Grow Deeper

What is truly valuable? It used to be said that if one wanted to see what was important to a person to look at their check register. I don’t think so anymore. I think if we want to see what we truly value we should look at our calendars. We plan, we dream, we schedule, we try to achieve, and all of these things are not, in and of themselves, “bad.” However, we can forget what is truly important and truly valuable in our pursuit of life. We cannot forget from whom “every good and perfect gift comes.” It is of no profit for us to “store up for ourselves treasures” but forget to be “rich towards God.” And, we might do well to consider what is truly valuable to God…

Sermon Scripture Text: Luke 12:13-21

"Such Riches" – S02E59 of Grow Deeper: A Bluff Park UMC Podcast

Welcome to the Grow Deeper podcast. We’re pastors Kevin Payne and Ross Furio from Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama. Each week we share our Sunday sermons, and occasion guest preachers, on the podcast to inspire and encourage you to grow in faith and in life. We're glad you've joined us on this journey.

#wealth #value #importance #gift #time

This week we hear from guest pastor Sherry Harris as she preaches on a passage from Paul's letter to the Romans. She issues a challenge to us that is two fold, to know who we are, and to know what our work is in this world. Both have to do with being a disciple of Jesus Christ, give it a listen to find out!

Sermon Scripture Text: Romans 10:13b-17

"Who Am I, Really?" – S02E58 of Grow Deeper: A Bluff Park UMC Podcast

Welcome to the Grow Deeper podcast. We’re pastors Kevin Payne and Ross Furio from Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama. Each week we share our Sunday sermons, and occasion guest preachers, on the podcast to inspire and encourage you to grow in faith and in life. We're glad you've joined us on this journey.

 

One of the first things I learned as a child growing up in the Church is to bow my head and close my eyes to pray. During Children’s Minute during the weekly worship celebration, as well as in Sunday School I was taught to pray the “Lord’s Prayer,” as it is commonly called. I was taught that I could have a conversation with God through praying. Yet, praying is more than the act of bowing our heads, closing our eyes, and muttering some words to God. Prayer is a deeply relational act where we are invited to come to God with anything that is on our hearts. The “Lord’s Prayer” teaches us something so much more that a model prayer¾it teaches us about how we can trust and talk with our Heavenly Father.

Sermon Scripture Text: Luke 11:1-13

"Lord, Teach Us to Pray" – S02E57 of Grow Deeper: A Bluff Park UMC Podcast

Welcome to the Grow Deeper podcast. We’re pastors Kevin Payne and Ross Furio from Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama. Each week we share our Sunday sermons, and occasion guest preachers, on the podcast to inspire and encourage you to grow in faith and in life. We're glad you've joined us on this journey.

#prayer #conversation #communication #hope #trust

Life around us is constantly changing and there is so little we can control, but Paul says in Verse 13 of 1st Corinthians 13 that three things will remain: faith, hope, and love. When we view life through the lens of these three things what happens in our lives?

Sermon Scripture Text: 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

"3 Things Remain" – S02E56 of Grow Deeper: A Bluff Park UMC Podcast

Welcome to the Grow Deeper podcast. We’re pastors Kevin Payne and Ross Furio from Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama. Each week we share our Sunday sermons, and occasion guest preachers, on the podcast to inspire and encourage you to grow in faith and in life. We're glad you've joined us on this journey.

#Nature #Faith #Hope #Love

We’re quick to condemn Martha. How could someone be so busy in the kitchen that they could neglect their guests in the living room, especially when one of the gusts is none other than Jesus, himself! But Martha isn’t dismissing her friend. She is working on present, practical matters. She wants to be a good hostess and show her love by preparing a meal for Jesus and the Disciples. However, she is missing the better part. It’s easy to get caught up in the daily demands of the urgent ¾those things that seem so very important in the moment, yet, in the bigger picture are not really that pressing. When everything is a priority, then nothing is. Don’t allow the demands of the urgent to make us miss Christ sitting right in front of us.

Sermon Scripture Text: Luke 10:38-42

"Martha's Not Wrong..." – S02E55 of Grow Deeper: A Bluff Park UMC Podcast

Welcome to the Grow Deeper podcast. We’re pastors Kevin Payne and Ross Furio from Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama. Each week we share our Sunday sermons, and occasion guest preachers, on the podcast to inspire and encourage you to grow in faith and in life. We're glad you've joined us on this journey.

