First United Methodist Church of Kearney Sermons

Romans 5:10 tells us "...while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son." So a disciple is one who has repented of their sin and turned toward God. Jesus said in John 15 "I no longer call you servants...instead, I have called you friends." In repenting we move from enemies of God to friends of God. A disciple also seeks to embody "the message of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:19) as we "love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44)

The Guide is the character who helps the hero. You know, like The Fairy Godmother or Mr. Miyagi. The guide is further ahead but reaches back to bring the hero along. We'll look at how we not only need guides in our life but how we can be a helpful guide to someone else.

The Victim is the character who feels they have no way out. Sometimes in life we are truly victims. Other times we play the victim by blaming others or resigning ourselves to our circumstances. When we play the victim card it doesn't take us anywhere.

The Villain is the character who makes others small. Whereas heros fight for the cause of another villains are only out for themselves. We'll look at Pharoah as the key villain Moses faced, and how even the best heros face a villain within.

The Hero is the character who faces their challenges and transforms. The challenges heros face are most heroic when it is for the sake of others. We'll look at Moses' origin story and why he was uniuqely qualified to be the hero for the Hebrew people.

Rev. Dr. Mark Sheets shares with us the book of Philemon. What happens when what we say about ourselves doesn't match up to what other people think of us? How does our reputation interact with our testimony, and what kingdom impact does it have?

Jesus tells us that true greatness is found not in the high positions but in the low places of service. There are an infiniate number of ways to do this each and every day in our homes, through the church, at work, or wherever we find ourselves. In 2023 lets commit to going to serve the world.

Following Pentecost the growing followers of Jesus committed themselves to regularly being together for a meal, study, prayer and connection. Small group life is not a new concept but rather modeled by Jesus and emulated by his followers.

Some things are easier said than done. One of those is obeying Jesus command to love our enemies. What does that look like and how do we actually do it?

Mike Rogers shares his sermon on Christmas morning.