silas worshipping at midnight — beaten, chained, and locked in the innermost cell — yet praying and singing hymns to God. Pastor Leo makes clear that Biblical worship isn't driven by emotion; it's driven by what we know to be true about God's character. As he puts it, “midnight doesn't create your faith, it reveals it.” And what it revealed in Paul and Silas was a faith so unshakeable that it became a doorway to salvation for the jailer who witnessed it.

Pastor Leo closes by pointing us to Jesus, who modeled midnight faithfulness in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. Because Jesus remained faithful through His darkest night, our midnight no longer has the final word. Whatever your prison looks like — a health battle, a broken relationship, grief, or depression — God isn't asking you to pretend the chains aren't real. He's inviting you to refuse to let those chains determine your song.

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Pastor Jason opens with some lighthearted humor about his "no waste" philosophy — squeezing every last drop out of toothpaste tubes and shampoo bottles — before pivoting to a profound truth tucked inside the feeding of the 5,000 in John 6. He highlights a phrase unique to John's Gospel account that the other three Gospel writers left out: Jesus's command to His disciples to "gather the pieces that are left over — let nothing be wasted." Pastor Jason argues that for John, writing decades after the other Gospel writers, this single line captures the entire meaning of the miracle.

From that foundation, Pastor Jason draws out three interconnected calls for the church. First, we are to maximize every opportunity for ministry, refusing to let fear, hurry, or spiritual blindness cause us to miss the moments the Holy Spirit is opening before us. He shares a personal and convicting story about returning to his dry cleaner after walking away from a moment of clear spiritual need. Second, we are to be merciful in the midst of hardship — both our own and others' — trusting, as Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, that God is always wringing good out of evil. Finally, we are to bring whatever we have and trust Jesus to multiply it, just as He multiplied five small barley loaves and two small fish into a feast for thousands.

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Pastor Leo launches a new series called "The Faith We Sing" by reframing what worship actually is. While music is a beautiful gift that helps re-orient our hearts toward God, Pastor Leo is clear that worship transcends singing. As he puts it, "God doesn't want your voice, He asks for your life." Drawing on Psalm 103:1-2, he reminds the congregation that we are forgetful people by nature, and singing serves as a way to bring us back to God's heart and realign our souls with His will.

The heart of the message centers on Romans 12:1-2, which Pastor Leo reads from The Message translation: "Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering." From Adam and Eve in the garden, to the people of Israel throughout the Old Testament, to the religious fasting described in Isaiah 58, the pattern is the same—God's people consistently miss the point by doing things their own way rather than surrendering to His. True worship, Pastor Leo argues, is not a weekly event but a daily surrender, echoing Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 10:31: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Pastor Leo closes with a sobering challenge: partial surrender leads to partial transformation, and whatever we refuse to surrender will eventually shape us. Like the prodigal son in Luke 15, we are tempted to believe we know better than the Father—that life is fuller on our own terms. But the invitation of the gospel is to trust the one who can truly satisfy the soul, to stop conforming to the patterns of this world, and to allow the Spirit of the Living God to do what only He can do in us.

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Pastor Richard opens in Haggai 2:1-9, where God speaks to a people who had worked for seven days on the temple's rebuilding, only to quit in discouragement. The older generation remembered Solomon's breathtaking first temple — gold-covered floors, cherubim, the Ark of the Covenant, and the very Shekinah glory of God — and the contrast with what stood before them felt overwhelming. Satan had planted a seed of despair through nostalgia, and the people had stopped working. But God's word cut through their discouragement with a bold promise: the glory of the latter temple would be greater than the former, because five hundred years later, Jesus Christ — the Desire of all nations — would walk its courts.

Pastor Richard then turns to Haggai 2:23, where God tells Zerubbabel He will make him like a signet ring. That image carries deep meaning: a signet ring signifies ownership, authority, legitimacy, and eternal purpose. Just as Zerubbabel appears in the lineage of Christ in Matthew 1:13, God stamps His people with His seal, sending them out as representatives of the King. The message to the remnant — and to us today — is that God will not call you to do something He has not already gifted and equipped you to do. Like Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the remnant, we are called to get up, come together, and work, because there are souls out there waiting to be transformed by Jesus Christ.

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