Side by Side

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

#Christianity #Religion #Shelley Kuhlmeyer #West End UMC

35:19

We’ve turned intuition into a buzzword—flattened it into a slogan, a gut feeling, or a vague whisper we don’t always know how to hear. But what if intuition is so much more? What if it's one of the most powerful tools we have—and we’ve just forgotten how to use it? In this episode, I’m joined by Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir , Icelandic thought leader, filmmaker, and author of InnSæi: Icelandic Wisdom for Turbulent Times . Hrund has spent over 20 years studying and teaching the science and art of intuition through her TED Talk, Netflix documentary ( InnSæi: The Power of Intuition ), and global work on leadership, innovation, and inner knowing. Together, we explore what intuition really is (hint: not woo-woo), how to cultivate it in a culture obsessed with logic and overthinking, and why your ability to listen to yourself might be the most essential skill you can develop. In This Episode, We Cover: ✅ Why we’ve misunderstood intuition—and how to reclaim it ✅ Practical ways to strengthen your intuitive muscle ✅ What Icelandic wisdom teaches us about inner knowing ✅ How to use intuition during uncertainty and decision-making ✅ Why trusting yourself is an act of rebellion (and power) Intuition isn’t magic—it’s a deep, internal guidance system that already exists inside you. The question is: are you listening? Connect with Hrund: Website: www.hrundgunnsteinsdottir.com TedTalk: https://www.ted.com/talks/hrund_gunnsteinsdottir_listen_to_your_intuition_it_can_help_you_navigate_the_future?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare Newsletter: https://hrundgunnsteinsdottir.com/blog/ LI: www.linkedin.com/in/hrundgunnsteinsdottir IG: https://www.instagram.com/hrundgunnsteinsdottir/ Book: InnSæi: Icelandic Wisdom for Turbulent Times Related Podcast Episodes: How To Breathe: Breathwork, Intuition and Flow State with Francesca Sipma | 267 VI4P - Know Who You Are (Chapter 4) Gentleness: Cultivating Compassion for Yourself and Others with Courtney Carver | 282 Share the Love: If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! 🔗 Subscribe & Review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music…

about a year ago 22:17

MP3•Episode home

Side by Side – In today’s reading from Mark, two of the disciples of Jesus ask to sit at his right and left when Jesus enters his glory. The Rev. Aimee Baxter, our Pastor of Young Adults, delivers the sermon today. She says that the motivation for James and John to ask this is not clear – do they want to be close to Jesus, or is it a power grab? In any case, Jesus realizes they just don’t get it – being at the front has nothing to do with prestige and everything to do with humility. The other disciples are angry at the two, perhaps because they, too, want to be first, but Jesus presses a reorientation in which there is nobody at the top. And even though “the last shall be first,” it is a matter of servitude and of a posture of side by side where everyone dances together. Jesus says he came not to be served but to serve, and community as the goal can better be achieved by humility and service.

301 episodes

Side by Side

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

301 episodes

#Christianity #Religion #Shelley Kuhlmeyer #West End UMC

All episodes

1
Making All Things New 21:24

12 hours ago21:24

21:24

Making All Things New – Today’s scripture is from Revelation 21, where John of Patmos, the visionary, sees a new heaven and a new earth, a new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, along with an announcement that God will be dwelling with the people and there will be no more tears, sorrow, crying, or pain. It is appropriate for the Easter season when the agony of Good Friday was tossed away by the resurrection of Jesus. The question for us is whether we believe that God is always doing a new thing. In her sermon, Carol gives several personal examples of times when things appeared dismal, but then they turned around. She also cites several places in Biblical prophecy where those kinds of things were heralded by the likes of Isaiah and Jeremiah. She reminds us of the setting for the Book of Revelation, believers who were suffering because of their beliefs in God as ruler rather than the Roman emperor as ruler. Those believers were sometimes even executed for their beliefs, but this word from God through John of Patmos offered them a new Jerusalem, a new hope. If or when we feel like everything is falling apart, it would be good to remember this vision of the new Jerusalem and God’s promise to live among us and make all things new.…

