Resurrecting Faith (Week 6)
What do we do with our doubts in the life of faith? Sometimes, all we have to offer God is our doubts, and that’s okay. Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt is often a catalyst for faith. In today’s scripture reading on “doubting Thomas,” we see that the most extraordinary faith is born out of doubt.
“My Lord and my God!” [Jn 20:28]
Although Peter proclaimed Jesus “the Christ,” Thomas was the first to identify Jesus as “God.” May our doubts invite God to be made real in our lives and the lives of others.
“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” ~Khalil Gibran
What do we do with our doubts in the life of faith? Sometimes, all we have to offer God is our doubts, and that’s okay. Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt is often a catalyst for faith. In today’s scripture reading on “doubting Thomas,” we see that the most extraordinary faith is born out of doubt.
“My Lord and my God!” [Jn 20:28]
Although Peter proclaimed Jesus “the Christ,” Thomas was the first to identify Jesus as “God.” May our doubts invite God to be made real in our lives and the lives of others.
“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” ~Khalil Gibran
Resurrecting Faith (Week 5)
This morning’s scriptures tell us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with everything you've got. Jesus continues, the second is commandment "is like" it - a logical equivalency. If A, then B. If you love God…really love God, you also love your neighbor as yourself. This is what Wesley refers to as both personal and social holiness. From one relationship flows the other and the two are inseparable. The light that comes from loving God allows us to be a light in someone else’s darkness. It is our very nature to be the light of the world. Another logical equivalency is your “likeness” to God. If God is holy, therefore you too are holy. It only takes a single candle can drive the darkness away. So, the only real question is how does your candle shine? Shine on, Arapaho, and let the love of God be the match that lights the flame.
This morning’s scriptures tell us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with everything you've got. Jesus continues, the second is commandment "is like" it - a logical equivalency. If A, then B. If you love God…really love God, you also love your neighbor as yourself. This is what Wesley refers to as both personal and social holiness. From one relationship flows the other and the two are inseparable. The light that comes from loving God allows us to be a light in someone else’s darkness. It is our very nature to be the light of the world. Another logical equivalency is your “likeness” to God. If God is holy, therefore you too are holy. It only takes a single candle can drive the darkness away. So, the only real question is how does your candle shine? Shine on, Arapaho, and let the love of God be the match that lights the flame.
Resurrecting Faith (Week 4) - Student Sunday
Today is United Methodist Student Day, one of six church-wide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church. This student-led worship service calls the church to support its students by preparing them for life by uniting faith with knowledge. Your offering provides scholarships, like the one given to George Sulkowski this morning, and helps support AUMC youth mission trips and other student outreach projects. Thank you for your generosity.
Today is United Methodist Student Day, one of six church-wide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church. This student-led worship service calls the church to support its students by preparing them for life by uniting faith with knowledge. Your offering provides scholarships, like the one given to George Sulkowski this morning, and helps support AUMC youth mission trips and other student outreach projects. Thank you for your generosity.
Resurrecting Faith (Week 3)
A Gallup poll reported recently that less than 50% of Americans are members of a church, synagogue, or mosque. Pew Research reported that the people who sensed a deep sense of peace and spiritual well-being increased during that same time period. Not surprisingly, it has been trending in this direction for decades. How are we, as a spiritual community, to respond?
A Gallup poll reported recently that less than 50% of Americans are members of a church, synagogue, or mosque. Pew Research reported that the people who sensed a deep sense of peace and spiritual well-being increased during that same time period. Not surprisingly, it has been trending in this direction for decades. How are we, as a spiritual community, to respond?
Resurrecting Faith (Week 2)
Welcome to worship here in Richardson, Texas or wherever you may be joining from today. Today, Arapaho UMC’s Rev. Cathy Sweeney discusses the incarnational theology found in today’s scripture (Luke 8:42b-48) with Rev. Eliana Rios. Along with other pastors from the North Texas Conference, Pastor Eliana and her husband spent their Easter morning down at the Dallas Convention Center leading worship and ministering to 12-17 yr-old unaccompanied asylum seekers from Central America sheltered there by the City of Dallas as a holding station for their family members to meet them.
