West End Umc Video Podcast Audio Podcast

A Table Transformed – Today is Maundy Thursday, and our Lenten theme has been, “Table Transformations,” so certainly this service of remembrance of the Last Supper fits that theme. Rev. Shannon Baxter is delivering the Communion Meditation, and the scripture reading from the Fourth Gospel is the familiar story of that meal and of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. He first recounted a family situation some years ago when he obtained slabs of flooring from flooding in Savannah and planned to use them to build a large dining room table. The project took a long time, but when it was eventually completed it was truly a transformed table. In the story of the Last Supper, as Jesus turns to washing the disciples’ feet, taking on the role of a servant, it is, also, a transformation. God comes off the throne to care for creation, which is much like a gardener gives care to the plants in the garden to see them flourish. God wants to see everyone thrive.

Pastor Maggie Jarrell and Andrew Breeden lead us thru a liturgy and prayer for the Thursday of Holy Week.

Pastor Shannon Baxter and Tammy Lewis-Wilborn lead us in a liturgy and prayer for the Wednesday of Holy Week.

Rev Stacey Harwell-Dye and Beth Bernard lead us thru a liturgy and prayer for the Tuesday of Holy Week.

Join Pastor Carol Cavin-Dillon and Hampton Randall as they lead us thru a liturgy and prayer for the Monday of Holy Week.

Prevenient Grace – Today is Palm Sunday, and in keeping with our Lenten theme, “Table Transformations,” the scripture from Luke is about the deal Judas made with the chief priests and scribes to betray Jesus, and also the subsequent Passover meal Jesus and the twelve shared when he blessed the bread and cup revealing that they represented his body and blood, and then he revealed that one of them was going to betray him. Our ancestor in Methodism, John Wesley, had a concept of three movements of grace, the first being prevenient grace, grace that is offered by God to everyone. Jesus demonstrates prevenient grace in the Lukan story of the Passover meal as he shares the meal, even the symbols of his body and blood, with all of the disciples, knowing that when he would be tried and crucified they would all abandon him in various ways, especially Judas. And yet, his invitation and sharing the meal with them is a demonstration of God’s invitation to everyone. Our response to that invitation of prevenient grace

Today, the Fifth Sunday in Lent, is Youth Sunday, when our entire service is led by youth from our church. The scripture is the story from Luke of Jesus in the home of Mary and Martha, where Martha was busy with the details of hosting and preparing and serving the meal while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to him. At some point Martha complained that Mary wasn’t helping, and Jesus told Martha that she was too distracted and that Mary had “chosen the better part.” Today’s sermon was delivered by two youth, the first of whom, Connor Harris, describes his current senior year in high school as stressful and very busy, and sees himself as Martha in this story. He cautions himself and all of us to step back, take a deep breath, and find God, to do our work but take God with us. Margo Jenkins also spoke to us, and she says she has learned from this story that her behavior is Martha-like. There is much value in working hard and helping others, but a prayer life and time for reflection and calm, leavi

An Interrupting Love – Today is the fourth Sunday in Lent, and our Lenten theme is “Table Transformations.” The scripture is the story from Luke of Jesus having a meal in the home of a Pharisee when a woman comes in, approaches Jesus, and ends up at his feet as she cries and then wipes his feet with her hair then anoints his feet with oil she had brought with her. Rev. Will McLeane delivers the sermon, initially recalling that he was taught from an early age not to interrupt! But in this story, there are many interruptions, and most are major. First, there is her presence as a woman at a dinner where there were only men. Further, as a sinner she is interrupting a dinner of the righteous, those who studied and obeyed the scriptures. The Pharisee host interrupts as he calls her to task, but Jesus then interrupts and holds her up as an example of repentance and forgiveness. Pastor Will points out places in our worship service where, when we are confessing our sins, we are interrupted by the liturgy and w

Table Manners – Today is the third Sunday in Lent, and our Lenten theme is “Table Transformations.” The scripture is the story in Luke 14 about Jesus having been invited to a dinner in the home of a prominent Pharisee, and the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely and with suspicion. In that era, who was seated where at the table was important – the friends and business associates of the host were seated at the head table. But upon entering here Jesus offers a proverb saying that those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Jesus even goes further to advise the host when hosting a dinner to avoid inviting friends, relatives, rich neighbors intending to be repaid, but, rather, to invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind who can’t repay the host, but that host will be rewarded in the resurrection at the end. It is a matter of intentionally including those who have been excluded, and it is a lesson for us as individuals and as a church and faith community.

