Concord UMC: Recent Episodes
Concord UMC
Concord UMC is a historic part of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1828, Concord has been a center of worship and community life since before the Civil War. We are committed to helping others and taking Jesus seriously, without taking ourselves too seriously. - Pastor Mike Lowery
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
When the Time Comes
Mark 13:24-37
- What were you doing on Monday, September 26th, 1983?
- …In Hickory Level the high temperature was a perfect 72 degrees, with 8 miles of visibility.
- It was also the day our world almost ended…. Stanislav Petrov, the man who quite possibly saved the world, died this past May at 77.
- The first Sunday in Advent is one of hope: the hope that Light will shine amidst the darknes [...]
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
On the Word of the King
2 Timothy 3:14-17
- Are We Confident in the Word?
- “From childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” As true for many of us as it was for Timothy.
- “… for the Bible tells me so.” The secular culture replies, “so what?”
- That HAS to have an impact. If not on you, then on your children, or grandchild [...]
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
Consider the Lilies
Matthew 6:25-34
- The Enemy of Thanksgiving
- Taking things for granted/Always wanting more? Good candidates, especially in our consumer culture!
- But there is another: fear, worry, stress
- I want to be thankful. But all these things I’m stressed about keeps getting in the way!
- And even if “life is good” for you, there is a whole smorgasbord of stress offered up to you each da [...]
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
For The Coming Generations
Psalm 78:1-8
- It Makes a Difference
- My Dad was a soldier
- Paratrooper, purple heart recipient
- Didn’t talk much about it; only shared a few stories
- But he handed down to me a fundamental respect for soldiers, for their struggles, for why they fought
- And having received this from him, and having seen my father’s service respected a [...]
- My Dad was a soldier
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
On That Great Day
1st Thessalonians 4:13-18
- Those Who Have No Hope
- Hope is in retreat in a world “too sophisticated” for faith
- There was an inscription in Thessalonica which read: “After death, no reviving, after the grave, no meeting again.”
- A typical inscription on a grave: ‘I was not, [then] I became, [now] I am not, [and] I care not.’
- Is that so differe [...]
- Hope is in retreat in a world “too sophisticated” for faith
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
Reformation Day
Romans 3:19-28
- Happy Anniversary Protestants!
- You can’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been.
- In 1517, Martin Luther started the Reformation
- The New World was barely known
- John Wesley, the Methodist Movement, and the American Revolution were still 200 years in the future
- Perhaps most significantly, their image of Jesus was not o [...]
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
New Wine
Luke 5:33-39
- Change is hard…
- Even if the old is worse, the old is familiar, maybe even comfortable
- In matters of faith, maybe even harder…
- Jesus was asked why He and His disciples did not “look” like the others that had come before, why their practice or “forms” had changed. He used it as an opportunity to communicate that in Him, the New had come…
-
1: The Wedding Party - [...]
-
- Jesus was asked why He and His disciples did not “look” like the others that had come before, why their practice or “forms” had changed. He used it as an opportunity to communicate that in Him, the New had come…
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
The sermon for Laity Sunday was delivered by our youth director Mark Stich, speaking about true happiness. Thanks Mark; well done!
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
Where Is This Coming From?
Mark 7:14-23
- And yet again this past week, we’ve dealt with horrible news…
- The Shooter (I will not use his name)
- Two Questions:
- HOW can we prevent it?
- WHY did it happen?
- Some would say because we haven’t prevented the HOW
-
But the reason…?
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
You Are Gifted
1 Peter 4:7-11
- The End is Near!
- But it wasn’t fulfilled on the 23rd…
- The end is near in the same way that:
- A nervous young man is just about to call that special girl for hours
- Our personal end is only a few missed heartbeats away
- Strangely, every writer in the New testament sees that as a call to action, [...]
UMW MEETING
Our UMW was excited to have a special guest for our October meeting.Ms Gisela Mann, whose family survived the Holocaust, is now a hospice chaplain and a dynamic speaker. She spoke to our group on Wednesday, October 4th.
Wrong Turn:
Jonah - Refusing God’s Call
Jonah 1:1-4, 12-17
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
- The Story of Jonah: the biggest “fish story” ever?