Welcome to worship here in Richardson, Texas or wherever you may be joining from today. Today, Arapaho UMC’s Rev. Cathy Sweeney discusses the incarnational theology found in today’s scripture (Luke 8:42b-48) with Rev. Eliana Rios. Along with other pastors from the North Texas Conference, Pastor Eliana and her husband spent their Easter morning down at the Dallas Convention Center leading worship and ministering to 12-17 yr-old unaccompanied asylum seekers from Central America sheltered there by the City of Dallas as a holding station for their family members to meet them.
Resurrecting Faith (Week 1)
Welcome to worship here in Richardson, Texas or wherever you may be joining from today. Today we begin a new series called “Resurrecting Faith,” where we will revisit key elements of our faith and listen to what they may be teaching us today. We have special music from Alma and Luis today as well. We are glad you are here.
If this is your very first time watching or you have been attending online for a while, we want you to get more connected. The best way to do that is to fill out the “I’m New” connection form at www.arapahoumc.org/new. This information will help our pastors get in touch with you to share more about the ministry and mission of Arapaho.
Welcome to worship here in Richardson, Texas or wherever you may be joining from today. Today we begin a new series called “Resurrecting Faith,” where we will revisit key elements of our faith and listen to what they may be teaching us today. We have special music from Alma and Luis today as well. We are glad you are here.
If this is your very first time watching or you have been attending online for a while, we want you to get more connected. The best way to do that is to fill out the “I’m New” connection form at www.arapahoumc.org/new. This information will help our pastors get in touch with you to share more about the ministry and mission of Arapaho.
Searching for a Miracle (Easter Sunday)
Arapaho United Methodist Church is a creative, constructive, Christian community committed to becoming more like Christ.
We envision a Christian community of transformed people who embody God’s love and work together in the Spirit to transform the world.
If you are newly watching and would like to hear from a pastor, go to www.arapahoumc.org/new and fill out a short form.
Arapaho United Methodist Church is a creative, constructive, Christian community committed to becoming more like Christ.
We envision a Christian community of transformed people who embody God’s love and work together in the Spirit to transform the world.
If you are newly watching and would like to hear from a pastor, go to www.arapahoumc.org/new and fill out a short form.
Christ Has No Body But Yours
We are NOT the center of God's creation, we are not at the top to rule and do whatever we want to the earth, our purpose is to serve the earth. I will say it again this way: it is not about what is in our own self-interest...it is about what is in the best interest of the earth. This is driven home by the word "keep" which means "to preserve" or "to protect." We are responsible for the garden now and into the future.
We were not created for ourselves. We are created to till and keep the garden.
The word till is better translated as 'to serve' or ' to be a slave of.' Think about that, does that change things or what?
When I think of 'till' I think work the land, you know, there's that physical image of using a steel hoe to break up the soil which gives you the impression that we are in charge and use and work the land for our purposes...but that is not what we are talking about...the word till means to serve, we are servants of the earth.
We are NOT the center of God's creation, we are not at the top to rule and do whatever we want to the earth, our purpose is to serve the earth. I will say it again this way: it is not about what is in our own self-interest...it is about what is in the best interest of the earth. This is driven home by the word "keep" which means "to preserve" or "to protect." We are responsible for the garden now and into the future.
We are the ones to preserve and protect the earth, that is our purpose--that is what on earth we are here for.
She Poured Out Her Soul To God
You talk to God from right where you are: you pour out your heart like Hannah did, you dump it all on God, the good, the bad, the ugly, because think about the people you are closest with
People ask me how to pray and when I ask them a little more about that what I usually discover is they think they have to get it together before coming to God in prayer...but what do you do when you can’t get it together…
You talk to God from right where you are: you pour out your heart like Hannah did, you dump it all on God, the good, the bad, the ugly, because think about the people you are closest with...
