Pastor Jim Preaches

This is the third of a five-part series in which we examine The Lord's Prayer. This week we will focus on: "Give us this day our daily bread."Scripture readings to look at in advance are: Exodus 16:13-21 and Isaiah 40:28-31.

This is the second of a five-part series in which we examine The Lord's Prayer. This week we will focus on: "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."Scripture readings to look at in advance are: Matthew 6:25-33 and Matthew 13:31-35.

This is the first of a five-part series in which we examine The Lord's Prayer. This week we will focus on: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name."Scripture readings to look at in advance are: Matthew 6:5-15 and Luke 11:1-4.

It's Easter Sunday and I will be focusing on John 20:1-18!

The Parables of Jesus, Part 4: The Parable of the Ten BridesmaidsWe'll look at Matthew 25:1-13.As has become a theme for this series, this parable also does not necessarily have a happy ending, but it has something to each us. How can we be prepared for the return of Jesus?Let's dig in!

The Parables of Jesus, Part 3: The Parable of the Rich Man and LazarusWe'll look at Luke 16:19-31. It's a parable that does not necessarily have the happy ending that expect. That doesn't mean that we just come up with one. We need to grapple with it and figure out what it means for us in our Christian walk.Let's dig in!

The Parables of Jesus, Part 2: The Parable of the Wedding Feast We'll look at Matthew 22:1-14. One congregation member came up to me afterward and said that she had never heard a sermon preached on this parable. I'm not surprised. It might not always come up in the lectionary on a given year and it does not have the most pleasant moral: "Many are invited, few are chosen."Let's dig in!

The Parables of Jesus, Part 1: The Workers in the VineyardI will be reflecting on Matthew 20:1-16. The idea for this series is that I will be focusing on some of the more challenging parables of Jesus.This week will examine what governs the Kingdom of God, with some new definitions for justice and grace.

This week's message focuses on the Transfiguration account from Matthew 17:1-9. We'll look at events that take place before the Transfiguration, as the disciples attempt to tell Jesus who He is. We'll then explore the significance of Jesus' encounter with Moses and Elijah on the mountaintop. From there, we'll conclude with exploring why the transfiguration is important to fully understand the Easter season!

We have a new format! :-)This week's episode concludes our four-part series on mental health. This week I will reflect on what churches can do to best promote mental health and how we can help one another in our mental health journeys.Texts that I reference within the message are:Ephesians 4:11-16James 2:14-26

As we move into part three of this series, the focus turns to things that we can do individually that can help promote our mental health.This is all grounded in our relationship with Jesus Christ. It must start there!Bible texts to reference: 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 and John 15:1-9.

In the second part of our series on mental health, we will explore three common mental health struggles:grief and lossdepressionanxietyWe'll begin by looking at expressing our feelings.Texts to check out include: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 and John 14:1-6.

This week is the first of a four-part series focusing on mental health. There are three major points I want to establish this week:Mental health affects us in some way, directly or indirectlyThe Bible offers many examples of folks who had mental health strugglesWe love God best, and promote our own mental health, when we help our soul, heart, strength, and mind.Scriptures references include: 1 Kings 19:1-10, Psalm 42, and, John 9:1-10.

This is Baptism of the Lord Sunday and the gospel reading for this week is Matthew 3:13-17.I decided to share some of my thoughts on the sacrament of baptism. I'll spend some time talking about the differences between Christians over time about what the best way is to baptize. I'll reflect on what baptism signifies for us. I'll finish by expressing some of my concerns about living out our baptismal faith.Remember......baptism is not a box to check off. It is not an ending. It is the beginning of a life-long journey!

Focus Text: Isaiah 60:1-6This week's sermon comes on Epiphany Sunday, remembering that time when the wise men came to visit the young Jesus. Matthew 2:1-12 chronicles this account.The Old Testament Reading for this Sunday comes from Isaiah. I chose to focus on this reading for the service. We'll do the following:Understanding the context for the reading and how it fits into EpiphanyReflect on glory, what it is and how we can live into itRemember the gifts we have in JesusConclude my looking ahead to a new year

This Sunday we wrap up the "Our Dear Christ Enters In" series with a sermon called "Company Comes." We explore Luke 1:39-45 and Mary's interaction with Elizabeth...what do Elizabeth's words have to tell us about Jesus?

As we continue through our series called Our Dear Christ Enters In, we focus on Luke 1:26-38 and explore "baby names. We'll look at gender reveal parties, times in the Bible in which God reveals the gender of babies to come and explore how Jesus got his name!

