Sinopsis
Sermons and Scripture delivered from the Pulpit of Davidson United Methodist Church, Davidson, NC
Episodios
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#198. Rev. Jim Humphries - January 9, 2022
10/01/2022 Duración: 15minThis week we gather and hear the story of Jesus’ baptism. Like Jesus, who was claimed at his baptism as God’s beloved Son, in baptism, we too have been claimed by God. The most basic truth about who we are comes not from what we have, or what we do, or even what we’ve failed to do, but our truest and most basic identity comes from whose we are. Like Jesus we are God’s own beloved sons and daughters. No matter what identity we have claimed for ourselves, no matter the identity others have tried to impose upon us, no matter the label we have earned from our good choices or our worst mistakes, we are first and foremost God’s beloved. In thinking about making a new beginning, in a New Year – we begin at the font, remembering that baptism gives us a new story. We are God’s beloved. Friends this is what it means to be baptized into Christ. Baptism is about finding our identity, finding out who we are, in Jesus Christ.
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#197. Rev. David Hockett - January 2, 2022
04/01/2022 Duración: 17minOn Sunday we will hear the story of the Magi from Matthew’s gospel. It’s often read around January 6th, or a holy day, that in Eastern Christianity, rivals Christmas as a day of celebration and significance. In some traditions it is known as Three Kings Day. We have it on our calendars as the Feast of the Epiphany. The word epiphany simply means appearing or appearance, or to make manifest, or to reveal. So, this particular day and season of the Christian year is the time when the Church recalls the “concrete, physical, in the flesh way in which Jesus reveals God to all of humanity.” Jesus is an epiphany, a manifestation, a revelation of the glory of God. Jesus is the Light of God shining in the darkness – a light so bright the darkness cannot overcome it, a glorious light that draws Wise Men and others to the brightness of its dawn. The season of Epiphany asks us then to consider how God has revealed God’s self, made God’s self known to us in Jesus, and what that revelation, that manifestation means
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#196. This Thing Called Church - Episode 15 - December 15
16/12/2021 Duración: 35minFor the last episode of the year, David, Kevin, and Karen discuss the meaning of incarnation, if Jesus was really human, and why it is so important to understand. Kevin features his special holiday apparel which also ties into what "national day" it is. Thank you to everyone who has watched and supported us this year. We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!
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#195. Rev. David Hockett - December 12
16/12/2021 Duración: 16minWhile the world is scrambling around trying to buy happiness, Mary, the favored one of God, sings. She sings not a song of sentimental Christmas happiness, but a song of joy, because she expects that things will be different, things will change through the birth of her son. Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46b-55) is the radical proclamation that, in her son, the world is forever changed, turned upside down. She boldly sings of what God has done, especially for people we don’t normally think of as being blessed. Mary sings for the lowly, the dispossessed, the hungry and the poor, people like her, claiming that in her womb grows the one who will upend the kingdoms of this world and all their posturing and pretension. Mary’s song announces that Jesus, God in the flesh, is bread for the hungry, water for the thirsty, liberation for the oppressed, healing for the broken-hearted, and a Way in the wilderness for the lost. Our calling is to learn the tune and sing along.
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#194. Rev. David Hockett - December 5
05/12/2021 Duración: 16minOur lives are pointing to something or to someone. We are telling a story by the way we live. And make no mistake about it, our neighbors are listening to what the Church says, and are watching what the Church does. Right or wrong, fair or unfair, they are drawing conclusions about the truthfulness and the usefulness of the gospel based upon what they see and hear in us. They’re drawing conclusions about Jesus, based upon the lives of Jesus’ people. This Sunday we encounter Zechariah who, with his wife Elizabeth, had spent his whole life waiting for the salvation of Israel. Their son, John, would be the one to announce and point to the birth of Jesus as the fulfillment of the promised coming of God’s peace and light. Advent reminds us that our vocation is both to wait and prepare like Zechariah and Elizabeth and then to live in a way that our lives point to Jesus and the hope, peace, joy, and love he brings.
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#193. This Thing Called Church - Episode 14 - December 1
02/12/2021 Duración: 35minDavid, Kevin, and Karen recap their Thanksgivings, and Karen gifts David another cup for his coffee cup collection. We are now in the season of Advent and the three discuss preparing for this special time and what it means. David and Kevin also give some tips on how to keep a holy Advent and not be caught up in the busyness and stress of the holiday.
