Drinking From the Well: Recent Episodes
Tim Barton
Sermons and teachings from Pastor Tim Barton of First Church Fort Pierce, FL. I’m just a fellow traveler on this flying space rock, asking and responding to questions of faith and practice, while telling a story or two in between Join me as we try to figure out what we’re doing here and how Jesus is calling us to change the world
This begins a 4 week series on the Gospel, beginning when it all started: Genesis Chapter 2
This sermon looks at the activity of Jesus following his resurrection and how it leads us to a fuller understanding of the power of community to receive and spread the good news of resurrection.
A Look at Saul's conversion in Acts 9 and how it shows us the way to a heart set free from the bondage of hardness.
A look at the Road to Emmaus story as a means of seeing how the intersection of scripture and community help us experience the resurrection of our Lord and our lives.
A look at the story of Thomas from John 20 and how his story invites us to have our doubts turned into a more robust trust and faith in Jesus.
A look at John 21 and how Jesus uses a simple breakfast on the beach with Peter to resurrect his calling and his life
This sermon looks at John 20 and the scene with Mary Magdalene outside of the tomb of Jesus. By looking at Mary's life we find a resurrection story that helps us understand the hope that we can find in Jesus when everything seems lost.
This Easter Sermon looks at John 11 and the resurrection of Lazarus as the proof that God wants to resurrect the broken parts of our own lives.
Looking at the statement "We believe in the forgiveness of sins" as a means of teaching us what it looks like to live out the radical loving act of forgiving those who have harmed us.
This sermon looks at the idea of the Communion of Saints as an eternal reality that points us towards the importance of passing on the faith to future generations
What does it mean when we say that we believe in the holy catholic church? What is the church? How does the church teach us how to love?
A look at the Holy Spirit as the agent that enables us to love God, our neighbors, ourselves, and our enemies.
A look at how the kenotic hymn of Philippians 2 teaches us what it looks like to love the way that Jesus loves.
This sermon focuses on the statement "We believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth" from the historic Apostles' Creed.
A look at what it means to do outreach that facilitates transformation, using John 9 as a basis for our work as a church.
A look at the life of discipleship through the lens of church growth and the call of Peter to care for Jesus's people.
A Look at John 4 and the story of the Woman at the Well as blueprint for what it looks like to live a lifestyle of worship.
This series introduces a new Strategic Plan for First Church, with this sermon centering on the vision.
A Look at the story of Ruth through the lens of Jesus's genealogy that focuses on the redemption that we seek in advent.
A Look at Joshua 2 and 6 and the role that Rahab played in the history of Israel -- and more importantly the role that God played in redeeming her life.
A look at Genesis 38 and the story of Tamar gives us a better understanding of the work that Christ did simply by being born into the family that he chose to be born into.
This series follows the 5 women named in Matthew's Genealogy of Jesus, looking at how they all went from bad company to redeemed foremothers of Israel's Messiah.
This sermon looks at Luke 17:11-19, particularly paying attention to how we are empowered to heal from and overcome the condition of bitterness in our hearts.
A Look At 1 Thessalonians 5:4-11, primarily focusing on Paul's exhortation for the Thessalonians to be awake and sober and what this says to our culture of addiction.
A look at Matthew 6:25-34 and how it relates to anxiety. Today's sermon features a special time of contemplation at the end led by my dear friend Mary Weden.
This is the beginning of a sermon series on Mental Health and scripture that talks about depression.
This sermon begins a stewardship series focused on the invitations of Jesus. This week we look at Jesus's invitation from Matthew 11:25-30, and how the call to come to Jesus is lived out through the stewardship of our prayers and our presence.
This sermon focuses on Numbers 22-24, looking at how sometimes it feels like the world is conspiring to betray us, and how God is active in the background to bless us through the mess.
A Look at Numbers 14 and how Moses's reaction to the rebellion of the Israelites shows us how we can deal with the betrayal that we face from our communities.
This sermon looks at the betrayal of the spies that Moses sent into the promised land in Numbers 13, and how we begin to heal when our inner circle stabs us in the back.
This sermon looks at Numbers 12 and the betrayal of Moses by his siblings, and then looks at how Moses's response shows us how to heal from the betrayals that we face from our own families.
This is the first sermon in a series that explores the theme of human betrayal in the book of Numbers. We start off by looking at the promise of God's faithfulness and desire to bring us peace in Numbers 6:22-27
A look at Jesus's command to "Be Perfect" in Matthew 5 and how we are called to live our lives in light of that daunting task.
This sermon looks at the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25 and discusses the Wesleyan idea of Sanctifying Grace
This sermon focuses on Justifying Grace, and how God makes it "Just as if we'd never sinned" through faith in Jesus Christ.
This series looks at the activity of God through the Holy Spirit in the lives of human beings. The opening sermon focuses on the idea of Prevenient Grace as God's Spirit moving in our lives and pulling us towards Jesus before we are aware of it.
A look at the end of Paul's ministry in Acts 28 and how when a fire burns out it leaves fertile ground for something new to grow.
A look at Paul's time in Athens in Acts 17 as the backbone of our evangelistic efforts here in the modern world.
A look at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 and how Peter's declaration there sets the precedent that there the only requirements for membership in the community of Jesus are to believe in him and to walk away from the worship of false gods.
This sermon looks at Acts 10 as the opening of the gospel to the entire world. This major shift changes the world forever, and changes the way that we are called to see and interact with the world around us.
A look at the conversion of Saul in Acts 9, and how he became the agent to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Continuing into Acts 8, this sermon looks at how the Holy Spirit is the critical and uncontrollable variable that spreads the Gospel message.
A Look at the Martyrdom of Stephen as both the catalyst that sends the movement of Jesus outside of the walls of Jerusalem as well as the model for our own behavior when we face conflict.
