A place for my thoughts and sermons.
The last sermon in our Let Yourself Be series is “Be Hopeful. ” Our series comes together in hope. How does hope help us? What are we able to do with hope? How does hope bring us together? Can you let yourself be hopeful?
Our scripture reading comes from Romans 8:12-25.
The third sermon in our Let Yourself Be series is “Be Kind. ” Today we have an example of people who weren’t kind. How do we learn to be kind? How do we struggle to show kindness? Does a kind word make a difference in today’s world? Can you let yourself be kind?
Our scripture reading comes from Genesis 25:19-34.
The second sermon in our Let Yourself Be series is “Be Full of Grace. ” It explores the gift of grace. What does grace mean to you? How do we show grace to others? As we explore grace, we further explore our call to be together in Christ. Can you let yourself be full of grace?
Our scripture reading comes from Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30.
Finding Your Faith will be the sermon series from July 30th through August 20th. It will look at how faith can shape our lives. We will look at what we have faith in, as well as how much faith we have. Faith can be strong and it can be weak. But faith in Christ will always carry us through.
July 30th – The Kingdom Is…
Scripture: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
We explore what the Kingdom of God is. Where is it? What is it like? Can we really understand?
August 6th – YOU feed them
Scripture: Matthew 14:13-21
Jesus calls the disciples to have faith in what they are called to do. Even when the task seems impossible.
August 13th – On the Sea
Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33
We are called to have faith always, but our faith isn’t always strong. How do we handle weak faith?
August 20th – As You Wish
Scripture: Matthew 15:10-28
What does having great faith mean? What does it look like? Jesus gives us an unlikely example.
So, I thought I would say something here about firsts, as today was my first Sunday preaching at three new churches. It will never again be my first Sunday at any of those churches. Just like the first sermon I gave, I won’t ever give my first sermon again. I can undoubtedly say that I felt much more at ease today than I did with my first sermon. If you’re curious, you can watch it here. You can listen to toady’s sermon if you want a comparison.
What struck me toady was that today felt like a natural continuation of my ministry. I wasn’t starting over. I wasn’t “fresh off the boat” as I was in the video above. No, I was in a new place, but I was still doing God’s work. And that really hit me. As I was sitting here, I realized that I had grown in many different ways over the last few years. I had left behind the trepidation I had when I had first begun. I was there to preach God’s Word to God’s people. I realized that I had grown in my confidence, because I had grown in God. The friendly people of the United Methodist Church had helped me along through many firsts, and here I was today, confident because God’s children had helped me along. And I’m confident that as long as God calls me, I will follow.
For me, this is amazing. For those of you who don’t know, I have high anxiety. How high? My loving mother-in-law used to try to make sure I always had an isle seat whenever we went to see a show, so that if I wouldn’t feel trapped, and could make a quick exit if needed. I panicked at lots of things, especially firsts. But today? I was greeted with warm smiles, kind words, and loving hand shakes. I was welcomed, not into a buildings, but into families. My anxiety didn’t jump out and tell me to run. I was in a familiar place, because even if I was in a new church, I was still in God’s house, with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I’ve come to learn that because of that, I can be “at home” in the church.
I may still get a little nervous with my “firsts” but I’ve found that as I’ve gotten older, that many of my firsts now are opportunities to get to know brothers and sisters I just haven’t had the chance to get to know yet. So with one first behind me, I look forward to the next. Talk to you again soon. God bless.
Pastor Cam
This marks the first sermon in our Let Yourself Be series. “Be Humble” explores the call from Jesus to humble ourselves as we serve. As we celebrate our many blessings, how can we remain humble? How do we follow the example that Christ gives us for humility? Can you let yourself be humble?
Our scripture reading comes from Matthew 10:40-42.
For our latest series, Let Yourself Be, we will be taking four weeks to explore letting ourselves be what God needs us to be. We explore humility, grace, kindness, and hope. Will you let yourself be all these things?
July 2nd – Be Humble
Scripture – Matthew 10:40-42
We explore Jesus’ call to serve humbly.
July 9th – Be Full of Grace
Scripture – Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Giving and receiving the grace of God.
July 16th – Be Kind
Scripture – Genesis 25:19-34
An example of what kindness isn’t and learning from it.
July 23rd – Be Hopeful
Scripture – Romans 8:12-25
In hope we were saved, but do we keep in that hope?
As we finish our Together series, we come to “Be Together.” We are called to be together. How are we to join together? What does it mean to be together in Christ?
Our scripture reading comes from Genesis 2:18-22
Welcome to the new website! This is an active project, so keep an eye out for new updates.
I’m happy to have you here, and if you have any suggestions, feel free to drop me a line. I’ll be adding all my sermons here, and this will soon be the feed for Google Play and iTunes. I plan on having all my sermons here, along with any notes and any longer posts answering questions you might have. Please feel free to use the contact page to use any of the many methods of getting in touch.
I will be working on getting many of my previous sermons posted here in the near future. Keep a lookout, and God Bless.
Pastor Cam
As we continue in our Together series, we come this week to Grow Together. We explore how we grow together with each other and in God. How do we actually grow together? And what does reupholstering a chair have to do with it? Join us in this Father’s Day message!
Our scripture reading comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
