SERMON | Matthew 28:1-10 | EASTER "A New Start" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

While that’s the story of the church through every generation,

do we take time to notice how incredible as it is?

As wonderful and beautiful as Jesus’ miracles were during his ministry…we could say “Well, he is the Son of God…the divine Messiah…it makes sense that extraordinary things happened around and through him.”

But normal everyday human beings…

People who struggle and doubt just like us…

Coming together in a way that was closer than they were with even family…

Entrusting their lives to the new way of life revealed by Jesus and now through his followers…

Entrusting possessions…energy…time…ambition…

Giving away pride…ego…self-focus…

Gathering together in true humility, love, gentleness, and peace to take care of one another…to forgive one another…to grow together…to try new things…to find their joy in their shared lives…

This is truly a miracle that in ways is just as awesome as the resurrection.

I mean, really…think about it:

Of course God could raise Jesus—God is God!!

But normal people giving up our self-focused lives to be a part of something that is all about service and giving ourselves away for others in love???

Who does that?

And yet, the church has done this for 2,000 years!!!

• We have not been perfect.
• Our history is full of horrific actions and painful arguments, violence, wars, and disappointment. Yes?

But we didn’t let that stop us from rising up into another new start together.

Through forgiveness, time, healing, prayer, love, and a whole lot of grace… we got things together with each other and continued to do extraordinary acts of healing, restoration, and reconciliation for our communities and world.

And here we are today, friends.

We are just as clumsy and ignorant as anyone has ever been.

We’ve caused pain to many different groups of people—casting them out, writing them off, and truly harming them.

We are not pretending we’ve got if all figured out—but rising up is what we do!

We have continued to find new starts—to recognize where we have become oppressors and offenders to love and grace…to other humans and to God.

We continue to learn…to grow…to have our eyes and hearts opened to see the world as God sees it…

…to see people as God sees them…

…to see ourselves as God sees us…

…to learn what it truly is to live a life of wholeness, joy, love, and freedom—NOT as the world defines these things, but as GOD defines them.

No matter who any of us are today…

No matter what we’ve ever said or thought…

No matter what we’ve done that we shouldn’t have or not done that we should’ve…

No matter the harm we’ve caused… (and the church has caused great harm)

No matter the pain we’ve endured…

No matter our age or status…

No matter who we love…

No matter the color of our hair, our eyes, or our skin…

No matter what language we speak or where we were born…

We can share in a new start together.

Why?

BECAUSE OF EASTER!!!

Because of the empty tomb.

Because no amount of denying, abandoning, crucifying, or cowering stopped Jesus from rising up & ushering love, grace, mercy, & fullness into this world for ANYONE would would choose to look for hope.

So, my friends, what are you looking for this day?

For what do you hope?

A new start?

A life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

Then I have good news for you!!

The good news is God raises up new life and new start right here and right now in the body of Jesus Christ called “the church.”

We experience the living Christ when we gather in his name to live as he has called us to live—with hope.

This is why we celebrate the empty tomb today.

• Because LIFE wins over death
• GRACE has the last word over sin
• The POWER of LOVE wins over EVERY…SINGLE…OTHER …TYPE OF POWER

We celebrate because…

CHRIST…IS…RISEN… and WE… are Easter people.

SERMON | Psalm 118.1-2, 19-29 & Matthew 21.1-11 | "Marching Orders" by Rev. Ceciliah Igweta-Keega at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

SERMON | Ezekiel 37:1-14, Psalm 130, Romans 8:6-11, & John 11:1-45 | "Redemption Road" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

Think about a time when you felt stuck… overwhelmed… maybe even hopeless.

When worry kept replaying in your mind.
When anxiety felt like the default setting.
When you didn’t know how things would turn out.

Most of us have been there.

And sometimes people try to help—but their words miss the mark:
“It could be worse.”
“Just stay positive.”
“God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

But those words don’t always touch the real struggle.

In Ezekiel’s story, God doesn’t rush the prophet past the valley; God walks him through it—again and again—so he really sees it.

