Sermons Archive - Lansdowne UMC

On this joyous homecoming day I’d like to talk with you about perhaps the greatest homecoming in all of scripture. The reading from Luke is probably one of most famous stories in the Bible, and it’s frequently called the parable of the prodigal son. But the story comes from a context that we should remember before we dive into it. Jesus tells three parables about things lost and found in this chapter. A sheep, a coin, and a son, but […] The post A Great Homecoming appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

I’d like to speak to you today about “Receiving/Welcoming the kingdom like a child” from our Mark passage Now, anyone that was awake during the Gospel reading noticed that the first 75% of the passage was not about this topic. Jesus was talking about divorce. Nearly all of you don’t want to hear a sermon about divorce. I don’t want to preach a sermon on divorce. But Jesus talked a lot about divorce. So let’s strike a deal. I’ll just […] The post Receiving the Kingdom like a Child appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

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We’re in our 4th week of a sermon series on the book of James called “Friendship with God.” Have you heard of “the Five Love Languages?” The idea comes from a book by Gary Chapman, and it’s frequently used with married couples or couples about to get married. The basic idea is that everyone has one or more primary ways in which they receive love, and the person that you’re trying to show love to will only truly receive love […] The post Friendship with God appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

We are in week 3 of our series on the book of James called Friendship with God. In this series we’re thinking about questions like “What if we’ve set our sights too low?” “What if our faith is deeper and more life-transforming than we’ve ever imagined?” “What if we are meant to live in deep friendship with God?” As most of you know, I’m a relatively new pastor. Just over 4 years ago I was leading a team of a […] The post Friendship with God: Part 3 appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

We’re in week two of our series on the book of James, called Friendship with God. The premise of the series is this: Jesus isn’t just out to make believers, he’s out to make people who are actually friends with God. James pushes us to ask this question: what if our concept of faith is too shallow? What if we’re setting our sights too low? What if there is so much more– not more that God wants from us, but […] The post Friendship with God: Part 2 appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

This week we’re beginning a five week sermon series on the book of James. The series is entitled Friendship with God. Series Background The title comes from two verses in the book of James that I believe are the theme of the whole book. The first is Chapter 2, verse 23, which says, “And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. The […] The post Friendship with God: Part 1 appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

Paul says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God…” The Whole Armor of God How many of you know what God has Armor? In Isaiah 59, it says “He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head;” Apparently, though, God’s armor, is something the we can actually put on. It’s like Paul is saying, “dress yourselves like God does” What’s the […] The post The Whole Armor appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

A Sermon on Ephesians 4:25-5:2 This week I encountered this quote from writer and preacher Frederick Buechner. “Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back; in many ways it is a feast […] The post Anger appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

A sermon on Ephesians 4:1-16 The only slightly provocative title of my sermon is this: Grow Up. I’d like to draw from Ephesians chapter 4 this morning. Paul speaks about the need for the church to come to maturity. In verses 14 and 15 he says “We must no longer be children… We must grow up.” So this morning I’d like to mine this passage to understand how we all can grow up, whether we’re 3 or 93. A calling […] The post Grow Up appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

A Sermon based on from 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a I’ll love to tell you that I planned a 5-part series on the life of David and that we’re in week three of that series. The reality though is that for about 2 months I have been planning to go off-lectionary and preach a series on spiritual gifts. My hope is that we all might be able to see how the Holy Spirit has already equipped us to work for […] The post David and Bathsheba appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

A Sermon for Christmas Eve, 2017, based on Luke 2:11-12 What is the worst Christmas present you’ve ever gotten? When I was a little boy, I thought that pretty much every Christmas gift that wasn’t a video game or at least a toy was the worst Christmas present I’d ever gotten. To shirts, I’d say “Why?” To socks? “Are you kidding me?” To a book? Well, it could be worse… (It could have been socks). What about you? Have you ever […] The post The Christmas Present appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

A Sermon for December 24, 2017, based on Luke 1:26-38 Have you ever found yourself in way over your head? I know this is probably silly compared to some of your experiences, but it felt like a really big deal to me at the time. I played trumpet in the band in middle school. As we were all headed to high school the next year, we were supposed to go at a particular time to the high school to audition […] The post Overshadowed appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

A Sermon for December 17, 2017 based on John 1:6-9 When I was in middle school, our family had a vacation. At some point we made our way to a cave– we’ve been to several caves, but I can’t remember which one it was. We entered the cave via an elevator, and our guide promptly led us to a rather large open area. We spent a few minutes looking around, with the guide helping us to understand the various rock […] The post Testify to the Light appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

I’d like to speak this morning from the title: Get your feet wet Last week we spoke about Joshua, and how one thing that set him apart for leadership of the people of Israel was that he was filled with the spirit of wisdom. Wisdom was a primary trait that was going to enable him to lead the people out of the wilderness where they had been wandering for 40 years and into the promised land. So in today’s passage, […] The post Get Your Feet Wet appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

Walking on water: Reflections from a first-timer A Sermon for August 13, 2017 on Matthew 14:22-33 Thanks for inviting me here this morning. This really is a very interesting building you have here. We don’t really have anything like it where I’m from. Sometimes we meet in people’s houses, but a lot of the time we just meet outside. You look confused. Of course, I should introduce myself. My name’s Simon– well it used to be Simon, but now my […] The post Walking on water: Reflections from a first-timer appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

A Sermon for August 6, 2017 on Genesis 33:22-31 and Matthew 14:13-21   The disciples are ready to send the crowds away. Presumably they don’t want the hungry crowd to turn into a hungry mob. But Jesus quite casually suggests that the disciples don’t need to send them away. “You give them something to eat,” Jesus says. The disciples don’t have much to give. They’re pitifully prepared. All they have to offer is five loaves of bread and two fish. […] The post Kingdom Identity, Kingdom Walk appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

A Sermon for July 30, 2017 on Romans 8:18-39 We’ve arrived in the last section of Romans 8. We’re at the climax of chapter 8– the climax of the climax of the letter. These are some of the most beautifully composed truths in the whole New Testament. Paul, the writer of the letter, is bringing everything that we’ve talked about over the past 6 weeks together. The big concepts that we’ve been talking about in this series– justification, sanctification, assurance, […] The post But what about suffering? appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

A Sermon for July 23, 2017 on Romans 8:14-17 What evidence is there that God exists? Although some people take the existence of God for granted, for other people it’s not quite so simple. Broadly speaking, there are two types of evidence. The first is objective evidence. An example of objective evidence would be something like the historical evidence for God raising Jesus from the dead. Scholars can use all the tools of historical study to come to well established […] The post The Witness of the Spirit appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.

A Sermon for July 16, 2017 on Romans 8:1-11 How do you form a child who will live a good, moral life? I imagine that the vast majority of parents at some point ask themselves this question. What can you do? Well, there is obviously a place for rules. Black and white look a lot more gray up close than they do from a safe distance. In the heat of the moment, rules can be an essential tool to help […] The post Life in the Spirit appeared first on Lansdowne UMC.