Saint Matthew United Methodist Church

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Category: Video

  • What’s God Up To in Ordinary Times?

    Jason Hardy
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    Click here to watch the full service online.

    Most of life is lived in ordinary moments. We move through familiar routines, carry responsibilities, and sometimes face long seasons of waiting or uncertainty. Yet Scripture reminds us that God is not absent in these everyday moments. God’s steadfast love never ceases, and God’s mercies are made new every morning, offering hope even when we cannot yet see what God is doing.

    In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus notices a woman who had lived with suffering for eighteen years before healing her on the Sabbath. While others focused on rules and expectations, Jesus saw a beloved child of God and responded with compassion. Her story reminds us that God’s work is often unfolding long before we recognize it. Even in seasons that seem ordinary, God is present, faithful, and at work in ways we may not yet understand.

    As followers of Christ, we are invited to trust God’s faithfulness in every season. We do not have to wait for extraordinary experiences to encounter God’s presence. Through worship, prayer, acts of kindness, and the daily rhythms of discipleship, God continues to shape us, strengthen us, and lead us forward with hope.

    Take Time to Reflect

    • Where have you noticed God’s faithfulness in the ordinary rhythms of your life recently?
    • Is there a season of waiting where God may be inviting you to trust rather than lose hope?
    • How can you help someone else recognize God’s presence in an ordinary moment this week?

  • Love Boldly: Who Will Help Us?

    Jason Hardy
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    YouTube player

    Watch the full service online here.

    As Jesus traveled from town to town, teaching, healing, and proclaiming the good news, he looked upon the crowds with compassion. He saw people who were weary, searching, and in need of care. In response, Jesus told his disciples that the harvest was plentiful, but the workers were few. His words remind us that God’s work in the world continues, and that Christ calls ordinary people to participate in sharing hope, love, and grace with others.

    Rev. Mary Teague reflected on how often we assume ministry is for someone else, someone more experienced, more gifted, or more qualified. Yet throughout Scripture, God repeatedly calls ordinary people to serve. The disciples were not chosen because they had all the answers. They were chosen because they were willing to follow. God continues to work through people who offer their gifts, their time, their prayers, and their presence in service to others.

    As a church family, we are invited to consider how God may be calling us to love boldly beyond these walls. Whether through prayer, hospitality, service, encouragement, generosity, or simply showing up for someone in need, each of us has a role to play in God’s mission. When we trust that God will equip us for what lies ahead, we can respond with faith and confidence, saying, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

    Matthew 9:35-38 NIV

    The Workers Are Few

    35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

  • Love Boldly

    Jason Hardy
    Categories:
    YouTube player

    Watch the full service online by clicking here.

    God’s love changes us. It roots us in grace, frees us from fear, and calls us into deeper relationships with one another. Love is more than something we believe or talk about. Love becomes visible when we show compassion, extend hospitality, serve our neighbors, and choose to care for one another in meaningful ways.

    The love of Christ gives us the courage to move beyond what is comfortable and familiar. When we trust that we are fully known and fully loved by God, we can open our hearts to new relationships, new opportunities to serve, and new ways of growing together as disciples. Perfect love casts out fear because God’s love is already at work within us.

    As a church family, we are called to live that love boldly. We do this when we welcome others, strengthen our community, share our gifts, and participate in God’s work around us. Christ’s love is not something we keep for ourselves. It is something we receive, embody, and share with the world.

    Take Time to Reflect

    • Where do you see God’s love already at work in your life and relationships?
    • How is Christ inviting you to move beyond fear and love more boldly?
    • What opportunities do you have this week to share God’s love through hospitality, service, or encouragement?

    Scripture References:
    1 John 3:17-18, 1 John 4:17-18, Ephesians 3:17-19

  • Worship through Song Sunday

    Jason Hardy
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    Click here to watch the full service online.

  • Can You Believe This?

    Jason Hardy
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    YouTube player

    Click here to watch the full service online.

    Scripture: Acts 2:1-12
    On Pentecost, the followers of Jesus gathered together, waiting and wondering what would come next. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit arrives like wind and fire, filling ordinary people with courage, clarity, and a message meant for the whole world. Pastor Mary reminded us that the church was born not through human power or perfect understanding, but through God’s Spirit moving among people willing to listen and respond.

    This moment in Scripture reminds us that faith is not something we carry alone. The disciples came from uncertainty and fear, yet God met them right where they were and gave them what they needed for the journey ahead. The miracle of Pentecost was not simply that many languages were spoken, but that people from different places and backgrounds could finally hear and understand one another. God’s Spirit created connection where division once existed.

    As we continue living into God’s call together, we are reminded that the church is still shaped by the Holy Spirit today. We may not always fully understand where God is leading us, but we trust that God continues to open minds, stir hearts, and guide communities forward in love. Pentecost invites us to believe that God still works through ordinary people, still brings hope into uncertain places, and still calls us to share Christ’s love with the world.

    Take Time to Reflect

    • Where have you experienced God giving you courage when you felt uncertain?
    • How might the Holy Spirit be calling us to listen more deeply to one another?
    • What would it look like for us to trust God’s movement in our daily lives?

    Acts 2:1-12 New International Version
    The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
    2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

    5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”