Sermon preached on 2021-03-14 by Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen Worship series, "Roll Down, Justice!" Sermon, “I Choose Love.” Scripture, Luke 23: 32-43.This worship series features the music of Mark A. Miller. Visit this link to hear his original composition, “I Choose Love” https://vimeo.com/154877032Each time someone is baptized, the whole church body gathered also makes vows. One of the things we promise is to be a community of love and forgiveness. Each day we must choose between letting the difficult things about life create resentment in us or allowing the work of forgiveness to make way for love. Our song of justice this week was written as a response to a modern-day act of forgiveness that reminds us of the power of Jesus’ forgiveness, even on the cross.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

Central United Methodist Church (Arlington, Virginia) Sermon Podcast

Roll Down, Justice! I Choose Love

Sermon preached on 2021-03-07 by Rev. John Conway. Worship series, "Roll Down, Justice!" Sermon, "I Dream of a Church." Scripture, Matthew 25: 31-40.This worship series features the music of Mark A. Miller. Visit this link to hear his original composition, "I Dream of a Church." https://vimeo.com/154877038At our baptism, we promise to nurture others and are reminded that we are to “serve as Christ’s representatives in the world.” Today we ask the question, “do we as the church look and act like Jesus?” Our song of justice today invites us to dream of a church “where justice is flowing with hope and peace growing.” What thoughts and behaviors do we need to shed in order to make room for hope and peace to grow in and through our lives and this church?Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

Roll Down, Justice! I Dream of a Church

Sermon preached on 2021-02-28 by Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen. Worship series, "Roll Down, Justice!" Sermon, “How Long?” Scripture, Psalm 13.This worship series features the music of Mark A. Miller. Visit this link to hear his original composition, “How Long?” https://vimeo.com/154877065Over half of the liturgical songs of the Israelites were Psalms of Lament. Penned in a time of exile and persecution, these were poets trying to give voice to the pain of the people. Today we lament the injustice of our time and yet, like the Psalms of Lament, we end in praise anyway for “God is good, all the time.” We remember that even and especially in times of despair, through our baptism we are given the “freedom and power to resist evil in all its forms” as we “put our whole trust in God.” How will we put these words into action to show hope to the world?Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

Roll Down, Justice! How Long?

Sermon preached on 2021-02-21 by Rev. John Conway. Worship series, "Roll Down, Justice!" Sermon, "Child of God." Scripture, Romans 8: 31-39.This worship series features the music of Mark A. Miller. Visit this link to hear his original composition, "Child of God." https://vimeo.com/145909282In our baptismal rituals, we take a special moment to repeat the precious name of the person being baptized. In a world that seems obsessed with who is “right and wrong,” “good or bad,” “in or out” or on “this side or that side,” it is a radical endeavor to name each person as “Child of God”–no matter what people say. This, indeed, is where love of the other begins… love for the self, as God loves us.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

Roll Down, Justice! Child of God

Sermon preached on 2021-02-14 by Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen. Worship series, "God is Holding Your Life." Sermon, “In  God Alone.” Scripture, Psalm 50:1-6.“God speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.”The Psalm that comes at the end of our series speaks of an active God whose light shines for all time and in all places. God is not silent, but calls the people to remember that they, too, can act on God’s behalf, holding all suffering peoples in hands of prayer and care and transforming the world that will shine bright into the future. May it be so.Psalm 50:1-6Lukan Psalter translationADONAI our God speaks and summons the earthfrom the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,God shines forth. ADONAI comes and won’t be silent:a devouring fire goes before God,while storms rage all around. God summons heaven and earthto the trial of God’s people: “Gather to me my faithful ones,who make their covenant with me by sacrifice!”The heavens affirm God’s justicebecause it is God who is the judge!Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

God is Holding Your Life: The One is Shining Forth

Sermon preached on 2021-02-07 by Rev. John Conway. Worship series, "God is Holding Your Life." Sermon, "“We Wait, We Hope, We Stay.” Scripture, Psalm 147:1-11, 20c.Today’s Psalm comes late in the Book and offers a glimpse of a time when the exiledoutcasts are gathering back together and seeing their world built back up. We too, yearnfor a re-gathering and a day when we sing our praises and play our instruments withabandon together again. We wait, we hope, we stay firm in our faith, knowing as ourancient ancestors did, that God is indeed holding our lives.Psalm 147:1-11, 20c (Lukan Psalter translation)Alleluia! How good it is to praise our God!How pleasant and how fitting to sing God’s praise! ADONAI rebuilds Jerusalem,and gathers Israel’s exiles.God heals the brokenhearted,and binds up their wounds. God knows the number of the starsand calls each one by name. Great is ADONAI, and mighty in power;there is no limit to God’s wisdom. ADONAI lifts up the oppressed,and casts the corrupt to the ground. Sing to our God with thanksgiving;sing praise with the harp to our God— who covers the heavens with clouds,who provides rain for the earth,who makes grass sprout on the mountainsand herbs for the service of the people,who gives food to the cattle,and to the young ravens when they cry. God does not thrill to the strength of the horse,or revel in the fleetness of humans.ADONAI delights in those who worship with reverenceand put their hope in divine love.Alleluia!Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

