September 21, 2020
Have you ever felt like you’ve been left alone? Not just by the people around you, but also left alone by God? Has He abandoned you? Have you ever felt that way? Have you felt like you were left in a desert… alone? I love the words of a Wayne Watson song, A Beautiful Place: Mistakes and misfortunes will come and go But to try and to fail is no disgrace Sometimes a rough and a rocky road Can take you to a beautiful place
September 7, 2020
This sermon was presented by our visiting Pastor, Rev. Troy Holloway
September 3, 2020
This sermon was presented by our visiting Pastor, Rev. Troy Holloway.
August 23, 2020
DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES THERE IS NO VIDEO AVAILABLE FOR THIS SERMON, I APOLOGIZE. “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. (Acts 22:1-5 NIV)
August 16, 2020
THE AUDIO ON THIS VIDEO IS WEAK UNTIL YOU GET ABOUT 2 MINUTES INTO IT. I’M SORRY, THE PREACHER FORGOT TO TURN ON HIS MIC. The more the Apostles preached, the bigger the crowds got; and the bigger the crowds got the madder the Sanhedrin got. It was a never-ending circle that was really getting to Saul. By now, Saul was the Legal Counsel to the Sanhedrin. He couldn’t stand that The Way was flourishing. Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1-2) Saul had set out “in the Name of God” to destroy the Church that was being built in Jesus’ Name. Saul was the chief accuser, persecutor, and prosecutor of the Church.
August 9, 2020
Though Saul was not yet seated as one of the High Priests on the Sanhedrin, he had risen to the office of their legal counsel. He would prosecute the accused before the Sanhedrin, almost a dream position for a young man from Tarsus with high ambitions. Saul, now a successful lawyer in the bustling courts of Jerusalem, was there to witness Stephen’s defense. (Acts 6) Little did he realize then how God would use the events leading up to and following the young disciple’s death, to change Saul’s life dramatically and impact the story of religious history, forever.
August 2, 2020
It seems like Faith can be a funny and fickle thing. When you have plenty of it you think it will never leave. When you don’t have enough of it you think it will never return. Then you turn a corner and there it is again. Where do we get it? Where does it come from? How do we get more of it? We are not the only ones asking these questions, nor will the questions always cease in our hearts. Some of the most Faithful people I know have doubted their Faith. Probably, everyone reading this has heard the Word of God speaking of Faith in Jesus Christ. But not everyone believes. But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:16-17) (NIV)
July 26, 2020
Life is unpredictable. Wealth disappears, jobs end, relationships fail and good health isn’t even guaranteed. The good news is we have a Hope that transcends all these earthly problems. We have a Hope that is not dependent upon all the circumstances around us. We have a Hope that is eternal, living and powerful. With that Hope we can Trust God more and fear the future less.
July 19, 2020
Fear comes at us all from different directions. Fear slips in as mild-mannered doubt. Before long you become anxious about something. Reason leaves, and to your amazement, you forget your previous victories over your problems and anxiety becomes dread. You dismiss your last allies, Hope and Trust, and fear takes over. Jesus knew fear. Did you know that? That is something that might be hard for us to realize; the Creator of the Universe knew fear? But, He did. He knew it in a very powerful way. He knew it to the point that He sought relief one night, in a garden, in Prayer; in conversation with His Father.
July 12, 2020
There is Good News, we can experience inner Peace that is not dependent upon what is going on all around us. We can experience a calmness that is not understood by those around us who do not have the Peace of Christ in their lives.
June 29, 2020
Fear is all around us. Terrorism, foreclosures, bankruptcy, layoffs, furloughs, overdue bills, sickness and even death. And now Coronavirus, Covid-19. That brief list of problems to be feared was written before Coronavirus. Now we’ve been through the latest world pandemic. Even with that list some people can’t find enough to worry about so they can make things up. But, our God does not want us to live in fear and worry. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:6-8) To the contrary, He wants us to have Peace and Joy in our lives.
June 21, 2020
Psalm 90 is a Psalm of death. Psalm 91 is a Psalm of life; it is a messianic Psalm and gives a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Protector. It reveals a wonderful place of protection and security for us. It is a Psalm that is very popular among God’s people of all ages. And many have been greatly blessed by it. While we were in quarantine, I watched Facebook more than usual. Ordinarily I would only be on Facebook about 15 minutes every Sunday morning to send out the broadcast, the invite for everyone to join us at Bostwick UMC. Eventually you run out of productive things to do in quarantine. I noticed more and more Psalms being quoted on Facebook. And the one that I saw quoted the most was Psalm 91. More and more people seemed to be getting relief, comfort and support from that part of the Bible.
June 17, 2020
It is said that when Leonardo DaVinci was painting the picture of the Last Supper he finished painting, all the faces except one. He could not bring himself to paint the face of Jesus. He didn’t feel worthy. He eventually completed it, and spent much less time on Jesus’ face than any of the others. He just couldn’t dwell on it. Just thinking about the Holiness of Christ, the Holiness of God gave him great pause. And that is how I feel about talking about the Holiness of God; Unworthy. Today we would have sang Holy, Holy, Holy, which may be my favorite hymn. I love to sing it in Church with the help of Angela and Rick. We sang it often as a congregational hymn. I try to keep us from singing it too often, but I love to sing it. I can really get into worship in the midst of that song: Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. Holy, Holy, holy! Merciful and mighty God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.
June 7, 2020
Ephesians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the Christians in Ephesus, a city in what is now Western Turkey. Paul’s letter to Ephesus contains a lot about God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace. Last week we talked about the Love of God, so today I want to look more closely at God’s Mercy and Grace. Mercy and Grace are not just some feelings God has sitting all around heaven in baskets. Mercy and Grace are part of God’s make-up. They are part of Who He is! Anytime you sense God’s presence in your life you can know all His Mercy and Grace are there surrounding you.
May 29, 2020
The Holy Bible is all about God’s Love. It is all about Jesus Christ, Who was God’s Love personified. When Jesus came He brought many things to us. He came to show us how to live. He came to show us how to die. And He came to show us God’s Love.