CokerChurch: Recent Episodes
Coker UMC
Regardless of drama within our denomination, at Coker we will continue to joyfully welcome all people into the life of our church, bar none. We will continue to joyfully proclaim the full truths of scripture even as it pertains to human sexuality and sexual holiness between men and women. And where those things appear to be in conflict, we will see that as tension that God invites us to step into and see what more may be there in that uncomfortable space, than the easy sides we so often choose to run to. Because it is there in the hard places of love and law, preaching and practice that Jesus does his most transformative work in us all – it is in those places that we have no idea how to actually do this that Jesus can really do something with us because we finally let go and surrender to him. Visit us at Coker.org or follow us on our social channels.
One of the most amazing doctrines of the Christian church is the doctrine of the incarnation. The idea that our God would actually come to us is an amazing thing when you think that in most other religions the individual is responsible for finding or getting to god or the divine. In ours, it’s the other way around. Knowing that also calls us to view ministry in a certain way – we have a ministry that should “go to.”
It can be really easy in life to become comfortable with where we are and who we’re with and forget that we still have much to learn. As followers of Jesus, we are called to life-long submission to Christ and learning in order to become more and more like Him. If we don’t have an attitude and posture of humility, this is impossible. We must recognize our desperate and continued need for God in order to grow in Him.
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We all hear news from all types of sources, sometimes through a phone call, a text message, an email, a social media post, etc. And there is news that we hear that is great to hear, other times we may hear news that is not so great to hear. God, through Jesus, brought good news to the world, a world who was under the curse of bad news because humanity was under the power of sin. But, Jesus came to be among, like us, to offer to the world good news. In Mark 1, Jesus declared that the kingdom of God had come near, and that was good news. The word “gospel” comes from the Greek euanggelion which means “good news”. As a matter of fact, the word “angel” comes from the Greek aggelos, which means “messenger.” So, if we want to be true to the gospel of the kingdom of God, we need to recognize that we are called to be “messengers of good news”. Our lives — words, actions, behaviors, and attitudes — all need to be an embodiment of the message of good news to those around us. The world already knows about the bad news all around us, what the world needs to hear is the good news of the kingdom; the good news that indeed, there is room for everyone around God’s table, there is room for everyone in God’s kingdom. But, according to Jesus, we’re called to especially share the good news with the least, the last, and the lost — with the marginalized, the outcast, the invisible, the voiceless, the forgotten.
We are called to take this good news to the “least of these”, because when we do, we are doing it for Jesus. With God, there is always good news.
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All baptized Christians have a call on their life. When we decide to follow Jesus and we are ushered into the Kingdom family, the Holy Spirit fills us and leads us to live out God’s calling for our lives. Sometimes the call is loud and clear, sometimes the call is quieter and requires patience and discernment to hear. But more often than not, the call can be scary as we are pushed out of our comfort zone. Knowing that, will you still follow the call?
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Throughout its history, the church of Jesus Christ has had its ups and downs. There have been wonderful moments of faithful cultural influence and moments when we have not lived out the true nature of faith. As followers of Jesus, we have to figure out how to follow a Savior that looks at every single person in the world and says, “I’m on your side, but there is a better way.”
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The Corinthian Christian might be more like us modern people than we care to admit. They were questioning whether or not someone could really be raised from the dead. Paul wants them to realize that the entire Christian faith hangs on this one thing. That’s a big statement, do you think he is right?
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Most of us don’t give a whole lot of thought to our spiritual gifts. Maybe we take a spiritual gifts test at some point and we can say what our top three are, but are we really taking the time to learn how to use those gifts empowered by the Spirit? What’s more, the Apostle Paul says to “eagerly desire the greater gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31). Are we doing that? Do we even know how to do that?
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What does it mean to be a stumbling block, an impediment to someone else’s
forward progress? For Christians it means that we could do something that might stand in the way of someone coming to Christ or moving deeper in relationship with Christ. This would be bad. Paul explains to the Corinthian Christians that while we are free in Christ, we don’t want to do anything that might cause someone else to sin.
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Sex is everywhere in our world today. It’s used in entertainment, it’s used in marketing, it’s used in literature, sex is everywhere. We have to ask ourselves how does the church relate to the way sex is used in our culture today? How can we be part of a positive vision for sex and God’s purposes within it?