They are the people you talk honestly to. Talk honestly to God and get closer to God, talk honestly with God and discover what the deepest spiritual people will tell you...God hears you and God can handle it...let God handle it.
That Time When A Woman Changed Jesus' Mind
The question this passage answers is not just: Can Jesus learn but also: Can we? Can we learn like Jesus to become more embracing, more loving by listening to outsiders?
Because tribalism so easily leads to dehumanization, you start seeing the other as other than human, you start name calling them and excluding them from equal rights and access to resources because they aren’t human to you anymore.
And I have said but it bears repeating again, what we do is we “It” people--we treat them as “It” instead of as children of God, we treat them as “It” instead of as “beloved” we treat them as object instead of as human beings made in the image of God and this is all very human of us…
But so is our ability to be changed by the people we encounter...like Jesus was…so the question this passage answers is not just: Can Jesus learn but also: Can we? Can we learn like Jesus to become more embracing, more loving by listening to outsiders?
That is what Jesus does...Jesus learns by listening.
When She Leads, Everyone Wins
Dr. Sheron Patterson, pastor of Hamilton Park UMC, begins our series “Grace and Grit” - Two characteristics of three women in the Bible who show us how to live and lead faithfully in the midst of difficult situations. Experience the stories of Deborah, the Syrophoenician woman, and Hannah in our worship series Grace and Grit.
Dr. Sheron Patterson, pastor of Hamilton Park UMC, begins our series “Grace and Grit.”
Two characteristics of three women in the Bible who show us how to live and lead faithfully in the midst of difficult situations. Experience the stories of Deborah, the Syrophoenician woman, and Hannah in our worship series Grace and Grit.
A Community Of Friends
God knows we need people whose intention is to become a community of friends and who put it in the plan...God knows if you do this and I do this it is enough to change the whole world.
A Community Of Friends
God knows we need people whose intention is to become a community of friends and who put it in the plan...God knows if you do this and I do this it is enough to change the whole world. It really is...
It is striking to me that washing feet is the last thing Jesus chooses to do with his disciples, and the last thing he says to them is love one another like I have loved you, like he could have spent his last moments with them coming up with a strategic plan, he could have given them written out sermons or a list of do's and don'ts...
He doesn't do that because he knows that fundamental change will come, that the world will change, when each of us loves like he did...when we each do our part to become the beloved community...
Watch the video referenced in the sermon below...
Move The Stone
Jesus wanted everyone to see that death is not something to be afraid of...that there is a way through death, he makes the way for us, I am the resurrection, he says...
Move The Stone
Jesus wanted everyone to see that death is not something to be afraid of...that there is a way through death, he makes the way for us, I am the resurrection, he says...and even more remarkable than that is that Jesus invites us to join him in making the way for resurrection to happen...
To See Or Not To See
The beginner's mind is defined as an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as beginner in the subject would.
To See Or Not To See
The beginner's mind is defined as an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as beginner in the subject would.
Can you guess who in our society best exemplifies the beginner's mind? Children. Of course, right? You only have to be around a child for a few minutes to know what it is to live with a beginner's mind, everything is new to them, so they explore their environment, try things out, question, touch, smell, taste, they discover...maybe you can think of an experience from your own childhood or your children or grandchildren that is a good example of the beginner's mind.
Inclusive Discipleship
God knows…God knows your secret, God knows that thing you don’t want anybody to know, God knows and God still thinks you are worthy of love, yes God knows and still thinks you are worthy of belonging.
Inclusive Discipleship
God knows…God knows your secret, God knows that thing you don’t want anybody to know, God knows, God knows, God knows... and God still thinks you are worthy of love, yes God knows and still thinks you are worthy of belonging.
God knows and God still thinks you are precious. God knows and God still thinks you are a blessing. God knows, God knows, God knows and God’s knowing you fully doesn’t change how God feels about you, doesn’t change what God thinks about you, you are fully known and fully accepted by God, secrets and all.
Is that good news today or what? God knows everything about you and God’s love for you is unwavering, God’s love for you is steadfast.