- Difficult for the modern mind…
- BUT for those who believe that the God of the universe was born 2,000 years ago in a small Jewish town, this is small potatoes!< [...]
- Difficult for the modern mind…
Alone In The Dark
Daniel 6:1-23
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
- Didn’t we just do this?
- Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego and “Even If”
- Differences:
- Different king
- The list: King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, to Belshazzar the co-regent of Babylon, to King Darius I of Persia, and Cyrus king [...]
- Different king
Acts of God
James 1:2-4; 2:14-17
To donate to Concord UMC, click HERE.
- In the News…
- Hurricane Harvey!
- Facebook post: “Just like a man…”
- A little of the blame game is coming out
- Including what shoes the [...]
- Hurricane Harvey!
NOTE #1: I’m trying a new filter that removes long pauses during the sermon; please let me know if you find it useful or not.
NOTE #2: Dur to copyright restrictions I cannot post the song that I sang at that end of the sermoon, but I can link to the original artist on Youtube (who, let’s face it, sings it WAY better). Here it is - EVEN IF
Recovering Joy: “Even If…”
Daniel 3:13-18; Romans 8:35-37
- Postscript from last week: “conquer evil by doing good” [...]
Recovering Joy: Conquering Evil
Romans 12:9-21
-
Today is busy, so let us…
- …set up a series on JOY
- …and make one starting suggestion about it
-
Are we lacking in JOY?
- As Americans we must be, as we are:
- frustrated and angry
- hooked on our addictions
- is not “getting high” an attempt to counterfeit joy?
- But as Christians, JOY is our birthright!
- Not talking about happiness or pleasure
- my (our) experience…
- S. Lewis wrote of “…an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which… must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and [...]
- As Americans we must be, as we are:
Our Hope and Strength
Romans 8:22-23, 26-30
Yes, an obvious allusion to a recent birth this week, but…
- Let’s get real, here.
- Deep questions:
- Have you, as a Christian, ever felt like you could not bring yourself to _______? Have you felt your strength was failing because you were empty of _______ for the future? Have you ever thought to yourself, “life has to be more than this!” Have you asked yourself, “Where has my joy gone?”
- Maybe there is an easy answer.
- Loss of loved ones? Financial instability? Health problems?
- Maybe you are described by the bumper sticker, “If you are far from God, guess who moved?” Maybe distraction, pride, overwork, etc. have taken your time from God. Maybe you’ve not gotten serious with Him in [...]
- Deep questions:
Go and Do Likewise
Luke 10:25-37
- Now get it right!
- Simpler times…
- How many of us remember this from our childhood? “It’s a beautiful day in this _____________,…”
- Those were the days when I might say, “Excuse me. Can I go outside now?” And English teachers (and experts in grammar) would reply: “Not can I go outside. May I go outside.” Didn’t you then just want to use a double negative in their presence.
- A Persnickety Theologian
- “An expert in the Law” asked Jesus a question. Now this could have been someone who loved to talk theology. But I have a feeling he was the persnickety kind of theologian.
- “We were really lucky!” “No, we were really blessed!” [...]
- “An expert in the Law” asked Jesus a question. Now this could have been someone who loved to talk theology. But I have a feeling he was the persnickety kind of theologian.
- Simpler times…
Sharing the Stories
Psalm 145:3-7 (verse 3 cut off)
“3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure his greatness….”
- Why we do the things we do…
- “Vacation” Bible School = A LOT of effort!
- An over-used phrase: “you planted a seed”
- “6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.” - 1 Cor 3:6-8 NLT
- What are the [...]
Who are you Pulling for?
Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30
- Pulled in two ways?
- An old-time plow…
- Some of you may have had this experience (growing rare)
- For first-century Jews, it was instantly relatable
- The Weight of the Yoke
- To rabbis, the “yoke” was their teaching (the Yoke of Law)
- Jesus called them out on having too heavy a yoke (uselessly burdensome teaching) [Luke 11:46]…and countered that His yoke was light and restful [Matthew 11:29]
- Pulling the Pharisees’ yoke (judgmental legalism) steals the joy out of life and weighs you down.
- If we’re not joyful in Christ, if our burdens are wearing us out, we may have become yoked to something other than Him, because He has taken a L [...]
- An old-time plow…