You Give Them Something to Eat – Today is the second Sunday in Lent, and our Lenten theme is “Table Transformations.” The scripture for today is Luke’s version of the familiar story of the feeding of the 5,000. Carol first gives some examples of parenting, training one’s children, and she says Jesus was constantly training the disciples, and this story is an example. The crowd has gathered to experience the teaching and healing by Jesus, and the text says it is 5,000 men, which means it must have been well more than 5,00 people. The disciples are concerned about those people and how so many can possibly be sustained. Jesus tells those disciples to handle it. They have only a dozen loaves of bread and two fish. Maybe we, too, sometimes feel completely inadequate. But Jesus tells them to have the crowd sit, and then he takes a loaf of bread, lifts and breaks it, and gives thanks and blesses it. In this same way, Christ can take each of us, lift and break us, give thanks and bless us, and we are thus

Today is the first Sunday in Lent, and our Lenten theme is “Table Transformations.” The scripture for today Luke’s version of the familiar story of Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness. A popular tradition among Christians is to give up something for the 40 days of Lent, and one of the features of the story is that Jesus had no food for 40 days. During this time he was repeatedly “tempted by the devil,” and we, too, might have experienced each of those temptations at times, not from an external devil, but from our own internal desires to gain power, achieve, or overcome. Most of us have experienced emptiness, and some people have tried to fill it by eating, taking drugs, plunging into our jobs, and such. Clearly from the story, Jesus rejects the temptation to lift himself up, knowing that God values love not self-success. The lesson Jesus teaches overall is the ultimate in rejecting power and self by humbling himself on the cross. He might have been empty of food and power, but he was filled with the Hol

The One Who Was, Is, and Is to Come – Today is Transformation Sunday, and the scripture is the story in Luke of Jesus walking up the mountain with Peter, James, and John. They are, at this point, completely worn out from all of the work they’ve been doing. They know Jesus is the messiah, but with all of his recent talk of suffering to come, they are confused. In this experience of his transformation, however, their belief in Jesus as the messiah is strengthened, and they know that death and evil will not have the final word. Transformation Sunday in the Christian year comes just before Lent to remind us that through the somber period of Lent and through the agony of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, we can have hope, just as Peter, James, and John experienced it through Jesus’s transformation.

Notes of Rest – The Proclamation section of this service is led by guests Julian Davis Reid and vocalist Tramaine Parker. Reid refers to various passages of scripture, reading and commenting on them, then he plays the piano while Parker sings and, at points, leads the congregation in singing. The basis of their presentation is the Sabbath and rest, how we are charged to rest, and what God does within our sleep. The pieces of scripture are read, then elucidated and supported by preaching and singing, and at points the congregation is invited to join in the singing. At various points we are called to rest and listen, then Julian invites everyone in the congregation to share with those around us what we heard in the quiet moments. Julian ends with the first 5 verses of I Corinthians where Paul confessed his humility before God in coming before that congregation.

Called to a New Community – This is the last in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?.” Today’s scripture reading is the story in Luke of Jesus calling Levi, the tax collector, to be a disciple. Tax collectors were Jews charged with collecting taxes from the Jewish people and turning over the taxes to the Roman rulers. They also routinely collected more than was required by Rome so that they were enriching themselves. This, of course, made them despised by the people. That Jesus called a tax collector was demonstrative of the nature of the community of God, consisting of people from all populations, all backgrounds, all economic levels. That Levi then hosted a banquet whose guests were other tax collectors incensed some, but it was a demonstration of the open invitation by Jesus and thus by God. We, too, must be aware that God’s community is open and beckoning to all, even to some whom we may otherwise have ignored, avoided, or even despised. It is an open community