Our own homes experience hurts, whether they are within our control or not. Where do we find God in midst of out hurts?We look at Luke 1:5-25 and see how Zechariah and Elizabeth experienced hurts in their lives, but remained faithful and experienced something remarkable in their life!How can we seek to acknowledge our hurts, but not lose our connection to God?

The is the first week of our series Our Dear Christ Enters In!This week we will be focusing on Matthew 1:1-17. I encourage you to read through it first before listening to the message. It's a genealogy...and it's not easy reading. Be thankful that you are not reading in front of others. Lots of confusing names.As we dig into the family tree, we realize that there are a lot of folks in Jesus's family tree that have done some questionable, and even downright evil stuff. There are some "knots" in his family tree. The same might be said of our own family trees.We don't have to be perfect, or have perfect families, to be grafted into God's family through Jesus Christ!

It's hard to believe that the season of Advent begins on November 30th, 2025. This means that November 23rd is Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday. It marks the end of the Christian calendar.What does it mean to have no king but Jesus Christ?What does it mean to place Jesus Christ first in our lives?That's what I explore in this sermon. Enjoy!

The text I used for this week's message is Isaiah 65:17-25.Some weeks, sermon preparation can be tedious. As George Lucas has said writing can be like "bleeding on the page." Not always easy...this week's message came quite easily. Not sure if that's good or bad!As I was preparing the sermon this is particular Sunday, I quickly found myself focusing on what we should be doing right now to bring about the "Kingdom of God" instead of always looking ahead to what will be.If you get a chance, I highly recommend you listen to the first track of the soundtrack of The Mission. It's a good movie with a great soundtrack. The first track is called "On Earth As It Is in Heaven." It's gorgeous, and it might set the mood for the sermon.

The sermon for this Sunday was based on Luke 20:27-38. It was the gospel reading in the Revised Common Lectionary for that particular Sunday and I have never preached on it before.I'll say that much of the research that I did in advance of this message focused on marriage and that makes sense because Jesus' parable is in response to a Sadducee question about marriage.Instead, I focused on what Jesus shares about the resurrection. You have to do a little digging but I think it's there.

All Saints SundayThe first Sunday of November is a time in which many churches recognize those in their congregations that have passed away since the last All Saints.In leading up to this celebration I preached a sermon based on Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18. I share a message emphasize that, in Christ, there is nothing that can stop us from the reward comes in HIM.You'll notice there are some verses missing. Those who created the Revised Common Lectionary wanted to spare folks from the detailed descriptions of the beasts. Feel free to fill in gap in your own preparations. :-)

Stewardship Month -- "Earn, Save, Gain", Part IVFocus text: Luke 19:1-10As our stewardship series draws to a close, we will look at the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus. It is a story of transformation. What does it look like to experience a transformation in how we view our financial resources, and how they might be best used for the sake of the Kingdom of God? What does it mean to "give all you can?"

Stewardship Month -- "Earn, Save, Gain", Part IIIFocus texts: Matthew 25:14-30In this third sermon of the series, we will look at the Parable of the Talents with more to say than just, "Use it or lose it!" We'll explore the significance of saving all we can so that we might have financial resources to live out the Kingdom of God. When it comes to using our money, do our priorities match up with God's priorities?

Stewardship Month -- "Earn, Save, Gain", Part IIFocus texts: Proverbs 6:6-11 & Luke 16:1-13In this second sermon of the series, we'll explore the very curious parable of a dishonest money manager that seems to be praised by Jesus! We'll spend some time exploring how John Wesley sent up parameters for earning money and how they still apply to us today!

Stewardship Month -- "Earn, Save, Gain", Part IFocus texts: Proverbs 3:13-16 & 1 Kings 3:5-12In this first sermon of the series, we'll explore how we define wisdom, why Solomon asked God for wisdom, and how wisdom plays a key role for us as we think about our own personal finances and how we view our wealth.

Part 2 of the "Welcoming" series.In this sermon, Pastor Jim reviews the 5-10-Link process for meeting new folks who come into our sanctuary.Next he'll share some of his own story about how a church changed his life and brought him back to God. He'll encourage you to remember your story of how the church helped you and think about how you might be able to share that story with others. Finally we'll look at what it means to have Yorkville UMC be a church that folks recommend to others.Reaching -- Returning -- RecommendingFocus scriptures are: Romans 5:1-11 and 1 John 1:1-4

Part 3 of the "Welcoming" series. Every church has a "Back to Egypt" committee that wants to keep the church where it is or tries to bring it back to the "good ol' days." We need to move beyond this mindset. We'll look at some of the missions of our nearby churches and reflect on our own. We'll explore an additional strategy to help guests of our church feel welcome.Focus scriptures include: Romans 12:1-13 and Hebrews 10:19-25