God is Holding Your Life: We Wait, We Hope, We Stay

Sermon preached on 2021-01-31 by Rev. John Conway. Worship series, "God is Holding Your Life." Sermon, "Whole Heart Hallelujah.” Scripture, Psalm 111.“The works of God’s hands are faithful and just.” One mode of poetry in the Psalms is all-out praise and thanksgiving, such as the one for today. We also find praise even in Psalms of lament and complaint because “God is good all the time and all the time God is good!” Life is not always good, but when we engage in gratitude, we remember the evidence of God at work in our lives and we remember that indeed, God is holding our lives, even now.Psalm 111 Lukan Psalter translationAlleluia!I will thank you, ADONAI, with all my heartin the meeting of the just and their assembly. Great are your works,to be pondered by all who love them. Majestic and glorious are your works,and your justice stands firm forever. You make us remember your wonders—you are compassion and love. You give food to those who revere you,keeping your Covenant ever in mind. You reveal to your people the power of your actionsby giving them the lands of the nations as their inheritance. The works of your hands are truth and justice,and all your precepts are sure, standing firm forever and ever,and carried out uprightly and faithfully. You have sent deliverance to your peopleand established your Covenant forever.Your Name is holy and awe-inspiring! Reverence for ADONAI is the beginning of wisdom—those who have it prove themselves wise.Your praise will last forever!Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

God is Holding Your Life: Whole Heart Hallelujah

Sermon preached on 2021-01-24 by Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen. Worship series, "God is Holding Your Life." Sermon, “In  God Alone.” Scripture, Psalm 62: 5-12.In God alone my soul finds rest,for my deliverance comes from God, who alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress:I will never be shaken.Only in God—my deliverance, my glory—my refuge is God. Trust in God always, my people;pour out your hearts before God our refuge. Humankind is but a breath,mortals are just an illusion. Put them on the scales and the balance is thrown off:they weigh less than a breath. Do not trust in extortion,or put false hopes in stolen goods;do not set your heart on richeseven when they increase. For God has said only one thing,Twice have I heard it:that power belongs to God:Steadfast love is yours, ADONAI –you repay all people according to their deeds.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

God is Holding Your Life: In God Alone

Sermon preached on 2021-01-17 by Rev. John Conway. Worship series, "God is Holding Your Life." Sermon, "Where Can I Go?” Scripture, Psalm 139: 1-18.This week’s Psalm text brings home this message: we are in an intimate relationship with God. There is nowhere we go that God is not present–no state of our being that results in our being abandoned. God has knit us together, has woven us, knowing us from before our beginning. God, indeed, is holding our lives.Psalm 139: 1-18 Lukan Psalter translationADONAI, you’ve searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up,you discern my thoughts from afar. You trace my journeys and my resting places;and are acquainted with all of my ways. Indeed, there is not a word on my lips;but you, O God, know it altogether. You press upon me, behind and before,and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,it is so high I cannot attain it!Where can I go then from your Spirit, Where can I flee from your presence? If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I make the grave my bed, you are there also. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light around me turn to night,” darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, darkness and light to you are both alike. You created my inmost beingand stitched me together in my mother’s womb. For all these mysteries I thank you—for the wonder of myself,for the wonder of your works—my soul knows it well. My frame was not hidden from youwhile I was being made in that secret place,knitted together in the depths of the earth; your eyes saw my body even there.All of my dayswere written in your book,all of them plannedbefore even the first of them came to be. How precious your thoughts are to me, ADONAI!How impossible to number them!I could no more count themthan I could count the sand.But suppose I could?You would still be with me!Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

God is Holding Your Life: Where Can I Go?

