Reflections from Irvington United Methodist Church
Here you will find random reflections on God, Jesus, the Spirit, and walking in faith. You might find short devotionals, sermon notes, and or other thoughts from our pastors to encourage and challenge your walk with the Lord.
Revision: Priorities
by: Denise Robinson
01/17/2022
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Revision: Priorities
Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Romans 12:9-21
We are in a series looking at revising our faith. Revision is an interesting word. When we revise something, we consider what we’ve done before, find mistakes, consider different possibilities, and change or alter course. Last week we looked at the simple word “Hope.” So much in our lives hinges on whether we have a sense of hope or a sense of hopelessness. For the Israelite people at the time of 2 Chronicles, they had b
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Revision: Hope
by: Denise Robinson
01/10/2022
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Revision: Hope
2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Mark 8:31-37
Every week in church we read from, and talk about, the Bible. In the bulletin we include a few verses from the Bible called the Lectio Divina passage for you to read daily and reflect upon throughout the week. The Bible is the foundation for the sermons that are preached and the hymns that we sing. But what is the Bible? It’s a book obviously – or more accurately, it’s sixty-six books that have been compiled into one book. I
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Epiphany and The New Year
by: Denise Robinson
01/03/2022
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It’s Another (Sigh) New Year
1 Kings 8:56-61; John 8:12
Here we are, in another new year. Normally we at least pretend to embrace the idea of a new year as an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and change our lives, but as I’ve listened to people talk this year, I don’t hear many words of optimism. It seems to be just the opposite. People are angry, frustrated, scared, depressed, and lonely. It’s easy to fall into that trap, isn’t it? Especially if you spend time on social me
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All I Want for Christmas: Gifts We Pass On to Others
by: Denise Robinson
12/30/2021
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Gifts We Pass On to Others
Matthew 2:1-12
Next week is Epiphany Sunday, the day the church celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. This comes to us through two events: the visit of the wise men to see the child and some 30 years later Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. But, this morning, as we conclude our Advent series, we remember the Magi came to Jesus with gifts. For the past four weeks, we’ve looked at the gifts we receive through the birth of Chris
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All I Want for Christmas: The Gift of a New Style of Living
by: Denise Robinson
12/20/2021
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All I Want for Christmas: The Gift of a New Style of Living
Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 23:23-26
Have you ever been at a complete loss for words? It doesn’t happen to me very often, but occasionally it does. I may be out somewhere and a person comes up to me and it’s obvious they know me – or think they do – and I freeze, wondering whether I really don’t know them or perhaps I should know them. It’s obvious I’m at a loss. Several years ago, I was in the Kroger store east of us and
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All I Want for Christmas: The Gift of a Strong Foundation
by: Denise Robinson
12/14/2021
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All I Want for Christmas: The Gift of a Strong Foundation
Luke 1:57-79; Joshua 24:14-15
In the Peanuts cartoons, the character Linus is defined by something he always carries with him. Anyone know what that is? It’s his security blanket. The first Peanuts cartoon was published in 1950 and the characters came to life on television in December 1965 when a Charlie Brown Christmas first aired. That means for about 70 years now Linus has been holding on tight to his security blan
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All I Want for Christmas: The Gift of New Understanding
by: Denise Robinson
12/09/2021
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All I Want for Christmas: The Gift of a New Understanding
Luke 1:39-56; 1 Cor. 12:1-11
For many, traditions at the holidays can be a wonderful thing, bringing a sense of connection with the past and contentment coming from familiarity. That’s not only true in our homes, but in the church where we decorate the sanctuary, sing well-known Christmas carols, read Luke’s story of Christ’s birth, and gather on Christmas Eve to worship as a church family. We will shortly be celebrat
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All I Want for Christmas: The Gift of Good News
by: Denise Robinson
11/30/2021
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All I Want for Christmas: The Gift of Good News
Matthew 1:18-25; 1 Corinthians 13
Did you ever really want something for Christmas, asked for it year after year, but never got it? For me, it was a horse. Year after year, I wanted a horse. I never got it. The closest I came was when my eye doctor offered to exchange his horse for my younger brother. I immediately accepted his offer but when push came to shove, he wouldn’t go through with it. I would’ve honored my end of the d
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Reimagine
by: Denise Robinson
11/22/2021
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The 4R’s: Reimagine
Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23; 9:35-38
We’ve taken time over the past few weeks to consider what it means to be stewards of Christ’s church. Christ left us his church. As stewards we are not just care-takers, though we are called to care for and about the church. As stewards we have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching, worshipping, making disciples, serving, and growing Christ’s church. As we have discovered, this process of stewardship begins with
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Renew
by: Denise Robinson
11/17/2021
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The 4Rs: Renewal
Romans 12:1-2, 9-21; Ephesians 4:17-21
This morning we continue with our sermon series, The 4Rs, with a look on what it means to be spiritually renewed. When it comes to stewardship, we are called to be caretakers of Christ’s church, to strengthen it, to grow it, and to support it. Stewardship is about living out our faith for the purpose of meeting the goal Jesus left for us – to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. But how ca
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Restore
by: Denise Robinson
11/09/2021
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The 4R's: Restore
1 Peter 5:6-11: Ps. 71:17-21
God is a God of restoration. Last week we began a stewardship sermon series, but one which admits that we can’t be good stewards of the church until we are in a right place spiritually. It’s impossible to give of ourselves if our spiritual tank is empty. So, last week we looked at what God has to say about rest. We all need times of physical and mental rest, but too often we forget about, or overlook, our need for spiritual rest
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Rest
by: Denise Robinson
11/01/2021
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The 4R's: Rest
Isaiah 40:25-31; Matthew 11:28-30
This morning we begin another new sermon series and the general theme is Stewardship. When we talk about stewardship in the church, we often mean we’re going to talk about money, but that’s not the focus this year. Stewardship is not just money – stewardship, at its most basic, is the task or job of taking care of something that has been entrusted to one’s care. Biblically, one example of stewardship is outlined in Genesis 1:2
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Lord Hear Our Prayer - Pt. 2
by: Denise Robinson
11/01/2021
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Lord, Hear Our Prayer – Pt. 2
Acts 4:23-31; 2 Tim. 1:3-12
Today we continue our look at prayer. If we claim to be a follower of Christ, we know that prayer is important to our spiritual life; the New Testament speaks of the richness of not only Jesus’ prayer life, but the lives of the disciples, the Apostle Paul, and other early Christians. If they viewed prayer as essential, we know deep down that we should as well. And yet, prayer can be frustrating and it can be intimidat
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Lord, Hear Our Prayer - Pt. 1
by: Denise Robinson
10/22/2021
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Lord, Hear Our Prayer – Pt. 1
Romans 1:8-15; Ephesians 1:15-19
What comes to mind when I saw the word “prayer?” I think for many Christians prayer is one of those words that triggers a response, and not always a positive one. Prayer is something we do in church, know we should do outside of church, and yet, most of us anyway, struggle with prayer in our everyday lives. Perhaps there’s a sense of guilt, because you know you’re supposed to pray and you don’t. Perhaps there’s a
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The Bible Meets Broadway: Hamilton
by: Denise Robinson
10/22/2021
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The Bible Meets Broadway: Hamilton
Micah 4:1-5; Proverbs 3:5-6
Hamilton: An American Musical was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and tells the story of American founding father, Alexander Hamilton. Most of us can sum up in just a couple sentences what we know of Hamilton: he was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr and his picture is on the $10 bill. Miranda’s inspiration for the musical came after reading the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. It casts non-white ac
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