Kearney First UMC Podcasts

A Look at the New Year: How Can We Live So That We Might Be Shaped By Jesus?

Welcome to our Monday Podcast!  In this episode, Pastor Matt share a little bit about the future of this podcast and the reason behind the change in the release date.  He asks, how can we live so that we might be most fully shaped by Jesus?  How are we following Jesus?

Light for Living - Christmas Eve 2025

Welcome to our podcast!  This is our Christmas Eve service from 2025.  Pastor Matt looks at the Polar Express and ponders how hard it can be to believe.  The trouble isn't believing that Jesus was born, the trouble is believing Jesus' birth makes a livable difference in our lives.  At Christmas, God gives of God's self by giving us Jesus who is the light of the world who guides us to live in unity with God.  Belief isn't a mental exercise, it's a light that shapes our living.  Jesus, the light and life of God, persistently shows up before we feel we holy enough.  Grace comes before we are ready.  Belief isn't pretending that life is fine, it is choosing to live by the light that has already dawned.

A Christmas Day Blessing

Merry Christmas!  In this episode, Pastor Jo Ellen reads the Christmas Story from Luke 2 and shares a special Christmas blessing to you and yours.

Signs of Love

Welcome to the Sunday Sermon podcast!  In this sermon, Pastor Matt looks at "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and asks if we ever feel melancholy at Christmas time?  Of if Christmas has ever felt "not like Christmas" before?  God gives of God's self in Jesus to give us courage to live in the melancholy and uncertainty of life.  We are never alone, for God is always with us.

Jesus, the Greatest Gift of Love

Welcome to our midweek podcast!  In this episode, Pastor Jo Ellen encourages us to think of how we show love.  Jesus is the greatest gift of love from God.  How can we share God's love with others?

Blossoming Joy

Welcome to our Sunday Sermon podcast!  In this sermon, Pastor Jo Ellen shares that Joy is not something we engineer, but something God gives us.  In today's reading, Isaiah tells about a release and restoration in community with God.  It is a song of hope and joy.  When we find relationship and family in God, we are released from the troubles of this world and restored in God's joy  Joy can found in service and being present in our community.  Where is your joy?  

Waiting In Between Arrivals

Welcome to our midweek podcast!  In this episode, Pastor Matt says the season of Advent is a time of waiting, but what does waiting look like?  What are the practices that help us wait faithfully or through which God transforms us into the Kingdom Jesus is creating?

Seeing A Realm of Peace

Welcome to our Sunday Sermon podcast!  Pastor Matt begins this sermon with a brief history of what is going on when Isaiah writes today's passage and why Isaiah calls King Ahaz a stump.  Have you ever felt "Stump-ish?"  Have things ever not gone how you planned or as fruitful as you'd like?  Do you ever fell cut off from that which was once thriving?  Isaiah says a ruler is coming who will promote peace and uplift those in need.  God helps us re-center our vision onto a Holy and good leader, building a kingdom of peace in our midst.

Pondering Hope

Welcome to our midweek podcast!  In this episode, Pastor Jo Ellen invites us to ponder what hope looks like for us and for the world.  Jo Ellen prays that we look for the little bits of hope in everyday, no matter how small they may be.

Hope of A Wonderful Life: First Sunday of Advent

Welcome to our Sunday Sermon podcast!  This sermon begins our Advent series.  Pastor Jo Ellen shares that Advent is a time to prepare and hope for the promise of Jesus's birth.  One of our movie pairings this week was "Spirited" in which the main character learns that one small good thing a day can make a big difference towards a better world.  In "It's A Wonderful Life,"  the main character learns the world is better with him in it.  The same can be said for you.  The promise of Christ gives us hope.  What are your hopes?