Pastor Bert shares his weekly reflections and offers a preview of what you can expect this week at Sterling United Methodist Church.

In Pastor Bert's sermon, he explores how fear and heartbreak are natural human experiences, using the Biblical story of Zechariah and Elizabeth living "in the days of King Herod" and a modern testimony of infertility and adoption. While our natural responses to fear—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn—don't disqualify us from God's grace, Pastor Bert encourages us to name our fears, balance them with gratitude, and remember that Jesus enters our fearful world to walk alongside us, just as Diogenes lit his lamp daily to search for goodness despite his cynicism.

Pastor Bert shares a preview of what you can expect in worship this Sunday at Sterling UMC (plus some bonus ideas about how to use that leftover Thanksgiving turkey!)

Pastor Bert shares how surviving two near-death experiences in 2023 led to establishing "Thankful Thursday" as a weekly practice of gratitude, though acknowledging how easily we become distracted from thankfulness. Drawing from Paul's letter to the Philippians and Jesus's communion instruction to "do this in remembrance of me," the sermon emphasizes that gratitude is a spiritual gift requiring cultivation through intentional remembrance of God's goodness.

Pastor Bert shares a preview of what you can expect in worship this weekend at Sterling United Methodist Church!

In this sermon, Pastor Bert explores the question "What is important?" through the story of the rich young ruler in Mark 10, emphasizing Jesus' challenging command to "sell everything, give to the poor, and follow me." While acknowledging this call to surrender is "humanly impossible," Sam reminds the congregation that "with God, all things are possible," urging them to make "a hard, calculated, honest, spiritual choice" about what truly matters in life.

Pastor Bert shares a preview of what you can expect this Sunday morning!

Pastor Bert explores Jesus's parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, contrasting the spiritually arrogant Pharisee with the humble tax collector who recognized his need for grace. Through this parable and his personal story about stubbornly keeping a giant pumpkin, Pastor Bert challenges us to examine our attitudes toward the gifts we've been given and our relationship with God.

Pastor Bert offers his weekly podcast with a preview of what you can expect this Sunday!

Pastor Bert explores the Biblical story of the ten lepers healed by Jesus, emphasizing how only one returned to give thanks while the others simply enjoyed their gift without acknowledging the giver. Through this narrative, he invites us to cultivate an "attitude of gratitude," recognizing that everything from our breath to our resources are undeserved gifts from God rather than possessions or entitlements.