West End Umc Video Podcast Audio Podcast

Chosen Family – Rev. Will McLeane is preaching on a story in Mark 3 when Jesus comes to his home, and the crowd is oppressive. The multitudes are there for different reasons: some because of his powers of healing, some because of the words he has spoken, and some who see him as a false prophet and a threat to the status quo. His own family members wonder if he hasn’t gone crazy as others think he may be inhabited by a devil. In the midst of this, Jesus tells a few parables and then asks, “Who are my mother and brothers?” He then defines his family as whoever does the will of God. For us this is an open invitation to go beyond any borders of family and history to understand that all of us who carry out the work of Jesus are family, and that this sense can serve to break down barriers and spread God’s love throughout humankind. It is the same as the invitation to gather around the Communion table – to sup together no matter who we are or where we have been.

Healing the Withered – The scripture for today is from Mark 3, a scene in which Jesus is being watched to see whether he will, on the sabbath, cure a man with a withered hand. He does, of course, heal the man. This man with the withered hand has likely been overlooked. A withered hand is easy to hide or overlook, and it may be that he wasn’t noticed. This healing story is often overlooked, too, because of all of the other significant and miraculous healings Jesus performs. In this gospel this story is buried in the midst of controversy between the Pharisees and Jesus. Jesus could have waited until the Sabbath was over to heal the man, but Jesus does not ignore this man. We, too, may have aspects of our lives that are withered and hidden. Even if the man is hiding the withered aspect of the man’s life, Jesus notices, beckons, and heals the man. Our vulnerabilities are difficult to reveal by opening ourselves in the church, but this is where we are healed.

Born Into Love (Again) – This is Trinity Sunday, and the scripture from the Fourth Gospel is about the learned Pharisee Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night to ask a number of questions. Much as Nicodemus had questions, even as learned as we may be, we, too, can have questions, even about the concept of “The Trinity.” Although for centuries The Trinity has been described in terms of “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” we know that such terms cannot contain all the meaning associated with The Trinity. In recent years we have, for example, grown to use, “Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer” as another description. We might well note that however one conceptualizes “The Trinity,” there is a bond of love that flows between the three parts, and we, too, can join and experience that love. In some ways we can understand The Trinity as an invitation to move beyond intellectual understanding into a relationship. The sermon reminds us of that example of John Wesley whose heart was “strangely warmed” in his Aldersgate exp

This is Pentecost Sunday and we are reading the account of the Holy Spirit coming in dramatic fashion to inhabit the disciples after the ascension of Jesus. The account is demonstrative of the power and work of the Holy Spirit as it acts in dramatic fashion, but not in random fashion. The participants are around 120 people, and there were surely differences among them. Although we might guess that some were people Jesus had healed or perhaps, like Zaccheus, some who encountered him along the way and were changed. Peter, for example, had denied knowing Jesus, but here he is, filled with the Holy Spirit, and taking on a large role in the crowd. All of these different people were united by the act of the Holy Spirit, and we, too, as different individuals (even we are in the same West End UMC congregation) can be inspired by the strategy of the Spirit to do things to further the mission of Jesus among our people. We can all tell the same story, even if we tell it in different ways. The church was born on P

This is Ascension Sunday, the day we acknowledge and celebrate Jesus’ ascension to heaven after his crucifixion and resurrection. The text for today is from the opening verses of Acts, recording that ascension of Jesus. In some ways it is reminiscent of this season in our lives when there are graduations from high schools, colleges, and such, where children and others have been educated and trained and are now sent out to the next phase of their lives. Acts records that during the forty days between the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension, he has appeared to them repeatedly and has continued to prepare the disciples to carry on his mission after he is gone. As he is about to leave them to reunite with God in heaven, Jesus lets the disciples know that they have not only been prepared by him but will soon be empowered through the Holy Spirit to carry on the work. It reminds us that we, too, are commissioned and empowered to carry on discipleship and the work of Jesus in the world.