1
A Vision with Hope 22:08

7 days ago22:08

22:08

A Vision with Hope – Often when we need comfort or hope and reach out for a Biblical passage for help, we latch onto things like “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” from Psalm 23, and most of us do not turn to the book of Revelation because of its graphic scenes of destruction. However, this final book of the Bible gives us glimpses of God’s kingdom, and those glimpses, as with today’s scripture from Revelation 7:9-17, are full of hope and comfort. It helps if we realize that Revelation was written to believers in a period when they were being crushed under Rome for their beliefs and rejection of the Roman emperor as the king. Some believers were even killed for that. This passage is one of the visions in Revelation of God on the throne with the lamb, representing Jesus, there, too, and innumerable people from every nation and language dressed in white, carrying palm branches, and praising God. It is a model for our hopes when things are bad and we need comforting. In the end it is the love of God and the beckoning of Jesus that will solve our problems and leave us comforted and rejoicing. It reminds us of who we are, whose we are, and where we belong.…

1
Feasting and Feeding 26:40

14 days ago26:40

26:40

Feasting and Feeding – Today is Confirmation Sunday and we are confirming/baptizing seven youth who have been through the confirmation process. Today’s scripture is the familiar story from the Fourth Gospel of the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to seven of his disciples who are fishing. As part of this story, Jesus fixes them a meal so that when they come ashore he feeds them. After the story of the resurrection in the previous chapter, we might feel like the story of Jesus is over, but this story underscores Jesus’s challenge to the disciples to carry on what Jesus had been doing throughout his ministry. First, they are nourished, and then, most especially with the conversation between Simon Peter and Jesus, they are commissioned to go forth. In many ways, it is a model for our own baptism and commissioning, and it is demonstrative for the confirmands who are being baptized and brought into church membership today. The questions and challenges Jesus has for Simon Peter reflect that the basis of nourishment to him, to the other disciples, and to us is the love Jesus gives. Then the direction to “feed my lambs” gives us the mission with which we, like those disciples, are charged.…

1
Moving Beyond Awareness 18:48

21 days ago18:48

18:48

Today’s scripture is a passage from the first chapter of the Letter to the Ephesians, and delivering the sermon is Rea Green, a student at Vanderbilt Divinity School and our Ministry Intern. Rea begins by saying that she recently saw the moon and was struck by its stunning beauty, only to have a friend tell her that it wasn’t the moon at all but a streetlight. In this way she introduces us to the fact that she is very much vision impaired. She gives some background and different viewpoints of the author and setting for Ephesians, but says what is clear is that it is written to a people that need assurance and unity, and the letter describes God’s love for the “we” and “us” referred to in that letter, and it thus calls for unity under the love of God. And unity does not mean “uniform,” but a coming together in the knowledge that all are loved by God, even through our diversity. In that sense, the letter calls for awareness and recognition of our differences, but it then calls us to move beyond awareness to a call to action to embrace our differences and foster a deep love for all.…

1
Recognizing Resurrection 29:26

28 days ago29:26

29:26

Recognizing Resurrection – Today is Easter Sunday. Traditionally, the scripture for Easter Sunday is the story of the empty tomb, but our scripture chosen for today is the familiar story in Luke’s gospel of the two men walking to Emmaus and, unknowingly, being joined by the risen Jesus as they walked. One of the reasons to have this story on Easter is that our Lenten theme has been Table Transformations, and this story concerns yet another table, this one hosted by the risen Christ. The two disciples in the story are unknowns to us and not among the twelve, and, having witnessed the crucifixion, they are walking away, paralyzed by their grief. Are we in situations paralyzed by grief and loss? They call him a prophet, but now they have doubts that he was the expected messiah. Their hopes have been dashed. Maybe we, too, have lost hope, and, if so, we are on the road to Emmaus, and, whether we recognize it or not, we are accompanied by Christ. In the story, when they sit down for a meal, the guest becomes the host, lifts the bread, breaks it, and in that act they recognize that this is the risen Christ. Our communion services repeat that – a table with everyone having a seat, and the risen Christ is the host. Let us go forth with our tables open to all, knowing that the risen Christ is our host.…