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#192. Rev. David Hockett - November 28
30/11/2021 Duración: 18minOn Sunday, we enter the season of Advent, or the Church’s four-week-long season of preparation for our celebration of the birth of Jesus. We’ll begin the season exploring a passage from the prophet Jeremiah who, in the face of devastation, imagines an alternative reality: the restoration of Israel, the practice of justice and righteousness, and the flourishing of life in the land that God has promised. Not because of any strength or wisdom or intelligence that Jeremiah possesses, but because, even if he doesn’t know when or how God will act, Jeremiah trusts in the goodness and the faithfulness of God. Advent is about learning how to live with hope when there seems to be a great chasm or gap between what is and what we wish could be. It’s about living each and every day trusting that God will finish what God has started – even if we can’t see when or how. The good news of Christmas, the good news for which we watch, and wait, and prepare, is that Jesus, Mary’s son, is the righteousness of God in the flesh
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#191. Rev. Dianne Lawhorn - November 21
30/11/2021 Duración: 12minThis Sunday, November 21, we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. This Sunday marks the bridge between ordinary time after Pentecost and the beginning of Advent that starts the new church year. This Sunday’s purpose is to celebrate the reign of Christ as King. This service will use scripture and song to offer a worshipful reflection on the fulfillment that Christ brings to the reign of God. Our scripture for the day will be Psalm 93, which is called an “enthroned” or “royal” Psalm. It was composed to be set to music and sung within worship liturgy as it proclaimed “The Lord is King.” This Psalm highlights God’s reign from the very foundation of the world and points us to the Messianic age that brings fulfillment of the reign of God, as the whole world recognizes that Christ is King.
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#190. This Thing Called Church - Episode 13 - November 17
18/11/2021 Duración: 32minSunday is Christ the King Sunday and David, Kevin, and Karen discuss its meaning as well as its significance. Kevin brings something for show and tell which helps explain the discussion around the liturgy calendar and how the church calendar year works.
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#189. Rev. David Hockett - November 14
14/11/2021 Duración: 17minIn this week’s reading from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus and his disciples are in the Temple in Jerusalem. The disciples took all of what they could see before them, the grand and ornate Temple complex, as a sign and symbol of the presence of God’s Kingdom – a Kingdom they believed would be grand and powerful – much like the Kingdoms we build. But Jesus was unimpressed saying, “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” Jesus is not anti-building per se. Rather, he understands and wants us to remember that our facilities, our programs, our ministries, all the institutional stuff of Church, they are a means to an end and never the end itself. The signs of the Kingdom Jesus is looking for are not grand buildings or flashy programs but lives transformed by love. Jesus calls you and me to follow him closely and to be living signs that point to God’s Kingdom of love, righteousness, and peace.
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#188. Rev. Brad Hinton - November 7
07/11/2021 Duración: 21minThis week we will be discussing missions. We will reflect on Psalm 127, a theology of missions, how our church lives out missions, next steps for missions, and where God may be calling us to serve. Missions is part of the framework of our church and this Sunday we will reflect on how we live out missions and where we are going.
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#187. This Thing Called Church - Episode 12 - November 3
04/11/2021 Duración: 35minDavid, Kevin, and Karen start with a conversation about Halloween candy and Karen shares how much candy people purchase and consume. They move on to discuss this past Sunday's All Saints' worship service. Kevin talks about what goes into the beautiful music that was performed by the choirs and orchestra and David explains the meaning behind All Saints' and why we celebrate it and the differences between All Hallows, All Saints', and All Souls.
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#186. Rev. Jim Humphries - October 24
24/10/2021 Duración: 18minCompleting our sermon series last week on The Five Practices of Fruitful Living, we now return this Sunday to the Revised Common Lectionary, looking specifically at Mark 10:46-52; a familiar and beloved story to many readers of the Bible. Jesus' years of ministry are drawing to a close as he and his disciples begin leaving Jericho, making their way to Jesus' last stop in Jerusalem. But before they can depart Jericho, a beggar named Bartimaeus calls out to Jesus, seeking healing of his blindness. This would be Jesus' final healing in Mark's gospel, as he restores the blind man's sight. But we will hear on Sunday that Bartimaeus wasn't the only one who regained vision that day. Hymn writer Clara H. Scott gives us wonderful words to pray as we prepare for worship this Sunday: Open my eyes that I may see, glimpses of truth thou hast for me...Open my eyes illumine me, Spirit divine. Amen.