From Failure to Fisher of People – We are in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent. Today’s scripture reading is the version in Luke of Jesus’s enlistment of the first disciples, specifically Simon Peter, when, after a night of catching no fish, Jesus tells him to put out the nets, and the nets started breaking with the abundance of fish. Having been fishing all night with no luck, Simon is reluctant to heed the direction of Jesus. Simon is worn out, frustrated, and his tendency is simply to give up. Yet, under the direction of Jesus, he agrees to try, and with such success Simon begins to realize who Jesus is and confesses he, Simon, is not worthy. Much as many of us do, Simon is carrying the weight of his unworthiness – who am I to be chosen by the Lord? But we can learn from this example and from countless examples of other Biblical figures who look and feel like they’re unworthy and incapable, but when called by God they are fully empow

Getting on Board with Grace – We are in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent. Today’s scripture reading is a continuation of last weeks’ story in Luke of Jesus in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth having been handed the Isaiah scroll, reading from it the passage that tells of God’s mission for Isaiah, and then declaring that today that scripture has been fulfilled today in him. But the people react by taking him out to throw him off a cliff. Carol says their rage may well have been because Jesus was telling them that God’s love and mercy extend to all people, including those they considered enemies. If and when we hear often that God loves all of “those people,” we, too, can find ourselves asking, “But what about me?” It is in those times that we need to spend time in prayer, going to God’s fountain of love. In practicing gratitude we can hear the invitation to join Jesus in proclaiming and living the “good news.” Our invitation is

Let Your Life Speak – We are in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent. Today’s scripture reading is the story in Luke of Jesus in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth having been handed the Isaiah scroll, reading from it the passage that tells of God’s mission for Isaiah, and then Jesus declares that today that scripture has been fulfilled today in him. Rev. Shannon Baxter, our Minister of Congregational Connection, delivered the sermon and focused on our finding our own vocation – what role we are meant to play in God’s world. This story in Luke comes after the baptism of Jesus and after his wandering in the wilderness. Many of us, too, were baptized as infants and then spent time wandering, searching for our vocational paths. Shannon reminds us that the ritual words of our baptism express our adoption into God’s creation, and that with the spirit/breath of God in us we are each called to our role in God’s creation from God’s voice with

Discerning and Doing – We are in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent. Today’s scripture reading from the Fourth Gospel is the story of the wedding at Cana when the supply of wine runs out and, prompted by his mother, Jesus turns water into wine, the first of the “signs” he performs to establish his divinity as reported in John. Carol begins with a personal story in which her mother volunteered Carol to play piano for singing hymns in a Sunday school class when the regular piano player was absent. She wonders whether Jesus was as conflicted by his mother’s volunteering him as Carol had been when her mother volunteered her. Jesus is somewhat reluctant and seems not quite ready to begin his ministry when he asks his mother, “Woman, what concern is that to you and me? My hour has not yet come.” But then he does turn the water into wine. This sets an example of his seeing a need and changing his own plan so that he meets that need. It further

Named and Claimed – We are in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent. This is the Baptism of the Lord Sunday when we not only review the story of the baptism of Jesus, but we take opportunity to remember our own baptism and rehearse it in several ways. We have baptized many children in the past year, and we are often delighted with those infants and their baptisms. Yet those words and voice of God in baptism follow us as we grow up and through our adulthood. But do we see ourselves in the midst of our adult lives as having the voice of God in the waters of baptism for us? Much as the words of our scripture today (Isaiah 43.1-7) are from God claiming God’s people, no matter where they are, with love and honor, so the waters of baptism flow through the center of our lives, reminding us that we are worthy, loved, named, and claimed by God. Recalling our baptism is a way to recall God’s lasting love for us.

We are beginning a series under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent, This is Epiphany Sunday when we remember the familiar story of the Magi from the East who follow a new star to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus. Although we traditionally think of there being three of them, there’s nothing in the story in Matthew that gives the number. These men likely studied the heavens, and when they saw this new star, they knew it was a sign, and they followed it. Herod the Great was, according to the historian Josephus, a brutal ruler, and the story shows that Herod felt threatened and told the Magi to come back and report to him after they had seen the child. But, in response to a revelatory dream, the Magi decided to ignore Herod’s directive and travel a different route. There was a declaration among early Christians, “Jesus is Lord!” It was considered treason in the Roman province. But early Christians could attach allegiance either to the Kingdom of God or the kingdoms of the world, and