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Divisions seem to have always been a part of human history. From the very earliest recordings of history, we can see people dividing up themselves for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, these divisions were a result of social, economic, or racial tensions. We tend to divide themes like age, gender, social structures, education, ethnicity, etc, into categories; and we also divide countries through borders. To be sure, some of these are necessary, but some have been harmful and damaging for so many.
When we think of the harmful side of divisions, I don’t think that very many people think first about the church. I mean, the church? Divisions in the church? Especially not in the “United” Methodist Church? That’s sounds as strange as saying that there are no divisions in the “United” States of America...
And yet, the Apostle Paul exposed and addressed several problems in the church at Corinth, and the first one he dealt with was the problem of division. This was very intentional because how can you ever work together for a common good if you don’t have at least agreement and
unity of purpose? We can have the best plan in the world, but if we are divided by selfish interest, then that plan has little chance of success.
The Apostle Paul saw how these divisions were harming and hindering the work of Christ in the church at Corinth so he addressed them in 1 Corinthians, and, again, it’s no surprise that the first one he tackled was division. The division that existed in the church at Corinth was impacting every other area of the church in a not good way.
The Apostle Paul summed up his exhortation to the division issue with a rhetorical question: Is Christ divided? The obvious answer is no; so then, why so much division? Again, he answered with another question: “I mean, because of all this division, doesn’t that show me that you all are still a little worldly?” (1 Cor. 3:3, my paraphrase)
Divisions, like many other issues, are a very human thing. However, the Gospel of Jesus makes possible to have Christian unity to honor God and for the common good of the church and world.
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The experience of the transfiguration of Jesus is one of those spectacular events, experienced by very few people, just three apostles, that was a once in a lifetime event. But the action of Jesus to go away for a while to pray, either by himself or with a few others, is not rare at all. In fact, Jesus made a regular habit of it. Seeking solitary time to pray was something Jesus did and exemplified for others to follow. Scripture is replete with examples of the faithful whom took time to put everything else in life aside in order to sit in the presence of God. In fact, doing so is part of the way in which we were designed by God from the creation.
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Christians are by nature a “sent” people. We do not simply stand around in a “holy huddle” keeping to ourselves. We are empowered by the Spirit and sent by Jesus to be witnesses in the world. The question for the church is, are we sending people?
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The question comes up about what it means to be “welcoming” as Paul demonstrates at the end of the book of Acts. He welcomed everyone who came to see him and did so with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But what does that look like both as a church and as individuals to be welcoming? Churches have reputations as being welcoming but many actually fall short. People likewise may think they are welcoming, but it may only be to people already in their circle of friends, not outsiders.
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We all have an understanding of the things that our church does – the ministry, the programs, the groups, etc. But do we ever think about the purpose of THE Church, the universal Church of Jesus Christ? What is it that we do, and why do we do it? There are many answers to do this, but at the heart of our purpose is to share the news of Jesus that desperately needs to hear it.
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We all have a story or two to tell of how we have been impacted by something or by someone. Sometimes that can be a positive impact, but other times it may be not so positive. But, when-ever something positive impacts us in a powerful way, even in the midst of the not so positive, it is something that can change our lives.
Such is the case when God makes an indelible impact on our lives. When this happens, we be-come a light in the world, especially in the midst of darkness. Jesus knew that as we lived out God’s impact on us, that we would produce good works; these good works, in turn, would be to glorify God as they edify those around us.
God’s presence in us does that, and so much more. When our lives are impacted by God, we are never again the same, when our lives are impacted by God’s grace, there is always a living hope within us.
When we think about people who have impacted the world as they were impacted by God, there are probably a lot of “big league” names that come to mind — Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, or Martin Luther, John Calvin, or Billy Graham.
But, these were not the only people who were impacted by God and impacted the world, there were many others who had an impact, but are lesser known, and mentioned less. Such is the case of two of the three women we’ll look at today.
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Jesus’ sermon on the mount is some of his most important teaching as he gives a vision for what life in the Kingdom of God looks like. From how we treat enemies to trusting God for provision and laying up treasures in heaven, to prayer and fasting. In the midst of it all, though, he asks this life changing question, why do you focus on others people’s sin without paying attention to your own (my paraphrase)? This is important for us all to consider.