1
Persevering Love 32:47

4 weeks ago32:47

32:47

Persevering Love – Today is Good Friday, the time of solemn remembrance of Christ’s crucifixion. The Rev. Aimee Baxter is delivering the Good Friday Meditation, and the scripture reading is the Fourth Gospel’s account of the trial, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus. Rev. Baxter first referred to the series from several years ago, “WandaVision,” that built on the grief Wanda experienced in the death of Vision. Rev. Baxter said that many of us sit in loss and sadness, too, and she pointed out how much of that is demonstrated in the narrative of the trial of Jesus, then his crucifixion. Even Judas grieved his betrayal of Jesus and ended his own life. Peter, who denied even knowing Jesus, reacted in grief and rage in cutting off the ear of a soldier. And well beyond that, we can imagine the grief of the closest disciples of Jesus, and certainly of his mother who stood at the foot of the cross. But throughout the narrative, Jesus asserts the presence of the love of God and demonstrates it in his own acceptance of what he deemed must be. Here we are on Good Friday, participating together in a very solemn and disturbing remembrance, and yet we know that through it all there is God’s beckoning love, and Easter is on the horizon. It is persevering love that will support us through our grief.…

1
Lenten Meditation for the Friday of Holy Week 8:38

4 weeks ago8:38

8:38

Rev. Will McLeane and Sheyla Soriano lead us in a liturgy and prayer for Good Friday of Holy Week.

1
A Table Transformed 23:09

4 weeks ago23:09

23:09

A Table Transformed – Today is Maundy Thursday, and our Lenten theme has been, “Table Transformations,” so certainly this service of remembrance of the Last Supper fits that theme. Rev. Shannon Baxter is delivering the Communion Meditation, and the scripture reading from the Fourth Gospel is the familiar story of that meal and of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. He first recounted a family situation some years ago when he obtained slabs of flooring from flooding in Savannah and planned to use them to build a large dining room table. The project took a long time, but when it was eventually completed it was truly a transformed table. In the story of the Last Supper, as Jesus turns to washing the disciples’ feet, taking on the role of a servant, it is, also, a transformation. God comes off the throne to care for creation, which is much like a gardener gives care to the plants in the garden to see them flourish. God wants to see everyone thrive.…

1
Lenten Meditation for the Thursday of Holy Week 5:55

4 weeks ago5:55

5:55

Pastor Maggie Jarrell and Andrew Breeden lead us thru a liturgy and prayer for the Thursday of Holy Week.

1
Lenten Meditation for the Wednesday of Holy Week 6:47

5 weeks ago6:47

6:47

Pastor Shannon Baxter and Tammy Lewis-Wilborn lead us in a liturgy and prayer for the Wednesday of Holy Week.

1
Lenten Meditation for the Tuesday of Holy Week 5:18

5 weeks ago5:18

5:18

Rev Stacey Harwell-Dye and Beth Bernard lead us thru a liturgy and prayer for the Tuesday of Holy Week.

1
Lenten Meditation for the Monday of Holy Week 6:19

5 weeks ago6:19

6:19

Join Pastor Carol Cavin-Dillon and Hampton Randall as they lead us thru a liturgy and prayer for the Monday of Holy Week.

