The Hope of Christmas Future

"Redemption of Scrooge" Series

December 18th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Revelation 21:1-5

Why are there times that we are super excited about the future and other times that we fear it?  

It’s because it’s uncertain and many times we have no control over it.  Jesus Christ is coming that we might know a sure and certain future.  It is a future in which all things will be made new--even us.  That is a frightening thought, to be made new.  However, when we put our fear, hope, faith and trust in the Christ-child, we realize that all things are being made new RIGHT NOW!

The Remembrance of Christmas Past

"Redemption of Scrooge" Series

December 4th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Matthew 4: 18-22

When you look in the mirror who/what do you see? 

Are you happy with the face and the person looking back at you?  Are you frustrated, upset, and disappointed with that person?  Who do you want to see in that mirror?  Jesus is coming into our world so that he can help us see ourselves as he sees us.  When Jesus sees us he sees us with incredible hope, potential and possibilities.  We are stuck looking at our past when Jesus always and only looks forward.

Bah! Humbug!

"Redemption of Scrooge" Series

November 27th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Luke 16:19-31

In the famous story of Ebenezer Scrooge we are reminded of the visit of one Mr. Jacob Marley. 

Marley was Scrooge’s boss and he taught Scrooge all he knows about greed, self-absorption, and just plain grumpiness.  However, after Marley’s death, we see Marley come back to Scrooge to try and get him to change his ways or he will suffer the same horrible consequences of one’s life lived only for SELF.  The text from Luke today will touch on the same theme as we meet the rich man and Lazarus.  Will there be a chance to change our life before it is too late and will our changed lives reflect that?

His Indescribable Gift!

"Treasure Hunt" Series

November 6th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
2 Corinthians 9:6-15

It must truly come from our hearts. 

We know that at this time of year at RRUMC we are walking through Consecration Sunday.  It is our way to pray ourselves into God’s plan for our church in 2017.  What is God about to do?  How is God about to help more people meet Jesus Christ in the midst of their story?  As we pray ourselves into those answers we will be searching our hearts and souls to discover what God has planned for 2017.  Then, from our hearts, God calls us to give.  The ability to give to God is an indescribable gift.  It is a privilege to know that God wants all of us to come alongside Him and his work in the world.  I hope and pray that it all comes from the heart, a transformed heart.

The Treasured Saints

"Treasue Hunt" Series

October 30th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
John 12:20-26

As we celebrate All Saints Day and light candles in in memory of those who have died as disciples of Christ, we are reminded of the fact that they were treasures to us and to Christ as well. 

Jesus reminds us in the text today that the treasure is not in the grain or in the seed.  The treasure is on the other side of that seed or grain dying to become the tree or crop.  It is in the tree or in the crop that we finally see the treasure that is promised in that seed or in the single grain.  Are you living for the treasures of today or for the treasure of life to come?

I Have Plans For You

"Treasure Hunt" Series

October 23rd, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Jeremiah 29:10-14, Proverbs 16:9

Our lives are all about our plans. 

We plan and we plan and then we plan some more.  We worry and we worry and then we worry some more that our plans might not play out the way we wanted them to.  Have you ever thought that maybe they are not working out because they are not the plans that God has for you?  In Jeremiah today God is clear that while we are trying to figure it out, God has already worked it out.  The treasure is out there but we must be looking in the right place.  Where are our steps taking us?

What’s So Funny?

"Treasue Hunt" Series

October 16th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Genesis 17:1-8 and Genesis 18:9-15

In the text for today God comes to talk to the 99 year old Abram. 

God has news for him.  He is about to become the father of many nations.  God tells Abram that kings will come from him.  He will inherit a fruitful land.  All these things are treasures that God already has in place for Abram and his wife Sarai.  Do they believe God?  Will they live lives in a sure and certain hope of a future that is promised to be filled with treasures from God……………or will they just laugh at him?

This World Needs More Storytellers

"How Is It With Your Soul?" Series

October 9th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Genesis 1:16b and 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

John Wesley asks, “How is it with your Soul” and at RRUMC we ask the same question in a little different way.