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Jesus has a bit of an awkward conversation with Peter after his resurrection. Peter, had denied Jesus 3 times after Jesus’ arrest, now Jesus asks Peter 3 times if he loves him. I think lots of us would say we love Jesus, but the hard thing is Jesus defines what that love looks like. Once we learn that, can we still say we love Jesus?
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Jesus had a tendency to ask questions…lots of questions. His questions at times seemed out of place. Other times they seemed to be questions with obvious answers. We have to remember that when Jesus asks a question, he has a reason for asking it. If we will try to uncover that reason, we just might find the question pointing us toward something life changing.
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This is a season of busy-ness. There is more going on in most families than at any other time of the year. On top of that, there are end of year items for jobs, families, schools, etc. So much being piled on the calendar and just not enough hours in the week. What if finding time for rest is a way of inviting Jesus more into our lives?
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Power is something we all deal with every day and yet don’t think a lot about. We are all people that are under authority and those who are in authority, and we use our power in various ways. But do we have a theology of power? Perhaps a better question is, do we seek to use our power in ways that reflect the character and values of Jesus?
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Often, we say that the season leading up to Christmas is the most wonderful time of year because the traditions and busyness of the season help us forget many of the stressful things of our every-day world the rest of the year. But what if the “distraction” of the advent season keeps us from seeing what God is doing in sending Jesus? It’s a question we need to consider.
The season leading up to Christmas is often described as the most wonderful time of year. It begs the question, why? Is it solely because of Christmas itself, or is there something else? What was the world really like when Jesus first came? Would it have been described the most wonderful time of the year then? These are all questions worth asking as we explore the world Jesus stepped into, and how similar it is to our world today.
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Being thankful is often as much an attitude we choose as much as it is an emotion we feel. It is easy to feel thankful when we are given something or in a good mood. But what about the times things aren’t going as well or we find ourselves in a moment of struggle? As we approach Thanksgiving, how can we make a thankful attitude a constant in our lives?
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Generosity is certainly important for the believer, but I don’t think anyone would ever think it was a life-or-death situation! When it comes to the health of our soul or the health of our Christian community, generosity is extremely important and the story of Ananias and Sapphira shows that. The Spirit is at work within the Christian community, and how we do life together matters.
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Generosity is more than just being charitable – it is a lifestyle. It is a discipline. Generosity to the church is more than just giving to keep the doors open and the lights on, it’s an act of faith, an act of worship. How much time and intention do we give to our growth in generosity? What would it look like if we viewed generosity as a journey toward Jesus, just like other aspects of our faith?
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The Road To Becoming A Christian...My Unfinished Story...
A testimonial by: Rick McManus
If someone were to ask you to tell the story of how you became a Christian, it is likely we would each have very different answers. Today, we share the personal story of Rick McManus who, after 52 years, found that very moment for himself and how he has lived since.
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When we find ourselves in crisis, often times it becomes very easy to isolate ourselves. A high stress time for many means withdrawing from relationships. This is exactly what the enemy of our souls wants us to do – feel alone. If we can resist this, we will find that God meets us in the midst of our crisis through the community of believers around us.
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Worry is as close to a universal human experience as we can probably get.
Everyone worries about something at some time. And yet, does our worry and anxiety actually accomplish anything? Not Really. In moments of high anxiety it’s very easy to believe we are all alone and that God has abandoned us – which is exactly what the spiritual forces of wickedness want us to believe. The Bible tells a different story.
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When life is going well and there seem to blessings all around us, it is easy to praise God and believe the scripture that says “All good things come from God.” But when we start to suffer, even a little, we start to question what is going on. Did we do something wrong? Is God punishing us? When the suffering becomes worse, a devastating death in the family, loss of
employment for an extended period of time, or others, we can easily make the comment “Where is God when I am suffering?”, thinking God has somehow abandoned us. But we find that God is typically right next to us – inn the guise of a neighbor, a Sunday school class, a small group.
