Sellersburg United Methodist Church Sermon Podcast

SERMON | John 20:19-23 | PENTECOST - "He Breathed On Them" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana

This is the arrival of the Holy Spirit in John.

At first hearing we might think, “Well, that’s boring.”

“No sound? No fire? No speaking in foreign languages? No Peter giving a testimony that leads to 3,000 people believing in the risen Savior?”

Why bother, righ...

SERMON | 1 Peter 3:13-22 | A LIVING HOPE - 5. "Always Be Ready" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana

Daily we should be remembering that Christ IS Risen

That the world is in conflict while evil is uprooted and removed

That we are a part of this process in our daily living 

Maybe we aren’t facing authorities who are punishing us for our faith, but that 

day could ...

SERMON | 1 Peter 2:2-10 | A LIVING HOPE - 4. "Like Living Stones" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana.

There is a freedom available to you through our resurrected Lord.

When you remember, and spend time remembering regularly, that you are a living stone being built into a spiritual house alongside Jesus Christ and every person who seeks to follow him as Lord, you ...

SERMON | 1 Peter 1:17-23 | A LIVING HOPE - 2. "Loosening the Bonds" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana.

Do you know you are loved?

Our full display of LOVE is God coming to us in Jesus Christ…

to tell our story in a new way…

to bring healing to our very hearts, minds, souls, and bodies…

to face and embody our rejection…

to suffer at the hands of our sinful pride...

SERMON | 1 Peter 1:3-9 | A LIVING HOPE - 1. "Fullness of Joy" by Rev. Dr. Gary Schaar at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana.

Yes, of course, rejoice. And there are times when I can rejoice. Times when things are going well, and I can contemplate the fullness of the promise of eternity. Then, yes, I can look inward and rejoice; feel good about what has been given, content. Satisfied. “Uh, no...

SERMON | John 20:1-18 | IN AWE OF GRACE - Easter Sunday "The End That Wasn't" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana. JOHN 20:1-18 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark… The WORD of God moves again…and new life bursts forth… He was mistaken for the gardener…a throwback to the first humans… but he wasn’t like any other human who had come befor...

SERMON | John 13:1-17, 31b-35 | IN AWE OF GRACE - Maundy Thursday "Commanded to Love" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana

Jesus seized the opportunity to love his disciples…his friends…

because why wouldn’t he?

THIS is God glorified.

to give of God’s self for God’s children.

The foot-washing is just a small example of what Jesus was about to do the next day.

Is ther...

SERMON | Matthew 21:1-17 | HOLY WEEK - IN AWE OF GRACE - 1. "This Is the Day" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana THIS IS THE DAY!! Palm Sunday! Hosanna! We have begun Holy Week. Our Lenten journey has brought us here…to this week. We have traversed the wilderness…and we have arrived at the heart of God’s people. Jesus rides into Jerusalem—on two donkeys?? —we see the a...

SERMON | Ezekiel 37:1-14 & John 11:1-45 | LENT - LEARNING TO LIVE INSIDE OUT - 5. "Who Could Stand" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana

Learning to Live Inside Out — a Lenten journey with Jesus… toward the cross… toward the death of sin and self… following Jesus… until what we KNOW in our hearts becomes the REALITY we live in the world. We’ve focused on th...

SERMON | 1 Samuel 16:1-13 & John 9:1-41 | LENT - LEARNING TO LIVE INSIDE OUT - 4. "In the Presence" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana

Learning to Live Inside Out — a Lenten journey with Jesus… toward the cross… toward the death of sin and self We’ve talked about fasting… About a life of faith taking us from the familiar and comfortable into the unknow...

Learning to Live Inside Out — a Lenten journey with Jesus… toward the cross… toward the death of sin and self We are fasting alongside of Jesus in the wilderness… but the fast we choose is that of God…to nurture righteousness in our hearts. The word for righteousness is the word for justice is the word for piety. δικαιοσύνη: righteousness, what is right, justice, the act of doing what is in agreement with G...

SERMON  |  Genesis 12:1-4a & John 3:1-17  |  LENT: LEARNING TO LIVE INSIDE OUT - 2. "Go From Your Country" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana Here we are in our own journey of faith. Have we become a settled people? Have we been holding tightly to what is familiar and comfortable? Have we been open to where the Spirit is taking us? Or are we still fumbling in the darkness? Are we ...

SERMON | Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Matthew 4:1-11 | LENT: LEARNING TO LIVE INSIDE OUT - 1. "If We Fall Down" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana.

LENT: The Season of journeying to the cross.

Similar to Advent—Advent is not Christmas, but preparation for it—Lent is NOT Easter.

But first…before the resurrection…we must journey to the cross.

We must spend 40 days in the wildern...

SERMON  |  Matthew 5:21-37  |  GLIMPSES OF THE KIN-DOM: 6. "But I Say..." by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana.

Jesus is inviting his disciples into a new way of living… A new Kin-dom… with a new rule… Not a list, tablet, or scroll, but WAY of Life. The early church called our faith “The Way” because it was JUST THAT! A NEW WAY. Jesus holds up the rule the...

Glimpses of the Kin-dom: Kin-dom - the activity and influence of God here and now through the people of God, the body of Christ in the church. Kin-dom - where heaven and earth overlap and coexist. We catch glimpses of it in and through the church — where the Reign of God is fully present and embraced by the Kin-dom family. We are born anew through baptism into the church. It’s in that moment that we embrace the Holy Spirit ba...

Glimpses of the Kin-dom: the Kin-dom is the activity and influence of God present here on earth in the work of the church, the body of Christ, now…today…among us and through us. The Christian faith is centered on following Jesus Christ as a disciple who is committed to the Kin-dom. We spend our lives learning and growing as a human being alongside of our siblings in Christ. We are learning to live into our identity as children ...

GLIMPSES OF THE KIN-DOM: A series on what it means to be the people of God through whom the activity and influence of God is made present in the world. We are in Ordinary Time (green) — we are outside of the main seasons: Advent, Lent, and Easter. A time to deepen in our understanding of a life in the Kin-dom. We strive to make the our mission an ordinary part of our lives. — Being a missionary: going to a different place — Be...

GLIMPSES OF THE KIN-DOM: A series on what it means to be the people of God Kin-dom: what is this word? Why not Kingdom? It’s a fair question… Sometimes we use a word often enough that it loses its meaning. The word AWESOME, for instance. extremely impressive/daunting, inspiring admiration, apprehension, or fear I’ve heard people describe a television show as AWESOME… or the feeling when their team wins… or beach sunsets or the...