#priorities #schedule #family #presence #anxiousness

Who will we be? That's the question that we ask together this week as we look at Jonah 3. In this part of Jonah's story we see both Jonah and the Ninevites respond to a call from God in very distinct ways. It forces us to ask ourselves, who will we be like? Who will we strive to be? My hope is that we will be a people who look a whole lot more like Jesus, and a whole lot less like the world.

Sermon Scripture Text: Jonah 3:1-10

"Who Will We Be?" – S02E54 of Grow Deeper: A Bluff Park UMC Podcast

Welcome to the Grow Deeper podcast. We’re pastors Kevin Payne and Ross Furio from Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama. Each week we share our Sunday sermons, and occasion guest preachers, on the podcast to inspire and encourage you to grow in faith and in life. We're glad you've joined us on this journey.

#Jonah #Assyria #Nineveh #Repent #Call

Christianity has a historical habit of creating holy checklists by which to measure faithfulness. Such checklists are easy to create and offer some measure of comfort. After all, a checklist is easy to track progress and know what to do: do this, don’t do that…got it! However, faithfulness to God cannot be contained in a “to-do” listing. Following God isn’t always as easy of a call in every situation that we face. It isn’t simply about what we do with God, but God sees our hearts: God cares about why we are doing what we are doing (or not doing) and the attitudes we have. One of the points to this parable we are sharing today is not only the actions of the Good Samaritan, but the care and kindness he shows.

Sermon Scripture Text: Luke 10:25-37

"Like a Good Neighbor" – S02E53 of Grow Deeper: A Bluff Park UMC Podcast

Welcome to the Grow Deeper podcast. We’re pastors Kevin Payne and Ross Furio from Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama. Each week we share our Sunday sermons, and occasion guest preachers, on the podcast to inspire and encourage you to grow in faith and in life. We're glad you've joined us on this journey.

#Faithfulness #discipleship #grace #growth

Listen in this week as we continue to explore the book of Jonah. This part of Jonah's story is well known, but it holds insights and truths that are often overlooked. If we look closely we will find plenty of room for reflection as this part of Jonah's story challenges us to step out of the boat and go where God is leading.

Sermon Scripture Text: Jonah 1:4-2:10

"Jonah and the Fish" – S02E52 of Grow Deeper: A Bluff Park UMC Podcast

Welcome to the Grow Deeper podcast. We’re pastors Mike Holly and Ross Furio from Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama. Each week we share our Sunday sermons, and occasion guest preachers, on the podcast to inspire and encourage you to grow in faith and in life. We're glad you've joined us on this journey.

#Jonah #Fish #Storm #Boat #Nineveh #Tarshish

“First Sundays” are a lot like a blind date. I can’t remember where I first heard that comparison, but I have found it to be true. Transitions can be unnerving, fearful, and anxious times. We’re getting to know one another, and there are many emotions that we can be experiencing. In the Gospel lesson for today Jesus send out 72 of his followers into villages to proclaim the Good News to all who would hear. They didn’t choose the villages to which they were sent, nor did they choose the time they were being sent, what they were bringing with them, or how long they would be staying. Yet, the reports from them come back with amazing results. We must remember that we’re being brought together and sent into the world by the great “matchmaker,” who is at work sending us to divine appointments.

Sermon Scripture Text: Luke 10:1-11

"Blind Dates" – S02E51 of Grow Deeper: A Bluff Park UMC Podcast

Welcome to the Grow Deeper podcast. We’re pastors Mike Holly and Ross Furio from Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama. Each week we share our Sunday sermons, and occasion guest preachers, on the podcast to inspire and encourage you to grow in faith and in life. We're glad you've joined us on this journey.

#faith #sending #trust #calling

God has a purpose for our lives. God has a calling for each and every one of us. That call might be scary, it might make us uncomfortable, it might feel like too much, but God is calling us towards it. Friends hear this, God won't call us to anything that he hasn't equipped us for, and he certainly won't ask us to go alone. So what are we waiting for? Where is God calling you? Join us this week as we explore Jonah's story together.

Sermon Scripture Text: Luke 8:26-39

"The Call of Jonah" – S02E50 of Grow Deeper: A Bluff Park UMC Podcast

Welcome to the Grow Deeper podcast. We’re pastors Mike Holly and Ross Furio from Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama. Each week we share our Sunday sermons, and occasion guest preachers, on the podcast to inspire and encourage you to grow in faith and in life. We're glad you've joined us on this journey.

#Jonah #Nineveh #Calling #Purpose #Tarshish