Love Is the Way – Today we continue a post-Easter series of several weeks of focus on 1 John and the idea of love, that God loves us and that our response to that is to love God in return, but also to love others. This is also Confirmation Sunday when we present a dozen young people who have been through the confirmation process and are ready to become full members of the church. Delivering the sermon today is Rev. Will McLeane, our Pastor of Spiritual Formation. He begins with examples of our needing direction, such as when we’re traveling by car and use a navigation system. There are other times when we desperately need physical or emotional direction from a doctor or a therapist. This letter of 1 John was received by an early church and offers guidance and direction, based in God’s love through the incarnation. When we understand that and trust and feel God’s love, we get a fullness of self and can have our hearts and minds changed so that we are commissioned to take courageous stands to embody and s

Love Casts Out Fear – Today we continue a post-Easter series of several weeks of focus on 1 John and the idea of love, that God loves us and that our response to that is to love God in return, but also to love others. There are numerous examples in our lives and in our day of fears. Even among some churches the incentive for believing in God is the fear of God’s judgment. But the writer of 1 John says clearly that “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear,” so that our relationship with God is not built out of any fear but is a response in love to the fact that God first loves us. Given that context, we can see throughout the Bible God’s persistent love for the people, in spite of their turning away at times. Our response to God’s love of us is to love ourselves, our neighbors, and even our enemies.

Today we begin a post-Easter series of several weeks of focus on 1 John with some verses from chapter 3 that are centered on God’s love and how our love can be manifested in acts. Although the English word, “love,” can refer to a wide variety of emotions and acts, Greek has several different words that can be translated “love” – philos, eros, and agape, each with different applications and contexts. In 1 John, it is agape that is at the heart of Christianity, and in the passage for today, agape is love in action: laying ourselves down for others. Some of us are exploring that further through the book, Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times, by Bishop Michael Curry. Every day there are opportunities for us to choose to love others, putting the well-being of another above our own. In our Methodist tradition, John Wesley would call this “sanctification,” the process of practicing agape through the church. Our own church experience gives us the opportunity to learn agape through practice.

This is West End’s annual Youth Sunday when youth take on every role in the service, including all readings, music, and preaching. The two delivering the sermon(s) are Brazier Pierce and Mary Peacock, both of whom give their own experiences related to the scripture from Luke 24:36-48, where the disciples of Jesus, having seen him crucified, are surprised when he appears to them. Brazier and Mary each describe not only personal experiences, but offer how, in brief moments of encounter, we, too, can offer love and hope to others, whether they are friends, family, or complete strangers.

Forgiveness Is Not What You Think – On the Second Sunday of Easter, our Congregational Care Intern, Dr. Tammy Lewis Wilborn, delivers the Communion Meditation, based on the passage from Genesis 45 where Joseph’s brothers have come to Egypt during the famine to seek food. Unbeknownst to them, he is the one from the Egyptian administration who meets with them – they are his brothers who sold him into slavery and told their father he had died. In this scene, Joseph confronts them but with forgiveness. Dr. Wilborn says that forgiveness is complicated because its “is-ness” is confusing. We think of Jesus as a model for forgiveness, but she gives examples (like the turning over of the tables in the temple) where we’re not so sure. We feel like suffering requires forgiveness, but sometimes we blame our own suffering on God. In our day and time we now understand that one who forgives receives much mental health benefit in that process. And, looking at this example of Joseph with his brothers, he didn’t “forget

Easter Sunday! The Gospel reading for our Easter service is the one from Mark’s Gospel (16.1-8). It is an odd and somewhat unsatisfactory ending to the story in that the three women who go to the tomb and are told that Jesus is risen and are then directed to tell the disciples about that and instruct them to return to Galilee where they will see him. But the final verse says they were afraid and told no one. Scholars say that the earliest forms of this Gospel ended there. The person who wrote this gospel, though, has been very deliberate and purpose-driven in all of it, so what might that purpose be in ending this way? Perhaps it is a challenge to hearers/readers of the Gospel to take on the responsibility of spreading the news of the resurrection of Christ. The direction to “return to Galilee” may direct us to re-read the stories of Jesus, not just for information but for transformation, and with that to realize that life has conquered death, and that we are to live every day choosing life over death

