Beulah Land

“Beulah Land” is the land we have never seen but for which we long. It is the not yet realized bright future that God has in store for us. The term originally described the restored homeland to which God was bringing the exiles, but it describes far more the future we have in...
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The God Who Never Gives Up

Although we may mess up in life, God never gives up on us. Though we may wander off from God, God keeps searching for us and cares for us like a shepherd. God persists, in spite of the world’s forgetfulness, to bring about God’s aims for good.
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Keep on Anyway

Many of the key servants of God in the Bible – Moses, Ezekiel, and ultimately Jesus – met enormous opposition and did not look like they would succeed. They kept on anyway. Rather than being discouraged by defeats, we can keep on in faith, knowing that God is at work.
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Our Time of Exile

The closest Biblical parallel to our pandemic experience is the Exile, when the people of Judah were separated from their temple, their homeland, and their way of life. Exile is a time for self-reflection and above all for remembering who we are called to be as God’s people.
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The Outsiders Are Welcomed In

The shepherds and the wise men were “outsiders” in their day, not fully accepted by the most righteous Jews. But now, as it is said in Ephesians 2:13, “You who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Through Christ we, though unworthy, are welcomed into the...
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The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Jesus is the gift who lasts forever. He is the gift that saturates our lives, bodies, and souls.
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God in the Rough Places

This has been a rough year in many respects. But the Christmas story is precisely about God entering into the rough places and transforming human lives, giving us purpose, guidance, empowerment, and hope.
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Waiting for a Cloudburst

Although we are chosen for blessing, we often hit difficult times. In such times we need to be attentive to God, so as to be receptive to what God will do.
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You’ve Been Chosen

God chooses us in Christ to have a wondrous destiny. We need to respond to God’s choice and enter into the eternal destiny God has for us.
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Chosen by God

Mary, like the whole people of Israel before her, was chosen not because she merited choice but simply because God chose her in grace. God likewise chooses to save and bless us out of pure grace.
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Chosen One

Abraham was chosen by God, and the ultimate “chosen one” is Jesus. (“Here is my servant . . . my chosen” Isaiah 42:1) They are chosen however not merely to enjoy God’s blessing but principally to bring blessing to others. We are chosen to be instruments of God’s blessing to the...
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From Distress to Thanksgiving

We give thanks to God for leading us through the challenges of these days.
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Reaching God’s Goal of Peace

The real battles we are to fight are spiritual ones – with the aim of overcoming our sinful inclinations to achieve God’s vision of shalom, for ourselves, our church, and our world.
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Rise Up and Build

In the aftermath of the election, we have a call to come together to work for God’s purposes and build a better world.
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Victors in the Strife

The real victors in the Biblical view are those who win the spiritual battles of love over hate, righteousness over evil, and life over death.
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The Lamb Wins

Christ wins the ultimate victory through self-sacrificial love.
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The Battle Is God’s

We are called to trust in how God is at work.
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God’s Good Guys

We like to think of ourselves as the good guys and our enemies as the bad guys; but rather than imagining that God is on our side, we need to get ourselves on God’s side!
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Grounded in Faith

As we enter the “voting season”, let us mark our ballots with our faith in God at the forefront. Remember, politics must not shape our faith, faith must shape our politics.
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Angel Armies

God works with a spiritual power and grace that far surpass our human schemes.
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Raids and a Lost Ark

Human beings often want to manipulate God; but God is sovereign, and leads us to humbly align ourselves with God’s purposes.
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When Faith Doesn’t Work

When we are trusting in God and meet only frustration in life, it is time not to give up on faith but to go deeper in faith.
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Victory for the Underdog

When our problems are far larger than we are, we can nevertheless trust in God.  Real victory in life comes not for the powerful but for those who have faith.
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The Walls Come Tumbling Down

God can lead us through seemingly impenetrable barriers in life.
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The Lord Is My Banner

Against great challenges and threats, we find our strength in God, and we find critical support in one another! In the church, we are “under God’s banner” as we meet today’s battles.
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No Worries

We are freed from anxiety as we trust in the providence of God and devote ourselves to God.
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Stress as a Gift

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxieties on God, because he cares for you. I Peter 5:6–7
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All in God’s Time

Jesus provides a powerful example of a life that is passionate but without anxiety; he trusts in all to unfold in God’s time.
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Keep Up Your Courage

We can keep up our courage no matter what, when we know that God is with us.
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Songs in the Night

In rough circumstances, we can continue to praise God and make a witness for God.
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Confronting the Giant

God empowers us to face the giants of our time.
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God Enables Our Steps on Rough Ground

People of faith are able to grow in spirit, rather than despair, when meeting trouble.
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It Is Well with My Soul

In the midst of severe trials, God sustains our spirit in hope as we look to God in faith.
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God Is at Work for Good

God is working in ways beyond what we may understanding at the time, weaving everything according to God’s purpose.
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How to Have Faith When You Are in a Serious Jam

When things keep getting worse, keep on trusting, for God is yet at work.
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Are These Bad Times or Good?

People often complain about what they lack and are always craving more. Our perspective changes when we join in God’s purposes and understand that we are journeying toward God’s promises.
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Is the Lord Among Us?

Even when we have experienced God’s providence, it is easy to lose heart when new challenges arise; we need to persevere in faith and support one another in the process.
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Day by Day

In a time of deprivation and uncertainty, with no clarity how this is all going to work out, we are led to trust God on a daily basis and keep on in faith. God supplies our need, supremely through Jesus, the bread of life.
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Appropriately Aggrieved

Do we get “riled up” about things that really should get us fired up? The book of Jonah challenges us to be “appropriately aggrieved,” and become passionate about the purposes of God.
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That All May Be Saved

God’s desire is for all to turn and be saved from sin and death.
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Out of the Deep

When we find ourselves deep in trouble, it can be a time of coming afresh into the presence of God.
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When God Calls

Sometimes God calls us in ways that leave us feeling we want to run in the opposite direction, as did Jonah! But in fact God would lead us in directions that bring fulfillment.
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We Are Not Forsaken

Easter is the movement from forsakenness – the feeling that God is absent – to the triumph of God’s redeeming power!
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Into the Hands of God

In the moment of greatest challenge and finally in the moment of death, we can entrust ourselves with confidence into God’s hands.
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A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

Using Psalm 46 as inspiration, Dr. Palmer reminds us how we can look to God in faith during the darkest of times.
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Nothing

For this year’s Youth Sunday, Katie Kulis delivers a heartfelt message about shaken faith and the love of God.
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Paid in Full

People often struggle with financial debt; how wonderful if it were all suddenly paid off! We struggle even more with our “spiritual debt”; but through Christ we are set free.
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Keep Showing Up

This sermon was delivered as part of the 2020 United Methodist Women’s Sunday celebrating the women of our church and involving members across the church.
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Forgiveness that Changes Lives

The first amazing word of Jesus from the cross is to answer terrible human wrong with forgiveness. He invites us to receive and display that kind of mercy in our own lives.
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Set Right through Faith

How are we finally “set right” with God? We can never quite put ourselves right through our own efforts, but the answer comes to us in Jesus Christ.
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