University UMC Sermons

Megan Otto gives a pep talk for those who are both hopeful and a bit nervous about the holiday season. This season can be overwhelming but we hope you feel supported by this community. We want to remind you that God continues to be present with us during this time.

We are excited to share with you a beautiful telling of this story from a new book entitled “The Book of Belonging: Bible Stories for Kind and Contemplative Kids” by Mariko Clark. This retelling of the Gospel story will be shared by our own storytellers, Ray Williams and Melissa Wiginton. The sermon text is about Jesus’ visit to Mary following the death of her brother Lazarus. In the sermon, Pastor Teresa will take a look at how we can be a good friend to other people and ourselves when experiencing loss.

We continue our Sermon Series on Grief and Loss. This Sunday Pastor Teresa will explore the concept of Anticipatory Grief and the scripture reading comes to us from Revelation 21:1-7.

Join us for worship as we celebrate Commitment to Giving Sunday. This is always a special Sunday in the life of our congregation as Stewardship Season concludes and  members of the congregation offer their pledge cards for the 2025 year. The scripture lessons come from Ephesians 3:20-21 and Matthew 19:23-30 and Pastor Teresa will preach.

Join us for worship as we continue our Stewardship Season’s worship theme “People of Possibility and the sermon text is the great love passage from I Corinthians 13. We will also celebrate Holy Communion on this World Communion Sunday. 

“Love is not any one emotion. Love is all our emotions: Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love. Anger is what we harness to protect that which we love. Revolutionary Love is the choice to labor for others, for opponents, and for ourselves -- to transform the world around us, and within us.”  – Val Kaur

“We have all known the long loneliness, and we have learned that the only solution is love.”  – Dorothy Day

We begin a new sermon series for the Stewardship Season. Our theme this year is “People of Possibility” and Pastor Teresa’s sermon centers on Isaiah 43:19, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”

“There is no greater power than a community discovering what it cares about. Ask “What is possible?” not “What’s wrong?” Keep asking.” - Margaret Wheatley

“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” - Maya Angelou

Pastor Earl preaches on a short yet interesting story in the Acts of Apostles. It’s about Peter’s vision of the bizarre foods delivered to him from heaven.

“I didn’t care about bizarre foods. The show I sold was about preaching patience, tolerance, and understanding about things that separated us: different cultures, different sexualities, different skin colors. I wanted to talk about things we had in common.” - Chef Andrew Zimmern on his show, Bizarre Foods

Pastor Teresa’s sermon “A Life of Service concludes our sermon series on “Numbering Our Days” based on Psalm 90 which reads, “Teach us, O Beloved, to number our days that we might have a heart of wisdom.”

“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” – Desmond Tutu