Rolling Hills United Methodist Church Sermon Podcasts, RHUMC episodes:

• December 22, 2013Jonathan Chute - "By the Book"

  Jonathan Chute - "By the Book"

  Matthew 1: 18-25. The text for today is the story of Jesus' birth as seen through the eyes of Joseph. According to the law, Mary

  has commited adultery, and the punishment is public death by stoning. Instead, he plans just to end the relationship,

  but an angel comes to him in a dream and tells him to take Mary as his wife and to name the child Jesus. This he does.

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• December 15, 2013Jonathan Chute - "Watching and Waiting"

  Jonathan Chute - "Watching and Waiting"

  Matthew 11: 2-11. On this, the Third Sunday of Advent, we learn that John the Baptist is in prison. He wants to know whether Jesus

  is really "the one who is to come," or if his life and work have been in vain. He sends his disciples to Jesus, who

  points to the evidence of God's activity in the world: "the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the

  lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news preached to them."

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• December 08, 2013Jonathan Chute - "The Gift of Peace"

  Jonathan Chute - "The Gift of Peace"

  Isaiah 11: 1-10. On this Second Sunday of Advent we hear Isaiah's classic announcement of a future king from the house of David

  with whom genuine and lasting peace will break forth - not just among the nations of the earth, but throughout

  creation. Christians understand this promise of a truly righteous king to be fulfilled in the birth of Jesus.

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• December 01, 2013Jonathan Chute - "A New Day a-Comin' "

  Jonathan Chute - "A New Day a-Comin' "

  Isaiah 2: 1-5. Our scripture is a word from the Prophet Isaiah. Although the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered by

  the Assyrians, only Judah and Jerusalem, in the south, remained free, and more difficult days lie ahead, Isaiah invites

  the people to look even further beyond the horizon, where God is at work to bring about a new day for all people.

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• November 24, 2013Jonathan Chute - "Doing Thanks"

  Jonathan Chute - "Doing Thanks"

  Philippians 4: 4-9. This week's scripture is an invitation to give thanks in all things. The Apostle Paul views thanksgiving as an

  antidote to anxiety. He suggests that when we center our thoughts around the things of God, other matters find their proper place.

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• November 17, 2013Lisa Williams - "Signs"

  Lisa Williams - "Trail Signs"

  Luke 21: 5-19.In this week's gospel, while Jesus is at the temple teaching, he warns that the temple will soon be destroyed.

  His listeners want to know when, what signs to look for, but when Jesus provides signs, they are not what the

  people want to see.

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• November 10, 2013Jonathan Chute - "God of the Living"

  Jonathan Chute - "God of the Living"

  Luke 20: 27-38. In this week's gospel a group of Sadducees come to Jesus with a question about resurrection, which they see as an

  absurd idea. They ask whose wife a widow who has married seven brothers will be after death. Jesus answers that

  the situation the Sadducess suggest would not be relevant in the next life.

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• November 03, 2013Jonathan Chute - "Progress, Not Perfection"

  Jonathan Chute - "Progress, Not Perfection"

  Luke 19: 1-10. In Jericho, Jesus encounters an unlikely candidate for inclusion in God's kingdom, Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector.

  Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus, but he is too short to see over the crowd, so he climbs a tree to get a better view.

  Jesus sees Zacchaeus, tells him to come down, then invites himself over for dinner! Overcome with joy, Zacchaeus

  promises to become a new and better person.

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• October 27, 2013Jonathan Chute - "Relatively Righteous"

  Jonathan Chute - "Relatively Righteous"

  Luke 18: 9-14. This week's gospel continues a series of parables that cut against the grain of our conventional ideas of

  righteousness. Jesus tells the story of two men: One who does everything he's supposed to do, even above and

  beyond, and the other who is a sinner and knows it. But when the two men open their hearts before

  God, the results are surprising.

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• October 20, 2013Jonathan Chute - "Persistent Grace"

  Jonathan Chute - "Persistent Grace"

  Luke 18: 1-8. Our gospel for this Sunday describes what can happen when an irresistible force meets an immovable object.

  A widow brings a legal case to a judge who refuses to act, but the widow refuses to give up. She keeps coming and

  insisting that he do what is right, and, in the end, the judge gives in, simply because the woman has worn him out.

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