That’s what hard seasons are like. We go over them repeatedly. We sit with the pain. We wonder if anything will ever change.

Maybe you’ve prayed those honest prayers:
“God, are you listening?”
“Do you care?”
“Do I matter?”

And yet… here you are.

• You’ve made it through things you once thought you couldn’t.
• Or maybe you’re still in the middle of it—but you’re still here.

That matters more than we often realize.

Our lives hold both joy and struggle—times of growth right alongside seasons that felt dry and empty.

And when we look back, we can often see: God was present, even then.

So what about now?

• Maybe something in your life feels like that valley of dry bones…
  or like a sealed tomb.
• Maybe it’s something personal—your heart, your family, your work.
• Maybe it’s bigger—the state of the world, the economy, the needs around us that feel overwhelming.
• Maybe it’s something deeper—maybe you’re just not finding the kind of life to your faith that you had at one time…or that you’ve always longed for and simply haven’t found yet.

It’s easy to look around and see only what’s broken.

So we hear the question again: Can these bones live?

Here’s the good news:

Even when our faith wavers… God is still faithful.

Jesus stood at that tomb alongside people who simply couldn’t muster any hope. 

He wept for Mary’s lack of faith—but he didn’t stop there.

He called Lazarus out.

God has always been in the business of bringing life out of impossible situations—
creating, restoring, renewing, again and again—filling Creation with Holy breath.

And that hasn’t changed.

God is still with us. God has not given up on us.

So maybe the invitation today is simple as we consider the valleys of dry bones and sealed tombs among us:

• Lift your eyes, even just a little.
• Lift your voice, don’t be afraid to speak words of life.
• Or maybe…simply give God a chance to surprise you.

Remember how far you’ve come already on this Redemption Road.

Remember that we are on it still—all of God’s people for all of God’s world.

Trust that God is still leading you—

maybe not in the way you expect,

but always toward renewal through God’s mercy.

There is still hope for us and this world.

There is still possibility when things seem dry.

And with God, there is always life.

Here, now, and forevermore. Amen

SERMON | Psalm 23 & Ephesians 5:8-14 | "Journeying in Grace" by Rev. Ceciliah Igweta-Keega at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

LENT 2026

SERMON | Psalm 95:1-3, 8-10 & Romans 5:1-11 | "Companion for the Journey" by Rev. Ceciliah Igweta-Keega at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

LENT 2026

SERMON | Genesis 12, Romans 4:1-5 & John 3:1-17 | "Guided by the Promise" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

Abraham and Sarah were approved by God before God even spoke with them.

God called them not due to anything they’d done, but because God wanted them!

They were regarded as righteous—in right relationship with God—not by doing anything…but by trusting.

Yes, they did uproot their lives from everything familiar, comfortable, and affirming…but only after the promise was given to them.

They WENT because they were guided by the promise.

So, Paul says, their trust is really what made them right with God.

So, Paul continues, it’s not our actions or works that make us right with God…rather, it’s our trust.

I know, trusting God’s grace is so hard for us because our culture constantly tell us that we have to earn things.

We herald those who come from nothing and MADE THEMSELVES something.

We expect people to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps…” to work hard… and to not expect anything is theirs unless they deserve it.

But this is the exact opposite of how God’s mercy and promise work and our western values can hinder our understanding.

God loved us first—the whole world.

God loved first.

God has already done all that is needed for us to be renewed in mercy and receive the promise.

Jesus death accomplished all that was needed.

That’s what he said, “It is accomplished.”

As in, “What I have done has created a reality that will forever be fulfilled…what I have done will remain done for eternity. It won’t need done again.”

God’s love in Jesus is a gift.

It’s already ours.

It’s like God is giving us a huge hug while we stand there with arms to our sides.

We need not do anything to earn God’s love.

No amount of following rules or saying prayers or anything is necessary.

We only need to have faith…

to believe…

to trust in this good news of God’s love.

