Indian Run UMC Sermon Archive

In the "The Lord's Prayer" sermon series, we will be slowing down and taking a look at a prayer that has become so familiar to us that we've just stopped paying attention to it. The Lord's Prayer is probably the first prayer any Christian learns. We recite it at funerals and weddings, hospital rooms and at church, even at the dinner table or right before going to bed. But this prayer wasn't intended to just be recited from memory, it was thoughtfully made to have a deeper meaning. So we will take things one phrase at a time to discover what Jesus was really trying to teach to his disciples. Today we're continuing with "Hallowed Be Thy Name". In the Bible someone's name represents their character, their identity, and their reputation. To Hallow their name is to let the name be honored, let it be treated as Holy, let the world see you for whom you are. We are prayer for not ourselves, but for the world to see God as He really is, as the God revealed by Jesus Christ and not the one that has been invented or distorted by man. We pray you are hallowed through us, the followers of Christianity.

In the "The Lord's Prayer" sermon series, we will be slowing down and taking a look at a prayer that has become so familiar to us that we've just stopped paying attention to it. The Lord's Prayer is probably the first prayer any Christian learns. We recite it at funerals and weddings, hospital rooms and at church, even at the dinner table or right before going to bed. But this prayer wasn't intended to just be recited from memory, it was thoughtfully made to have a deeper meaning. So we will take things one phrase at a time to discover what Jesus was really trying to teach to his disciples. Today we're starting with "Our Father, Who Art in Heaven". Especially overlooked as the first part of the prayer, we're going to hone in on the three distinct focal points. How Jesus was radical in thinking of God as a part of not just us but our community, how God as the Father is more about relationships, rather than gender, and how God is always with us, close by, but also so all encompassing to hold the entire universe in his hands.

In the "Seen - Noticing the People We Overlook" sermon series, we will be looking at the people who we don't tend to notice in the Bible. Tucked around the edges of the big stories are dozens of people other than the big names, like Moses, David, Mary, or Paul - People who get one sentence or a brief mention. Some are named, others are nameless, but when we slow down and look at them, something remarkable happens. We find that these overlooked figures often reveal something essential about God, about Faith, or even about what it means to follow Jesus. Today we look at The Other Crucified Thief. This person may be the most overlooked of all people in the Bible. This sermon series is about all the people Jesus saw that we, even today, may forget. Crucified alongside Jesus, both going through what would be the worst, most unimaginable pain of their lives, this man only asks to be remembered. It's easy to not want to look at those people that we have given up all hope for. It's easy to think that God's grace works just like Karma. You get what you give, an eye for an eye. But God's Grace is not a give and take, it is just given, freely, with no stipulations. It is not something to be deserving of, it just is. Overflowing, everlasting.

In the "Seen - Noticing the People We Overlook" sermon series, we will be looking at the people who we don't tend to notice in the Bible. Tucked around the edges of the big stories are dozens of people other than the big names, like Moses, David, Mary, or Paul - People who get one sentence or a brief mention. Some are named, others are nameless, but when we slow down and look at them, something remarkable happens. We find that these overlooked figures often reveal something essential about God, about Faith, or even about what it means to follow Jesus. Today we look at Malchus. Malchus is man who gets one sentence in the bible. He is attacked by Peter, if by accident, is healed by Jesus, and is never heard from again. Compared to the others that we have looked at in this sermon series, Malchus stands as a anomaly. Epaphras, The Friends, The Leapers; They all had agency, they had the choice to have faith in Jesus. Malchus doesn't choose anything, he does not choose to be there, he doesn't express faith in Jesus, he doesn't ask to be healed. He just exists. Jesus still sees him, sees the people who don't get the choice to reach out. If Jesus can choose to reach out and heal the servant of the very men who want to kill him, he can reach out to you as well.

