• It started with a sound—like a huge gust of wind rushing through the house. No one opened a door or cracked a window, but something powerful had entered the room.

    Then it got even stranger.

    The disciples looked at each other and saw what looked like tiny flames floating above their heads. No one was burned, but everyone knew something big was happening. It was the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus had promised.

    Suddenly, they could speak in other languages—real ones! People from every country who were visiting Jerusalem heard the disciples talking and were amazed. Some asked, “What does this mean?” Others just laughed and said, “They’ve had too much wine!”

    But Peter stood up and said, “We’re not drunk. It’s only 9 a.m. What you’re seeing is the power of God!” And he told the story of Jesus—how He lived, died, rose again, and offers new life to everyone. That day, three thousand people chose to follow Jesus.

    It all started with wind and fire… but it changed the world forever.

    What We Learned

    ✔ The Holy Spirit came just like Jesus promised.
    ✔ God gave the disciples courage to speak to everyone.
    ✔ Peter told the story of Jesus, and thousands believed.
    ✔ The Spirit still gives us strength to share God’s love today.

    See you in church! Blessings always.



  • YouTube player

    Watch the full service on our YouTube channel by clicking here.

    https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/saintmatthewumc/episodes/Bad-Assumption-Lead-to-Bad-Conclusions-e33ousa

  • Memorial Service for Dan Mitchell


  • May I gripe a little?

    There is just so much Christian silliness around.

    I heard David Jeremiah in a sermon on YouTube—you know, big church in California, 10,000 on Sunday mornings. He was talking about how Jesus, at His Second Coming, will bring all the dead back to earth and set up His kingdom here.

    Back to earth?! And all of these people will be reunited with their dead bodies?

    Can you imagine some poor soul saying, “O God—after the joy of heaven, I’ve been shoved back into my old dead body and I’m back in Oklahoma!”

    And it’s not just rich TV preachers pushing this stuff. Respected scholar N. T. Wright says much the same thing.

    Where do they get such a strange, unlikely scenario?

    Where else? The Book of Revelation.

    We’ve got this script for a Star Wars movie tacked on to the end of our Bible.

    Preachers, it’s a problem.

    I know most of you feel like you have to defend Revelation and all its flights of fancy.

    Yes, it’s in the Bible.

    It’s historically important. But—

    It is theological hokum.

    Worse than that, it’s dead weight on the Gospel. If you mix this nonsense with the teachings of Jesus, it pulls the Gospel down with it.

    Stop defending it.

    Stop conflating the Jesus who told us to love our enemies with a Jesus who cuts off the heads of His enemies with a sword.

    Revelation has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus or the future history of God’s creation.

    It’s time to be honest—both to God and about God.

    Give people Jesus.

    More about this on Sunday.