First Podcasts

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Chaîne • 2 émissions

Musique

Musique

Chaque semaine
Christianisme

Christianisme

Chaque semaine

15/08/2021

Students

"No Longer Strangers" is a walk through the letter to the Ephesians that teaches the church how to be a community of faith. In the midst of familiar, interpersonal conflicts, the writer of Ephesians reminds them that they are “now in Christ Jesus”, no longer strangers to God, and, importantly, no longer alienated from each other. This six-week series explores what it looks like to live rooted in reconciliation, vertical and horizontal, with God and neighbor.This week, Pastor Beth looks at Ephesians 4:25-5:2 and how God is the master teacher, showing us through Christ how to live so we can imitate, internalize and claim as our identity as his beloved children.
23/07/2023

Gentleness and Self-Control

The sermon series uses some of Forrest’s most famous quotes in our exploration of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The Galatians passage is used weekly, along with another scripture passage in which the “fruit of the day” is evident. May our faith be more “fruit-full” as we run the race set before us with perseverance and endurance, keeping our eyes on Jesus, and encourage others to run alongside us. Run, First UMC, Run! This sermon examines the fruits of gentleness and self-control using Colossians 3:12-17 where verse 17 says “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”
17/10/2021

Psalm 104

The hymn, “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” was written by Cecil Frances Alexander and published in the book, “Hymns for Little Children” in 1848. This composition came out of her desire to teach the Apostle’s Creed to young students and illustrates the phrase, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven earth.” As we grow closer to another holiday season of thanks and giving, the wonderful words of this hymn remind us of our calling to be good stewards of all that God has generously provided. Our talents, our families, our privilege, our time, our earth, our finances, and more are ours to “do all the good we can” with always and everywhere. This week, we focus on Psalm 104 and in particular, verse 24 that says “O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.”
02/03/2025

Recognition

Our choice of actions, both big and small, have a cascading impact on others, spreading outward like ripples on a pond. This visual metaphor emphasizes the power we have to create change in our communities through our choices and interactions with others. Every act of kindness and compassion, or negativity and hate, can have far-reaching consequences. In this series, we explore the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of Luke. What can we learn from the choices that Jesus and those around him made? What difference did the “ripples” of those choices make both then and now? As followers of Jesus, how will the “ripples” of our choices make a difference on our campus, in our community, and around our world? In this sermon, we see that this isn’t the first time in scripture that Jesus has been recognized by God as his Son and Chosen which brings home the point that his disciples of then and now should listen to him.
20/08/2023

Christ-Centered Action

As a faith family, we’re called to respond to the questions and challenges of life by seeking to find Christ in the midst of them. Our best action is to move in close to where God is, to seek God’s redemption and solution.
16/11/2025

2 Corinthians 9

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above, Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. The words of the beloved hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness” was written by Rev. Thomas O. Chisholm in 1923. He was ordained a Methodist minister in 1903, but served only a single, brief appointment at Scottsville, Kentucky, due to ill health. Despite this unexpected adversity, Rev. Chisholm saw God’s faithful hand in the gifts that still surrounded him, and it was in that spirit of generous gratitude he not only survived, but he thrived! This three-week stewardship series uses both the Psalms and this classic hymn, to guide, encourage, and challenge us to be faithful caretakers of the gifts we’ve been given. As together, we love boldly, serve joyfully, lead courageously, and give generously, the ministries of First UMC will THRIVE!
25/02/2024

Increasing

Of the four Gospels, Mark’s was written first and is the shortest. Its tone is also the most urgent. There are fewer details in the telling of events and the word “immediately” is used often. Our capital campaign, “Fulfilling the Master’s Plan: Honoring the Past and Ensuring the Future,” challenges us to do the work that’s urgently necessary “under our roof” so we can be better prepared to reach out and do the work that’s urgently necessary “beyond our walls.” The work of sharing Christ’s love in the heart of downtown Gainesville and far beyond with open hearts, open minds and open doors. Like countless others have in First UMC’s 160+ years of faithful discipleship, let’s say “Count me in!” Jesus modeled self-sacrificial love always and everywhere, ultimately giving up his own life through death on a cross. How can we increase our own commitment to self-sacrificial love on behalf of a world that God loved so much that he gave his only Son and raised him from the dead to show that LOVE WINS!
28/11/2021

Hope

Advent is a season of waiting and preparation for the coming of Emmanuel, God with us, in flesh through the baby Jesus. In times of trouble, centuries before Jesus’ birth, prophets foretold his coming and gave their listeners much needed gifts of hope, peace, joy, love, and light. Today, we need these “presents from the prophets” too and we receive them most fully when we receive the baby of Bethlehem into our hearts anew. O Come, O Come Emmanuel! This week, we begin the sermon series with a look at Jeremiah 33. Verse 14 says “The day will come, says the Lord, when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good things I have promised them.”
25/05/2025

The Cup of Freedom: Freedom to Bless

When death seems to have had the last word and rising up feels locked down, we call on the power of love and life. We take up Jesus’ cup of freedom, we call on the name of the One Who Is Truly Sovereign, and we claim the freedom to move forward, to follow, to rise again, to love, bless, and be opened. In the end, we are filled with the freedom of the Spirit of God. Blessings are always meant to be shared. As God gives grace generously to us, so we are to give grace generously to others. The more we commit our lives to service over self and the common good, the more Christ-like we become.
22 mars

The Good News Is… Rooted In Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness

While Jesus is teaching in the Temple, some scribes and Pharisees interrupt Jesus to put both him - and a woman caught in adultery - on trial. Their questioning intensifies as they cite Mosaic Law and put the woman’s fate in Jesus’ hands. Instead of focusing on punishment, Jesus flips the script and invites each person to consider their own sin. As we wrestle with our own rules, we should ask, “What is the most just, merciful, and faithful interpretation?” Following Jesus leads to a richer, more expansive life, but it’s not necessarily comfortable. Jesus’ ministry can be described as “radical” which comes from the Latin word “radicalis,” meaning “root” or “ground.” Therefore, the good news should bring us back to our roots. Emulating Jesus and embodying his teachings should ground us in who God created us to be. Can we be “good news” people in a world too often burdened by bad news? Yes! We can and we must!

Enjoy music and sermons from First United Methodist Church in Gainesville, FL.