At RRUMC we ask, “How it is with your STORY?”  In the text today from Genesis, what if God left out that simple phrase that states, “And he made the stars too.”  That little portion of scripture set the universe in place.  So many times people feel as though their story or soul has nothing to offer someone else.  John Wesley asked that question because the stories of the people in his classes touched the lives of everyone gathered in those homes.  That still happens today.  How can we work to become more and more a church of story tellers?  How is it with your soul—YOUR STORY?

How Are You, REALLY?

"How Is It With Your Soul?" Series

October 2nd, 2016

Pastor Paul is preaching.
James 5:13-20

We must get asked a dozen times a day this simple question, “How are you?” 

If you’re like me, my responses to this question represent my most frequent instances of dishonesty.  Why do we find it so easy to lie in response to that question?  Because we’ve convinced ourselves there’s no way the other person actually wants to hear the truth, right?  But what if sometimes they do?  And what if sometimes we need to vocalize the truth, even if the person asking is caught a bit off guard?  The Apostle James presents us an image of Christian community where people actually acknowledge their struggles, sins and sorrows.  I have a feeling his message pertains just as much, if not MORE, to the 21st century as it did to the 1st.

It's A Process

"How Is It With Your Soul?" Series

September 25th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Philippians 2:12-18

Don’t you wish that once you give your life to Christ all the hard work was done? 

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ does not mean that you have arrived and all is good.  It means that you have opened yourself up to a lifelong process.  Our faith journey or our STORY is organic.  If it is not growing, then it’s dying.  John Wesley would ask, “How is it with your soul?” over and over again because he knew that our faith journey is an ever evolving process of ebbs and flows.  Paul, in the Philippians text for today, is clear that we are always, or at least should always be, working out our faith with fear and trembling.  Have you already arrived or are you still working on your faith?

Inside Out

"How Is It With Your Soul?" Series

September 18th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
John 4:4-30

The woman at the well just wanted some water. 

She wanted the water that would have her coming back to the well day in and day out because it can never quench for a lifetime.  Jesus, on the other hand, offered her a different kind of water.  The water she wanted comes from a well but the water Jesus offered wells up from within us.  We will wrestle today with what John Wesley meant in regards to the soul when he asked, “How is it with your soul?”  Do you live your life from the outside in or the inside out?

Who’s On Your Mat?

"No Way Out" Series

August 28th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Luke 5:17-26

I am set free! There is a problem, though.

There are so many people around me whom I now notice who are trapped in their routines. The friends in today’s scripture knew that their friend was trapped physically. However, they knew a way out for their friend. They must get their friend to Jesus. Instead of no way out the friends could find no way in. What did they do? They stepped away from the routine of going through the front door and instead ripped the roof off of the house. They had a person on their mat and Jesus ended up blessing them, too. Who’s on your mat?

Set Me Free

"No Way Out" Series

August 21st, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
John 8:1-11

The routines of our lives are both good and bad. Some of those routines we choose and other routines seem to choose us.

Either way, many times before we know it, we are trapped by those very life routines. We need to be set free. As the kids get ready to go back to school and we find ourselves back in those same old routines how will you be set free from them this year? In today’s text the woman is set free from her routine of adultery. Jesus sets her free but then tells her that her life must look different on the other side of being set free. A changed and transformed life is the proof of a life that has been set free.

I Never Asked For This.

"No Way Out" Series

August 14th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Mark 5:1-13

Think about this.

No one ever asks to be an alcoholic, a drug addict, a porn addict, or any other kinds of addict that this live has to offer us. Some are addicted to work and hobbies. There are so many routines that we have created in our lives and many of them can be very destructive. We get trapped in those routines that tear us from Christ, our families and our friends. We don’t choose those routines. Many times they have taken over long before we even notice it. In the text today, the man in the tombs has a legion of demons that have taken over his life. He didn’t choose them but they have him trapped in a routine that seemingly has no way out, UNTIL HE MEETS CHRIST. The question for each of us is, do we even know that we are trapped?

Faith ... and then some.