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We all have times when we can’t seem to “feel” God or we can’t seem to find God. When we are going through a difficult moment or a super stressful trial of some kind, we don’t feel the same as we do when we are on a spiritual high. We take that lack of a spiritual feeling and take it to mean God is not near. It is in times like these that we have to remember what we know to be true
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God is a God of movement, and because God is a God of movement, we could say that God’s people are on the move. Migration means movement from one place to another. We can see throughout the Bible examples of God’s people on the move, migrating. Migration, and immigration, is nothing new, it’s happened throughout history — people have migrated because of weather, hunting, fleeing violence, or even “forced” migration. Moreover, migration is not a phenomenon exclusive to the US or any other part of the world. Regardless of how we view migration, the truth is that some of God’s most amazing works have happened when someone migrated from one place to another — geographically primarily, or socially, culturally, or spiritually. We see how God did amazing things through Noah, who migrated on an ark to another place, through Abraham who migrated from Ur to Canaan, through Joseph who “migrated” to Egypt, through the Hebrew people who migrated from Egypt to the Promised Land, through Ruth who migrated from Moab to Judah (to name a few). One of those amazing works of God came through the Moabite Ruth’s migration journey; Ruth, who by the way, was King David’s great-grandmother, thus including a Moabite in Jesus’ lineage. Follow us on Instagram: @CokerUMC
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• This story occurs several times in Scripture where someone from the crowd steps up to ask Jesus a question about “What is the greatest commandment?” It is usually a scribe who asks. A scribe was the person who wrote and re-wrote copies of the Scriptures for use in the Temple and in local synagogues. They knew the Scriptures inside and out. So, they already know the historic answer to this question. They are simply trying to catch Jesus in some moment of heresy so he can be denounced. • Luke’s version includes 2 pieces that the others do not. First is the parable of the good Samaritan. Second is Jesus asking the scribe a question – What is said in Scripture and how do you read it? Follow us on Instagram: @CokerUMC Follow up on Facebook: @CokerUMC Follow us on YouTube: YouTube.com/c/CokerChurch Thank you for worshiping with us
Accountability: just the word can at times send fear through our hearts. We think of someone charged with making sure we stay in line and don’t run afoul of the rules and regulations. While there is some truth in that, accountability is so much more than just a watch dog. It’s a ministry that allows for fellow followers of Jesus to watch over one another in love and spur each other on to holiness.
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When we think of serving God, we may sometimes think about super talented and gifted people who stand in front of crowds to serve God, and that certainly does happen; but regardless of who we are, we all have a way that we can serve God in our own way. I remember as a kid, we’d play football with the neighborhood kids and we’d pick teams…if you remember how that went down, the fastest and most athletic were the first to get picked, and usually what was left were the shorter and chubbier kids. But, you know, when it comes to serving God in his kingdom, how tall or how short or how athletic your gift is doesn’t really matter, what matters is that you use all of your God-given abilities and talents to serve God as you serve others. Follow us on Instagram: @CokerUMC Follow up on Facebook: @CokerUMC Follow us on YouTube: YouTube.com/c/CokerChurch Thank you for worshiping with us!
Jesus’s healing ministry was an extremely prevalent part of his overall ministry. People sought him out believing he could heal them. Today we pray for God to heal people but do we really believe he will? Sometimes I wonder if we believe he even can. Jesus’s healing ministry is alive and well and is lived out in community.
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Many of us have heard of Christian Education or the educational ministries of the church. These are ministries that focus on teaching the doctrines and tenets of the Bible and the Christian faith. This is part of discipleship, but it is not all of discipleship. Discipleship is about more than gaining knowledge, it’s about a relationship with others that helps us live more like Jesus.
All of us are raised with the goal of some level of independence. But sometimes independence is not all that it is cracked up to be. In fact, when we think about the difficulties and complexities of life, not to mention living a life of faith, it can get quite daunting to think about being alone in this. The good news is that we were not created to do these things alone – God has created us for relationship or community.
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When I (Pastor Adam) went on sabbatical I started hearing the Lord very clearly. I thought it was interesting how loud God was during that time. Then it occurred to me that maybe God is always this loud, I’m just actually listening now. When we pay attention to getting “rest” we find that God honors that commitment and helps teach us all kinds of other things as well.
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Often our first response to God is to question what he is telling us or calling us to do. Sometimes we think we can run our own lives and don’t need God as a guide. We can get complacent in our faith and let our prayer life and commitment fall away. Everything seems to be going great until we have a crisis and then the first place we tend to turn for help is to God. Wouldn’t we be better off if we learned to always be in communication with God and always listen to what he is telling us?