This is our Good Friday service, a remembrance held at the traditional hour of the crucifixion of Jesus. It begins with the chiming of the hour, which sets the mood. It includes a reading of two chapters of the Fourth Gospel that describe the arrest, condemnation, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus, a familiar and agonizing section to hear and recall. Rev. Maggie Jarrell, our Pastor of Children and Families, delivers the Good Friday Meditation. The title comes from the scripture reading as Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” In a sense, Pilate’s question to Jesus is, “What’s the point?” a question we often ask. We put off discomfort and pain, but avoiding such things is not possible because we are not in control. God keeps on loving us, no matter, and this suffering of the son of God reminds us that God knows our suffering and pain and loves no matter the situation. Solidarity with those who suffer means we take risks and give up comforts, but the example of Jesus who worked for the suffering and in so

We welcome you to listen to our Lenten podcast which will offer guided readings of the Common Prayer liturgies from your pastoral team. We are offering podcasts every day during Holy Week. ...

This is Maundy Thursday, the service in which we remember and participate in the Last Supper. The scripture for this service is the familiar story from the Fourth Gospel wherein Jesus washes the feet of the disciples and leaves them with the commandment to love one another. Delivering the communion meditation is our Pastor of Spiritual Formation, Rev. Will McLeane. He begins with the contrast in his own children of rejecting the traditional cartoons in favor of “real” people in their programs, and he speaks of our own desire for reality. The disciples have followed whom they feel to be the real Jesus, but in this moment of Jesus taking on the mantle of servitude he was actually revealing reality to them. Through this, Jesus lays out a love story that is absolute and fundamental reality. Receiving the reality of God’s love can be one of the most difficult things in our faith, and that is demonstrated by Peter’s resistance in the narrative. The power of the resurrection can only be known when we realize

This is Maundy Thursday, the service in which we remember and participate in the Last Supper. The scripture for this service is the familiar story from the Fourth Gospel wherein Jesus washes the feet of the disciples and leaves them with the commandment to love one another. Delivering the communion meditation is our Pastor of Spiritual Formation, Rev. Will McLeane. He begins with the contrast in his own children of rejecting the traditional cartoons in favor of “real” people in their programs, and he speaks of our own desire for reality. The disciples have followed whom they feel to be the real Jesus, but in this moment of Jesus taking on the mantle of servitude he was actually revealing reality to them. Through this, Jesus lays out a love story that is absolute and fundamental reality. Receiving the reality of God’s love can be one of the most difficult things in our faith, and that is demonstrated by Peter’s resistance in the narrative. The power of the resurrection can only be known when we realize

We welcome you to listen to our Lenten podcast which will offer guided readings of the Common Prayer liturgies from your pastoral team. We are offering podcasts every day during Holy Week. ...

We welcome you to listen to our Lenten podcast which will offer guided readings of the Common Prayer liturgies from your pastoral team. We are offering podcasts every day during Holy Week. ...

We welcome you to listen to our Lenten podcast which will offer guided readings of the Common Prayer liturgies from your pastoral team. We are offering this podcast every day during Holy Week. ...

We welcome you to listen to our Lenten podcast which will offer guided readings of the Common Prayer liturgies from your pastoral team. We are offering the podcast today, Ash Wednesday, and every day during Holy Week. ...

A Humble Walk – Today is Palm Sunday. Through Lent we have been considering what we can do to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly,” and our focus is now on “walk humbly.” The script is the Markan version of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and we celebrate that with our own palm branches waving as we sing “Hosanna!” We know the scene was of a triumphant Jesus being welcomed and hailed as the long-awaited king. But we also know, as Jesus must have known, that he was about to face trial and crucifixion. Although the Gospel account of this entry is of much celebration, Jesus does not speak a word, and he is riding on a mere donkey colt. Even if he knows what is coming, he also knows that God is with him, so he can ride and walk humbly. That grounding in and identification with God allows him to speak for God in cleansing the temple shortly thereafter. We, too, are grounded as creatures of God, created in the image of God, and we are called to walk humbly with God, and also to love mercy