"No Way Out" Series

August 7th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Luke 8:40-48

This woman is amazing.

While Jesus is on his way to perform a miracle for Jairus’ daughter he is confronted with a miracle on the way. This woman in the story already has an incredible faith. She is convinced that there is no one in the whole world that can cure her from her condition because she has tried them all. She has faith…..AND THEN SOME. Her faith led her to the only power source in the whole world that could heal her. Her faith had a routine but now it needed something more. It needed a simple touch of Jesus’ robe. Is your faith trapped in routine? Is your faith just ho-hum or full of power? Maybe you just need to find a new way to tap into the power of Jesus Christ. Find a new way to shake up an old faith.

Guess What? The Tomb is Still Empty!

"Parched" Series

July 31st, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Luke 24:1-8

Christians are just different.  

So many other people in the world travel all over to go and visit the burial sights of so many famous and historical figures.  Not Christians.  We travel to Jerusalem from the four corners of the globe to visit and empty tomb.  We go to visit the place where Jesus has left.  Even the angels in today’s text ask Mary, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he IS risen!”  The key word in that text is the word “is.”  Jesus is risen.  That means that his resurrection is something that is still happening in our world each and every day.  As we all stood in line to go inside the Garden Tomb, what were we expecting to see?  NOTHING!  It was and still is an empty tomb.  My Savior is alive!  My Savior is still risen!  Jesus is still changing lives right now.  Has he changed yours?

For Me

"Parched" Series

July 24th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
Luke 22:39-46

Hematidrosis is a condition when a person actually sweats blood or blood tinted sweat.  

Studies of this condition have shown that many times this condition is a direct result of intense bodily pain usually in the form of an intense headache or intense abdominal pain.  We are told in the scripture that Jesus was so anguished as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that he sweat drops of blood to the ground.  He asked God to not have to go through the suffering and death that he was about to face.  He finished that prayer telling God, “Not my will, but yours be done.”  Why would he go through something that caused him to sweat drops of blood?  FOR YOU.  He did it for YOU!

Stepping Together into Ridiculousness

"Parched" Series

July 17th, 2016

Pastor Paul is preaching.
Matthew 14:22-33

The human eye is an amazing little device, but it still has limits.  

We can only fully train our eyes on one thing at a time.  For Peter, that “one thing” was Jesus…until it wasn’t.  And then he started sinking.  Hard to blame the poor guy though.  Most would consider it ridiculous to think he could focus on Christ even when standing on the surface of the water in the midst of a windstorm.  Nonetheless, this is what God calls us to.  And embracing this ridiculousness is the first step to seeing life anew.  Let’s all get out on the solid water together, and invite others to do the same.

God Breathed to Breathe God

"Parched" Series

July 10th, 2016

Reverend Dan is preaching.
2 Timothy 3:10-17

The word parched is defined as being dried out, usually because of heat and humidity.

 As I read 2 Timothy I was reminded of another way that we can get dried out.  The letter talks about all of the good that the Word of God does in this world and for each of us individually.  If we do not find ourselves drinking in the Word of God, then we should expect to be living lives that are parched and dried out longing for life.  All Scripture is God breathed.  That is what the Bible tells us today.  It breathes into us the breath of God.  Just like taking in a huge breathe of air after holding our breath for an extended period of time, we gasp for the breath of God if we have not been taking it in.  Then……we exhale.  What comes out is the breath of God into the world around us.

Come To The Water

"Parched" Series

July 3rd, 2016

Pastor Paul is preaching.
Ezekiel 47:1-12

Humanity as a whole is pretty fond of water but only those who live in a place so arid and parched as much of the Holy Land can appreciate its true worth. 

Jesus comes along and promises ”living water” to all who seek him.  As important as water is to such an arid climate, “living” water, water that is constantly moving and flowing, is even more valuable.  Jesus would reinforce a message God sought to relay through Scripture, that living water, the ultimate source of sustenance, hope and life, can only be found in him. And if the water Christ provides is to truly be “living”, we must maintain its flow by engaging his Spirit in relationship.