Kearney First UMC Podcasts

Jesus Heals with Great Love and Kindness

Welcome to the Sunday Sermon podcast!  In this sermon, Pastor Jo Ellen looks at Jesus healing the bleeding woman and Jairus' daughter in Matthew 9.  As you listen, think about if you have ever needed healing.  In each of the stories shared in Matthew, no one earned Jesus' healings.  For some, they were coming to Jesus as a last resort.  It didn't matter how they came to Jesus, it mattered that they came to Him. They were given healing freely with kindness.  They came as they were just like we should come to Jesus.  Whole-ness comes from God and you are never lost to Jesus, even in the crowdedness of the world.

Jesus's Identity as a Healer

Welcome to our midweek podcast!  In this episode, Pastor Matt looks at Matthew 8 which contains many stories of Jesus healing people.  He reflects on Jesus's identity as a healer and the nature of God's kingdom.

Sermon on the Mount: The Main Thing

Welcome to our Sunday sermon podcast!  In this sermon, Pastor Matt looks at Matthew 7.  He comments that sometimes we see the Christian Life as a strict set of rules of "do this, don't do that."  In the sermon on the mount, there are a few rules and "do this, don't do that" examples, but as a whole, it is about living as a whole in society and how we treat others.  It is an introspective guide on how to think through every part of our lives.  Our guide on how to live our lives with others to reflect Jesus.  Jesus invites us into His wisdom with intentionality, graciousness, and humility.

Being God's Beloved

Welcome to our midweek podcast!  In this episode, Pastor Jo Ellen shares a little bit about her time at the chautauqua in Ohio.  She reflects that we are all God's beloved.  There is no "us" or "them."  We are all loved and made whole in Jesus and we are called to seek God.

Sermon on the Mount: Trust

Welcome to our Sunday Morning Podcast!  In this sermon, Pastor Matt asks, "How do you define trust?"  We often see trust as transactional, but that's not the same with God.  God give with no strings attached.  We can trust in God who never gives up on us.

Learning Jesus' Way and Centering on Him

Welcome to our midweek podcast!  In this week's episode, Pastor Matt looks at the next section of Matthew 6 building off of his Sunday sermon.  The Sermon on the Mount includes Jesus' instructions to live His way and how to keep Jesus at the center of our lives.

Sermon on the Mount: Humility in Holiness

Welcome to our Sunday Morning Podcast!  In this sermon, Pastor Matt looks at the next section of the Sermon on the Mount which contains the Lord's Prayer and a reordering on instructions when praying giving and fasting.  Through these reordered practices, Jesus invites us into the heart of God so that the holiness that God creates in us may be the spark that leads to our transformation and the world's transformation.

The Beatitudes: Salt and Light

Welcome to our midweek podcast!  In this episode, Pastor Jo Ellen looks at Matthew 5 and reflects on the beatitudes.  How are you being salt and light today?  How are you growing closer to Jesus?

Sermon on the Mount: Holiness Applied

Welcome to our Sunday sermon podcast!  In this sermon, Pastor Jo Ellen looks at Matthew 5:38-48.  She comments on Vacation Bible School starting this week and how important it is for children to learn through play and how spirituality helps promote humanity in children.   She reflects on how she knew Jesus through "the popsicle man" from her childhood VBS experience.  VBS helps children learn and discover who they are in Jesus just as Matthew 5 helps us learn who we are as followers of Christ.  If we have learned Jesus' teaching, we will see life and behavioural changes from who we were before knowing Him.

Sermon on the Mount and the Camino de Santiago Part 2

Welcome to our midweek podcast!  This is the second part of a two part series looking at Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and Pastor Matt's experience walking for four days on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.  in this episode, Pastor Matt invites us to ponder the seasons of hardship in our lives and how we equip ourselves during these times.  How might we set aside some things that make our walk harder while seeking to recognize that our walk is our walk regardless of our speed, success, or destinations.  How can we embrace ourselves and our day?  God has the plan for our full relationship with God in which every path we choose can be one in which God blesses and engages with us and we find God.