03/24/2025
Matthew 24: One More Thing...
I sometimes stumble on old documents I’ve created but have completely forgotten about. I cannot remember why I created them or what purpose they were originally supposed to serve. While researching Matthew 24 on my computer I came across a little something I wrote for my previous congregation. Again, I have no idea why I put it together, but it caught my attention.
Despite What You Might Have Heard…
If you want to know more about the heart of God—
If you want to experience the forgiving love of Jesus
If you want to put down roots into an ancient—
and always relevant—faith
For you and for your whole family—
Then you are welcome to come be with us
At Trinity On Jackson. (Period.) (Exclamation Point.)
A United Methodist Community of Faith.
I don’t think it would be much of a stretch to apply those same words to us here at Carmel Church:
If you want to know more about the heart of God—
If you want to experience the forgiving love of Jesus
If you want to put down roots into an ancient,
and always relevant, faith
For you and for your whole family—
Then you are welcome to come be with us
At Carmel United Methodist Church. (Exclamation Point.)
I don’t know how we’d use it, but I like it.
It’s an invitation I would definitely be interested in if I wasn’t already here.
Archived Posts
Blessed People Bless People
But that Blessing Can Come with a Cost as Well
I’ve enclosed several insights I got while I dug into the scripture from Genesis 12 last Sunday. For you who love Bible background here’s a few thoughts to share:
Back and Forth with Chat GPT
Many of you know that I’ve found a new consultant to bounce my ideas off in regard to preaching. My good buddy Chat GPT and I sometimes disagree—often miscommunicate—but usually come up with some fruitful illustrations.
One More Thing About Becoming Wholly Human
I was talking Sunday about the work of Hare and Woods and their idea of ‘the survival of the friendliest.’ Essentially, they conclude that “our greatest evolutionary advantage wasn't that we could do everything ourselves. It was that we could do things together.”
Here’s a preview of our congregation’s Core Values
In the coming weeks we will be exploring the importance of presence, prayers, gifts, service, witness, and growth in grace. These are at the heart of what we commit to when we join a Wesleyan grace-led church like ours. But we choose to broaden them out and state them in a new way…
The Biblical prayer we don’t know what to do with
Psalm 137 is written by people who have experienced catastrophic loss.
They have been conquered...
Patience and Trust
Sunday, in my benediction (which traditional folks did not hear) I talked about the Marshmallow Test. The original results of that test with children was that those who could delay gratification did better in life than those who could not.
Gandhi and the Sugar
I wasn’t preaching Sunday, Reverend Jackie Chandler was. And she talked about the power of influence you get when you practice what you preach. This famous illustration came to mind. It fits Jackie’s points quite well. Enjoy!