October 13, 2024 – Lessons on Justice, Talents, and Following Jesus – Michael leads a reflection on Isaiah 1:1-20 and Matthew 25:14-30. In these passages, Michael asks us to reflect on the question is a relationship with God about salvation or Divine justice Can we hear God speaking to us today through the prophet Isaiah, would God approve of the church today? Who is the God we are accountable to? We then reflect on Jesus’ words as he teaches a Kingdom Parable about who God is to us and what we do with these lives. Listen prayerfully and reflect on how your life is reflecting God’s justice in this world. If we live lives of God’s justice/restoration in the world, salvation takes care of itself as we enter into our Master’s joy.
September 15th, 2024 – Wisdom Cries Out, Can We Hear Her? – We have a guest preacher, Rev. Stacey Piyakhun, the co-director for the Horizon Texas Annual Conference Center for Multiplication. Rev. Stacey reflects on how we hear God speaking to us today. Proverbs 1 tells us that God – Wisdom is crying out for us to listen, but we don’t hear her. In a time when we are always connected to information and media and noise, how do we hear God? Through story telling of her own travels, she reflects that Wisdom may be speaking to our face but we may dismiss the voice out of inconvenience. Come along and listen to this witness from our friend, Rev. Stacey Piyakhun.
September 8, 2024 – A Sermon With No Name – Michael digs into the Lectionary readings for this Sunday. From James to Mark, we hear the call to model God’s love of not showing partiality as well as challenging the foundations of our hate and prejudice. A sermon with no name invites us to listen to the scriptures for today, to ask deeper questions, both of God and Jesus, to see Jesus himself growing into his Divine presence. We find that we have permission to not have it all together but to give ourselves permission to grow as we see in Jesus. We also hear how human agency for a friend is the beginning of Jesus’ healing. Listen with an open mind to how these passages speak to you.
September 1, 2024 Finding Our True Religion – Hearing James 1:17-27 and Mark 7:1-23 we hear two perspectives of what authentic faith, authentic religion is meant to be. Religion is simply our practice of how we bind ourselves to God. Pastor Michael reflects deeply on these two passages, reflecting how anger is never a foundation for righteousness and how sin, without a relationship with God, is meaningless. Michael defines sin as the damage our actions cause in relationships. When we want to grow healthier and stronger relationships, when we want to be in relationship with God, then we will begin to practice an authentic faith and religion. Listen as Michael explores the importance of these two passages.
August 18th, 2024 What Would You Ask For? – As King Solomon took over the Kingdom of Israel in Jerusalem from his Father, he has very large shoes to fill. He began his reign making what many considered to be foolish choices, from neglecting the security of Jerusalem, to not building the Temple for God, to taking an Egyptian/foreign bride against the teachings of Moses. Yet Solomon loved God and God commanded Solomon to make a request. Solomon asked for the gift of wisdom to care for his people. What would we have asked for? What are our expectations for God? Pastor Michael preaches this question as we are invited to deepen our faith.
Sunday – August 11 2024. Pastor Michael Rowe shared about his trip to the Philippines. In his message titled, “Seed of Faith” he reflected on the changes seen in our mission partner church in Villaros, Nueva Viscaya. From the start of a shed on the edge of a field to a church packed with life and families growing as disciples, Pastor Michael reflected on Jesus’ parable in the Gospel of Matthew about the Kingdom of Heaven being compared to a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds that grows to the largest of shrubs that provides home and shelter. God can take what the world may see as insignificant acts and gifts, and make miracles that can change the world.
Sunday, July 7th, 2024 – The Grace in Doubt. From Habakkuk crying to God, to Thomas demanding to see and feel Jesus before believing in the resurrection, stories of doubt have always made us uncomfortable, but why? Is it because we mask our own doubt about God? Pastor Michael explores doubt as a real expression of faith and honesty with God. He reminds us that we are in a relationship with a God who is big enough to hold us, even when we cannot hold on to God. He also reminds us that we worship a God who comes back to us to restore us in faith through grace. Listen as we reflect upon growing deeper in love with God.
Sunday – June 23, 2024 – Dreaming God’s Vision – Can we know God’s will for us? Pastor Michael reflects deeply and Biblically on this by taking a journey from our creation stories, from the first man and woman, from God’s covenant with Abram, to the prophet Isaiah, through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and through Revelation 21’s vision of the coming of God to reside among us. Through surveying the common themes of God’s peace, God’s covenant with us, through Jesus’ teachings, we see that God calls us as partners in creation to live as a blessing to others, to dream toward a Kindom of Divine peace that embraces the marginalized and calls us to be agents of justice and lovers of kindness. Listen as Pastor Michael takes you on a journey.
Sunday, June 16th 2024 – Faith or Fear? – Reflecting on the passage from Numbers where Moses and Aaron send spies to survey Canaan and bring back a report and Luke 7 where Jesus dines at Simon the Pharisees home, we reflect on how fear can keep us from living into God’s vision for us. The Children of Israel allowed fear to keep them from receiving what God promised them and cost them 40 years. Jesus refused to allow fear of what Simon a Pharisee thought to keep him from receiving an act of love from a woman who needed to be set free. People are going to talk, we must resist the temptation to allow fear to stop us. Listen as Pastor Michael challenges us to overcome fear.
