Rev. Matt Tuggle | Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide.

Every preacher is playing for second place. The greatest sermon ever preached was delivered by the greatest preacher who ever lived. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) has shaped history, influenced cultures, and continues to transform lives today. 

Many of Jesus' most famous teachings come from these three chapters: being the salt of the earth, a city on a hill, loving our enemies, and treating others as we want to be treated. Yet before Jesus teaches people how to live, he begins somewhere even more important.

When Jesus sat down on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee and began to speak, he saw a diverse and often overlooked crowd. They’d heard the world declare who was blessed: the wealthy, powerful, healthy, and successful. Jesus turned those expectations upside down. He announced that the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek, and the struggling were the blessed ones, not because of their circumstances, but because they were loved by God.

The foundation of the Sermon on the Mount is not a list of rules for earning God's approval; it is the announcement that God's grace is unmerited and immediately available to everyone. Jesus teaches us how to live, not so that we can become loved by God, but because we already are. 

The Beatitudes remind us that our identity is rooted in God's love, and from that secure foundation we can live the life Jesus calls us to live.

Hannah Buchanan

Rev. Matt Tuggle | Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide.

This year we are beginning a journey called “Blueprint: Building Lives of Faith, Hope, and Love.” We all want lives that are steady, resilient, and able to withstand life's challenges. Jesus teaches that this kind of life is built on a solid foundation. When our lives are founded in him, we can stand firm even when storms come.

The challenge is that many things compete for that foundation: money, power, pleasure, reputation, and control. Yet Jesus says that true stability comes not from simply hearing his words, but from putting them into practice. Through sermons and Bible studies, we learn God's teachings, but transformation happens when those teachings shape the way we live each day.

C.S. Lewis paints a beautiful picture of this process, describing God as a builder transforming a small cottage into a palace, "running up towers" and creating something greater than we could ever imagine. That is God's desire for each of us. As we follow Jesus and put his teachings into action, God is growing in us the three things that last: faith, hope, and love. Our prayer is that by the end of this series, we will look back and see that we have grown in faith, become more marked by hope, and learned to love God and others more deeply.

Hannah Buchanan

Rev. Matt Tuggle | Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide.

For many of us, the fall season brings its own sense of renewal. New schedules, routines, and rhythms create opportunities to reflect on where we are and where we want to grow.

As we begin a new school year, Philippians 1:6 reminds us that God is always at work. Long before we were aware of it, God was pursuing us through His grace, and He continues that work today. 

In the Wesleyan tradition, prevenient grace reminds us that God knew and loved us before we knew Him, justifying grace assures us of forgiveness through Jesus Christ, and sanctifying grace points to God’s ongoing work of transformation and healing in our lives. God is not finished with us, and the good work He has begun is still unfolding.

This promise is not only personal but communal. God is at work in us and among us, shaping His church and inviting us to participate in His mission. As we journey together this year, we are called to build our lives around the things that endure: faith, hope, and love. 

These virtues are both gifts of God’s grace and markers of spiritual growth. As we follow Christ together, we can trust that the God who began a good work in us will faithfully carry it to completion.

Hannah Buchanan | Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide.

Throughout Scripture, God calls ordinary people by name and invites them into His purposes. Abraham was called to leave what was familiar. Moses was called to confront Pharaoh. Samuel was called as a child. Esther was called to risk her position for the sake of her people. Jesus invited the disciples to follow him, and that same invitation extends to us today. 

Following Jesus means more than believing the right things or checking a box. It means becoming attentive to where Jesus is already at work and being willing to join him. Sometimes that means a major decision; sometimes it means a simple act of obedience.

The challenge is learning to hear God's voice in the midst of the noise of our lives. We may hear from God through Scripture, prayer, silence, or the wisdom of a trusted friend or spiritual mentor to help us recognize His leading. We don't have to know the entire path before taking the next faithful step.

Ultimately, God’s call is an invitation to follow Him wherever He leads. We may not always know exactly what He is asking of us, and we may not feel ready or equipped, but we can trust that the God who calls us also goes with us.

Alex Johnston | Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide.

We all long for meaningful connection, yet many of us struggle to find it. While loneliness has become increasingly common, the problem is not always a lack of opportunity for community but misconceptions about how community is formed.

This week’s sermon challenged three myths that often keep us disconnected. First, community is not something we simply find. Instead, it is something we build through intentional time, consistency, and sacrifice. 

Second, community is not always easy. Real relationships involve disappointment, forgiveness, and the willingness to work through differences. 

Third, the most meaningful relationships are not always with people who are just like us. God often uses people from different backgrounds, generations, and experiences to shape and grow us. 

Community does not have to match our idealized expectations to be valuable. God provides different layers of connection, from belonging to a larger church family to cultivating a few trusted confidants.

The good news is that Christian community is not about finding perfect people or perfect circumstances. It is about committing to one another, bearing with one another, and allowing God to form us into the image of Christ together.

Rev. Dr. Abe Smith | Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide.

Expectations shape how we experience life. When reality matches what we hoped for, we often feel satisfied. When it doesn't, disappointment, frustration, and even suffering can follow. In Matthew 16, Peter correctly identifies Jesus as the Messiah, yet moments later rebukes him for talking about suffering and death. Peter wasn't confused about who Jesus was; he was struggling because Jesus wasn't meeting his expectations. He wanted a Messiah who would bring immediate victory and change, while Jesus modeled a path of sacrifice and the cross.

This sermon reminds us that unmet expectations often reveal deeper desires for control, approval, comfort, security, or validation. When our expectations become requirements for our happiness, they can rob us of joy and peace. Jesus invites us to a different way of living centered not on controlling outcomes but on following him. As we focus less on the gaps between our expectations and reality and more on God's presence and gifts, we discover that true life is found when we release our expectations and follow Jesus.

Hannah Buchanan | Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide.

When we hear the word worship, we often think primarily about music. But throughout Scripture, worship is much bigger than singing. Worship is our response to who God is and what He has done. The Psalms are filled with invitations to praise, give thanks, celebrate, bow before, and honor God because He alone is worthy.

The English word worship comes from an Old English word meaning "to ascribe worth." Every day we assign worth to something. We give our attention, energy, affection, and devotion to what we value most. While those things can include work, family, success, or comfort, our default is often to place ourselves at the center of our lives.

Corporate worship invites us to make a different choice. Rather than remaining spectators or consumers, God calls us to become participants. Singing together is not simply about enjoying music or evaluating a performance. It is a spiritual practice that shapes our hearts, reminds us of God's faithfulness, and reorients our lives around Him.

When we sing, pray, and worship together, we join generations of believers who have declared God's goodness through every season of life. Worship becomes one of the ways God forms us into people who love Him above all else and carry His presence into the world.

Rev. Billy Rainey | Click/tap here to view the Sermon Reflection Guide

At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus stands in the synagogue and reads from Isaiah 61, proclaiming good news to the poor, freedom for captives, sight for the blind, and liberty for the oppressed. Then, he makes a startling declaration: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). In that moment, Jesus announces that God's promised kingdom has arrived in and through him.

The good news is more than forgiveness of sins or the promise of heaven after death, though it certainly includes both. The good news is that through Jesus, the kingdom of God has broken into our world. God's reign is bringing healing, restoration, justice, peace, and hope to a broken creation. Jesus invites us to live in the tension of the "already and not yet": the kingdom is present now, but it has not yet come in its fullness.

As followers of Christ, we are called to be people of living hope, acknowledging the brokenness around us while refusing to let it define us. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we participate in God's work of bringing glimpses of His kingdom into the world through acts of love, mercy, justice, and faithfulness.