1
Prevenient Grace 26:29

5 weeks ago26:29

26:29

Prevenient Grace – Today is Palm Sunday, and in keeping with our Lenten theme, “Table Transformations,” the scripture from Luke is about the deal Judas made with the chief priests and scribes to betray Jesus, and also the subsequent Passover meal Jesus and the twelve shared when he blessed the bread and cup revealing that they represented his body and blood, and then he revealed that one of them was going to betray him. Our ancestor in Methodism, John Wesley, had a concept of three movements of grace, the first being prevenient grace, grace that is offered by God to everyone. Jesus demonstrates prevenient grace in the Lukan story of the Passover meal as he shares the meal, even the symbols of his body and blood, with all of the disciples, knowing that when he would be tried and crucified they would all abandon him in various ways, especially Judas. And yet, his invitation and sharing the meal with them is a demonstration of God’s invitation to everyone. Our response to that invitation of prevenient grace is to be open and accepting of God’s love and then to share it with others.…

1
Choosing the Better Part 33:53

6 weeks ago33:53

33:53

Today, the Fifth Sunday in Lent, is Youth Sunday, when our entire service is led by youth from our church. The scripture is the story from Luke of Jesus in the home of Mary and Martha, where Martha was busy with the details of hosting and preparing and serving the meal while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to him. At some point Martha complained that Mary wasn’t helping, and Jesus told Martha that she was too distracted and that Mary had “chosen the better part.” Today’s sermon was delivered by two youth, the first of whom, Connor Harris, describes his current senior year in high school as stressful and very busy, and sees himself as Martha in this story. He cautions himself and all of us to step back, take a deep breath, and find God, to do our work but take God with us. Margo Jenkins also spoke to us, and she says she has learned from this story that her behavior is Martha-like. There is much value in working hard and helping others, but a prayer life and time for reflection and calm, leaving oneself vulnerable allows us to hear God’s voice, and she challenges us to find the time and opportunity to connect with God, to be like Mary and choose “the better part.”…

1
An Interrupting Love 30:13

7 weeks ago30:13

30:13

An Interrupting Love – Today is the fourth Sunday in Lent, and our Lenten theme is “Table Transformations.” The scripture is the story from Luke of Jesus having a meal in the home of a Pharisee when a woman comes in, approaches Jesus, and ends up at his feet as she cries and then wipes his feet with her hair then anoints his feet with oil she had brought with her. Rev. Will McLeane delivers the sermon, initially recalling that he was taught from an early age not to interrupt! But in this story, there are many interruptions, and most are major. First, there is her presence as a woman at a dinner where there were only men. Further, as a sinner she is interrupting a dinner of the righteous, those who studied and obeyed the scriptures. The Pharisee host interrupts as he calls her to task, but Jesus then interrupts and holds her up as an example of repentance and forgiveness. Pastor Will points out places in our worship service where, when we are confessing our sins, we are interrupted by the liturgy and words of forgiveness, all reminding us that we need to be repentant and accepting of God’s love, and we need to include others around that table.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
Table Manners 24:50

8 weeks ago24:50

24:50

Table Manners – Today is the third Sunday in Lent, and our Lenten theme is “Table Transformations.” The scripture is the story in Luke 14 about Jesus having been invited to a dinner in the home of a prominent Pharisee, and the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely and with suspicion. In that era, who was seated where at the table was important – the friends and business associates of the host were seated at the head table. But upon entering here Jesus offers a proverb saying that those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Jesus even goes further to advise the host when hosting a dinner to avoid inviting friends, relatives, rich neighbors intending to be repaid, but, rather, to invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind who can’t repay the host, but that host will be rewarded in the resurrection at the end. It is a matter of intentionally including those who have been excluded, and it is a lesson for us as individuals and as a church and faith community. Such a table can be transformational.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
You Give Them Something to Eat 30:15

