Nowata Methodists Podcast

In Jeremiah 31, we move from judgment to hope as God promises a new covenant with His people. This passage points forward to Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection establish the new covenant and bring forgiveness, restoration, and transformation.

In this message, we look at what it means for God’s law to be written on our hearts, how the Old and New Testaments point to one unified story of redemption, and why Christians can have hope even in the midst of suffering and uncertainty.

Sin is real, but grace is greater. Our failures are real, but God’s faithfulness is greater. Because Christ has come, there is hope.

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31–34

In this message from our series The Weeping Prophet, we turn to Jeremiah 23 and God’s warning about false prophets and counterfeit messages. The danger of a counterfeit is that it does not always look obviously false. It can sound Christian, use biblical language, and even speak about God, Jesus, grace, and salvation while quietly replacing the gospel with something else.

Jeremiah confronted prophets who offered the people comfort without repentance, blessing without obedience, and peace without holiness. Their message gave people the hope they wanted to hear rather than the truth they needed to hear. The same warning continues throughout the New Testament as Jesus, Paul, Peter, and others caution the church about false teaching and distorted versions of the faith.

This sermon examines several counterfeit gospels, including legalism, the prosperity gospel, self-help Christianity, political Christianity, progressive Christianity, and religious pluralism. While each takes a different form, they share a common problem: they move something other than Jesus to the center. The answer is not suspicion or cynicism, but discernment—knowing the genuine gospel well enough to recognize what does not belong.

The true gospel does not simply tell us what we want to hear. It confronts our sin, calls us to repentance and holiness, and reminds us that we cannot save ourselves. But it also proclaims the greater truth: Christ came to rescue us, died for our sins, rose bodily from the grave, and offers forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life to those who trust in Him.

Jeremiah describes God’s Word as fire and as a hammer that breaks the rock. Scripture is not merely meant to confirm what we already believe—it is meant to correct us, transform us, and draw us back to Christ. We are called to test what we hear against Scripture, the teachings of Christ, and the faith handed down through the generations.

There will always be counterfeit gospels, but the church is called to remain faithful to the one true gospel: one Lord, one Savior, and one hope in Jesus Christ.

Scripture: Jeremiah 23:16–29

What happens when following God becomes difficult? What do we do when faithfulness brings rejection, hardship, or even suffering?

In this sermon from The Weeping Prophet series, we look at Jeremiah 20:7–13 and the prophet’s honest struggle with his calling. Jeremiah is exhausted and ready to quit, yet he discovers that God’s Word is like a “burning fire shut up in my bones”—something he cannot simply silence or walk away from.

Through the stories of Jeremiah, Stephen, Polycarp, Perpetua and Felicity, and ultimately Jesus Christ, we are reminded that Christian faithfulness does not always mean comfort or approval. Following Christ can sometimes be costly. But we never walk through those difficult moments alone.

Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow Him, not because suffering is good in itself, but because Christ has already walked the road before us. The cross was followed by the empty tomb, and suffering is not the final word for those who belong to Christ.

The circumstances around us may not always change—but by the grace of God, they do not have to change us.

The question we are left with is:

Is there still a fire in our bones?

Has God’s Word truly taken hold of us? Are we willing to remain faithful when following Jesus is comfortable—and when it is costly?

In this message from our series The Weeping Prophet, we turn to Jeremiah 18 and one of Scripture’s most powerful images: God as the potter and His people as the clay.

God sends Jeremiah to a potter’s house, where he watches a vessel become marred in the potter’s hands. Instead of throwing the clay away, the potter reworks it into something new. Through this picture, God reminds Israel that He has not abandoned His people—but He is calling them to repentance and allowing Himself to reshape them.

This message explores what it means to recognize that we are still works in progress. Our failures, wounds, sins, and past mistakes do not have to be the final word about who we are. God’s grace does not simply forgive us; it transforms us.

But Jeremiah also gives us a warning. The clay can resist the potter. God’s sovereignty does not make our choices meaningless, and His grace is not permission to remain unchanged. We are called to repent, surrender, and allow God to continue His work within us.

Ultimately, the image of the potter points us toward Jesus Christ—the Creator who entered His own creation, took on human flesh, bore our sin on the cross, and rose again to make us a new creation.

If you feel broken, remember: the potter has not thrown you away. He is still working.

If you have wandered, return.

If you have failed, receive His grace.

If you are being shaped through a difficult season, trust His hands.

