Sermons from 2026
Expand the Circle
As we continue our post-Easter series Reckless Love, we turn to a question Jesus keeps raising: who exactly is our neighbor? We follow Jesus from the shores of Gennesaret to the home of a tax collector, and the pattern of who he chooses to spend time with raises an uncomfortable question. What does it look like to follow Jesus into relationship with people we would not have chosen? What does it require, and what does it make possible? Scripture: Luke…
Begin With Love
As we begin our post-Easter series Reckless Love, we open with a question at the heart of the Judeo-Christian faith: of all the commandments, which one comes first? This week explores what it means to take Jesus’ answer seriously — loving God and loving your neighbor as inseparable practices. Reading from Mark 12 and Galatians 5, we consider what changes when we choose to begin every day, every conversation, and every decision with love. Scripture: Mark 12:28-34, Galatians 5:16-26 (NRSVUE)
The Host Who Becomes the Meal
In the final week of our Lenten series The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross, we arrive at the table it’s all been heading toward. On Palm Sunday, Jesus takes his place in an upper room, breaks bread, and gives it to his disciples. He calls the cup a new covenant. This week we explore what it means that the host becomes the meal, and that what looked like the last supper turned out to be the first…
Open Invitation
This week we continue our Lenten series The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross, following Jesus as he tells stories about who belongs at God’s table. A host has prepared a feast and invited many people — and when the guests send their regrets, one by one, he doesn’t cancel the party. He sends his servant back out with one instruction: fill the house. This week explores what it means when the invitation keeps expanding past every expectation…
Sowing, Seeking, Finding
As we begin our Lenten series The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross, we follow Jesus on his final journey toward Jerusalem, listening to the parables he tells along the way. This week opens in a field, where a farmer scatters seed recklessly—on roads, rocks, and thorns, not just on good soil. It’s not an efficient strategy, and that’s the point. Join us as we explore what this parable reveals about God’s character, and what it means to…
Glory Revealed
Transfiguration Sunday marks a pivotal moment when Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain and they see him transfigured in glory. This Sunday also marks a transition from the season after Epiphany toward our Lenten journey to Jerusalem. Discover what it means to stand on the mountaintop with Jesus, knowing the road ahead leads to the cross. Scripture: Exodus 24:12-18 (NRSVue); Matthew 17:1-9 (NRSVue)
The Gospel Truth
As we continue our worship series “Wrestling with Doubt, Finding Faith,” we turn to a question that underscores a lot of other questions: how do we approach the Bible when it can feel confusing, and even overly-complicated? This week we explore what it can look like to read sacred text with honesty and humility. We’ll name the tension between wanting certainty and living with real questions, and we’ll see the value of listening for the kind of guidance that comes…
Doubt and the Existence of God
As we begin our new series “Wrestling with Doubt, Finding Faith,” we start with the question that grounds all the others: Does God exist? This week explores the beauty and order of creation through Psalm 19 and Psalm 139, and the honest prayer of a father in Mark 9 who cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief.” We’ll consider how wonder itself can be a form of knowing, and how trust in God can grow even when certainty is out…
Power of Presence
Join us this Sunday as we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord with La Jolla UMC! We’ll gather around the table for Communion and explore what it means to turn toward God and toward each other. Come on in, the water’s fine. Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-9; Matthew 3:13-17 (NRSVue)