In the "Seen - Noticing the People We Overlook" sermon series, we will be looking at the people who we don't tend to notice in the Bible. Tucked around the edges of the big stories are dozens of people other than the big names, like Moses, David, Mary, or Paul - People who get one sentence or a brief mention. Some are named, others are nameless, but when we slow down and look at them, something remarkable happens. We find that these overlooked figures often reveal something essential about God, about Faith, or even about what it means to follow Jesus. Today we look at The Nine Who Didn't Come Back. Jesus healed Ten men, but only One returned to thank Jesus and to praise God. However the Nine men are not the villains of this story. They had enough faith in Jesus to obey His commands. But the Nine men had too much momentum, they wanted to greet their families, return home, go to synagogue, reclaim all they had lost. But because they kept getting stuck on the next thing, they never took the time to be grateful for what they had received. It's easy to do that in the modern day as well, the 100th paycheck doesn't feel as satisfying as the 1st, the first night the baby gets good sleep is forgotten after a few years. It's important to take the time to remember, to take the time to express gratitude for acts long past, to be one with your relationship with God.

In the "Seen - Noticing the People We Overlook" sermon series, we will be looking at the people who we don't tend to notice in the Bible. Tucked around the edges of the big stories are dozens of people other than the big names, like Moses, David, Mary, or Paul - People who get one sentence or a brief mention. Some are named, others are nameless, but when we slow down and look at them, something remarkable happens. We find that these overlooked figures often reveal something essential about God, about Faith, or even about what it means to follow Jesus. Today we look at The Missing Guests. Jesus is at a dinner party and is speaking to the Pharisee who invited him. He knows the Pharisee invited only the people with standing to his dinner party - family, friends, people with means, because he knows they could invite him to parties of the same kind and repay him. He speaks to the idea that you should invite those without standing - the poor, the blind, the disabled, because they cannot repay you, and instead you will be repaid in heaven.

In the "Seen - Noticing the People We Overlook" sermon series, we will be looking at the people who we don't tend to notice in the Bible. Tucked around the edges of the big stories are dozens of people other than the big names, like Moses, David, Mary, or Paul - People who get one sentence or a brief mention. Some are named, others are nameless, but when we slow down and look at them, something remarkable happens. We find that these overlooked figures often reveal something essential about God, about Faith, or even about what it means to follow Jesus. Today we look at The Four Friends. These Four unnamed men sought Jesus' help not for themselves, but for their paralyzed friend. As they arrived to meet him, they found themselves stuck behind the crowd. Rather than give up, they found another way, and their love friend and faith in Jesus was so strong that he forgave the mans sins and healed him. They did the silent, disappearing, carrying work of caring for another who cannot care for themselves.

In the "Seen - Noticing the People We Overlook" sermon series, we will be looking at the people who we don't tend to notice in the Bible. Tucked around the edges of the big stories are dozens of people other than the big names, like Moses, David, Mary, or Paul - People who get one sentence or a brief mention. Some are named, others are nameless, but when we slow down and look at them, something remarkable happens. We find that these overlooked figures often reveal something essential about God, about Faith, or even about what it means to follow Jesus. Today we look at Epaphras, a man mentioned only 3 times in the scriptures, a faithful servant and follower of Jesus Christ, one who wrestled in prayer, who was alongside Paul as a prisoner of Jesus Christ, who never stopped praying. These three sentences can open your eyes to what it can meant to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

In the "Life After" sermon series, we're going to journey through what the resurrection actually looks like when it meets us where we are. It's not about quick healing or tidy restorations, it's about what happens in the long middle. It's about the slow, confusing way new life has a way of finding us, even after we've stop looking for it. Today we focus on life after naming your truth. What will your life be like after you say your truth out loud? Will people accept you? Reject you? Just awkwardly stare? What will happen if people really know you? What will happen if God does? These are real, authentic fears. And it's okay to have them. But Jesus wants you to know that He will meet you on the other side of your truth. He does so to the Samaritan woman He meets at the well, and He will do so for you as well.

In the "Life After" sermon series, we're going to journey through what the resurrection actually looks like when it meets us where we are. It's not about quick healing or tidy restorations, it's about what happens in the long middle. It's about the slow, confusing way new life has a way of finding us, even after we've stop looking for it. Today we focus on life after love. Love comes in seasons: the beginning, the deepening or shifting, and the ending. It's not uncommon to ask " What do I do now?" when you encounter each season of love. Qohelet, the writer of Ecclesiastes, writes that each season is composed of pairs of opposites, such as a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. These pairs encompass the whole suite of human experiences, and that each experience, from the time to weep to the time to laugh, be given a moment to be felt.