FUMC Bentonville Sermon Podcast

January 11th, 2026 - "The Use and Misuse of Romans: Embroidered Pillow Theology" - Rev. Dr. T. Ray Wheeler

Romans 8:28
This is one of those verses that gets quoted a great deal, and shows up on kitschy signs and pretty embroidered pillows. But to make it stand alone like that runs the danger of implying that “Everything happens for a reason.” We will deal with the tension between Calvinism and Arminianism that meets in this verse on our pretty pillows.

January 4th, 2026 - "The Use and Misuse of Romans: We Are Family" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Romans 4:1-13

Paul has set up a double straw man (accusations that the Jews have against the Gentiles and vice versa) in the chapters preceding this one. In this chapter, he argues that we are all made family through our faith in Christ. So quit dividing the family over things that don’t matter! Sadly, we used this very letter to do exactly that – divide us up.

December 28th, 2025 - "The Use and Misuse of Romans: I Am Not Ashamed" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Romans 1:15-17

This sermon sets up the series where we examine how the letter to the Romans often gets misused, by quoting the passage that kicked off the Protestant Reformation and is often is cited as justification for biblical literalism. There are problems with both understandings that we need to confront.

December 24th, 2025 - Christmas Eve - "Am I the Scrooge?" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Isaiah 11:1-9

I hate Charles Dickens. Actually, it is more accurate to say I hate the writing of Charles Dickens. Yet I will not let an Advent season go by without watching at least one version of A Christmas Carol. The story of Christmas, the Dickens one and the biblical one, invite us to learn how to love better. They also invite us to let go of our own expectations and live into a better story than the one we might tell.

December 21st, 2025 - "Unredeemable?" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Matthew 1:18-25

In "Spirited", we learn that Ebenezer Scrooge has regrets still in the afterlife. He still feels like he has to earn God’s love. We will look at that soul crisis up against Joseph having to change his understanding of God’s righteousness.

December 14th, 2025 - "Spiritual Change" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Luke 2:8-20

The heart of "A Christmas Carol" is a man experiencing change after an encounter with four spirits. Probably the most dramatic moment in the birth of Christ is the appearance of the angels, spiritual beings who reorient the lives and faith of the shepherds on the field. Are we open to the same kind of change?

December 7th, 2025 - "Real Humanity" - Rev. Dr. T. Ray Wheeler

Luke 2:1-7

The full reality of humanity is on display in the birth of Christ, including our struggles and strains and conflicts, our willingness to love and our tendency to reject. Funnily enough, one of the best displays of the reality of humanity is found in A Muppet Christmas Carol, where over half of the cast are puppets. We look at the walk through the streets of puppet London with the traveling on a donkey for Mary and Joseph and their rejection at the inn.

November 30th, 2025 - "Meta Christmas" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Matthew 2: 1-12

Who owns Christmas? Or who tries to control Christmas? Or who tries to profit from Christmas? It has been a question since Christ was born. This week’s movie is Scrooged, and we will look at the ways people in power have tried to control Christmas as we look at Scrooge and King Herod.

November 23rd, 2025 - "A Different Perspective" - Bishop Max Whitfield

Colossians 1:9-14

Bishop Whitfield will reflect on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, asking, “Does your vision of living as a disciple of Jesus Christ require a new perspective in which we love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously?”

November 16th, 2025 - "We Will Dream Dreams" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Matthew 25:14-30; Joel 2:23-29

Pastor Michelle offers our annual State of the Church address and invites us to envision a new future.

November 9th, 2025 - "River: Recovery and Renewal" - Rev. Dr. T. Ray Wheeler

Genesis 2:10-15; Revelation 22:1-5

We have been through death and come alive again. We need to be cleansed, cradled, and renewed by the living water of God’s love. We are at the river, the source of life abundant. And in these passages, we are at the rivers of the garden. We are back around, ready to be companions of God once again.

November 2nd, 2025 - "Cave: Recall and Resurrection" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

1 Kings 19:9-13; John 11:38-44

Funny thing about death – in our faith it contains the germ of the resurrection. As we come out of the valley season, we realize we were not abandoned. God was with us in the whispers. Like the womb, the cave and the tomb bring us back to life in our faith and call us back to relationship with God.

October 26th, 2025 - "Valley: Death and Distance" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Jeremiah 7:32-34; Ezekiel 37:1-3

And now something has happened to drive us from God. Maybe it was failure at the revolution. Maybe we feel abandoned. Maybe we have had a loss that threatens to undo us. We are in the valley now. Valleys are where wars take place, and valleys are where the bones of the fallen are bleached in the sun. But is all hope lost?

October 19th, 2025 - "Mountain: Revelation and Revolution" - Rev. Dr. T. Ray Wheeler

Exodus 24:9-18; Mark 9:2-13

Our faith is deeper now, and it is inspiring us to take on the daunting challenge of organizing the world around the reign of God. We are ready to try to make the world in the image of God.

October 12, 2025 - "Desert: Trial and Transformation" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Numbers 14:26-35; Matthew 4:1-11

Something happens to drive us from the garden. Perhaps it is because we have encountered something in life that a simple, comfortable faith can’t address. We are wandering in the wilderness now. And remember – wilderness and desert are the same words in Hebrew. What does our desert season look like but one where our faith is being tried in the refiner’s fire?

Items on the list:

- a two-quart canteen of water (per person)

- a magnetic compass

- a compress kit with gauze

- a topcoat

- a red-and-white parachute

- a jackknife

- a sectional air map of the area

- two quarts of vodka

- a book entitled "Edible Animals of the Desert"

- a plastic raincoat

- a cosmetic mirror

- a .45-caliber pistol

- sunglasses

- a bottle of salt tablets

- a flashlight (4-battery size)

 

October 5th, 2025 - "Garden: Comfort and Companionship" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Genesis 2:4-9; Revelation 21:22-22:5

We were created to live in a garden, and not just to live in a garden, but to walk in that garden with each other and with God. As we begin this exploration of faith geography, we start from a place where we are true companions of God and find comfort in God’s presence.

September 28th, 2025 - "Do Not Be Afraid of Love" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

1 John 4:11-21

Love is risky these days. Well, love has always been risky. But if we can fully step into God’s invitation to love both God and neighbor, what do we truly have to fear?

September 21st, 2025 - "Do Not Be Afraid of the Other" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Genesis 32:1-8; 33:1-4; Luke 4:16-30

We are raised these days to be afraid of the stranger. Why? Because we fear the harm they will do us. In these two stories, we see Jacob’s fear of Esau is unfounded. But Jesus is still having to correct that fear in people when they try to throw him over the cliff for lifting up the good example of the outsiders.

September 14th, 2025 - "Do Not Be Afraid of the Vision" - Rev. Dr. T. Ray Wheeler

Daniel 10:1-12; Acts 4:23-31

Daniel is terrified by the vision he has, but ultimately it is a vision of the Son of Man coming to us. The believers in Acts know the Son of Man, and that inspires them to reject that fear, and pray for the boldness to share the vision of the reign of God.

September 7th, 2025 - "Do Not Be Afraid of God" - Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris

Genesis 3:8-13; Proverbs 1:7

What is the most important thing we created without the aid of God? Fear. We will look at the genesis of fear and what it,s creation has meant for our relationship with God. And then we will affirm that practically every single time God appears to us, the first thing God says is, “Do not be afraid.” God is trying to get us to undo what we have done. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but not wisdom. We would undo the fall if we would undo fear.