From The Pulpit of DUMC

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#28. Unleashed for God - Rev. Shane Page Sep 23, 2019

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This Sunday we continue our series on a few of the stories of the book of Genesis. This week we will hear the story of someone who, at long last, responds in Genesis to the voice of God in the right and proper way: Abram, who would later become Abraham. It is from his radical response to God that Abram would become designated the father of all those who respond with a similar act of faith. What lessons can we derive from Abram's call? This Sunday let's consider the truths we can derive from our primary morning lesson. You may read Genesis 12:1-9 in preparation.

#27. The Land of Confusion - Rev. Shane Page Sep 16, 2019

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This Sunday we continue our exploration of a few of the foundational stories of the book of Genesis, arriving this week at one of the strangest passages in the book itself: the episode of the Tower of Babel in (chapter 11). Human beings unite to build one common city with one common language using one common technology, and then God, sensing the danger in the project, foils their plans by scattering humanity into a plurality of languages. Why? What does the enigmatic story want to teach us? Let's think on it this Sunday

#26. Needing A Bigger Boat - Rev. Shane Page Sep 09, 2019

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This Sunday we continue our brief tour during September through the book of Genesis, looking at a few of the memorable or perhaps foundational stories of the opening book of the Torah. Last week we revisited the fall of Adam and Eve. This week we move to the sixth chapter, which contains the infamous story of Noah and his Ark. There is in the character of Noah, and in the story itself, great truths worthy of imitation; and yet there are also, according to ancient rabbinic Judaism, other truths lying well beneath the surface of the text also worthy of our imitation. Noah, according to the rabbis, leads at once by great and by questionable example. He's a man of great virtue and of great flaws. This Sunday let's consider what the great minds of Jewish tradition meant.

#25. Happy Fault - Rev. Shane Page Sep 03, 2019

Show notes

The youth have gone back to school and we will go back to the basics. For the month of September we will begin a new sermon series "Back to the Basics" during which we will explore a few of the fundamental stories of the book of Genesis, the stories you would have learned, perhaps, in Sunday school as a child. Let's hear these stories again as if for the first time. This Sunday we go back to the garden of Eden and revisit the moment humanity rebelled against its creator, the story Christianity often refers to as The Fall. The serpent tempts Adam and Eve with a question "Did God say?" and it all goes downhill from there. And yet tragic as this moment is, it is also paradoxically the origin of our greatest gift. Check out Genesis 3:1-21 in preparation for Sunday.

#24. Secret Savior - Rev. Jim Humphries Aug 26, 2019

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When we hear the words “hospital” or “hospice,” we envision places that offer tremendous care, compassion, and healing for others. Chances are, we may not see “hospitality” in quite the same way, though all three words have the same origin. The Bible urges us to rethink our definition of hospitality beyond just offering a friendly smile or handshake to others. Biblical hospitality is rooted in genuine compassion (and even healing) for the stranger, for we see God’s image in their eyes. As we complete our sermon series this Sunday on “Biblical Hospitality,” we will see how Jesus himself addresses the issue. Jesus will help us see that the Old Testament commandment to be hospitable to the stranger is a personal invitation from God, with eternal consequences. To prepare for worship this Sunday, please read Matthew 25.

#23. A Strange God - Rev. Shane Page Aug 20, 2019

Show notes

This week we continue our August sermon series on the biblical virtue of hospitality. As a virtue, hospitality is the fruit of discipline, a discipline formed by a set of habits until those habits become second nature. It takes effort and courage to exercise biblical hospitality. In contrast to our domesticated, sentimental associations, biblical hospitality belongs to those who risk opening up their lives to the presence of those unlike them. Abraham, as we saw last week, the first model of biblical hospitality, took the risk of opening his home to three unexpected visitors right after establishing the Jewish covenant. The first act of the new covenant was an act of radical hospitality, and it was through Abraham's willingness to open himself up to the presence of strangers that he and Sarah received the promise of a firstborn son. This Sunday we will reflect on one of the most peculiar commandments in the Old Testament: "Love the stranger...for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt." It's a commandment with profound implications for the people of God. Let's think about why.

#22. God Interrupted - Rev. Shane Page Aug 12, 2019

Show notes

This Sunday we continue our study of the biblical concept of hospitality, the purpose of which, we hope to discover, is a far cry from our contemporary notions of the same concept. This week we will explore a passage that sets the foundation of this biblical virtue for the rest of the Bible, the story being Abraham's welcome of the three guests who visited him unannounced in Genesis 18. There is, of course, a surface reading of the passage, and then there is the ancient rabbinical reading of this passage, the latter being far more provocative and instructive than the former. Let's therefore take seriously what our Scriptures and our Tradition have to say about hospitality, why it matters, and why we need to recover it. (And as preparatory exercise, consider reading Genesis 17 and 19, which time and space will prohibit us from hearing on Sunday. The placement of our story in Genesis 18 is as instructive as the story itself).

#21. You're Invited - Rev. Alexis Coleman Aug 05, 2019

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When is the last time you received a really beautiful invitation? What did it look like? Who was it from? What were you expected to wear? What were you expected to bring? This weekend we begin our August sermon series on Hospitality. Hospitality always begins with an invitation, but maybe not the type of invitation we expect. You can read more in Luke 14: 1, 7-14. This is your invitation: Come, Worship, and Be Filled by our Gracious Host. You Are Invited!

#20. Because Grace - Rev. Jim Humphries Jul 29, 2019

Show notes

It is said that we only get one chance to make a first impression. This Sunday, as we finish up our sermon series on the subject of "Sabbath," we will see how Jesus chose to begin his public ministry in Nazareth, how his words give us a good first impression for the type of Lord he will be, and the radical kingdom he ushers upon the earth. Sabbath is a key component of this kingdom. Have you ever thought of Sabbath as radical? Read Leviticus 25 and Luke 4 to prepare for worship this Sunday

#19. The Conversion of the Hands - Rev. Shane Page Jul 22, 2019

Show notes

This Sunday our sermon series on the Sabbath continues. This weekend we will reflect on one of the earliest healing stories in the ministry of Jesus, which occurs, according to Mark, on the Sabbath day. That Jesus healed on the Sabbath was a major source of conflict among the most devoted practitioners of Torah. In our passage this Sunday we see Jesus healing a man with a withered hand, doing so to the chagrin of the religious authorities in attendance at the local synagogue. There is, I think, something symbolic happening in this story. Perhaps we can think of this scene almost as a parable on the nature of the Christian life itself, a nature to which the Sabbath points us.

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