9 weeks ago30:15

30:15

You Give Them Something to Eat – Today is the second Sunday in Lent, and our Lenten theme is “Table Transformations.” The scripture for today is Luke’s version of the familiar story of the feeding of the 5,000. Carol first gives some examples of parenting, training one’s children, and she says Jesus was constantly training the disciples, and this story is an example. The crowd has gathered to experience the teaching and healing by Jesus, and the text says it is 5,000 men, which means it must have been well more than 5,00 people. The disciples are concerned about those people and how so many can possibly be sustained. Jesus tells those disciples to handle it. They have only a dozen loaves of bread and two fish. Maybe we, too, sometimes feel completely inadequate. But Jesus tells them to have the crowd sit, and then he takes a loaf of bread, lifts and breaks it, and gives thanks and blesses it. In this same way, Christ can take each of us, lift and break us, give thanks and bless us, and we are thus fully equipped to fill the needs of the world around us. It is a process that is repeated in Luke in the Last Supper and again in the Emaus Road dinner. And it is repeated with and for us in each communion service.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
A Table in the Wilderness 27:02

10 weeks ago27:02

27:02

Today is the first Sunday in Lent, and our Lenten theme is “Table Transformations.” The scripture for today Luke’s version of the familiar story of Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness. A popular tradition among Christians is to give up something for the 40 days of Lent, and one of the features of the story is that Jesus had no food for 40 days. During this time he was repeatedly “tempted by the devil,” and we, too, might have experienced each of those temptations at times, not from an external devil, but from our own internal desires to gain power, achieve, or overcome. Most of us have experienced emptiness, and some people have tried to fill it by eating, taking drugs, plunging into our jobs, and such. Clearly from the story, Jesus rejects the temptation to lift himself up, knowing that God values love not self-success. The lesson Jesus teaches overall is the ultimate in rejecting power and self by humbling himself on the cross. He might have been empty of food and power, but he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and that stands as a model for us through the period of Lent.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
The One Who Was, Is, and Is to Come 26:20

11 weeks ago26:20

26:20

The One Who Was, Is, and Is to Come – Today is Transformation Sunday, and the scripture is the story in Luke of Jesus walking up the mountain with Peter, James, and John. They are, at this point, completely worn out from all of the work they’ve been doing. They know Jesus is the messiah, but with all of his recent talk of suffering to come, they are confused. In this experience of his transformation, however, their belief in Jesus as the messiah is strengthened, and they know that death and evil will not have the final word. Transformation Sunday in the Christian year comes just before Lent to remind us that through the somber period of Lent and through the agony of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, we can have hope, just as Peter, James, and John experienced it through Jesus’s transformation.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
Notes of Rest 47:55

12 weeks ago47:55

47:55

Notes of Rest – The Proclamation section of this service is led by guests Julian Davis Reid and vocalist Tramaine Parker. Reid refers to various passages of scripture, reading and commenting on them, then he plays the piano while Parker sings and, at points, leads the congregation in singing. The basis of their presentation is the Sabbath and rest, how we are charged to rest, and what God does within our sleep. The pieces of scripture are read, then elucidated and supported by preaching and singing, and at points the congregation is invited to join in the singing. At various points we are called to rest and listen, then Julian invites everyone in the congregation to share with those around us what we heard in the quiet moments. Julian ends with the first 5 verses of I Corinthians where Paul confessed his humility before God in coming before that congregation.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
Called to a New Community 24:21

13 weeks ago24:21

24:21

Called to a New Community – This is the last in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?.” Today’s scripture reading is the story in Luke of Jesus calling Levi, the tax collector, to be a disciple. Tax collectors were Jews charged with collecting taxes from the Jewish people and turning over the taxes to the Roman rulers. They also routinely collected more than was required by Rome so that they were enriching themselves. This, of course, made them despised by the people. That Jesus called a tax collector was demonstrative of the nature of the community of God, consisting of people from all populations, all backgrounds, all economic levels. That Levi then hosted a banquet whose guests were other tax collectors incensed some, but it was a demonstration of the open invitation by Jesus and thus by God. We, too, must be aware that God’s community is open and beckoning to all, even to some whom we may otherwise have ignored, avoided, or even despised. It is an open community called together in love.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
From Failure to Fisher of People 25:15

