Lent Sermon Series on Death Sermon by Michael Usey February 21, 2010 Excuse us, but can you spare a moment? We’re taking a survey here and we’d like to ask you a question. It’ll only take a minute and we won’t even ask your name, okay? So here it is: Do you really think you’re going to die? Really and truly? Do you really think your life is going to come to an end some day? Take your time. No hurry to answer. Well, except for the fact that every moment that passes is one less moment in your lifetime. If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t totally believe…

(Love Lies Bleeding) Sermon by Michael Usey February 28, 2010 One of the oddest funerals I’ve ever been to took place in Abilene, Texas, in 1976. The man who died was a professor and a Mason, and I was just a freshman in college. We were graveside, when the Shrine Masons were walking around the open grave. It had been raining all week; this day was sunny, but the ground was still wet. The green fake grass carpet was everywhere, even under the coffin. Picture the scene: an open grave, over which the coffin of the professor was suspended; that fake green grass they use at graveside to cover up…

Sermon By Michael Usey May 31, 2009 In the scripture reading this morning, Jesus is there among his friends and disciples—notice his mother is there too. He’s about to leave—remember that we looked at his leaving last week–when he promises them that will be his witnesses. Now the Greek word for witness is martyr. They would his witnesses first in Jerusalem, then Judea, after that Samaria, then to the ends of the world. It’s a little outline for the rest of the book of Acts. Starting with chapter 2, they receive the Spirit—there is a mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire appear over their heads, people think they are a…

Jeremiah 18:1-12; Jeremiah 29:4-14 Sermon by Rev. Pam Strader, West Market St UMC October 26, 2008 Have you ever had a book that you bought in a bookstore, but when you got home it just sat on the shelf or the bedside table? You keep thinking, “I need to get around to reading that book,” but you just never quite do. That happened to me with a book I had bought on the prophet Jeremiah. What drew me to it was that it was written by Eugene Peterson, the Presbyterian who gave us The Message translation of the Bible. But you know what? I have discovered that sometimes God works…

Sermon by Michael Usey April 2008 Two weeks ago I wanted to test the deacons so I asked them a very simple question, what did they think was the most frequently asked questions to me as pastor? Being the diaconate of College Park, they responded with their usual wisdom. Their list included these questions that other people ask me: Where is the bathroom in this place anyway? I do get asked this often. How did you ever trick Ann into marrying you? A very good question indeed. Do you know Jesus? A few in Greensboro doubt that I know him. Who did you bribe to get this job? There is…

July 20, 2008 Good Morning my name is Roland Russoli Michael announced last week that I would be giving a sermon on our time in Africa. I am uncomfortable with the word sermon, to me it implies order, you know three points and a poem and these last three years have been anything but orderly. My first draft of this talk could have been called Hannibal Lector meets Marco Polo, but after considering the Baptist ( or as close as you get to Baptist ) crowd in this room I left all the scary people, dark alleys, and knife carrying stories out of this talk. College Park has changed a…

Sermon by K. Hollyn Hollman, General Counsel Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty April 27, 2008 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 (New International Version) It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. . . . You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor…

Sermon by Jeremy Fox December 30, 2007 I. Upon my arrival at Campbell University, the first thing I noticed was the many gorgeous females (this was all before I met Megan, who is above and beyond the females at Campbell). So immediately I came up with a plan to meet some of the females. I went and bought a huge golfing umbrella (enough room for 3 people) and waited for rainy days. Anytime it did rain, I would have my umbrella to escort a few women wherever they needed to go. To them, I was being a chivalrous religion major doing what was right. Little did they know that my…

Sermon by Rev. Rachel Luck October 1, 2007 Luke 16:19-31 For several years the FOX Network aired a reality TV series starring two Hollywood socialites named Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The show was called The Simple Life. Paris is the equivalent to an American Princess, an heiress to the Hilton family fortune. Nicole is the socialite daughter of former pop star Lionel Richie; each of them coming from a fair amount of privilege and luxury. And together, these two young twenty something’s provided entertainment for households across the nation as they watched images of Paris and Nicole’s attempt at living the simple life. Something as simple as cleaning a…

Sermon by Sarah Ferris May 6, 2007 It wasn’t the trips to the hospital or the cries of pain that made me finally realize my life was going to be different. It was the field days at Joyner Elementary School when I saw all the mothers participating in the fun activities planned for the day. The relays, with wet sponges, running from end to end, trying to be the fastest to fill up the buckets, with mothers running along side their children cheering their team on. And the parachute, in which we would shake as fast as we could, then throw it up and hide under it until the parents…

Sermon by Lin Bunce February 8, 2007 When I was younger, my favorite vacation was an October trip to the Outer Banks. I was guaranteed to miss 2 days of school. We would get up Thursday morning when it was still dark and begin our 6 hr journey to Drum Inlet, by car, ferry boat and then by camper. Once we reached our destination it was non-stop fishing. Grandaddy would have 5 lines cast out into the ocean and I was amazed how he could keep his eye on all of them. On the last night of our trip, dad and granddaddy would fish through the night. I remember one…

Sermon by Daniel Ingram April 23, 2006 1 John 1:1-2:2 It was about this time last year when I was invited to a bachelor party for one of our church members. Like all other bachelor parties, there were arrangements of transportation and honestly that was remarkable. The party bus was equipped with all modern amenities starting from USB cords to laser light display. The interior of the coach had a hardwood floor and leather seating line for premium comfort. I was so impressed by the vehicle that I enquired more about it. I got to know that a party bus like this could be hired from websites like Dream Limousines…

100th Anniversary Celebration Sermon by Peggy Haymes March 12, 2006 Genesis 12:1-3 I have a confession to make…. I see dead people. Oh, not in the Hayley Joel Osmet seeing Bruce Willis Sixth Sense kind of a way. No, sometimes when I’m sitting in the choir loft, I look up into the back balcony, and almost think I can see them, the great cloud of witnesses gathered there… Nannie Leigh…who used to call church members on their birthdays to sing Happy Birthday. Fred Scott…hearing him pray was like listening in on an ongoing conversation.Now he is able to speak face to face, as friend speaks to friend. Atha Raulston…who we used…

Sermon by Michael Usey March 2006 An old proverb says, “There is no fool like an old fool, unless it’s a young fool.” Being two years shy of 50, I’m not quite ready to say that I’m old, but the aches I have after a day of playing soccer with my 3 kids convince me that I’m not young either. So, being neither an old fool nor a young fool, I guess I am just foolish–as one fellow minister suggested when I said I was preaching on the topic of abortion. He didn’t come out and call me stupid, but he said, “Why ask for trouble? This is such a…