Sellersburg United Methodist Church Sermon Podcast

1 Peter 3:13-22 -- When we are the Temple, we will not fit in to any other culture or society.  We are to follow the leading of the early church; we are to be good citizens whenever and wherever we can so as not to provide any circumstance where our faith can be a stumbling block for others.  We are support our culture and society so long as we can be faithful to God.

In our moments of cultural tension, we are to love "with gentleness and respect."  This has, unfortunately, not always been common practice in the church.  Too often we follow suite with culture and society and quest after domination in the name of God.

We must rise above our own desires for the sake of our calling as the Temple.

Are you ready to lay down your life?

Are you ready to find Life?

1 Peter 1:22-2:10 -- We are called to be the temple of God as a church.  We are called to bring the very presence of God embodied into our worlds.  We are charged to live our life of service to God in every moment in every place for every person..."eager to love with a pure heart."

The idea is that we only ever live our faith for the benefit of God and others--never for ourselves.  This doesn't mean we live some sort of suffering existence.  On the contrary, when we live as God has called and charged us to live, we experience abundant blessing like we've never imagined.

Are you ready to build your life upon God by the leading of Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit?

John 10:1-18  --  Jesus is the Gate and the Good Shepherd.  What did he mean?  How does that lead us today?

Let's walk through some history, context, and interpretation to guide us today as the church.

John 21:1-19 -- Focusing on Peter in two scenes from the extended ending of our 4th Gospel account, we find ourselves face to face with Jesus too.  We have all denied, doubted, betrayed, abandoned, and fallen in our walk of faith.

But...let us hear the truth that Jesus doesn't care about any of that.

Jesus knows Peter loves him...and Jesus knows we love him too.  Let's work from that place of love this day, right now, from here.  Let's move forward in our lives defined by our love, not by our failings.

Peter needed to be reminded just as much as we do.

We need to be reminded because God has work for us to do.  So let's get on with it and experience the pure joy and life offered through our partnership with God in Jesus's name.

John 20:19-31 -- Having heard the first sermon on the resurrection from Mary, the disciples are still in their doubts.  Who can blame them?

We find two scenes where Jesus comes to reveal the truth in the flesh for his disciples.

We can find ourselves in these scenes too.  We have our questions and we have our doubts...and that's ok!!  If we didn't, we couldn't call it faith.

So where is Jesus working to reveal the full truth of God's grace and love for you this day?

Are you ready to receive Life in the name of Jesus the Christ?

John 21:1-18 -- We visit the resurrection narrative of our 4th Gospel account.  Looking through the lens of each character, we find the theme the Gospel writer is offering us in this moment of seeing, believing, and knowing just what the resurrection and ascension actually mean for us today.

Reading of John 18-19

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

John 13:21-35