Grow Deeper

On Easter, Christians around the world celebrate that the very same Jesus of Nazareth that died upon the cross is the same Jesus that is raised from the dead. It was Mary Magdalene who discovered the empty tomb and alerted the disciples according to John's Gospel. Peter and the Beloved Disciple run to the tomb to find it empty and then they leave and go home. Mary comes back and Mary stays and because she does, she encounters the risen Christ. Mary's actions help us to remember the importance of coming back as well as seeing that God can free us from sin and death and help us to be set free to do something wonderful in the name of God.

Sermon Scripture Text: John 20:1-18

"I Have Seen The Lord" – S02E29 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 from 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.

#Easter #EmptyTomb #Mary #GardenTomb

"Father into your hands I commend my Spirit." That is the prayer that we hear Jesus pray just before he breathes his last. It is a prayer that Jesus lived by, and now a prayer that Jesus dies by. It is also a prayer that Jesus calls us to pray with Him. Listen this week as we finish up our series on Jesus' 7 words from the cross

Sermon Scripture Text: Luke 23:44-49

"Into Your Hands" – S02E28 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 from 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.

#Cross #Jesus #7words #Lent #HolyWeek #PalmSunday

As Jesus is nearing the end of his hours upon the cross, he prays to God again. He places himself in God's hands - hands he knows are good, safe, and faithful. We can also trust in God and place our lives in God's hands knowing that wherever God sends us we are going with purpose. On this Palm Sunday, we remember that Jesus teaches us to prayerfully offer our lives fully into God's own hands.

Sermon Scripture Text: Luke 23:44-49

"Into Your Hands, I Commend My Spirit" – S02E27 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 from 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.

#Lent #Last Words #Cross #GodsHands #PalmSunday

We are a people of great thirst. Of course we experience physical thirst, we all know what it's like to need a drink of water, but more than our souls thirst. We also find Jesus thirsting on the cross, and like us that thirst is both physical and of the soul. This week we reflect on those thirsts of the soul, and give thanks for the living water we have in Jesus. Because of that living water we don't have to thirst anymore.

Sermon Scripture Text: John 19:28-30

"Thirst" – S02E26 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 from 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.

#Thirst #7 Words #Jesus #Lent #Cross #SourWine #LastWords

Jesus thirsts while he is on the cross. He has a physical thirst caused by being denied something to drink all day along with the blood loss and trauma of crucifixion. His mouth and throat become even drier as he fights for each and every breath in the arid Israel air. Jesus also has a spiritual thirst for the will of God and the victory that is coming. This last word reminds us of the thirsts and longings we have in our own lives along with their appropriateness. Do we thirst for what God thirsts? Do we thirst for Him? This last word from the cross is an invitation for us to consider our own longings.

Sermon Scripture Text: John 19:28-30

"I Thirst" – S02E25 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 from 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.

#Lent #LastWords #Cross #Thirst #SourWine #Vinegar #Hyssop

As we continue through the 7 words that Jesus speaks from the cross, this week we listen in as Jesus shares an intimate moment with his mother and best friend. It is here that we find the charge for the first community of Christian believers to exist post resurrection, and in turn it is where we find our charge as the modern church. The charge is simple, take care of one another. The question is this, how do we live that charge out?

Sermon Scripture Text: John 19:25-27

"Family" – S02E24 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 from 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.

#BelovedDisciple #Jesus #cross #MotherOfJesus #7words #Lent

As Mary, the mother of Jesus, watches her son suffer the cross, she has others with her to not only show support to Jesus but also to Mary. There are women surrounding her as well as the so-called beloved disciple. Jesus says to Mary, "Woman, here is your son," connecting her to this beloved disciple. Then to that disciple, he says, "here is your mother." Jesus is not only supplying them both with a caring family; Jesus is also creating a church. A church is a gathering of followers who worship together and who take care of one another. They help us grow as we learn to love one another just as Jesus loved us.

Sermon Scripture Text: John 19:25b-27

"Woman, Here Is Your Son" – S02E23 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 from 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.

#Lent #LastWords #Cross #Mary #BelovedDisciple

This week in The Gathering our youth pastor JT Mercer offers a message to wrap up our weekend long middle school retreat called Discovery. In his message JT tells the story of Daniel's friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and reminds us that God is always with us no matter what. Give this a listen and be reminded of one of the core beliefs that we hold as Christians about our God!

Sermon Scripture Text: Daniel 3:13-30

"What Now?" – S02E21 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 from 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.

#Fire #Daniel #Shadrach #Meshach #Abednego #Discovery

After three hours on the cross, Jesus speaks the words from the opening verse of the 22nd Psalm: "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The Psalm is one of lament that turns into radical hope and trust in the very nature of God. In the midst of his agony, Jesus begins to likely pray this psalm -- identifying with the suffering and pain of the author while also displaying solidarity with all who suffer. Our God knows what it means to suffer and to feel forsaken. No matter what we may feel in this life, God has walked in our shoes.

Sermon Scripture Text: Matthew 27:45-49

"My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?" – S02E21 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 from 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.

#Lent #LastWords #Cross #Forsaken #Psalm22

For Jesus' second phrase from the cross, we see him mocked by the crowd and one criminal. He is tempted to demonstrate his might by saving himself. There is also an intimate moment between Jesus and a criminal bearing his own cross. Jesus doesn't deserve what is happening to him, while the criminal is reaping what he sowed. In his words of hope to this criminal, Jesus is also giving us words of hope. We are not alone. We are remembered. And we can have the gift of God's presence and hope today. Hear the words this day, "Today you will be with Me in paradise."

Sermon Scripture Text: Luke 23:39-43

"With Me In Paradise" – S02E20 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 from 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.

#Today #Paradise #Lent #7words #TheCross #Jesus #Criminal #Remember