14 weeks ago25:15

25:15

From Failure to Fisher of People – We are in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent. Today’s scripture reading is the version in Luke of Jesus’s enlistment of the first disciples, specifically Simon Peter, when, after a night of catching no fish, Jesus tells him to put out the nets, and the nets started breaking with the abundance of fish. Having been fishing all night with no luck, Simon is reluctant to heed the direction of Jesus. Simon is worn out, frustrated, and his tendency is simply to give up. Yet, under the direction of Jesus, he agrees to try, and with such success Simon begins to realize who Jesus is and confesses he, Simon, is not worthy. Much as many of us do, Simon is carrying the weight of his unworthiness – who am I to be chosen by the Lord? But we can learn from this example and from countless examples of other Biblical figures who look and feel like they’re unworthy and incapable, but when called by God they are fully empowered and equipped. We need to hear and heed the voice of Jesus calling us.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
Getting on Board with Grace 24:03

15 weeks ago24:03

24:03

Getting on Board with Grace – We are in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent. Today’s scripture reading is a continuation of last weeks’ story in Luke of Jesus in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth having been handed the Isaiah scroll, reading from it the passage that tells of God’s mission for Isaiah, and then declaring that today that scripture has been fulfilled today in him. But the people react by taking him out to throw him off a cliff. Carol says their rage may well have been because Jesus was telling them that God’s love and mercy extend to all people, including those they considered enemies. If and when we hear often that God loves all of “those people,” we, too, can find ourselves asking, “But what about me?” It is in those times that we need to spend time in prayer, going to God’s fountain of love. In practicing gratitude we can hear the invitation to join Jesus in proclaiming and living the “good news.” Our invitation is to get on board with God’s grace.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
Let Your Life Speak 22:43

16 weeks ago22:43

22:43

Let Your Life Speak – We are in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent. Today’s scripture reading is the story in Luke of Jesus in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth having been handed the Isaiah scroll, reading from it the passage that tells of God’s mission for Isaiah, and then Jesus declares that today that scripture has been fulfilled today in him. Rev. Shannon Baxter, our Minister of Congregational Connection, delivered the sermon and focused on our finding our own vocation – what role we are meant to play in God’s world. This story in Luke comes after the baptism of Jesus and after his wandering in the wilderness. Many of us, too, were baptized as infants and then spent time wandering, searching for our vocational paths. Shannon reminds us that the ritual words of our baptism express our adoption into God’s creation, and that with the spirit/breath of God in us we are each called to our role in God’s creation from God’s voice within ourselves through our spiritual connection. We are, in every case, called to love God and our neighbor.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
Discerning and Doing 28:28

17 weeks ago28:28

28:28

Discerning and Doing – We are in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent. Today’s scripture reading from the Fourth Gospel is the story of the wedding at Cana when the supply of wine runs out and, prompted by his mother, Jesus turns water into wine, the first of the “signs” he performs to establish his divinity as reported in John. Carol begins with a personal story in which her mother volunteered Carol to play piano for singing hymns in a Sunday school class when the regular piano player was absent. She wonders whether Jesus was as conflicted by his mother’s volunteering him as Carol had been when her mother volunteered her. Jesus is somewhat reluctant and seems not quite ready to begin his ministry when he asks his mother, “Woman, what concern is that to you and me? My hour has not yet come.” But then he does turn the water into wine. This sets an example of his seeing a need and changing his own plan so that he meets that need. It further asks us how we see a need and change our own plans in order to move and meet that need. Among the voices calling us are those in need, and, with Jesus as our example, we need to recognize the need and adjust our own priorities in order to meet that need.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
Named and Claimed 25:25