Now, rules and commandments and the law help us know what kind of behavior pleases God and helps us live into better relationships with God and people, but no amount of doing any of that affects the love of God that is already ours.

Amen?

Do you trust the good news even if it sounds too good to be true?

Will you trust in God?

Will you uproot from what you think you know about yourself, God, the world, others?

Will you head out into the unknown of God’s grace and love?

Will you be born of the spirit?

Will you be born from above?

Can you trust… can you place your faith in… can you believe…

God’s love is already ours.

God is proud of us.

We…are…enough.

If we can accept this…if we can accept God’s embrace and trust in it enough to embrace God back… it changes how we live and why we do the things we do.

Receiving God’s mercy renews our relationship with God.

This is an ongoing process, friends.

Living into God’s grace is a constant uprooting because we journey into fully embracing God back step by step, day by day, awakening by awakening…

Let us, as beloved members of this promise family, trust God in every moment,

Trust God in every conversation of self-reflection about who we are,

In every opportunity to move beyond our certainties,

In every blessed moment we choose to see Jesus in the people around us, especially those who are most vulnerable—even if that’s the face that stares back at us in the mirror.

Let us keep saying “yes” to trusting God, that we may allow ourselves to be guided by the promise.

SERMON | Psalm 32 & Matthew 4:1-11 | "Mercy on the Wilderness Road" by Rev. Ceciliah Igweta-Keega at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

Lent 2026

SERMON | Matthew 17:1-9 | "The Transfiguration" by Rev. Ceciliah Igweta-Keega at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

SERMON | Matthew 5:13-20 | "The Kingdom of God: The Matter of the Heart" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

If our hearts are not right, we will not live into this God-willed way of relationship with one another.

If you degrade a person’s humanity AT ALL…you’re living counter to God’s will and way.

If you think a person is less-deserving of love and grace than yourself, you are living counter to what God intends.

If you view a person as an object…as a means to your own end…then you are on the path of darkness, not light.

We are all guilty of doing this to other people.

There’s a reason Jesus spends so much time talking about it.

Thinking about what we do or don’t say to them…

Or what we do or don’t do…

…is just a matter of limiting our darkness.

Jesus will spend the rest of this sermon revealing that God is after our hearts.

How we posture ourselves toward other people is crucial.

When our hearts are not in-line with God’s intended purpose for us…

When we are NOT fulfilling the law…

Our actions WILL NOT be good fruit.

But if our hearts ARE in-line with God’s intended purpose…

If we ARE fulfilling the law…

Our actions WILL BE good fruit.

We don’t need to focus on what we are doing on the outside, whether we’re following rules are able to stop ourselves just short of some sort of human-crafted limitation…

We need to focus on getting our hearts right so that we can KNOW how we respond to the world is what God intended for us as the salt of the earth and light of the world.

Entering the Kingdom is not about following rules.

Entering the Kingdom is a matter of the heart.

Saying, “Yes” to God and following Jesus and entrusting ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s leading is us making a commitment to being healed from the inside out.

We start in the heart…and the rest will naturally follow.

It’s strange how we so often turn this whole effort into an outside-in process in our heads, isn’t it?

If we follow the right rules…dress the right way…use the right words…somehow that makes us worthy.

That’s the way of scribes and pharisees, friends!

As individuals, we will find life when we begin surrendering our will to God.

When we desire what God desires…

When we see people as God sees them…

When our hearts break for the things that break God’s heart…

As a church, we will find life when we surrender our mission and vision to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

When we stop worrying about what songs we sing…

When we stop worrying about how this space is decorated…

When we stop living by “that’s how we’ve always done it”…

When we stop filtering who can enter into our doors…

When we, instead, take time to quietly pray and commune together…

When we take time to share a meal and conversation…

When we hear each other’s hearts and stories…

The Holy Spirit has been at work in this church for over 200 years.

The Holy Spirit is every bit as active today as ever!!

We need only take some time to consider what might be keeping up from being the salt of the earth and light of the world.

