White Rock UMC

In the second week of our series "Grappling with God: Untangling Tough Scriptures," Mitchell took on the topic of violence, specifically genocide as found in 1 Samuel 15:1-3. It is actually genocide+ as God appears to command utter destruction of not only the people, but also the animals. What are we to do with such a text? You might be surprised by Mitchell's answer.   

Let us know how you respond to violence in the Bible, email us at [email protected]

You can watch this sermon on our YouTube Channel here:

Rev. Phil Dieke hosted a conversation on Fireside Chat, a podcasting platform that allows show hosts the opportunity to not only to have a live audience, but invite audience members "on stage" to join the conversation.

In this episode, Rev. Virzola Law, Senior Minister at Northway Christian Church in Dallas, joins Phil to discuss why voting rights are a non-partisan issue that the church (and faith communities in general) must fight for if they believe in justice for all. The underlying premise: all people are created in the image of God, thus all people have inherent value. And, as the saying goes "One person, one vote." 

The same day this podcast is being released, Phil and Rev. Mitchell Boone are with Bishop Mike McKee (bishop of the North Texas Conference) in Austin, Texas for the "Let My People Vote" rally hosted by Texas Impact. If you have questions about this podcast or why White Rock UMC is fighting for voting rights, email Phil ([email protected]).

Rev. Mitchell Boone kicked off our new worship series "Grappling with God: Untangling Tough Scriptures," by examining Jacob wrestling with God, or an angel, or man? The story isn't exactly clear on who Jacob is wrestling with, thus in as much as Jacob wrestled we also are invited to wrestle with difficult texts demanding that in our struggle we too are blessed.   

This story of Jacob reveals to us the holy endeavor of wrestling, even that God welcomes the struggle. This will be our approach for the next few weeks of this series. Recognizing the struggle, the wrestle, the grappling is indeed holy work. It isn't easy work, but it is holy work. And, unlike Jacob, we engage in this work as a community... not alone. Let us grapple with God together!

You can watch this sermon, and all our other videos on our YouTube Channel here:

Rev. Mitchell Boone concluded our series "Reimagine," looking at chapter four of Paul's letter to the Philippians. He read the text through the lens of joy and our experience of returning in person. Many of us are exhausted, thus joy seems hard to find. Or we feel we need to "put on joy," in order to mask our exhaustion and/or sadness. Joy, Mitchell reminded us, is not absent of conflict. Rather, often it is through conflict we find joy when we unite around our common cause and our common calling.

"Joy is a byproduct of our called work together, in our community, as a church."

In the midst of the chaos and exhaustion, where are you finding joy?

You can watch this, and other videos on our YouTube Channel here:

For the third week of our series Reimagine, Rev. Mitchell Boone took the third chapter of Paul's letter to the Philippians as an invitation to press forward, to leave behind what was and reimagine what can be. Mitchell compared our current experience to leaping from a platform to a subway. We are currently in that liminal space, that in between space - not quite to the subway, but have already left the platform. How will we mind the gap?  

In this season of liminality, how are you reimagining who we are as a church?

If you'd like to watch this sermon, you can find it on our YouTube Channel here:

As we continue our series "Re-Imagine," Rev. Mitchell Boone turned to chapter 2 of Paul's letter to the Philippians to talk about "re-engaging." Mitchell talked about the the Christ Hymn in chapter 2, a hymn that probably predates Paul's writing, one the speaks of the kenotic (self-emptying) love of Christ. Mitchell invites us all to re-engage by adding our unique voices to the song we are singing as a community.   

We are so grateful to return in person, the question is how will you "re-engage."

If you would like to watch this sermon you can find it on our YouTube Channel here:

This Sunday Mitchell kicked off our new worship series "Reimagine: A Series on Coming Back." Throughout this series we will use Paul's letter to the Philippians to guide as as we "reimagine" what it means for us to be the church, and who we can be for our community - be that in East Dallas, or digitally around the world. 

In this sermon, Mitchell invited us to consider our shared memories and identify who we are as a church. He offered some reflections saying, "We are a church that shares our building... We are a church that launched a second campus, a church that is in and for the neighborhood... We are a church that is for full inclusion of our LGBTQIA+ siblings... We are a church that has room at the table for all.

How would you finish that sentence? We are a church that... 

Let us know how you would finish that sentence or if you have any other thoughts about Mitchell's sermon.

If you prefer to watch this week's sermon, you can find it on our YouTube Channel here:

Rev. Keith had the privilege of our first sermon with people back in the Sanctuary. We were not full back, but had some guinea pigs join us and oh how great it was to share the space with people. 

Keith preached on Matthew 20, a parable that is both beautiful and challenging as he reminded us, "The role of the sermon is both to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted." This specific parable offers assurance for many, while also raises great questions for our understanding of fairness. We assume we know what is fair, and if anything can't we agree God is fair? And while these are great questions to be asking they are also a perfect set up for Jesus' audience, and for us today.

Let us know your thoughts on the parables, on grace, or just in general. You can email us at [email protected].

If you'd prefer to watch this week's sermon, you can find it on our YouTube Channel here:

The Rev. Jim Keat sat down with Rev. Phil Dieke to discuss the move from fully virtual, back to in person, AND how hybrid will play a role in this transition, but will never go away... at least they hope not. They talk the future of the church, where things could be and hopefully are going. And, they discuss how to carry the momentum that was built in digital spaces into this next phase. 

Jim is the Digital Minister at Riverside Church in New York City, though he lives in Michigan with his family, hence the idea of being a digital minister. He also serves as the Director of Online Innovations at Convergence. Find out more about his work with Convergence and The Online Church Conference he'll be hosting June 9-10 here:

Friends, this may be our last Sunday Sit Down, at least in this format. Jim and Phil talk a bit about what could be coming next. In the meantime, if you have thoughts, ideas, or questions about Online Church we would love to hear them. Email Phil at [email protected].

Rev. Mitchell Boone transitioned us from our worship series on the Holy Spirit to a series of "one-offs." Typically one-offs are those Sundays that fall in between our scheduled worship experiences, and don't usually have a consistent theme. Throughout this summer our one-offs will be focusing on the parables of Jesus. 

This week Mitchell took some time to discuss the purpose of parables. Why they are both simple stories and complex lessons, and how they express God's counter-cultural work in the world. This sermon focused on two parables from Matthew 13:31-35: the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of yeast. While there are many interpretations that can be made about these two brief parables, Mitchell invites us to consider the invasive nature of both mustard and yeast and how that relates to the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Let us know your thoughts regarding parables, and specifically these parables by emailing us at [email protected].

If you prefer to watch this sermon, you can find it on our YouTube Channel: