March 10, 2025 • 21 mins
Exodus 1:15-20
The story of Shiphrah and Puah show two women who were willing to do what God wants instead of what Pharaoh wants. As a result, the Israelites multiply and become stronger. What does God ask of us? To bring 10% of what we have to him. Imagine if we all actually did that? We would not have any issues of funding in our church. None. But while we work to that point, imagine if just 2 of us who are not giving do start tithing? What happens then? And what happens when we start tithing to our relationship with money? We get a peace we haven’t had before. The conference is sure learning that.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Matt Nelson (00:04):
Welcome to the sermon podcast from First United Methodist
Church in downtown Bentonville.
If you have questions related towhat you hear today, or just want to
find out more about the ministries atFirst United Methodist Church, please
visit us online at fumcbentonville.
org, or check us out onFacebook, Instagram, or TikTok.
Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris: Welcome to Worship, my friends. (00:25):
undefined
My name is Michelle Morris, and I'mthe lead pastor here, and we are in
the last week of our 2x2, the Miracleof Multiplication series, and today
we're gonna see when 2x5 equals 5, 000And to get us in that frame of mind,
let's hear now from the Gospel of John.
(00:47):
After this, Jesus went across the Seaof Galilee, that is, the Tiberias Sea.
A large crowd followed him becausethey had seen the miraculous
signs he had done among the sick.
Jesus went up a mountain andsat there with his disciples.
It was nearly time forPassover, the Jewish festival.
Jesus looked up and saw thelarge crowd coming toward him.
(01:11):
He asked Philip, where will webuy food to feed these people?
Jesus said this to test him, for healready knew what he was going to do.
Philip replied, more than half a year'ssalary worth of food wouldn't be enough
for each person to have even a little bit.
One of his disciples, Andrew, SimonPeter's brother, said, A youth here has
(01:34):
five barley loaves and two fish, butwhat good is that for a crowd like this?
Jesus said, Have the people sit down.
There was plenty of grass there.
They sat down, aboutfive thousand of them.
Then Jesus took the bread.
When he had given thanks, he distributedit to those who were sitting there.
He did the same with the fish, eachgetting as much as they wanted.
(01:56):
When they had plenty to eat, he said tohis disciples, Gather up the leftover
pieces so that nothing will be wasted.
So they gathered them and filledtwelve baskets with the pieces of
the five barley loaves that had beenleft over by those who had eaten.
This is the word of Godfor the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Let us pray.
(02:17):
Lord, open our hearts, our minds, andour eyes that we might see and know
the word you have for us this day.
In your holy name we pray.
Amen.
So how do miracles happen?
This is a question I getfairly often as a pastor.
And the short answer to that question ismiracles happen when the power of God and
(02:41):
the free will of humanity meet together.
When we're both at the table.
Just like in this miracle, it is God'sblessing of the loaves and the fish,
and the fact that loaves and fish werebrought forward that created the miracle.
But of course, scholars will spend alot of time trying to figure out the
(03:04):
mechanics of how these loaves and fishbecame enough food to feed 5, 000.
And I want to just say, youknow, it's the creator of the
world we're dealing with here.
I don't think loaves and fishare going to be a problem.
But I also want to acknowledgethat really God does invite us to
bring our free will to the table.
That really God does ask usto bring something forward
(03:27):
to make a miracle happen.
And so one of the things that is oftensuggested about this miracle is that
there was always enough food in the crowd.
What had to change were people's hearts.
What had to change wastheir own willingness to put
their piece into the basket.
So as the basket is being passedaround, what is happening is that
more is being added to the basket.
(03:50):
There was always enough there.
It's just the invitation had tobe made and the hearts had to be
changed for that sharing to occur.
It takes trust and faith.
To make belief a reality.
So, I want us to kind of think about wherewe've been over the course of this series.
(04:11):
We started out with Noah landing theboat and immediately sacrificing animals.
Which seemed like a crazy thingto do when those animals are
supposed to repopulate the earth.
And yet, Noah trusted enough inGod and God's provision to do that.
Then we talked about the widow whooffered her two pennies that seemed
(04:31):
like such a small gift, but Jesusrecognized the vast generosity that
was present in that small gift.
And then last week we talked aboutShiphrah and Puah who went against the
orders of the Pharaoh to do what was rightby God and who trusted that that would
work out somehow anyway, and from thatact came vast multiplication of a people.
(04:56):
And now we're going to talk about thatin all of those is a recognition of the
abundance that was present all along.
Concrete abundance.
So to give us an illustration ofthat we're going to talk about what
we are often invited to add intothe basket as it passes around.
(05:17):
And we're gonna boilit down to one dollar.
There you go, you're ready.
One dollar.
Let's talk about when we drop onedollar in the basket that goes around.
And this is both the literal basket andthe proverbial online basket as well.
Let's talk about what happens withevery one dollar in this church.
(05:37):
So with one dollar given to thischurch, 59 cents of it employs
I don't know about y'all, but I'm feelinga little overwhelmed right now with all
the news of people losing their jobs.
But let's remember that you,you, keep 10 people employed.
And let's talk aboutwhat those 10 people do.
(05:58):
We have three who work in administration.
That's our facilities manager.
And we are not going to know untilthe end of this year how much
money it saved us to have a fulltime facilities manager on deck.
But I can tell you that trusteesis running under budget right now,
and they never run under budget.
So that's a good sign.
(06:18):
I can also tell you that ouraccountant has already saved thousands
of dollars by asking questions.
Why are I don't know, why arewe spending money on that?
And then our Communication Director,I want to celebrate that, um, we have
dramatically increased the number ofpeople who are online watching us.
(06:40):
And that's been small tweaks thatour Communication Director has made
throughout the course of the yearthat I know have contributed to that.
In addition, he also put togetherthe videos and is printing the
materials for the Lenten seriesthat we're making available again
to any United Methodist Church.
Who wants it for free?
You employ three peoplein children and youth.
(07:01):
Now if we break this down into 20year increments, so 0 to 20, 21 to
40, etc. Our 0 to 20 year olds arethe largest population in this.
church by far, which is stunning.
I don't know another church that canlay claim to that, but that means it
takes a lot of work and it especiallytakes a lot of work to make sure that
(07:24):
those kids are not lost in the sea.
So if you wander one of these hallwaysaround here, you'll see pictures
with Ms. Allison and each individualkid that she goes and has lunch
with over the course of the year.
And just think about the regularthings that they do in any given week.
They run the nursery, they organizeSunday school, have Wednesday night
(07:45):
programs, have SALT for the youth inthe afternoons on Sundays, organize and
carry through with confirmation, organizemeetups, have events such as lock ins,
run VBS, take kids to assembly andVeritas and Refuge and OMP, and this year
have added a new youth band that meets.
every other Sunday and starting thismonth we kick off youth leadership
(08:09):
which will be myself and Lexi workingwith a small group of youth to nurture
them in growing as leaders in ourworld and in the Christian faith.
And that will also meet everyother week, opposite the band.
And then we have also those thatare employed in music and worship.
I'm gonna discount me and Ray,because we'll be our own category.
(08:31):
So that's Matt and Ken, in particular,as well as a number of Musicians that
are on contract for us, and they,y'all, kill it every week, every week.
And not only that, I tell mymusicians over and over, and you've
heard me say this, that people mayor may not remember the sermon,
(08:52):
but they will remember the songs.
And they walk out of this placesinging the songs and carrying the
message and the theology with them.
They are the true spreadersof the gospel from this place.
And I'm grateful for that.
So, so grateful for that.
And I will also add that thisyear we did a songwriting retreat.
(09:12):
So we have original songs coming inthe Lenten series as a result of that.
And those we also made availableto any United Methodist Church.
And, I don't know if y'all have noticed,it's getting a little crowded in here.
So we have a new worship servicecoming this year as well.
And then there's the pastoral staff,Ray and I, and feel free any time
(09:33):
to stop by and ask us to share withyou what we do in any given week.
It's more than just Sunday,which we get asked all the time.
What are you doing?
It's not Sunday.
Thanks.
But in short, it is to order the church tosee the vision that God has for us and to
empower the people to enact that vision.
So that's 59 cents of every dollar.
(09:55):
23 cents of every dollar goes to themaintenance of the building and the
administrative costs alongside of that.
Now let's talk about just what's goingto happen in this building this week.
Roughly 400 people will worship here.
We will educate more than 200 kidsbetween Sunday school and Explore
(10:16):
and Discover and We Friends.
We will feed between 200and 300 people a week.
There will be recovery meetings all week.
There will be counseling offered,scouts gathering here, 501c3s meet in
this building for free, and this weekthat includes the Master Gardeners.
We have events like Friday Fun.
(10:36):
knitting, the pancake supper thattakes place on Tuesday, and we offer
free parking for people who workdowntown all week, as well as those who
come downtown to eat at restaurants.
This building and its grounds areboth a training ground for the people
of God and a gift to the community.
So that work can happen andtransformation can go on.
(10:59):
Eight cents of this dollar willchange lives in our community.
Remember that we were a foundingarm of Beer and Hymns and we
continue to support Beer and Hymnsin many ways throughout the year.
And they have raised 420, 000for non profits in the area.
We have our school partnerships, which doteacher appreciation throughout the year.
(11:23):
That has inspired many of you toserve as lunch buddies and greeters
at our two partner elementary schools.
We just this past week offered someservice projects that we take to Gateway.
These are kids who have to haveservice in order to graduate.
We take service projects over to them andwe act as their Supervising non profits
so they can still get service hours andget the credit that they need to graduate.
(11:48):
We will also organize a careerfair that will take place in April.
And that is specifically for the kidsat Gateway, so it's not as completely
overwhelming as the space at BHS.
And it's particularly geared for kidswho may or may not go to college.
And last year resulted insome jobs for those kids.
And then for our community, wewill have our Earth Day Fair
(12:11):
again at the end of April.
It is already grown.
There are more organizations going to beinvolved in it this year than in last.
We have a presence at Pride Day.
We have a faith walk group that doesdevotion and then walks the trails and
shares their faith out in the world.
We have a missional prayer groupthat prays every week for our
community and surrounding area andthe difference that can be made.
(12:35):
through God.
We have a choir that raises moneyfor scholarships for high school
students, and we are now hostingand leading and teaching lay
servant ministries classes which areempowering laity all across the state.
Eight cents.
And then ten cents.
Ten cents of every dollar goes tothe Greater United Methodist Church.
(12:57):
And let's just talk a minuteabout our denomination.
Gotten a lot of rough pressover the last few years.
But I think we need to stop andthink about what in the midst of
disaffiliation kept happening anyway.
First of all, conference ministriesin this state have continued to go on
including funding 200, 000 more reasons,which first looked at addressing childhood
(13:20):
hunger and has resulted in over 90percent of the United Methodist churches
in this state having a feeding ministry.
Over 90%.
Yes.
And now they're taking on childhoodliteracy and making sure that we don't
have a kid that gets out of thirdgrade that can't read in this state.
(13:40):
Yeah.
We support the Global Education Fund,which funds 748 schools, colleges,
universities, and seminaries in 69countries, including two in Arkansas,
Hendricks College, and PhilanderSmith, which is a historically
black college and university.
We have UMCOR, which you hear about alot, but I think you should know that
(14:02):
they are present in over 70 countriesand are known for being the first on
the ground in the case of disasters,or sometimes they're ahead of it.
And I say that and share with you thatwhen the Haiti earthquake happened in,
I believe it was 2010 or 2011, ReverendSam Dixon, who was the head of UMCOR,
and Reverend Clint Rabb, who was theDirector of Mission Volunteers for
(14:24):
UMCOR, both died in that earthquake.
And they didn't die because the earthquakehappened and then they showed up and
then something happened to them there.
They died because they were therewhen the earthquake happened.
They were already on the ground in Haiti.
We're already on the ground.
We have World Health Initiatives.
(14:44):
We have approximately 300 hospitalsand clinics in 27 countries, including
Methodist Le Bonheur, which islocated in Memphis, and which I must
say, saved my son's life when theydiscovered a heart condition that
several other cardiologists had missed.
They fixed it, and he's fine.
(15:06):
And we don't talk about it so muchanymore, but we were part of the
Imagine No Malaria campaign, whichofficially ended in 2024 and started
at the beginning of the 2000s.
It cut the deaths of malaria in half.
There are 60 million children, 60 millionchildren, who made it to adulthood.
(15:27):
Who wouldn't have?
Except that the United MethodistChurch was raising money
and getting nets purchased.
and doing malaria education in placesall over the world where malaria
was killing people right and left.
And the United Methodist Church, it'sa little hard to tell because all kinds
of things came in as a result of that,but we're responsible for somewhere
(15:49):
between one third and eighty percentof the funding for that program.
And we don't do itanymore, but here's why.
It's not that malaria's disappeared.
It's that in the course of the time thatwe did that work, Cottage industries
in Africa and other places wheremalaria is a real struggle sprung
up and they started making nets.
(16:09):
We had been importing nets tothose places, but as those cottage
industries sprung up, we quitimporting and started buying local.
And as a result of buying local, thoseindustries grew to the point where
they could be self sustaining, sonow they can take care of themselves.
Thank you very much.
We also lead the fight againstHIV and AIDS and many other
(16:32):
diseases around the world.
We have missionariesin a hundred countries.
We've met a couple of them a fewyears ago, David and Elizabeth
McCormick, but I want to share withyou an example of a missionary I met
in the Holy Land a few years ago.
She's a woman, she serves inPalestine, and she is a missionary
like Methodist missionaries are,where she's just there loving people.
(16:53):
Because she's just there lovingpeople, the Methodist Church is
present in places that a lot oftimes Christianity is not allowed.
We're just there to walk alongsidethe people and show them God's love.
And while she was there,she wears a collar.
Because it's a little odd to have awoman pastor roaming around over there.
She wears a collar, and she gotfollowed by this taxi driver one day.
(17:14):
She's walking back to her home, and he'sjust following along, following along.
She's looking, following along.
She's looking.
Finally, he says, Can Igive you a ride, please?
And she said, I don't have far to go.
It's okay.
And he said, No, please,please let me give you a ride.
Just, just let me do this.
So she got in the taxi, and he droveher the five blocks she had left to go.
(17:35):
And then he said, Thank you so muchfor letting me do that for you, Father.
Uh, what, what do I call you?
And she's like, Father's fine,mother's fine, friend's fine, whatever.
It works.
And then we are also still engaged in thefight for civil rights, in climate care,
(17:59):
in helping with global migrationpressures, in, Providing food
security around the worldand fighting for inclusion.
And, uh, about a week and a half ago,we joined the lawsuit against the
United States government to arguethat all churches and religious
organizations, whether you're Muslim,or Jewish, or Hindu, or whoever,
(18:23):
should have sanctuary status.
Ten cents.
How do miracles happen?
Apparently, one dollar at a time!
One dollar, as well as the myriad ofacts of service that were implicit
(18:44):
in everything that I mentioned.
The people who volunteer, the peoplewho give of their lives, the people who
offer to serve, who, the people who cometo the table with God, and make God's
miracles a reality around the world.
My friends, this worldfeels overwhelming a lot.
(19:06):
You turn on the television for abouta minute and you will be overwhelmed.
But I'm going to challenge us thatwe can choose what overwhelms us.
We can choose to be overwhelmedby everything that's going wrong.
Or we can choose to be overwhelmedby everything that's going right.
(19:33):
How many miracles can you be a part of?
How many lives can you change?
I promise you this.
Whatever you can give,will be a part of you.
of miracles,
(19:55):
whatever you can give, Godwill turn it into so much more.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Matt Nelson (20:08):
Thanks for listening to the Sermon Podcast from First United
Methodist Church in downtown Bentonville.
If you would like to let us know you werehere, follow the link below to connect.
To participate in worship through giving,you can give online at FUMCBentonville.
org or on Venmo @FUMCBentonville.
FUMCBentonville welcomes all.
(20:28):
Because we believe the communiontable is God's table, we invite
everyone into our church family.
We welcome and celebrate every race,gender, gender identity, sexual
orientation, marital status, age, physicaland mental ability, national origin,
economic station, and political ideology.
We come together in action and outreach,aspiring to follow Jesus' example of
(20:51):
radical hospitality, love, and grace as atransformative movement in our community.
Please join us for worship on Sundaymornings at nine and 11:00 AM, both
in person and on Facebook Live.
All are welcome and we'dlove to have you with us.
Grace and peace.
Welcome to the sermon podcast from First United Methodist
Church in downtown Bentonville.
If you have questions related towhat you hear today, or just want to
find out more about the ministries atFirst United Methodist Church, please
visit us online at fumcbentonville.
org, or check us out onFacebook, Instagram, or TikTok.
Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris: Welcome to Worship, my friends. (00:25):
undefined
My name is Michelle Morris, and I'mthe lead pastor here, and we are in
the last week of our 2x2, the Miracleof Multiplication series, and today
we're gonna see when 2x5 equals 5, 000And to get us in that frame of mind,
let's hear now from the Gospel of John.
(00:47):
After this, Jesus went across the Seaof Galilee, that is, the Tiberias Sea.
A large crowd followed him becausethey had seen the miraculous
signs he had done among the sick.
Jesus went up a mountain andsat there with his disciples.
It was nearly time forPassover, the Jewish festival.
Jesus looked up and saw thelarge crowd coming toward him.
(01:11):
He asked Philip, where will webuy food to feed these people?
Jesus said this to test him, for healready knew what he was going to do.
Philip replied, more than half a year'ssalary worth of food wouldn't be enough
for each person to have even a little bit.
One of his disciples, Andrew, SimonPeter's brother, said, A youth here has
(01:34):
five barley loaves and two fish, butwhat good is that for a crowd like this?
Jesus said, Have the people sit down.
There was plenty of grass there.
They sat down, aboutfive thousand of them.
Then Jesus took the bread.
When he had given thanks, he distributedit to those who were sitting there.
He did the same with the fish, eachgetting as much as they wanted.
(01:56):
When they had plenty to eat, he said tohis disciples, Gather up the leftover
pieces so that nothing will be wasted.
So they gathered them and filledtwelve baskets with the pieces of
the five barley loaves that had beenleft over by those who had eaten.
This is the word of Godfor the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Let us pray.
(02:17):
Lord, open our hearts, our minds, andour eyes that we might see and know
the word you have for us this day.
In your holy name we pray.
Amen.
So how do miracles happen?
This is a question I getfairly often as a pastor.
And the short answer to that question ismiracles happen when the power of God and
(02:41):
the free will of humanity meet together.
When we're both at the table.
Just like in this miracle, it is God'sblessing of the loaves and the fish,
and the fact that loaves and fish werebrought forward that created the miracle.
But of course, scholars will spend alot of time trying to figure out the
(03:04):
mechanics of how these loaves and fishbecame enough food to feed 5, 000.
And I want to just say, youknow, it's the creator of the
world we're dealing with here.
I don't think loaves and fishare going to be a problem.
But I also want to acknowledgethat really God does invite us to
bring our free will to the table.
That really God does ask usto bring something forward
(03:27):
to make a miracle happen.
And so one of the things that is oftensuggested about this miracle is that
there was always enough food in the crowd.
What had to change were people's hearts.
What had to change wastheir own willingness to put
their piece into the basket.
So as the basket is being passedaround, what is happening is that
more is being added to the basket.
(03:50):
There was always enough there.
It's just the invitation had tobe made and the hearts had to be
changed for that sharing to occur.
It takes trust and faith.
To make belief a reality.
So, I want us to kind of think about wherewe've been over the course of this series.
(04:11):
We started out with Noah landing theboat and immediately sacrificing animals.
Which seemed like a crazy thingto do when those animals are
supposed to repopulate the earth.
And yet, Noah trusted enough inGod and God's provision to do that.
Then we talked about the widow whooffered her two pennies that seemed
(04:31):
like such a small gift, but Jesusrecognized the vast generosity that
was present in that small gift.
And then last week we talked aboutShiphrah and Puah who went against the
orders of the Pharaoh to do what was rightby God and who trusted that that would
work out somehow anyway, and from thatact came vast multiplication of a people.
(04:56):
And now we're going to talk about thatin all of those is a recognition of the
abundance that was present all along.
Concrete abundance.
So to give us an illustration ofthat we're going to talk about what
we are often invited to add intothe basket as it passes around.
(05:17):
And we're gonna boilit down to one dollar.
There you go, you're ready.
One dollar.
Let's talk about when we drop onedollar in the basket that goes around.
And this is both the literal basket andthe proverbial online basket as well.
Let's talk about what happens withevery one dollar in this church.
(05:37):
So with one dollar given to thischurch, 59 cents of it employs
I don't know about y'all, but I'm feelinga little overwhelmed right now with all
the news of people losing their jobs.
But let's remember that you,you, keep 10 people employed.
And let's talk aboutwhat those 10 people do.
(05:58):
We have three who work in administration.
That's our facilities manager.
And we are not going to know untilthe end of this year how much
money it saved us to have a fulltime facilities manager on deck.
But I can tell you that trusteesis running under budget right now,
and they never run under budget.
So that's a good sign.
(06:18):
I can also tell you that ouraccountant has already saved thousands
of dollars by asking questions.
Why are I don't know, why arewe spending money on that?
And then our Communication Director,I want to celebrate that, um, we have
dramatically increased the number ofpeople who are online watching us.
(06:40):
And that's been small tweaks thatour Communication Director has made
throughout the course of the yearthat I know have contributed to that.
In addition, he also put togetherthe videos and is printing the
materials for the Lenten seriesthat we're making available again
to any United Methodist Church.
Who wants it for free?
You employ three peoplein children and youth.
(07:01):
Now if we break this down into 20year increments, so 0 to 20, 21 to
40, etc. Our 0 to 20 year olds arethe largest population in this.
church by far, which is stunning.
I don't know another church that canlay claim to that, but that means it
takes a lot of work and it especiallytakes a lot of work to make sure that
(07:24):
those kids are not lost in the sea.
So if you wander one of these hallwaysaround here, you'll see pictures
with Ms. Allison and each individualkid that she goes and has lunch
with over the course of the year.
And just think about the regularthings that they do in any given week.
They run the nursery, they organizeSunday school, have Wednesday night
(07:45):
programs, have SALT for the youth inthe afternoons on Sundays, organize and
carry through with confirmation, organizemeetups, have events such as lock ins,
run VBS, take kids to assembly andVeritas and Refuge and OMP, and this year
have added a new youth band that meets.
every other Sunday and starting thismonth we kick off youth leadership
(08:09):
which will be myself and Lexi workingwith a small group of youth to nurture
them in growing as leaders in ourworld and in the Christian faith.
And that will also meet everyother week, opposite the band.
And then we have also those thatare employed in music and worship.
I'm gonna discount me and Ray,because we'll be our own category.
(08:31):
So that's Matt and Ken, in particular,as well as a number of Musicians that
are on contract for us, and they,y'all, kill it every week, every week.
And not only that, I tell mymusicians over and over, and you've
heard me say this, that people mayor may not remember the sermon,
(08:52):
but they will remember the songs.
And they walk out of this placesinging the songs and carrying the
message and the theology with them.
They are the true spreadersof the gospel from this place.
And I'm grateful for that.
So, so grateful for that.
And I will also add that thisyear we did a songwriting retreat.
(09:12):
So we have original songs coming inthe Lenten series as a result of that.
And those we also made availableto any United Methodist Church.
And, I don't know if y'all have noticed,it's getting a little crowded in here.
So we have a new worship servicecoming this year as well.
And then there's the pastoral staff,Ray and I, and feel free any time
(09:33):
to stop by and ask us to share withyou what we do in any given week.
It's more than just Sunday,which we get asked all the time.
What are you doing?
It's not Sunday.
Thanks.
But in short, it is to order the church tosee the vision that God has for us and to
empower the people to enact that vision.
So that's 59 cents of every dollar.
(09:55):
23 cents of every dollar goes to themaintenance of the building and the
administrative costs alongside of that.
Now let's talk about just what's goingto happen in this building this week.
Roughly 400 people will worship here.
We will educate more than 200 kidsbetween Sunday school and Explore
(10:16):
and Discover and We Friends.
We will feed between 200and 300 people a week.
There will be recovery meetings all week.
There will be counseling offered,scouts gathering here, 501c3s meet in
this building for free, and this weekthat includes the Master Gardeners.
We have events like Friday Fun.
(10:36):
knitting, the pancake supper thattakes place on Tuesday, and we offer
free parking for people who workdowntown all week, as well as those who
come downtown to eat at restaurants.
This building and its grounds areboth a training ground for the people
of God and a gift to the community.
So that work can happen andtransformation can go on.
(10:59):
Eight cents of this dollar willchange lives in our community.
Remember that we were a foundingarm of Beer and Hymns and we
continue to support Beer and Hymnsin many ways throughout the year.
And they have raised 420, 000for non profits in the area.
We have our school partnerships, which doteacher appreciation throughout the year.
(11:23):
That has inspired many of you toserve as lunch buddies and greeters
at our two partner elementary schools.
We just this past week offered someservice projects that we take to Gateway.
These are kids who have to haveservice in order to graduate.
We take service projects over to them andwe act as their Supervising non profits
so they can still get service hours andget the credit that they need to graduate.
(11:48):
We will also organize a careerfair that will take place in April.
And that is specifically for the kidsat Gateway, so it's not as completely
overwhelming as the space at BHS.
And it's particularly geared for kidswho may or may not go to college.
And last year resulted insome jobs for those kids.
And then for our community, wewill have our Earth Day Fair
(12:11):
again at the end of April.
It is already grown.
There are more organizations going to beinvolved in it this year than in last.
We have a presence at Pride Day.
We have a faith walk group that doesdevotion and then walks the trails and
shares their faith out in the world.
We have a missional prayer groupthat prays every week for our
community and surrounding area andthe difference that can be made.
(12:35):
through God.
We have a choir that raises moneyfor scholarships for high school
students, and we are now hostingand leading and teaching lay
servant ministries classes which areempowering laity all across the state.
Eight cents.
And then ten cents.
Ten cents of every dollar goes tothe Greater United Methodist Church.
(12:57):
And let's just talk a minuteabout our denomination.
Gotten a lot of rough pressover the last few years.
But I think we need to stop andthink about what in the midst of
disaffiliation kept happening anyway.
First of all, conference ministriesin this state have continued to go on
including funding 200, 000 more reasons,which first looked at addressing childhood
(13:20):
hunger and has resulted in over 90percent of the United Methodist churches
in this state having a feeding ministry.
Over 90%.
Yes.
And now they're taking on childhoodliteracy and making sure that we don't
have a kid that gets out of thirdgrade that can't read in this state.
(13:40):
Yeah.
We support the Global Education Fund,which funds 748 schools, colleges,
universities, and seminaries in 69countries, including two in Arkansas,
Hendricks College, and PhilanderSmith, which is a historically
black college and university.
We have UMCOR, which you hear about alot, but I think you should know that
(14:02):
they are present in over 70 countriesand are known for being the first on
the ground in the case of disasters,or sometimes they're ahead of it.
And I say that and share with you thatwhen the Haiti earthquake happened in,
I believe it was 2010 or 2011, ReverendSam Dixon, who was the head of UMCOR,
and Reverend Clint Rabb, who was theDirector of Mission Volunteers for
(14:24):
UMCOR, both died in that earthquake.
And they didn't die because the earthquakehappened and then they showed up and
then something happened to them there.
They died because they were therewhen the earthquake happened.
They were already on the ground in Haiti.
We're already on the ground.
We have World Health Initiatives.
(14:44):
We have approximately 300 hospitalsand clinics in 27 countries, including
Methodist Le Bonheur, which islocated in Memphis, and which I must
say, saved my son's life when theydiscovered a heart condition that
several other cardiologists had missed.
They fixed it, and he's fine.
(15:06):
And we don't talk about it so muchanymore, but we were part of the
Imagine No Malaria campaign, whichofficially ended in 2024 and started
at the beginning of the 2000s.
It cut the deaths of malaria in half.
There are 60 million children, 60 millionchildren, who made it to adulthood.
(15:27):
Who wouldn't have?
