This is the fourth in a sermon series on selections from chapters 9 through 14 in the Gospel of Mark, and today’s reading has two disciples, James and John, asking to be on Jesus’s right and left in the kingdom. Rev. Brandon Baxter says posture matters and has a lot to do with our positions in the world. These two “Sons of Thunder,” clearly having some status, make a move posturing toward their places in the future. Jesus responds with a counterintuitive practice – to be first, one must be last, a servant. How good is our posture? Maybe we’re being invited to practice a different posture.

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Good Posture

This is the third of a sermon series on selections from chapters 9 through 14 in the Gospel of Mark, and today’s reading is the familiar story of the rich man asking Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus’ response to the rich man can be a tough message for us: how hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. What do we do with this difficult message from Jesus? The rich man seems to be a good, upright person. Does this have to do with our wanting to be right rather than being in good relationship? What if we were to understand that all we have, not just the tithe we hear about, belongs to God?

A Loving Warning

This is the second of a sermon series on chapters 9 through 14 in the Gospel of Mark, and today’s reading is the familiar passage wherein Jesus rebukes the disciples who have just told some children to leave him alone. In Mark, especially, the disciples just don’t seem to get it, and this is one of those times when they don’t. Here Jesus invites the most vulnerable to himself, a model not only for the disciples but a model of God’s invitation to us when we are vulnerable and also an example for us to be invitational to the vulnerable around us.

Learning from Dependents

This is the first of a sermon series on texts from the Gospel of Mark. The conversation Jesus has with the disciples in Mark 9 is a reorientation of values as he puts before them a child, the lowest of the low in society at that time, and tells them that to welcome a child is to welcome him. But then one of the disciples, John, complains that there’s someone doing good deeds in Jesus’ name without being one of Jesus’ followers and says they tried to stop him. In response, Jesus, in surprisingly stern language, condemns that distinction about belonging and not belonging. How does his intensity about this inform our own behavior?

Value and Belonging

This is the third of a three-week sermon series on homecoming. The Bible often gives us the good and the bad of its characters, and that is certainly true with David, one of the greatest figures in Israel’s history. In today’s reading, David brings the ark, believed to be the very presence of God, to Jerusalem. David is dressed in a linen ephod and dancing, and Michal, his wife, is horrified. It is reminiscent of the story of Jesus, reclining and eating with friends, when a woman comes in and anoints his feet with costly ointment and uses her hair. Is it embarrassing and contemptible, or is it celebration in the extreme? John Wesley, too, broke the rules when he broke away and preached in the outer reaches. How do these examples challenge us?

Dance Like No One (but God) Is Watching

This is the second of a three-week sermon series on homecoming. The reading for today is as the Hebrews have crossed the Red Sea and are celebrating. It is a time of rejoicing, but in the background the Egyptian army is being drowned in the sea. How do we deal with that? Is it a celebration of the defeat and death of enemies? Does it teach us to celebrate such victories?

Dancing Along the Way

This is the first of a three-week sermon series on homecoming. The reading for today is Psalm 126, which remembers a time of great joy after decades of exile and looks forward to another time of joy with the memorable line, “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy!” We find ourselves in a similar situation with the return of COVID. But this psalm encourages us to remember those times of God’s faithfulness and to practice gratitude for the ways God is present with us. The Israelites continue to sow seeds in spite of the drought, and that, too, is a lesson for us.

Bringing in the Sheaves

This is the second of a two-week sermon series on the letter of James, a letter that is, in many instances, clear about what it means to be faithful. But in today’s reading there is the verse that says the prayer of faith will heal the sick – does that mean that people who are ill do not have enough faith? Does that mean that if we pray faithfully over someone who is ill, they will be cured? How do we make sense of this? What is the role of the community of faith for prayer in healing?

A Community of Trust

This is the first of a two-week sermon series on the letter of James. In the depths of all the theology that’s been written in antiquity, through the centuries, and recently, there are some ways to understand the roots of faith simply, and the writer of James does just that: “Be doers of the word and not merely hearers.” The letter puts it in clear and direct terms, giving examples. We are often overwhelmed by needs, so we must pray to find what we as individuals should do and pursue that, trusting that God will direct others to do the rest. One guide to ministry is for us to listen to those who have needs and then to respond.

Just Do It

Today’s text from Joshua is about the people crossing the Jordan on dry land following the ark of the covenant into the Promised Land. The story began 40 years before the crossing as the people were doubtful about going into that land, which doubt led to a generation of wandering. Finally, when they did stand on the edge of that river and God told the priests to carry the ark into the flowing water, their trust in God led them through safely. We find ourselves in our own time faced with the same issue – shall we doubt, or shall we put our trust in God?

No Small Feat

This is the third and final in a series of sermons using the sixth chapter of John to explore parts of our own communion service – the blessing, breaking, and the giving of bread – to explore the bread of life. Maggie Jarrell, preaching today, confesses that she has always loved bread and has recently learned to make it. That Jesus says he is the “bread of life” means so much more than simply something to fill our stomachs. It is an amazing gift to us, not something to be earned, but something that changes our lives dramatically. The communion prayer we use tells it all: “You have given yourself to us, Lord. Now we give ourselves to others.” We respond by loving others as God first loved us. What will we do in response to the bread of life we’ve been given?

The Bread of Life Given to Us

In a series of sermons we are using the sixth chapter of John to explore parts of our own communion service – the blessing, breaking, and the giving of bread – to explore the bread of life, and in today’s reading, Jesus tells his audience that he is “the bread of life.” In last week’s text, Jesus feeds the 5,000, giving them what they need and want. But in today’s text, he basically declines to give them bread and instead redirects their thinking about sustenance and who he is and who is the source of their lives. It is much like when a parent says “No,” to a child out of love. Jesus invites the people into a deep relationship.

Blessed and Broken

The reading for today is the feeding of the five thousand from the Gospel of John, the only one of the miracle stories that appears in all four Gospels. We are using this sixth chapter of John for a sermon series to explore parts of our own communion service – the blessing, breaking, and the giving of bread – to explore the bread of life. Today we’re considering the blessing of the people. In John, the throngs have come seeking healing, and Jesus, although he knows the answer, asks the disciples how they’re going to feed all these people. The answer is that a little boy has a small lunch, and Jesus blesses the lunch before having the disciples distribute it until all the people are filled, and there is much left over. It testifies to God being a God of abundance and God’s desire for everyone to have enough.

Abundantly Blessed

Today is the seventh and final Sunday for our summer sermon series, “Rise and Shine,” examining a number of passages that offer light as an image of God’s presence and grace. Today’s reading is from Revelation 21 and 22, a glimpse into a vision for the new Jerusalem. Why would a vision of Paradise be a city rather than a beach setting, for example? God is a God of community, and the vision is one of Jerusalem made new – God dwelling with the people, with all of the people, with all nations coming into the city, a city characterized by abundance, safety, and healing. God calls us to live out the values of the New Jerusalem in the here and now, and therein lies our calling as a church.

Living the Loving Light of Christ

Today is the sixth Sunday for our summer sermon series, “Rise and Shine,” examining a number of passages that offer light as an image of God’s presence and grace. Today’s reading is the first part of the letter to the Ephesians where the writer addresses an early congregation, telling them they are known for their faith and love. The writer goes on to offer prayer for the congregation that they may be given a spirit and revelation through the eyes of their hearts. What does this mean for our cleaning off our glasses and mirrors that we can love others and love ourselves as God loves us?

The Eyes of the Heart

Messages presented by Senior Pastor Carol Cavin-Dillon and other speakers during worship at West End UMC in Nashville, TN

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West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

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