United Methodist Church of Kent Sermon PDFs

Human beings have always been drawn to create sanctuaries, which are strikingly different from the space around them, and people have often devoted their greatest effort to those spaces (e.g. Stonehenge, cathedrals, the tabernacle/temple). Sanctuaries remind us that we need to “step aside” from our usual routine to direct our spirits toward God.

The Scripture calls us to “come into God’s presence” (Psalm 100:2).  But is not God always present?  Yes, but people are often preoccupied with other things. So the Scriptures urge us to “come awake” (Matthew, Romans, Ephesians) to God. Worship is a movement of awakening and lifting our heart to God. People may “believe in God,” but faith is never really alive until it is expressed in worship.

In this sermon, Dr. Palmer discusses seeking to bring one’s personal life, and one’s society, into harmony with the will of God.

The opening petition of the Lord’s Prayer directs us to focus upon God, recognizing God’s love, power, and goodness, and giving honor and glory to God.

Jesus, in teaching about prayer, draws his hearers from thinking about how they look to directing themselves truly to God. Genuine prayer involves doing what Mary did – sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to what he was saying. This also means avoiding what Martha was doing – getting distracted by well-intentioned busyness!

Prayer as the practice of ongoing communion with God; prayer is not an emergency appeal to God but a receptive connection with God. Such prayer involves intentional focus; we need to “do things that draw us closer to God” (one of the Methodist General Rules).

Faith in Christ involves not just feeling or sentiment but action – doing things that draw us closer to God, and engaging in ministries of outreach to others. We commit ourselves not simply to believe in God but to actively follow Christ.

In times of loss, we can find much in the Bible with which to identify, as many central Biblical stories are stories of severe loss, including a sense of the loss of God. Such loss comes to its climax on the cross. But in the depths God is at work, to open up a glorious future, as evidenced most of all in the Easter story.

The crowd is always wrong, thronging to the leader who promises quick fixes, big earthly rewards, and glory. The crowd turned from Jesus because he proclaimed instead a challenging message. But we are called to hear that message, break from the crowd, and follow as Jesus’ disciples.

Lamentations says “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven.”  (Lam. 3:40-41) These words were written when the people of Judah were in desperate circumstances, which had resulted from their own sin. Lamentations would guide us out of the depths into genuine repentance, in which we do far more than simply go through the “spiritual motions,” but authentically lift our hearts in faith to God.