July 15, 2018 - Rev. Jon Stouffer & Rev. Silverio Sanchez - A few months ago, a faithful First Methodist came up with the idea of taking the backpack Children’s Sermon concept (where the kids bring the pastor a surprise toy from home and they have to use it in a Scripture lesson for them) and make a sermon series out of it. Each week, someone will bring a Scripture passage to worship and Pastors Jon and Silverio will teach from it without having known what that passage is beforehand.  

Listen to the first Backpack Sermon as Pastors Jon and Silverio lead us in searching the Scriptures together and teach from Psalm 100.

July 8, 2018, Pie Wars Sunday - Rev. Jon Stouffer - On our annual Pie Wars Sunday, Pastor Jon considers what a good pie can teach us about the beauty of the Church.

July 1, 2018 - Rev. Silverio Sanchez - Pastor Silverio continues our exploration of what it looks like to regularly practice taking time for holy rest.  As we rest, it is beneficial to incorporate time for playfulness and pretend.  For one thing, this helps us counter our tendency to worry.  As Christians, pretend play also helps us make space and time for looking at our lives and world from the vantage point of heaven, the place in which worry, fear, and death do not exist.

June 24, 2018 - Rev. Jon Stouffer - Pastor Jon continues a series of teachings on our need for holy rest.

June 10, 2018 - Rev. Jon Stouffer - Pastor Jon begins a short series of teachings anchored around the need for clarity of purpose and rhythm of practice in order to faithfully follow Christ. One rhythm that we often neglect or ignore, partly due to a lack of clarity, is regularly keeping Sabbath rest.  Sabbath is more than just taking a day off, it's about regularly relinquishing the things that are not ours to control.

June 3, 2018 - Rev. Silverio Sanchez - Pastor Silverio teaches on the importance and power of our words.  As we continue to grow in our trust of God and the Holy Spirit continues to transform us, the things we say will become more in sync with the things we already believe about God.

May 27, 2018 - Rev. Jon Stouffer - On Trinity Sunday, Pastor Jon teaches from the Scriptures on the beauty and importance of God revealing Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Pentecost Sunday, May 20, 2018 - Rev. Jon Stouffer - On Pentecost Sunday, we opened the Scriptures to the beginning of the Book of Acts to hear the birth story of God's Church.  Today, God continues place within the followers of Christ the desire to build God's kingdom and to share the good news of God's love with everyone.  We may not always realize this desire, but when God dreams and we happen to catch it, we will find ourselves filled with the power, poise, and the words to go out into the world burning with love for the sake of Christ.

May 13, 2018 - Rev. Silverio Sanchez - Pastor Silverio examines the prayer the apostles prayed before choosing a replacement for Judas. Sometimes we pray and God's answer is clear.  Sometimes we pray and God's answer isn't clear or immediate, so we do our best as we continue to move forward. Both instances require us to trust God fully. Our trust in God flourishes when we have the clarity and rhythm with which to live as Christians in this world.

May 6 , 2018 - Rev. Jon Stouffer - We continue our exploration of the Book of Acts and consider the story of Peter and Cornelius, one of the first persons to become a follower of Jesus outside of the Jewish community.  Pastor Jon provides some guidance on important questions that arise from reading this passage of Scripture such as: "What does it mean that the Sprit fell down on them?" and "What does it mean that they were speaking in tongues?"