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The work is completed on the wall, a dedication service has been held, a lottery has been held to determine who will get the privilege of living inside the walls of Jerusalem. Everything seems completed as far as Nehemiah’s responsibility, so he heads back home to Persia to resume his previous life. But it doesn’t take long before things seem to go wrong back in Paradise. Nehemiah gets word that many of the leaders and even priests have engaged in the same old sins that got the nation of Israel into trouble 200 years earlier which led to exile. So Nehemiah receives permission once again from the king to go back to Jerusalem, clean up the mess, get the people and leaders back into line so that Israel will be blessed by God.
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Work on the wall has finished and Ezra and Nehemiah gather the people together to create a worship service to commemorate the occasion. A massive number of people gather outside one of the gates and a platform is built for Ezra so he can be easier seen and heard by all the people. As he begins reading from the Scriptures, (which would have been Genesis-Deuteronomy) the people stand. Ezra reads some, then stops and leaders within the crowd would teach the people the meaning of the passages he just read. This was repeated over and over again for the next 6 days.
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Work on the wall is making progress. Everyone is helping out, either building the wall or standing guard. It’s great that everyone is involved. But this raises a problem. No one is working the fields, or the shops, or the markets. Food is becoming scarce, bills cannot be paid, so the people are taking out loans from other Jews who have wealth. But they are being charged outrageous interest by their brothers. And those who cannot afford a loan are “renting out” their children as slaves to pay off the debt. Loans and limited servanthood were allowed by God’s Mosaic Law but not the charging of interest and those in servitude had to be released within a certain period of time even if the debt had not been paid off. Nehemiah finds these actions to be reprehensible and charges those holding the loans to stop charging interest and pay it back and to release those in slavery. He himself is going to obey by this as well.
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Now we are introduced to a new character in the story – Nehemiah. He is a contemporary of Ezra but works in the palace as a “cup-bearer” to King Artaxerxes. News gets back to Nehemiah that the work in rebuilding Jerusalem is a disaster and its grieves him deeply. What follows in Chapters 1-4, is Nehemiah praying for direction on what to do, discovering that God wants him, to go back and help spur on the rebuilding efforts. The king agrees and the rest of the story is one of Nehemiah reinvigorating efforts to rebuild the walls and at the same time discourage the constant effort by outsiders to stop the work. It is a story of prayer and action, of faith and works
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The altar and Temple are finished in Jerusalem. Ezra, the priest, is now ready to move from his home in Persia to Jerusalem to start worship practices again in earnest as he is the most learned priest in Judaism. As he gathers us another wave of Jews to make the move back to Israel, he discovers, to his horror, that a great sin has been committed, not only by many of the leaders, but even by some of the priests. The sin? Intermarrying with the families of foreign countries who practiced foreign religion. One of his greatest fears is that God will find the people, once again, to be unfaithful, and may take away the great gift of returning from exile and allow them to be enslaved once again.
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While work on the Temple has started in Jerusalem, meanwhile back in Persia, Ezra is preparing to move there as well to restart Temple worship. The Persian King has blessed the move and provided supplies and support for Ezra. Still there is great opposition to the rebuilding of the Temple, Jerusalem and Israel as a whole by the surrounding countries. But Ezra has a “secret weapon” – wisdom. Not the wisdom of human beings but the wisdom of God. He knows it, the king recognizes it and the people will see that wisdom displayed. The wisdom of Scripture is seeing things through the eyes of God, not through our own human capability. It is a gift not an achievement and it is obtained by asking for it and God granting it. Follow us on Instagram: @CokerUMC
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Opposition. Discouragement. Hope? We have all faced opposition in our lives through difficult moments, moments we can’t seem to wrap our heads around and yet, in a way that only God’s grace can, we’re able to overcome the most darkest valleys. However, to overcome is not automatic for us, especially to overcome opposition. Sometimes the forces of opposition seem to big to handle. And yet, when we say “I feel weak”, God says “My power is made perfect in weakness”. Overcoming opposition seems to be the MO for believers (and for anyone for that matter). The assuring thing is that God’s eye is upon us, and he promises us that we don’t walk those dark valleys alone. Follow us on Instagram: @CokerUMC Follow up on Facebook: @CokerUMC Follow us on YouTube: YouTube.com/c/CokerChurch Thank you for worshiping with us!
