Sermons

Being united with each other as the body of Christ is one of the most constant themes in scripture. The unconditional love of Christ calls us to a unity that appreciates our differences while rejecting the worldly desire for uniformity.

All of us travel, wander, or run away from home from time to time. Being in loving relationship with our creator God is our home, and we can always come home to a God of open arms. Knowing we can return home in Christ’s love is the best homecoming we can experience.

It takes true courage to live the life that God calls us to live. Learning to move forward through life with the courage that the Holy Spirit can provide us allows us to experience and share Christ’s love in new and meaningful ways.

We often think of vacations as time away from our normal routines and places, but what if vacation this summer could be time away from those things that keep us from being the people that God desires for us to be. What if we can take the vacations we really need, not just the vacations that we enjoy?

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not the end of the story, it is the beginning of new life for us all. Living the Easter story and being people of new life and new beginnings is a key component of the Christian life.

During this season of Lent, may we focus on how we can connect with God through prayer. Jesus taught us how to pray with the Lord’s prayer so that we would all have the tools we need during a reflective life to be connected to our creator, redeemer, and sustainer.

Seeing the things, we do not have or do not like in life is so very easy, but we are called forward into gratitude for all that God has done and is doing in our life and world. How can we strive to truly rejoice in all things and be grateful despite the circumstances we may find ourselves in.

God is always calling us forward, always making things new. Returning to the past or what used to work or be comfortable in life is not the ideal goal for a disciple of Jesus Christ. Coming out of the past few years, we all want to find a sense of normal, but that must be a new normal that God is still creating. How can we best love God and love people at First UMC Arlington as we move forward in 2023 to a new normal?

Some kids are told not to sing at the table, but at God’s table there is always room to make a joyful noise and to sing our praise to God. This advent, join us as we look at the songs and scriptures that remind is of the hope, peace, joy, and love that Christ brings to every table and to every person!

Too often we see scarcity and feel as though we do not have what we need, but with God, we always have more than enough. Stewardship means using what God has given us in meaningful ways to know God’s love ourselves and to share that unconditional love with others. When God prepares a table before us, there is an abundance. How can we operate out of a sense of that abundance with all that we say and do?

Our faith means very little if we keep it to ourselves or only share with those who are already gathered around our table. We must invite new persons to the table and take our faith out into the world to share the nourishment of God’s amazing love with the world around us. How can we be more invitation and more mobile in the way we share our life and love with all of God’s children?

When we talk about gathering around the table, the communion table that Christ set for us in the last supper is a perfect example of how God invites us, teaches us, and gives us what we need to move forward in our faith. As we gather around God’s table, may we seek to make our tables in life more like Christ’s table and may we learn of God’s grace and love in each and every meal that we partake or prepare.