September 13th marks the 16th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "No Fair", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "The Math of Forgiveness" will focus on Matthew 18:21-35. We welcome our organist Dr. Ashley Strawser as she begins our service with the prelude music: Meditation on "Hymn to Joy", with Payne. Worship Service will also include the hymns Joyful, Joyful , We Adore Thee, Freely Freely and God, How Can We Forgive. During the Anthem, we will hear Song Just

September 6th marks the 15th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "No Fair", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "How to Fight like a Christian" will focus on Matthew 18:15-20. We welcome our new organist Dr. Ashley Strawser as she begins our service with the prelude music: Meditation on "Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness" Brahms. Worship Service will also include the hymns Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation, They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love and Come

August 30th marks the 14th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "Crowded Table", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "Holy Ground" will focus on Exodus 3:1–15. We are waiting for a moment significant enough — a calling clear enough, a faith strong enough, a community established enough — before we commit ourselves fully to what God might be asking of us together. God does not find Moses at the pinnacle of his career or his faith. God finds him on the backside of t

August 23rd marks the 13th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "Crowded Table", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "You Are a Member of One Another" will focus on Rom.12:1–8. We come to church as consumers — to receive, to be fed, to have our needs met — and then drive our thirty minutes home. The transaction is complete until next week. The church becomes a service we use rather than a body we belong to. Paul’s vision is not a collection of individuals who happ

August 16th marks the 12th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "Crowded Table", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "Even Dogs Get Crumbs" will focus on Matthew 15:21–28. We draw circles around our tables — of worthiness, belonging, who counts as neighbor — and dress those circles up as theology or tradition. We are usually sincere about it. That is what makes it so dangerous. The woman outside the circle refuses to accept her exclusion, and Jesus — remarkably, u

August 9th marks the 11th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "Crowded Table", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "Get Out of the Boat" will focus on Matthew 14:22-32. The most dangerous place in this story is not the water — it is the boat, where the disciples huddle watching someone else take the risk of showing up fully. Isolation feels like safety, but it is its own kind of drowning. Jesus does not wait on the shore for Peter to get his faith together. He co

August 2nd marks the 10th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "Crowded Table", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "Everybody Eats" will focus on Matthew 14:13-21. We live in a world of carefully managed scarcity — not enough time, money, or room — and we have learned to protect what little we have rather than share it, because sharing feels like losing. Jesus takes what is insufficient, gives thanks anyway, breaks it, and distributes it until everyone has enough

July 26th marks the 9th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "Hiding in Plain Sight", Rev. Dr. Rula Colvin will be our special guest pastor. Her sermon will focus on Matthew 13:31-33. Our service will include a special Children’s Moment with a the Back-to-School Blessing of the Backpacks. As we pray over our children and all those beginning a new school year, we ask for God's protection, peace, and guiding hand to accompany them every day. We welcome guest

July 19th marks the 8th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "Hiding in Plain Sight", Rev. Rula Colvin will be our special guest. Will focus on Matthew 13:24-30. Meditation on "Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven" arr. J. Jeyakumar for the Prelude. Worship Service will also include the hymns The God of Abraham Praise, Spirit of Faith, Come Down and Sweet, Sweet Spirit. A Musical Offering, How Great Thou Art by Terry Lewis, Harmonica.

July 12th marks the 7th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "The Wrestler", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "A New Name" will focus on Genesis 32:22–31. Hymn notes: “Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown” (UMH 386) Last Sunday, Jeff Harris sang and today WE sing what many consider Charles Wesley's masterpiece. Written in 1742, just four years after his own life-changing conversion, the hymn retells the mysterious story of Jacob wrestli

July 5th marks the 6th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "The Wrestler", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "What Goes Around" will focus on Genesis 29:15–28. The strategies we use to get what we want have a way of becoming the strategies others use against us — and God does not always rescue us from the consequences of the world we helped create. God is working even in the reversals. The twenty years Jacob spends in Haran are not a detour from the promise. Th

June 28th marks the 5th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "The Wrestler", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "Running into God" will focus on Genesis 28:10-19a. We assume that our worst moments — the ones where we are most alone, most exposed, most deserving of abandonment — are precisely the places where God is not. God shows up on the road away from everything, to a fugitive sleeping on a rock, and says: I am with you. I will not leave you. Not when you get

June 21st marks the 4th Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "The Wrestler", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon " God is Greater (The G.O.A.T.) " will focus on Isaiah 40:28-31 and John 1:6-12, 29. Notes from the Bench This Sunday, we welcome guest organist Johnson Joseph Jeyakumar, who will share his own arrangements of The Love of God is Greater Far, and How Great Thou Art. These beloved hymns remind us of God's immeasurable love, Christ's saving grace, and the

"Born Grabbing" June 14th marks the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "The Wrestler", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon " The Lie That Changed Everything " will focus on Gen. 27:1–40. We are capable of becoming someone we are not in order to take something that isn’t ours — and the worst part is that it works, at least for a while. God does not erase the consequences of Jacob’s deception. But the promise made before Jacob was born is not revoked by what J

"Born Grabbing" June 7th marks the 2nd Sunday after the Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series, "The Wrestler", Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon " Born Grabbing " will focus on Genesis 25:19-34. We come into the world reaching — for security, for advantage, for more than our share — convinced that if we grab the right thing, we’ll finally feel like enough. God names the grabber before he has done anything to deserve it, and plants the promise in him anyway — not because of who

Trinity Sunday Hymn Sing May 31st marks Trininty Sunday. This week, we celebrate Trinity Sunday by studying Matthew 28:16-20. A selection of hymns honoring God, Our Creator; Christ, Our Redeemer; and the Holy Spirit, Our Sustainer will be the musical focus for our Hymn Sing Worship Service. The Arts in Worship “Revealing God’s grace through our eyes and ears.” Last week the church was ablaze with the fire of the Holy Spirit. We celebrated Pen

Pentecost: The Ultimate Surprise Party / Aldersgate Day / UM Heritage Sunday May 24th marks the Pentecost. This week, in the sermon series "Surprise! The Unexpected Acts of God" Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "The Ultimate Surprise Party" will focus on Acts 2:1-21. All the astonishing events in Acts (and in the church since) can be traced back to this one surprising moment. The Arts in Worship “Revealing God’s grace through our eyes and ears.” T

The 7th Sunday of Easter / Mother's Day May 17th marks the 7th Sunday of Easter. This week, in the sermon series "Surprise! The Unexpected Acts of God" Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "An Ironic Escape" will focus on Acts 16:16-34. Sometimes those who seem free are truly enslaved, and those who seem to be in chains are truly liberated. The Arts in Worship “Revealing God’s grace through our eyes and ears.” For the past seven weeks, the season of

The 6th Sunday of Easter / Mother's Day May 10th marks the 6th Sunday of Easter. This week, in the sermon series "Surprise! The Unexpected Acts of God" Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "An Amazing Detour" will focus on Acts 16:9-15. The power of conversion is still God's building block to change the world one person at a time! Notes from the Bench This Sunday, we celebrate An Amazing Detour alongside Mother’s Day, reflecting on Acts 16:9–15, where Paul’s journey takes an unexpecte

The 5th Sunday of Easter May 3rd marks the 5th Sunday of Easter. This week, in the sermon series "Surprise! The Unexpected Acts of God" Rev. Dr. Sam Parkes' sermon "An Astonishing Imitation" will focus on Acts 9:36-43. By imitating Christ, we become more like him and bring other people's attention to his glory. Notes from the Bench This Sunday’s organ music highlights two pillars of the repertoire, offering both expressive depth and vibrant energy. The prelude is the Fugue fr