We need only take time to notice where maybe we’ve brought other type of seasoning into the mix…perhaps some wonderful traditions of the past have simply lost saltiness—because they served a purpose for THAT place and time more than they serve a purpose for THIS place and time.

So much of ministry is about taking time to pay attention…

So much of being a witness for God is showing up—coming out from underneath the bushel basket so that the love, grace, mercy, compassion, and truth can be more on display.

When we stay true to our calling making sure our collective heart is right, then what we do and how we do it will naturally bear good fruit for the Kingdom of God.

We’ll be a place where our acts of service are pleasing to God…

Where our very being is a light of hope for those in our community who lack it.

We’ll become the Kingdom people God is calling us to be…

And, friends, there’s nothing better than Kingdom-living.

SERMON | Matthew 5:1-12 | "The Kingdom of God: For Anyone on the Right Path" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

Living more and more into the Kingdom of God means living less and less in every other kingdom.

Those who are allegiant to other kingdoms will see you as a traitor…as un-allegiant.

Experiencing this kind of response from disciples of other kingdoms should encourage us to know that we are actually becoming less allegiant to other kingdoms and, therefore, more allegiant to God’s Kingdom.

People telling us we are not acting other-kingdom enough should be a joy to us.

And when people go from just telling you to actively working against you…

Spreading rumors…

Attacking you verbally or even physically…

Making life harder for you…

You can have joy in your heart that you are walking the path of God’s messengers.

This is how Jesus begins his sermon.

This is the character of God’s will…God’s Reign…God’s Kingdom among us.

This Kingdom of God among us doesn’t look like other kingdoms EVEN WHEN those other kingdoms claim to belong to God.

You can misuse God’s name all you want in some vain effort to build up credibility and a sense of self-righteousness all you want…but it doesn’t take much to simply open your eyes—to pay attention to those who are poor in spirit…to those who mourn…to those who are gentle…to those who long for things to be fair, equitable, and just…to those who show mercy…who aren’t caught up in the wrong things…who live their lives bringing healing and wholeness.

Friends, if we want to be on the right path to the Kingdom of Heaven among us…we must first place our hope and trust in the Kingdom revealed by Jesus.

And just like the crowds around Jesus had to understand, let us understand… God’s blessing doesn’t look like what we define as blessing. They thought their high priests, great leaders, kings, governors, and Caesars were blessed by God to be in their positions.

Don’t be fooled by these “blessings” of the world.

God will not bring the world back to right through the people who are “blessed” in systems of corruption and terror.

Furthermore, to be on the right path in the Kingdom among us,

You don’t have to be a pastor…

You don’t have to have gone to church for years…

You don’t have to have read the Bible (although it certainly helps)…

You don’t have to have the answers—in fact, maybe poor in spirit starts with admitting we do NOT have all the answers.

Anyone can journey toward the Kingdom among us.

Anyone can seek to find the right path.

That’s why were here, friends.

To not only follow Jesus, but to embody the character of Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven so that others may see a whole different kind of Kingdom…a different kind of reality…a different kind of character. (SET APART)

It’s so TEMPTING to respond to the world in kind.

It’s easy to become angry and cynical.

It’s easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment and say things about other human beings that are simply terrible things to say.

It’s easy to stoop down to the level of terrorizers and become terrorizers ourselves…

It’s easy to forget that all other people are human beings JUST…LIKE…US.

These different groups from Jesus day (Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes) were only driving people apart and in conflict with each other—this is NOT the kingdom!!

The world has seen enough of other kingdoms—enough division. Haven’t we?

We’ve spent far too long living in other kingdoms.

Let’s follow Jesus…a trust his way of humility, grace, and love a little more today…

giving more of ourselves until we are able to give all of ourselves.

That by following Him, we may go from being hopeless to having hope

…to becoming hope.

It’s possible, friends, because Jesus can lead us there.

Do you believe in this hope?

Do you believe in him enough to follow?

Anyone can follow him.

Anyone can be on the right path.

…and this Good News is a blessing indeed.