A look at Acts 5 and the contrasting activity between the physical temple and the temple of believers in the new Jesus Community
A Look at the generosity of the community of faith in Acts 4 and how that generosity creates the environment for the spark of the Holy Spirit to move and transform communities.
A Pentecost Sermon that explores Acts 2 as the defining moment that sparks the movement of the Jesus community.
Looking at Acts 1:8-14, this sermon looks at the idea of liminal space and the time period between the ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The space between two states of being is often where God does the best work of preparing us for the road ahead.
This begins a sermon series that travels through the Book of Acts, specifically focusing on the elements that allowed the Jesus movement to spread across the world like a wild fire.
After a month long delay due to my paternity leave, here is the recording from Easter Sunday. The sermon looks at Acts 10 and how it promises that Jesus is enough for us, and that we are enough for him.
A look at the final days of Jesus's life from Luke 22-23, seeing how Jesus's wounding has enabled us to become wounded healers ourselves.
A at John 12:1-8 and how this peculiar worship experience points us towards how we are called to be the church in the world today.
An Exposition of Luke 15 that specifically looks at the call of the church to be a place of healing for those in need.
This message focuses on Luke 13:1-9 and the state of the American Church as we move through the modern age.
This sermon focuses on Luke 13:31-35 and our deep need to not only surrender our own lives to Christ, but the requirement of the church to be a place that provides healing.
A sermon based on Luke Chapter 4, taking a look at the temptation of Christ and how that relates to our own lives as we wander through the Desert
This is a special Ash Wednesday sermon that focuses in on what it means for us to be called dust and how God uses the dust to paint beautiful things.
Pastor Jeff Brinkman brings this series on Micah 6:8 home with this sermon on walking humbly with God.
A Continuation of a 3 part series on Micah 6:8 which deals with the command to "love mercy."
The beginning of a series on Micah 6:6-8. This sermon focuses on the command to Do Justice, and what that means for us as a church today.
This sermon is an exposition on Acts 16, highlighting the spiritual discipline of Worship and how it transforms our lives as followers of Jesus.
A sermon that explores the spiritual discipline of service and how we are called to live a life of service as followers of Jesus in this broken world.
This is a New Years Day sermon that focuses on Psalm 119 and the practice of Scripture Meditation
A deep dive into Judges 6 and how "The Lord is Peace" is a call for us to embrace the inside job of bringing peace into our lives and world through the power of Christ in us.
This sermon is a reflection on the divine name, particularly focusing on what it tells us about God's nature and why that is good news for us today.
A Message by Pastor Jeff Brinkman about the story of Hagar and how God truly is a God who sees us.
The beginning of a new Advent Sermon Series that explores names given to God throughout the Old Testament and how they point to the person of Jesus Christ. This week's episode explores El-Shaddai - God Almighty - and how that name is good news for both the Patriarchs of the Old Testament and us today.
A final sermon in our Grief Care series based on the book of Lamentations. This sermon focuses on the final piece of the healing process: Time.
A continuation of our series on grief care that focuses on the importance of talking in the grieving process.
An exploration of the first step of moving through grief: Tears. In this message we look at how the Bible actually prescribes weeping as a response to evil and suffering.
This message opens up a series on Biblical lament and the grieving process, focusing on Lamentations 1
This final sermon in a series on stewardship focuses on the stewardship of money, particularly the relationship between humans and material wealth.
A discussion around spiritual gifts and how we are called to use them in order to accomplish the mission of God in the world.
An exploration of the Stewardship of time, particularly focusing on spiritual disciplines as a means of using our time wisely.
This sermon introduces the theme of Stewardship by looking at Genesis 1 and 2 in order to unpack the human vocation and how God is calling us to live in our world.
A Look at the end of the Biblical Story and the final marriage of heaven and earth as our ultimate hope.
A look at what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is and how we are called to live out the message of "Good News for all"
Looking at the theme of Exile, both in the life of Israel an in the broader story of humanity, this sermon seeks to answer the question: How do we live as exiles in this world?
An Overview of the rise of the Kingdom of Israel and the vision of God's kingdom that is ushered in through the life, death, resurrection, and return of Christ.
An overview of the Biblical Theme of Law, particularly focusing on the function of the law, it's fulfillment in Christ, and what its role is in our lives today.
A Survey of Exodus 1-18, highlighting the theme of Redemption and how Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment and embodiment of God's redemptive work in the world.
A look at Genesis 12-50, specifically focusing on the theme of covenant and how God makes promises to humanity for the purpose of furthering his mission to bless the nations of the world
An overview of the theme of creation, and how it leads to and finds its ultimate culmination in the person and work of Jesus Christ
A Sermon about how Paul's opening of the letter to the Philippians shows us the attitude that we need to have in order to be a people who overflow with love
Based on Paul's opening to the letter to the Ephesians, this episode seeks to determine what it means to be chosen, redeemed, and renewed by God, and what it looks like for the church to live out that identity in the world.
This episode is a sermon based on Pauls opening remarks in his first letter to the church in Corinth. What we find in 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 is a stunning offering of who we are: a gifted group of persons whom God has great purposes for. The greatest threat to our effectiveness in living out our gifts is conflict, so we must find peace amongst ourselves in order to truly live out our identity as an assembly of gifted people.
The opening of a sermon series called Salutations which examines some of the ways that Paul says "Hello" to various churches throughout the ancient world. This sermon comes from Romans 1:1-10 and discusses what it would look like if we live out our faith in such a way that the world couldn't help but talk about it.
This is my first Sermon at First UMC of Fort Pierce and it is based on Luke 10:1-20. I hope that this message stirs your soul for holy trouble!