Lansing First UMC: Recent Episodes
Lansing First
We hear from the Gospel according to John (1: 1-5) to be reminded that no amount of darkness in the world can ever overcome the light of Christ that shines within each and every one of us.
We compare the Magnificat, Mary's song of praise, to the song 'Mary, Did You Know?' to see what exactly it was that she knew about her son and what that can teach us about our Messiah. (Luke 1: 39-55)
Guest preacher, Rev. Ron Brooks from Grande Ledge First UMC, illustrates how Jesus is the perfect gift (Luke 2: 1-7; John 3:16).
In the second week of Advent we hear how God will reshape the earth for the sake of bringing salvation to all of the creatures within creation (Luke 3: 1-6).
We begin Advent with a reminder from Jesus in the Gospel according to Luke (21:25-36) that we should keep our eyes open for the signs of hope around us.
We hear a vision of God's Kingdom from Isaiah (25: 6-9), and ponder on the mystery of faith the fills the uncertainty between death and resurrection.
We hear from the story of Ruth (1: 1-18), and reflect on how God's love transcends time and space to unify us all as God's children.
We wrap up the book of Job (42: 1-6; 10-17) and see how we are to respond to the revelation of God in our lives.
We hear from the prophet Isaiah (53: 1-12), and reflect on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the suffering servant who bears our pains as his own.
Job is confronted by God who reminds Job exactly who God is and what God is capable of (Job 38: 1-15)
We enter into the book of Job (1:1; 2:1-10) to see what answers we can find from a man who keeps his faith as his world falls apart
We hear about the story of Queen Esther, and learn how God calls us to active participation in our faith.
We turn to the words of Jeremiah (11:14-23) to think about how God is at work within us, within the history of the world, and the hope that that provides for the future.
We hear from Isaiah what it means to be a faithful servant to God (Isaiah 50: 4-9), even when it means going against the rest of the world.
Woman Wisdom offers a warning to those who have ears to listen, but refuse to learn (Proverbs 1: 20-33).
We reach a turning point in our 24 week series as we hear from the Song of Songs (2: 8-13) about God's love for us, and the need for us to respond to that love in an embodied way.
We come to an end in the story of the House of David (1 Kings 11: 1-13; 43) as Solomon turns away from God. We take his example as a cautionary tale about how to be vigilant in our own faith.
The story of the house of David continues as Solomon ascends to the throne and eliminates his enemies (1 Kings 2: 10-46). We reflect on how the way of retribution will never bring us lasting peace.
The tragedy of David barrels on (2 Samuel 18: 5-33) and we see how the Bible teaches us that sin is a collective experience that requires us to work toward collective solutions in order to transform the world.
The prophet Nathan confronts David with some hard truths (2 Samuel 11:26-12:19), which forces us to ask ourselves some hard questions as well.
What has been a slow burn as David drifts from God suddenly bursts open in this scripture reading from 2 Samuel 11:1-15, and reminds us that holiness is a habit that we have to choose.
We continue the story of David (2 Samuel 7: 1-14) and come to a transition point that foreshadows what will happen when the people walk away from the covenant of God.
We continue with the story of David and see how an incident of God's wrath concerning the treatment of the Ark can inform our own approach to worship (2 Samuel 6: 1-22)
A look at a difficult text about King David's conquest of Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5: 1-10) illustrates how our faith needs us to be able to handle complicated truths and to take responsibility for our own actions in order to make us better citizens of this world and the world that is to come.
We continue our sermon series through the Hebrew Bible and learn through the anointing of David how God chooses people for service.
We continue our 24 week series exploring the human condition through the Hebrew Bible, by observing how we are prone to rejecting God in favor the ways of the world. (1 Samuel 8: 4-20)
We begin a six month journey through The Prophets and The Writings with a scene of the heavenly throne room (Isaiah 6: 1-13).
For Pentecost (Acts 2: 1-21) we think about what it means to be 'set apart' as the church.
As we reflect on the Ascension (Acts 1:1-11) this year we consider Jesus' final instructions to wait, receive, and witness.
We close our look at the letter 1 John (5: 1-21) by thinking about how we can work with the Holy Spirit to testify to the truth of God.