In this message from our study of The Weeping Prophet, we turn to Jeremiah 12 and one of the most difficult questions believers have asked throughout history: Why do the wicked seem to prosper while the faithful suffer?Jeremiah brings his anguish honestly before God, asking why those who act wickedly appear to thrive. God's response reminds Jeremiah that the road ahead will not always be easy—and that faithfulness requires endurance through trials.This message explores how Jeremiah's hope was rooted in the promises of God and how the story of Scripture points toward a greater deliverance: Jesus Christ and the hope of the New Exodus. From the Exodus and the prophets to the Psalms, Job, and ultimately Christ's death and resurrection, we see a consistent message: suffering is real, but it is not the end.Like Asaph in Psalm 73, we often struggle when our present circumstances seem unfair. Yet when we draw near to God, gather with His people, worship, pray, and return to His Word, we gain an eternal perspective.Our hope is found in the risen Christ—the One who has brought us freedom from sin and who will one day bring complete justice, mercy, and restoration.Trials will come. Suffering will come. But deliverance will come too.

In this message from our series The Weeping Prophet, we continue through the book of Jeremiah and examine Jeremiah 7, where the prophet delivers a powerful warning against fake faith.

Standing at the entrance of the temple, Jeremiah confronts a people who had become deeply religious while growing increasingly distant from God. They trusted in the temple, their rituals, their religious activities, and their outward appearance while neglecting repentance, justice, obedience, and genuine faith.

This message explores the danger of confusing religious activity with a transformed heart. Jeremiah’s warning is echoed centuries later by Jesus when He confronts the religious leaders and declares that the temple had become a “den of robbers.” Both Jeremiah and Jesus expose the same problem: using religion as a refuge while refusing to surrender our lives to God.

We can attend church, study Scripture, serve others, know the right doctrines, and say the right things—and still have a heart that is far from God. The question is not simply whether our faith looks good from the outside, but whether it is producing real fruit: repentance, holiness, mercy, justice, obedience, and love.

Ultimately, the answer to fake faith is not abandoning Christianity. It is genuine discipleship, repentance, surrender, and faith in Jesus Christ.

Is your faith producing real fruit, or are you simply displaying the appearance of faith?

In this message from our series The Weeping Prophet, we continue through the book of Jeremiah and examine Jeremiah 6:10–21, focusing on God’s call to His people to “stand by the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths.”

Jeremiah warns of the danger of walking away from God while chasing whatever appears newer, easier, or more appealing. The ancient paths are not about nostalgia or blindly following tradition—they are about returning to the truth God has already revealed and walking faithfully in the good way.

This message explores the importance of Scripture, the wisdom of the historic Christian faith, the role of creeds and confessions, and the responsibility each generation has to faithfully pass the Gospel on to the next. Ultimately, the ancient paths do not lead us backward—they lead us to Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

As Jeremiah reminds us, knowing the right path is not enough. We must be willing to walk in it.

“Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” — Jeremiah 6:16

In this message from our series The Weeping Prophet, we continue through the book of Jeremiah and explore one of Scripture’s most powerful images: “broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Jeremiah 2 reveals God’s heartbreak over His people turning away from Him—the fountain of living waters—and seeking satisfaction, security, and fulfillment in things that ultimately cannot satisfy. Through the imagery of cisterns, idols, and empty promises, we are challenged to consider the “broken cisterns” we may be relying on in our own lives.

The message also points us toward Jesus Christ, the true source of living water. As Jesus says in John 7, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”

Where are you drinking from? What have you trusted to give you the fulfillment that only God can provide?

The fountain is still flowing, and Christ’s invitation still stands: Come thirsty. Come weary. Come broken. Come and drink.

In the first message of our new series, The Weeping Prophet, we begin exploring the life and calling of the prophet Jeremiah. This sermon examines Jeremiah 1, highlighting God's sovereign call, Jeremiah's initial hesitation, and the powerful truth that God equips those He calls. We also look at why Jeremiah became known as "The Weeping Prophet," how his ministry points us to Jesus Christ, and what his story teaches us about trusting God's presence in the midst of fear, uncertainty, and weakness. Whether you feel too young, too old, or unqualified, this message is a reminder that God knows you, calls you, and faithfully equips you for His purposes.

In this final message of the Wesley devotional series, the sermon explores John Wesley’s “A Caution Against Bigotry,”arguing that the greatest danger is not merely prejudice but believing that God only works through our denomination, tradition, or theological camp. Using Mark 9:38–41, where Jesus rebukes the disciples for trying to stop someone casting out demons in His name because “he was not following us,” the sermon contrasts tribalism with Christ’s kingdom, which is recognized by its fruit rather than denominational labels.

The message carefully distinguishes Christian unity from theological compromise. Christians are not called to embrace false teaching or ignore heresy, but they are called to rejoice whenever faithful believers outside their own tradition preach Christ, lead people to repentance, and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Drawing on Wesley, C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, and examples from church history—including the restored friendship between John Wesley and George Whitefield—the sermon encourages believers to hold firmly to biblical truth while practicing humility, charity, and cooperation with other faithful Christian traditions. The central challenge is simple: instead of asking, “Are they one of us?” Christians should ask, “Are they faithfully following Jesus?” Wherever Christ is preached, lives are transformed, and God is glorified, the church should rejoice together rather than compete.