Except that the United MethodistChurch was raising money
and getting nets purchased.
and doing malaria education in placesall over the world where malaria
was killing people right and left.
And the United Methodist Church, it'sa little hard to tell because all kinds
of things came in as a result of that,but we're responsible for somewhere
(15:49):
between one third and eighty percentof the funding for that program.
And we don't do itanymore, but here's why.
It's not that malaria's disappeared.
It's that in the course of the time thatwe did that work, Cottage industries
in Africa and other places wheremalaria is a real struggle sprung
up and they started making nets.
(16:09):
We had been importing nets tothose places, but as those cottage
industries sprung up, we quitimporting and started buying local.
And as a result of buying local, thoseindustries grew to the point where
they could be self sustaining, sonow they can take care of themselves.
Thank you very much.
We also lead the fight againstHIV and AIDS and many other
(16:32):
diseases around the world.
We have missionariesin a hundred countries.
We've met a couple of them a fewyears ago, David and Elizabeth
McCormick, but I want to share withyou an example of a missionary I met
in the Holy Land a few years ago.
She's a woman, she serves inPalestine, and she is a missionary
like Methodist missionaries are,where she's just there loving people.
(16:53):
Because she's just there lovingpeople, the Methodist Church is
present in places that a lot oftimes Christianity is not allowed.
We're just there to walk alongsidethe people and show them God's love.
And while she was there,she wears a collar.
Because it's a little odd to have awoman pastor roaming around over there.
She wears a collar, and she gotfollowed by this taxi driver one day.
(17:14):
She's walking back to her home, and he'sjust following along, following along.
She's looking, following along.
She's looking.
Finally, he says, Can Igive you a ride, please?
And she said, I don't have far to go.
It's okay.
And he said, No, please,please let me give you a ride.
Just, just let me do this.
So she got in the taxi, and he droveher the five blocks she had left to go.
(17:35):
And then he said, Thank you so muchfor letting me do that for you, Father.
Uh, what, what do I call you?
And she's like, Father's fine,mother's fine, friend's fine, whatever.
It works.
And then we are also still engaged in thefight for civil rights, in climate care,
(17:59):
in helping with global migrationpressures, in, Providing food
security around the worldand fighting for inclusion.
And, uh, about a week and a half ago,we joined the lawsuit against the
United States government to arguethat all churches and religious
organizations, whether you're Muslim,or Jewish, or Hindu, or whoever,
(18:23):
should have sanctuary status.
Ten cents.
How do miracles happen?
Apparently, one dollar at a time!
One dollar, as well as the myriad ofacts of service that were implicit
(18:44):
in everything that I mentioned.
The people who volunteer, the peoplewho give of their lives, the people who
offer to serve, who, the people who cometo the table with God, and make God's
miracles a reality around the world.
My friends, this worldfeels overwhelming a lot.
(19:06):
You turn on the television for abouta minute and you will be overwhelmed.
But I'm going to challenge us thatwe can choose what overwhelms us.
We can choose to be overwhelmedby everything that's going wrong.
Or we can choose to be overwhelmedby everything that's going right.
(19:33):
How many miracles can you be a part of?
How many lives can you change?
I promise you this.
Whatever you can give,will be a part of you.
of miracles,
(19:55):
whatever you can give, Godwill turn it into so much more.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Matt Nelson (20:08):
Thanks for listening to the Sermon Podcast from First United
Methodist Church in downtown Bentonville.
If you would like to let us know you werehere, follow the link below to connect.
To participate in worship through giving,you can give online at FUMCBentonville.
org or on Venmo @FUMCBentonville.
FUMCBentonville welcomes all.
(20:28):
Because we believe the communiontable is God's table, we invite
everyone into our church family.
We welcome and celebrate every race,gender, gender identity, sexual
orientation, marital status, age, physicaland mental ability, national origin,
economic station, and political ideology.
We come together in action and outreach,aspiring to follow Jesus' example of
(20:51):
radical hospitality, love, and grace as atransformative movement in our community.
Please join us for worship on Sundaymornings at nine and 11:00 AM, both
in person and on Facebook Live.
All are welcome and we'dlove to have you with us.
Grace and peace.
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