Ezra begins with the incredible news that the Jewish people living in Persia, who had been exiled from Israel 70 years earlier, were now being allowed to go home. A few of them were old enough to remember Israel and Jerusalem in all its glory before the destruction. But two additional generations had grown up in Persia and have never seen Jerusalem or the Temple. Now the Persian king Cyrus is letting them go home to rebuild the Temple, the city and the country (though still under the thumb of Persia). The people return and start the rebuilding process but when they arrive in Jerusalem it is a bittersweet moment. For the first time in decades the see the destruction that was razed upon Jerusalem and their Temple and they are brought to tears – some crying in lament and others crying for joy of being home. Follow us on Instagram: @CokerUMC
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I think that we would agree that we can learn many things from children, their questions, their comments, their irreverence, their imagination, their curiosity, etc., and Jesus knew this, that’s why he said “have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise?” We can learn a thing or two from children..and, we can learn a thing or two from toys…so we’re going to look at 3 toys that many of us have been exposed to in our lives, and we’re going to discover some important lessons for our walk with Christ.
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We are know Pentecost because of the story in Acts 2 about how the Holy Spirit came and appeared on the apostles as tongues of fire. Then each began to preach in various human languages that were not native to their own. Peter then declares with boldness that the explanation is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that the prophet Joel has predicted hundreds of years earlier and that the key for God releasing the Spirit at this time in history was the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But it is more than an ancient history lesson for the Church. It is also a description of what is still happening when Christians are under the power of the Holy Spirit.
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Before Jesus sent his disciples out on a mission he first spent a year and a half demonstrating what that would look like. Then, when it was time for them to try this on their own, he sent them out in pairs to encourage one another. Today, we have nearly 2000 years of history of people sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, healing, casting out demons all in the power of the Holy Spirit and with the authority of God Almighty.
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Sometimes in our lives we find ourselves caught up in our day-to-day lives and as a result we may find ourselves moving away from a Christ centered life. Circumstances can challenge our faith. In these times our church family may become our “faith helpers”. These are people who lift us up in prayer and help us through the hard times and exemplify the love of Christ in the world.
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As a people of the resurrection, Christians are sent out to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to people everywhere. But many today are reluctant for a variety of reasons from shyness to feelings of Biblical
inadequacy. But the Holy Spirit has been promised to us just he was to the apostles, and being baptized in the Spirit makes all the difference for the effectiveness for our witness.
Today’s Scripture: Acts 1:1-5 NIV
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Sometimes it becomes easy to believe that being a Christian just means believing certain things. But when we really look at how Jesus expected his followers to livewe see that being a Christian is also very much about “going.” We are a “sent” people – sent to share the good news.
Today’s Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20 NIV
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Have you ever heard the expression; you are only as strong as your weakest link? It’s definitely no fun being the weakest link – being defined by your weakness or mess-ups. Peter was headed for that kind of definition, but then Jesus met with him after his resurrection and everything changed.
Today’s Scripture: John 21:15-19 NIV
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The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone to Christian faith. Once we believe in Jesus’ resurrection, we are called to live a life within that reality. The question is, how do we live a post-resurrection life? How does the resurrection effect the lives we live today?
Today’s Scripture: John 20:24-29 NIV
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Easter: Remember- Rev Adam Knight- April 4, 2021
The crux of the Christian faith is Easter. The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith and it is what sets Jesus a part from any other deity. Jesus’ willingness to suffer and die and then conquer death is the good news of the gospel that we celebrate on Easter.
Today's Scripture: Mark 16:1-8; 1Cor. 15:1-8 NIV
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When we think of heroic acts, we may think about courageous actions by someone in a given situation, particularly in a tough situation, as was the case with Joseph of Arimathea. This courageous word came from Joseph of Arimathea as he approached Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. For Joseph to be so bold as to ask for Jesus’ body is incredible, but what Joseph did not know was that that tomb would not be Jesus’ final resting place.
Once God raised Jesus from the dead, that empty tomb became a source of courage for Joseph because he knew he had placed a dead body in that tomb, and now he knew that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
Today's Scripture: Mark 15:42-47 NIV
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So, here we are in the midst of Lent, focused on the events that took place around the foot of the cross. From the soldiers to Pilate to Herod, there seems to be little evidence of faith. The people gathered around the cross showed disdain for Jesus rather than belief in him as the Messiah. Only a few people, mostly family members, showed any level of faith at all, but that was buried within their extreme grief. But there was one, very unlikely voice of faith that day…and it came from a criminal who was crucified 20 feet away from Jesus.
