First Sermons

Especially during times of economic uncertainty, it’s natural to want to keep the resources we have for ourselves; however, as followers of Christ, we must resist this inclination. If everyone shared, not equally, but sacrificially, there would be more than enough not only to survive, but to thrive!

Tis the season when members and regular attenders are invited, encouraged, and challenged to make a pledged financial commitment to the 2027 ministries of First UMC. This sermon series explores a story from each Gospel that highlights the purpose and power of working together. May the choices we make reflect our belief in the counter-cultural, self-sacrificial message of Jesus, “It’s All About WE!”

By calling the first disciples to work alongside him and spending time teaching and healing “great crowds,” Jesus demonstrates from the very beginning that his ministry was about “we” not “me”.

Tis the season when members and regular attenders are invited, encouraged, and challenged to make a pledged financial commitment to the 2027 ministries of First UMC. This sermon series explores a story from each Gospel that highlights the purpose and power of working together. May the choices we make reflect our belief in the counter-cultural, self-sacrificial message of Jesus, “It’s All About WE!”

Our ultimate allegiance isn’t to a nation, political party, ideology, or economic system. It’s to Jesus. This is the final sermon in the "Triple Citizenship" sermon series where, as followers of Jesus who live in the US, most of us claim three overlapping identities: citizens of the world, citizens of the United States, and citizens of God's Kingdom. Each citizenship carries responsibilities and sometimes tensions. This series explores Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount that give us direction on how to hold them together faithfully. However, when our citizenships collide, which one gets the final word? Jesus' answer throughout Matthew 5–7 is the Kingdom of God.

Our ultimate allegiance isn’t to a nation, political party, ideology, or economic system. It’s to Jesus. This is the third sermon in the "Triple Citizenship" sermon series where, as followers of Jesus who live in the US, most of us claim three overlapping identities: citizens of the world, citizens of the United States, and citizens of God's Kingdom. Each citizenship carries responsibilities and sometimes tensions. This series explores Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount that give us direction on how to hold them together faithfully. However, when our citizenships collide, which one gets the final word? Jesus' answer throughout Matthew 5–7 is the Kingdom of God.

Christ-centered citizenship means learning to disagree without dehumanizing one another. This is the second sermon in the "Triple Citizenship" sermon series where, as followers of Jesus who live in the US, most of us claim three overlapping identities: citizens of the world, citizens of the United States, and citizens of God's Kingdom. Each citizenship carries responsibilities and sometimes tensions. This series explores Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount that give us direction on how to hold them together faithfully. However, when our citizenships collide, which one gets the final word? Jesus' answer throughout Matthew 5–7 is the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God includes people from every nation, and Jesus calls us to be “salt and light” wherever we live. This is the first sermon in the "Triple Citizenship" sermon series where, as followers of Jesus who live in the US, most of us claim three overlapping identities: citizens of the world, citizens of the United States, and citizens of God's Kingdom. Each citizenship carries responsibilities and sometimes tensions. This series explores Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount that give us direction on how to hold them together faithfully. However, when our citizenships collide, which one gets the final word? Jesus' answer throughout Matthew 5–7 is the Kingdom of God.

The same God who creates beauty entrusts creation to our care. Humanity is called to cultivate, protect, and responsibly steward the earth rather than simply consume its resources. Caring for creation becomes an expression of worship and love—honoring the Creator by caring for what God has made.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.

When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur

And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

God is revealed in Genesis as the ultimate Creator—bringing beauty, order, diversity, and life into being. Because we are created in God’s image, we also reflect our Creator through imagination, creativity, art, craftsmanship, and the ability to cultivate beauty. This invites us to see creativity not merely as a talent, but as a way of reflecting God’s image and participating in God’s ongoing work in the world.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

This is the final sermon of our sermon series titled “The Altogether Christian” that draws its inspiration from a sermon by John Wesley where he warned an Oxford church full of biblical scholars and people training to be clergy that it’s possible to be almost a Christian without being altogether a Christian. We can be sincere, moral, and faithful in Christian practices while missing the transforming power of deep, saving trust in God. We can be followers of Christ in name, yet hold back from pursuing a life fully shaped by the Great Commandment. 

At the center of our journey to a vital, holistic faith stands Jesus’ call to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength, and to love all our neighbors as ourselves. The repetition of the word all is not accidental. Following Jesus is not partial, occasional, or compartmentalized. It’s a life given over completely to God’s love being made real in us and through us. 

This is the fourth sermon of our sermon series titled “The Altogether Christian” that draws its inspiration from a sermon by John Wesley where he warned an Oxford church full of biblical scholars and people training to be clergy that it’s possible to be almost a Christian without being altogether a Christian. We can be sincere, moral, and faithful in Christian practices while missing the transforming power of deep, saving trust in God. We can be followers of Christ in name, yet hold back from pursuing a life fully shaped by the Great Commandment. 

At the center of our journey to a vital, holistic faith stands Jesus’ call to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength, and to love all our neighbors as ourselves. The repetition of the word all is not accidental. Following Jesus is not partial, occasional, or compartmentalized. It’s a life given over completely to God’s love being made real in us and through us.