18 weeks ago25:25

25:25

Named and Claimed – We are in a series of scriptures and sermons under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent. This is the Baptism of the Lord Sunday when we not only review the story of the baptism of Jesus, but we take opportunity to remember our own baptism and rehearse it in several ways. We have baptized many children in the past year, and we are often delighted with those infants and their baptisms. Yet those words and voice of God in baptism follow us as we grow up and through our adulthood. But do we see ourselves in the midst of our adult lives as having the voice of God in the waters of baptism for us? Much as the words of our scripture today (Isaiah 43.1-7) are from God claiming God’s people, no matter where they are, with love and honor, so the waters of baptism flow through the center of our lives, reminding us that we are worthy, loved, named, and claimed by God. Recalling our baptism is a way to recall God’s lasting love for us.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

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Guided by a Dream 24:49

19 weeks ago24:49

24:49

We are beginning a series under the theme, “Who is calling you?,” that will take us to Lent, This is Epiphany Sunday when we remember the familiar story of the Magi from the East who follow a new star to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus. Although we traditionally think of there being three of them, there’s nothing in the story in Matthew that gives the number. These men likely studied the heavens, and when they saw this new star, they knew it was a sign, and they followed it. Herod the Great was, according to the historian Josephus, a brutal ruler, and the story shows that Herod felt threatened and told the Magi to come back and report to him after they had seen the child. But, in response to a revelatory dream, the Magi decided to ignore Herod’s directive and travel a different route. There was a declaration among early Christians, “Jesus is Lord!” It was considered treason in the Roman province. But early Christians could attach allegiance either to the Kingdom of God or the kingdoms of the world, and if they, too, declared that “Jesus is Lord,” they were listening to God’s call rather than to the call of the world. It presses us as individuals and as a church to declare, against much of the world’s clamor, that “Jesus is Lord!”…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

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Smells Like Teen Spirit 23:06

20 weeks ago23:06

23:06

Smells Like Teen Spirit – The first Sunday after Advent we have Khette Cox as guest preacher. She is a hospice chaplain and a graduate of Vanderbilt Divinity School. The scripture is the familiar story in Luke of Mary and Joseph and their young son, Jesus, having gone to Jerusalem, but on the way home the boy’s parents discovering he was not with them. When they found him after searching for three days, he was in the Temple, talking with the “teachers.” The story is placed in Luke between the story of the miraculous birth and the story of Jesus’ baptism, and as such, it is a literary bridge but also a bridge as Jesus develops into the person he is to be. This story is of Jesus beginning to discover who he is and is to be. At this stage he may not know who he is, and, in her work as a hospice chaplain, Khette has often posed the question, “Who are you?” to patients. It is a question for us, too, perhaps a challenge posed by God, prompting us to discover who we are among the people of God. During the baptisms of infants, we are always introduced as the church community who will surround this child as she/he grows up, helping to form the child into the person God intends them to be. But as we might help the child discover who he/she is and is to be, we, ourselves, are also in our role, developing into the person God wants us to be.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

1
Good Will To All 20:59

21 weeks ago20:59

20:59

Good Will To All – This traditional Christmas Eve service is one that West End UMC has held for decades. It highlights the reading of the story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, read by the minister in the center of the sanctuary, among the worshippers. Our Senior Minister, Rev. Dr. Carol Cavin-Dillon, recounts Christmases growing up when their extended family drew names to give gifts, but sometimes after all the gifts were opened, there was yet another gift under the tree, and the question quickly became “Who is this gift for?” She compares that to the experience of the shepherds where the angel appears and says, “I bring you good news of great joy for all the people.” Later, the group of angels declares, “. . . peace among those whom he favors!” Whom does God favor? Carol presses a grammatical possibility that, with a particular comma, the statement refers to God being pleased with all of the people, not just the rich, or the accomplished, or the Jews, or any other particular group. We as a church hold, as a bedrock belief, that “God loves everyone unconditionally.” And that shapes how we look at everyone. There is a gift waiting for each of us tonight: God’s giving of God’s self to each of us and to every person we encounter.…

West End UMC Podcast Audio Podcast

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Yes, She Knew 24:37

21 weeks ago24:37