June 9, 2024 – Time With God – Too often we think that we have to be alone to experience God and to be in God’s Presence. Michael leads us in reflecting on how we see and encounter God in people as well. By hearing Genesis 18 and Luke 10 passages, we reflect on how Abraham saw God in the three strangers that were passing by. Also we reflect on how Mary attended to God in Jesus while Martha was caught up in the business of hospitality. Matthew 25 reminds us that what we do for the least of these, we are doing for God. Are we too busy in life to spend time with God? This is week 2 in our the Art of Neighboring series.
June 2, 2024 – The Art of Neighboring – Michael introduced a series based from the book, The Art of Neighboring. Michael is challenging the church to look at the 8 neighbors around them as their mission field of getting to know and care for our neighbors. Michael reflected upon Luke 10, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and from Paul’s time in Athens as recorded in Acts 17. As United Methodists, we recognize the presence of God in every human, even those who we may disagree with. As Michael reflects on these two passages, we hear Jesus’s call to prioritize love and mercy over right belief every time.
May 12, 2024- Lessons On Building Up People. Pastor Michael reflects in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 and Luke 22: 24-32. Paul addresses controversies and complacency over the return of Christ and leaves the Thessalonians with the charge to be about the ministry of building one another up. In Luke 22, Jesus begins to set a standard for what it means to be a disciple and then turns to Peter, in fact calls him out to let him know that he is going to fail, but then prays for him. In this prayer, Jesus reminds Peter that after he fails, always be willing to give the other disciples a fresh start. Listen as Michael reflects on our ministry of building others up and not tearing each other down.
Sunday – May 5th – “Let’s Talk About Faith” Faith begins with a relationship. A relationship with God, as taught by Jesus, is to know God as a Father. Spiritual Disciplines are the practices in which we grow in faith. If a practice is not helping you grow, stop doing it. Michael reflects on the different Spiritual Disciples that have been used by Christians to grow in faith. He looked at the faith of Daniel who went to his knees in prayer, knowing that he would be thrown into the lion’s den, We looked at the faith of Stephen, who could look to heaven in prayer as stones destroyed his body. We looked at the example of Jesus who roots his ministry deep in prayer. Watch and listen as we reflect on the foundations of out faith.
The Soil of Community – April 21, 2024 – The third message in the series, “Rooted in Love”, Michael reflects on Paul’s metaphor of the Church as the Body of Christ. Every part is important and we are incomplete without each person. In Jesus’ farewell words before he goes to the cross, he give his disciples a new commandment, to love one another. We disciples of Jesus who practice our faith in the Wesleyan tradition of the United Methodist Church, believe in the power of what we understand as prevenient grace. This is the sacrificial love that we experience from others. Listen as Michael teaches and reflects on the importance of sacrifice as the greatest act of love and leadership.
On Being Shaped B Living Water – April 14th, 2024 Pastor Michael Rowe preached from John 4, Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan women at the well. Jesus came with purpose to this time and place to meet this woman, it was not an accident, it was not chance, Jesus came to see her, and offer her Living Water. Jesus came and brought the gift of reconciliation. In a day of division in the world. we are called to be transformed by God and to join in the work of transforming the world. This message explores the work of our discipleship of reconciliation. We are called to help the world fall in love with God as we continue to fall in love with God.
Sunday, April 7th – The Reality of Resurrection – The First Message in a sermon series titled, “Rooted In Love,” Pastor Rowe preaches on John 20:19-31, Jesus’ evening appearance to his followers on that first night of resurrection. Even after the morning witness of the empty tomb and Mary’s account of talking with the resurrected Jesus, Jesus finds them hiding in fear behind locked doors. He shows them the marks on the crucifixion then tells them that he is sending them out as the Father sent him. Jesus breathes into them the Holy Spirit and tells them to go and forgive, to set people free. Listen as we hearJesus tell us how to live even in the hardships of dark times.
Easter Sunday Sunrise Service at Rita Blanca Lake Pavilion, March 31, 2024
The Resurrection Is About Us – Pastor Rowe read John 20:1-18. The message reflects upon Mary Magdelene, on Peter, on the other disciples who were trying to figure out what happened that first Easter. For Mary it was Jesus calling her by name and she knew, Jesus came back for Peter after Peter denied Jesus. Easter is about us, how Christ still comes back for us in the mess of our lives and meets us with love and grace.
Sunday, March 24, 2024, Palm Sunday. Pastor Rowe reflects on the differences that the different Gospel accounts reflect as to how the events begin to unfold as Jesus approached the first Holy Week. A question raised is did Jesus have the whole week pre-figured out or was there things unpredicted until they occurred? Can we witness the week with new eyes, not predicting where the week is taking us but can we bear witness as acts of love are expressed through each stage of the week? Can we live with uncertainty and accept the mystery of Holy Week as it unfolds?
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Pastor Michael wrapped up the 6th session on the Foundations of Our Faith, a six week series with questions following reflecting on what it means to live as the Body of Christ in the world. This weeks sermon is on the Foundation of Prayer. Pastor Michael takes the mystery our of prayer and reflected on simply, how we talk to God and listen to God in our lives.