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MEMORIAL DAY REMEMBRANCE VIDEO: || For Those Who Served
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MESSAGE SERIES || Committed To Christ: Essential Practices of a Disciple
SERMONS
Our sermon resource provides access to the last six messages offered during worship. Our Sermon Archive provides access to messages offered over the past three months. While these are audio only, you may visit the Rayville UMC YouTube channel for the video version of these messages.
MOST RECENT SERMONS
Rev. Mike Palermo
June 20, 2021
The story of Jesus calming the storm has been the favorite story of many over the years. For most, we see in this story the hope of protection against any calamity that might come our way. To be certain, there is a promise that Jesus makes here, a promise worth believing; a promise that can be trusted. The question for us as we hear this passage read is this: “Are we willing to accept the promise offered?” There is a peace that comes with the promise that transcends the storms of our lives. After all, a promise is a promise!
Rev. Mike Palermo
June 13, 2021
We tend to think of ourselves as the farmer who must tend to the fields weeding and watering the crop. We must be busy in order to be productive! But Jesus totally glosses over the farmer’s work. He knows our tendency and how we would naturally see this so he takes us on a very different direction emphasizing the mystery of the seed that grows into a plant or tree necessary to sustain life. We are to see ourselves as the seed. The mystery of our growth is the sustaining work of the Holy Spirit and that is a truth we can depend on.
Rev. Mike Palermo
June 6, 2021
Our Gospel reading from Mark has two stories happening at the same time. Jesus’s family is concerned for him, and therefore are seeking him out. As that story is unfolding, Jesus’s authority has been challenged by the religious leaders. As Jesus is explaining the importance of understanding that authority does not come from position but rather from God above, we return to the “outer story” of Jesus’ family searching for him. Jesus response may seem harsh at first but like his teaching on authority, his revelation of family brings a whole new meaning of family as a follower of Christ. Listen as both lessons in our reading are meant to build up and encourage our faith.
Rev. Mike Palermo
May 30, 2021
One God in three Persons—a mystery that is far easier to declare and to believe than it is to explain. Our suggested Bible readings for this week speak of God in mysterious and ultimate terms. In our passage today from the third chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of God the Father who sent God the Son. Jesus is annoyed with Nicodemus but never gives up on him teaching him that God’s Holy Spirit comes and goes like the wind but is present with us. If someone asked you, “Are you saved?” how would you answer their question? Understanding the doctrine of the Trinity is the beginning of finding assurance of your salvation, is the core of our faith, and is central to the identity of being a Christian.
Rev. Mike Palermo
May 23, 2021
Throughout the time of the Old Testament, the spirit of God spoke to key leaders and prophets about the will of God, the promises of God, and the ways of life with God. Today is Pentecost, the day we celebrate the birth of the Church. Today, God’s story revealed in scripture is the revelation of a promise made that is a promise kept! The question for us is a hard one to live into and that is, “How do we respond to the news that we have received the Holy Spirit?”
Rev. Mike Palermo
May 16, 2021
Some claim that Jesus was a prophet and a great moral teacher without ever recognizing that his greatest work was neither of those things. Today we witness the resurrected Christ returning to the Father. As we continue in our series “Real Answers 2 the BIG Questions,” our question this week is “Are we ready to worship as these first disciples did? Are we filled with “great joy?”
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Suggested Bible Readings for the Week of June 20, 2021:
1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49; Psalm 9:9-20; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41
Bible Verses Theme
There are two prevalent themes in the readings for this week. One is a theme of battles, vengeance, adversity, and suffering. The other less obvious theme is the power of the unexpected and the surprising. 1 Samuel is the story of David and Goliath. The elder King Saul takes a chance on a confident boy who sheds the traditional armor of a warrior trusting only in God for protection. In Psalm 9, God takes the side of the oppressed, needy, and poor. Paul is in the middle of a dispute and issues an appeal speaking from the heart. Jesus calms the storm leaving the disciples wondering, “who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?”