Sermon preached on 2020-11-15 by Rev. John Conway. Worship series, "God is Holding Your Life." Sermon, "These Lives are Precious.” Scripture, Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14.We do not live in a land ruled by Kings, as the hearers of our first Psalm of this series did. Nevertheless, the petitions of the psalmist for justice, deliverance, defense of the poor and oppressed, and peace for all peoples is an undergirding theme of our faith. We are reminded that a just society is one that proclaims “these lives are precious” and worthy of protection. God, indeed, is holding our lives. Let this be our “epiphany” in this new year. Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 Lukan Psalter translationO God, give your anointed one your judgment—and your justice. Teach your chosen one to govern your people rightlyand bring justice to the oppressed. The mountains will bring the people peaceand the little hills bring justice! Your anointed will defend the oppressed among the people,save the children of the poor,   and crush the oppressor. The reign of your anointed will endureas long as the sun and moon—   throughout all generations. The rule of the chosen one will belike rain coming down on the meadow,   like showers watering the earth. Justice will flower through the days,   and abundance of peace ’til the moon shall be no more.Tarshish and the Isles will offer gifts;   Arabia and Sheba will bring tribute. All rulers will pay homage,   and all the nations will serve your anointed. Your anointed will rescue the poor when they cry out,and the oppressed when there is no one to help them. Your chosen one will take pity on the lowly and the poor,   and will save their lives.Your chosen onewill rescue them all from violence and oppression,   and will treat their blood as precious.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

God is Holding Your Life: These Lives are Precious

Sermon preached on 2020-12-27 by Rev. Dr. Sarah Calvert, Arlington District Superintendent. "Go Tell it on the Mountain!" Scripture, Matthew 28:16-20.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

Go Tell it on the Mountain!

The story of Christ&apos;s birth through scripture, song, and story.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

O Holy Night: The lamp, manger, staff, and gift speak

A sermon preached for Central UMC on 2020-12-20 by the Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen. Worship series, "Advent Apocalypse." Sermon, "The Unveiling .” Scripture, Romans 16:25-27.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

Advent Apocalypse: The Unveiling

A sermon preached for Central UMC on 2020-12-13 by the Rev. Allie Rosner Bass (Pastor of Arlington Temple UMC). Worship series, "Advent Apocalypse." Sermon, "Keep Awake.” Scripture, Mark 13:28-37.Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

Advent Apocalypse: Keep Awake

Advent Apocalypse: Lessons and Carols, celebrating the season of expectation in word and song.This year our worship series Advent Apocalypse is looking at scripture that remind us Advent is not just about preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, it is also about looking forward to the return of Christ.In the Middle Ages, the Church observed Advent as a season of great solemnity. There was a spiritual preparation similar to Lent with an emphasis on prayer and fasting — along with contemplation of scriptures related to judgment, hell, and heaven.Advent also created sacred time and space for celebration because Christ would return, not only as Judge, but also as Savior, and would usher in the Kingdom of God here on earth. Today we embrace the hope we have in the future return Christ who will banish all sin.Our worship service this morning is a celebration of Advent Lessons and Carols.  This service aims to recapture that Advent longing and hope we have in the promise that God will deliver all people from sin and death. In the monastic tradition, the Magnificat, the song of Mary, is sung or spoken every day at Evening Prayer. During the last week before Christmas, there is special group of prayers called antiphons that are said before and after the Magnificat each day. These are called the O Antiphons, because they all begin with “O” as a way of addressing the Messiah with various titles drawn from the Hebrew scriptures:O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Rising Dawn, O King of the Nations, and O Emmanuel, God with Us.Today’s service is based on these “O Antiphons.” If we were to pray these prayers each night the week before Christmas, and we also understood Latin we would discover the hidden meaning in the order of the words. The Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. The Latin text of the O Antiphons imbeds an acrostic: read in reverse order from last to first antiphon, the second word of each stanza begins with the letters ERO CRAS, Latin for “Tomorrow, I will come.” This word is only revealed when praying the final “O Antiphon” on December 23. This reminds us that we are not only looking to the past to celebrate the incarnation of Christ but we also look to the future promise of Christ’s return.Music provided by Nathan Drake and used by permission (https://www.reawakenhymns.com/the-soul-felt-its-worth-videos).Support the show (http://tinyurl.com/donatecumc)

Advent Apocalypse: Lessons and Carols, celebrating the season of expectation in word and song

An audio podcast of the weekly message preached at Central United Methodist Church in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. You're invited to join us for worship on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Visit us on the web at cumcballston.org to learn more about our congregation where we worship God, serve others, and embrace all.

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Central United Methodist Church (Arlington, Virginia) Sermon...

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