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#185. This Thing Called Church - Episode 11 - October 20
24/10/2021 Duración: 42minToday may be the oddest National Day "item" as David, Kevin, and Karen get off track on that discussion. "The sacraments" are the real topic for today's episode and David and Kevin do an extraordinary job of explaining why baptism and communion are significant and what they mean on a deeper level. They also share some comical stories of baptisms gone awry. David gives a brief highlight of the Lands of Bible Cruise he will be co-leading next year which is open to everyone to join and Kevin gives a preview of what the upcoming All Saints' worship service will sound like.
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#184. Rev. David Hockett - October 17
18/10/2021 Duración: 18minWe’ve come to the final week in our series on Bishop Robert Shnase’s book, Five Practices of Fruitful Living. Radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service, and extravagant generosity represent a wholistic way of life, a way of experiencing God’s love, and living a life that matters, a life of meaning and purpose that makes a difference in the world. This week we’ll focus on John 15:1-11 and how abiding in Christ, through the practices, leads to fruitful living.
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#183. Rev. David Hockett - October 10
12/10/2021 Duración: 19minThis Sunday we’ll explore extravagant generosity or the fifth practice in our series on Five Practices of Fruitful Living. Bishop Robert Schnase defines extravagant generosity as “…our un-selfish willingness to share and give from all of our resources in a way that exceeds all expectations. Extravagant generosity describes lavish sharing, sacrifice, and giving in service to God and our neighbor.” Being extravagantly generous people and an extravagantly generous church is one of the ways we are the body of Christ in and for our community. The truth about us is that we have a deep-seated need to be generous, because, we are made in God’s image and God is generous. In fact, all of Creation, all there is, ever was, and ever will be is the product of the overflow of the extravagant love that exists within the community of the Trinity. Generosity is a part of the fabric of Creation. We’ll focus our time on John 3:11-17 and the invitation to mirror the generosity of God through the offering of all that we hav
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#182. This Thing Called Church - Episode 10 - October 6
07/10/2021 Duración: 32minDavid, Kevin, and Karen record in-person in a new location! During the weekend recap, learn how Kevin saved the day during the Fernando Ortega concert. The topic for this episode is The Way of Salvation. David and Kevin break down what it means, how is it that God saves us, and how can we continue working on salvation.
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#181. Rev. Dianne Lawhorn - October 3
03/10/2021 Duración: 12minAs we move along in our Church-Wide Study on Bishop Schnase’s Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, this week we will be looking at the fourth practice: Risk Taking Mission and Service. We will learn from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 16 verses 24-27, what it really means to be a disciple. Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world , yet forfeit their soul?” This scripture lesson challenges us to move beyond a tentative commitment, as we reconsider our loyalties. It calls us to make a commitment that requires a sacrifice. It reminds us that sacrificing for the Lord is what it means to be a disciple. When we take this call to discipleship seriously, we begin to follow Christ in a way that can transform the world around us!
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#180. Rev. David Hockett - September 26
26/09/2021 Duración: 21minAn encounter with God in worship is a foretaste of a deeper, more intimate relationship with God. Cultivating a mature life in Christ requires more than weekly worship. It involves our faithful attention to the means of grace, or staying in love with God by setting aside regular and intentional time for listening to God in prayer, for the study of Scripture, for fellowship and holy conversation in community, and for learning from those who are wiser than us in the faith. This is intentional faith development. St. Augustine observed, “O God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” If we are to still the restlessness in our hearts, know and love God more deeply, and become our true and best God-given self then we must live with an openness and receptivity to receive what God longs to give. On Sunday we’ll focus on Romans 12:1-2 and Acts 2:42 and consider how we lean more fully into the life that is life through the practice of intentional faith development.
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#179. This Thing Called Church - Episode 9, September 22
23/09/2021 Duración: 44minOn this special episode of This Thing Called Church, David, Kevin, and Karen are together in-person and recorded the show in front of the DUMC PrimeTimers audience! They answered a wide range of questions submitted from the audience from how did they meet their spouses, where did they go to college, and is there purgatory, to taking the Bible too literally, Methodist theology, and an update on the Way Forward. As always there are some of the "finer moments" (bloopers) at the end of the episode.