We continue our look at 1 John (4: 1-21) and consider what it means for us to abide in God's love.
As we read through 1 John (3: 11-24) we are confronted with the reality that sins of the heart are just as real as sins in the flesh, but love in the heart needs to be put into action to become real.
We continue our look at the letter of 1 John (2:18-3:10) and we ask who is the antichrist? Or is it even right to think of the antichrist as an individual?
For Easter we will be reading through 1 John and we begin by talking about the God of Light (1 John 1:1-2:17)
As we celebrate Easter we consider what the power of the resurrection means for us in our day to day lives. (John 20: 1-18)
In this special episode we reflect on the final phrases that Jesus spoke as he died upon the cross. This is a contemplative service so there are moments of silence between each reading for you to reflect on what you have heard.
We think about Jesus' triumphal entry (Mark 11: 1-11) to ask ourselves whether we're just there for Jesus during the good times or if we will follow him to the cross during hard times.
We reflect on Jesus warning his disciples that he will be obedient to God by dying on the cross (John 12: 20-33), by reflecting on the life and death of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Also a slight correction to a misstatement in the sermon: this Wednesday will mark the 41st anniversary of Romero's assassination.
As we continue our Lenten journey we look at John's version of Jesus cleansing the temple (John 2: 13-22) to think about the ways that our modern "money-changer" mentalities can make people feel unwelcome in the church.
In today's gospel reading (Mark 8: 31-38) Jesus tells his followers that he will be rejected and killed before being resurrected. He then tells them that if they want to follow him, they too will need to pick up their cross? What does this Messiah who brings salvation through suffering have to say to his followers today?
We reflect on the story of Jesus' wandering in the wilderness (Mark 1:9-15) to think about how we have been wandering in the wilderness as we prepare for God's new future.
For the final Sunday before Lent we look at the story of the transfiguration (Mark 9:2-9) to ask what it means for us to have "fear of the Lord" and how we can hold that alongside the idea that God is Love.
We pick back up the story of Jesus' ministry in Mark's gospel (1:29-39) and see how prayer can lead us into new futures as long as we're willing to let go of some things form the past.
We look at a spiritual battle that plays out between Jesus and an unclean spirit (Mark 1: 21-28) in order to see how this struggle faces each of us every day.
Pastor Robert addresses the attack on the nation's capital through the lens of baptismal fidelity. (Mark 1: 4-11)
We skipped ahead a few days this morning to take a look at the epiphany story and the consequences of following Jesus. (Matthew 2: 1-12)
On this first Sunday in Christmas we look at how Jesus brings new life through bringing out the best in us. (Luke 2: 21-40)
For this special Christmas Eve episode we think about what it means for the Church to be the living Body of Christ
For the last week of Advent we look at the Annunciation (Luke 1: 26-38) through the lens of 'The Heliand' (an Anglo-Saxon version of the Gospel) in order to shine more light on the good news that it contains.
For Gaudete Sunday we hear the story of John the Baptist again (John 1: 6-8, 19-28), but this time with a focus on John's role as a messenger. His example is good news for the rest of us who also want to testify to the light.
For week two of Advent we explore what it means for us to prepare the way of the Lord based on the beginning of the gospel of Mark (1: 1-8).
We kick off advent by hearing a warning from Jesus (Mark 13: 24-37) about staying awake and alert as we await the Messiah's return.
In this sermon for Christ the King Sunday we look at Jesus' pronouncements about the judgment of the nations (Matthew 25: 31-46) to ask if we take seriously our commitment to Jesus as Lord.
Our look at 1 Thessalonians (chapter 5) is coming to an end and Paul reminds us to live life to the fullest by doing all the good we can in the time that we've got.
We return to 1 Thessalonians to see what advice Paul has for us about how to live a life pleasing to God in chapter 4 of this letter.
For All Saints' Day we take a break from our look at 1 Thessalonians in order to consider the unveiled view of reality in Revelation 7: 9-17.
In our second week of looking at 1 Thessalonians (2: 1-13), we ask what it looks like to be people who speak plain truth, speak truth to power, and speak truth in love.
In this sermon on the first letter to the Thessalonians (1:1-10) we ask what it means to be known as followers of Christ.