Kearney First UMC Podcasts

What Is the Good News?

Welcome to our Monday Morning Podcast!  In this episode, Pastor Matt asks, what is the good news we proclaim as church and followers of Jesus?  Is this good news to us and to others?  Do we all need to be doing the exact same thing to be living into the "good news?"  Is the "good news" we claim reflected in how we live our lives?

Being a People of Practice

Welcome to our Sunday Sermon Podcast!  In this sermon, Pastor Jo Ellen shares we are a people of practice.  We are called to new life in Christ that is shared with others. the effect of our faith should be evident ot others.  If you are on a sports team or play an instrument and you never practice, do you get better?  We need to practice our faith and being like Jesus.
Please note, Jo Ellen's mic cuts out around the 23:11 mark.  We apologize for this inconvenience.

Being a People of Practice in the New Year

Welcome to our Monday podcast!  In this episode, Pastor Jo Ellen encourages to think about how we will live out our practices of faith in the new year.  Jesus calls us to live into our faith that is real, vital and growing.  Discipleship takes work and preparation, it's not a passive thing.

The Main Things

Welcome to our Sunday Sermon podcast!  In this sermon, Pastor Matt asks, "How are you growing like Jesus or closer to Jesus?  How are you 'growing up' in your salvation?"  Salvation is not a one and done event.  It is a lifelong journey that Jesus calls us to.

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?