Today's Scripture: Luke 23:39-43
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Do you have something in your life that used to generate lots of passion, but now is not as exciting? We all have to deal with indifference setting in at different points and with different things. The sad truth is that our faith is not immune to this either. Indifference can easily become a faith killer.
Today's Scripture: John 19:23-27
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For better or for worse, Pontius Pilate is the only Roman individual mentioned by name in The Apostles’ Creed. He is infamous for the role he played in the death of Jesus. But even he is a complicated character, who, after sentencing Jesus to death, offers a word about him that is very true.
Today's Scripture: Matt. 27:11-26; John 19:17-22
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Isn’t it ironic that as Jesus hung on the cross dying for the sins of the world, others (for whom he was dying) mocked him as they witnessed it? Why do we do that? Why do we feel the need to be scornful towards others?
Today's Scripture: Matthew 27:39-44
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The transfiguration is one of the most interesting and hard to explain moments in scripture. The disciples who were there to witness it even had a hard time with what was happening. It is a wonderful representation of the glory of God, hard to grasp and yet wonderful all the same. Today's Scripture: Mark 9:2-9 Follow us on Facebook at: Facebook.com/CokerUMC Follow us on Instagram: @CokerUMC Thank you for worshipping with us!
The one thing most people remember about Jonah is that he is the prophet who get swallowed by a giant fish. While that is, perhaps, one of the most memorable parts of his story, it’s not the thing to remember. We would be wise to pay attention to what led him to that point – namely, running away from the calling of God on his life.
Today's Scripture: Jonah 1-4
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The story of David and Bathsheba is one of the saddest stories in the Bible. It is sad because of the betrayal committed by David; it is sad because of the consequences of that betrayal. But one of the redeeming lessons in the story is that it is never too late to turn back toward God. Today's Scripture: 2 Samuel 11-12 Follow us on Facebook at: Facebook.com/CokerUMC Follow us on Instagram: @CokerUMC Thank you for worshipping with us!
John 4
The story of Jesus with the woman at the well is one of the most famous gospel stories. It is well known because of the shocking nature of the circumstance. Jesus shouldn’t be in Samaria, he shouldn’t be speaking to a Samaritan woman and yet, all of this is happening. And because of it, many other Samaritans will end up believing in Jesus because of the woman’s witness.
Most of us have heard the song about Zacchaeus being a wee little man and climbing a tree to see Jesus. However, we don’t give a lot of thought to what caused him to climb that tree. The Spirit of God was at work in Zacchaeus’s life and in the life of many that were present as he met Jesus.
Today's Scripture: Luke 19:1-10
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Many of us have found ourselves heading in the wrong direction in many different ways. Whether it’s being geographically lost or even spiritually lost, we know what it is to be headed in the wrong direction. When we find ourselves in that place, the good news is that Jesus is an expert at helping people make u-turns.
Today's Scripture: Acts 9:1-9 NIV
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Today's Sermon, “Chains Shall He Break," is from Luke 4:16-21, and is Week 4 in our Advent Sermon Series. There is a lot of conversation about the main point of Jesus’s ministry. Some like to say it was about ministry to the poor, others say it was all about forgiveness of and salvation from sins. Honestly, it was all of that. Jesus’s ministry was announcing the Kingdom of God that encompasses all of those things. Advent points us to prepare for the fullness of that Kingdom. Join us online, weekly, on Sundays at 9:30 & 11 AM at Coker.org/Livestream (where you can find livestream and also find sermon archives).
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Today's Sermon,“Long Lay the World in Sin and Error Pining," is from Matthew 1:18-21, and is Week 1 in our Advent Sermon Series.
During our Christmas celebrations, with the traditions and music and joy, it can be easy to forget that there was a reason Jesus came to us. Namely, the world was in a bad place, and sin was a defining characteristic of humanity. This reality is perfectly summed up in the line from O Holy Night, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining."
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Come listen as Pastor Adam tells us about Waking Up From a Deadly Hate. Scripture 1 John 4:19-21
Listen this morning as Pastor Adam speaks on Waking up from a Dead Marriage. Scripture - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Join Pastor Adam for our Contemporary Service as he speaks on "Wake Up from Deadly Faith" Scripture - Colossians 1:9-12
Join us for Easter Sunday Service with Pastor Adam Scripture - Matthew 28:1-10, Ephesians 2:1-7