Sermons – Oconee Street UMC

Church means many things to different people. But Paul keeps returning the focus of the church to the cross. But the cross is often used by people use for their own personal gain. Paul warns about this. The cross is not something that can be humanized. It’s a gift from God that allows us to … Continue reading Sermon: The Folly of the Cross

Paul goes to the church of Corinth and finds the Corinthians divided. The cause of their division was over who baptized them. Although the church today does not argue over baptism, a key issue often divides Christians — political ideology. Many people take pride belonging to churches that claim to be “progressive” or emphasizing “conservative … Continue reading Sermon: What Unites Us

Children love to play the game “hide and seek.” Although they enjoy hiding, the true joy is being found by their loved one. As adults, we become better at hiding from others — even hiding in places where we are supposedly sharing ourselves. On social media, we create an image of our lives that we … Continue reading Sermon: Come and See

We know that standard Christian trope that through Christ we are saved. But what does that really mean? And does that mean that everyone else — even those who never encountered Christ in their life — are damned? Are we just the lucky ones, because we happened to grow up in a Christian family and/or … Continue reading Sermon: Witness to the Light

When Mary trusted God to bear Jesus, she was taking a major risk. Mary was defying family, community, religious and government standards, but had faith in God that she is doing what is right. Mary initiated a radical new vision of what her life and our life could be — God in flesh among us. … Continue reading Sermon: Mary’s radical vision

Terrible things happen, and sometimes they happen for no reason. But something else is just as true — sometimes goodness cannot be stopped. Jesus was born into this world against all odds, but couldn’t be stopped. He lived his life and was even killed, but he still could not be stopped. And if we want … Continue reading Sermon: Annunciation

As the Advent season begins, it’s a good time to reflect on how we see God. Early Gnostics struggled to see God with human qualities? Humans are so messy, limited and full of fault. As a human, Jesus transformed the image of God, but it was still difficult for many to grasp — and still … Continue reading Sermon: God With Us

From the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus gives a one-sentence sermon, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” For centuries people have been attempting to interpret these words from Jesus, speculating on the kingdom. And these misinterpretations have sometimes been disastrous, like the crusades of the 12th Century, the Salem witch trials of the 17th … Continue reading Sermon: Let the King Come Down