First United Methodist Church - Norfolk, Nebraska artwork

First United Methodist Church - Norfolk, Nebraska

20 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 years ago -

Weekly sermons from Pastors Bridget and Neil Gately at First United Methodist Church in Norfolk, Nebraska.

Christianity Religion & Spirituality
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Episodes

The Difference Between Fishing and Catching Fish

January 27, 2020 00:00 - 24 minutes - 22.9 MB

Any fisher knows there's a difference between simply going fishing and actually catching fish. When Jesus saw Simon at the edge of Lake Gennesaret, Simon had been out fishing but had caught no fish. When Jesus urged Simon to go back out and fish some more, Simon was reluctant but did as he suggested. And they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. Like Simon, Jesus calls us to cast out our net and fish for people, to meet and engage with them so that they can unde...

Who Me? The Burning Bush

January 20, 2020 23:24 - 27 minutes - 25 MB

"Oh my Lord, please send someone else." These were the words Moses implored when God spoke to him at the burning bush. It's not unusual for people being called by God to be hesitant, to question the validity of the call or question if they are capable and have the faith and fortitude required to do what He has asked them to do. It's true that God sometimes calls the equipped, but it's also true that sometimes God equips the called.  God's not calling us based only on what we can already acc...

Special Delivery: The Moses Basket

January 12, 2020 15:00 - 23 minutes - 21.1 MB

An act of civil disobedience fundamentally changed the world. When Moses' mother put her baby in a basket and sent him down the river, she couldn't have known the impact he would have, leading the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt, parting the Red Sea or receiving the Ten Commandments. That one act, an act of civil disobedience, a mother's one decision made out of love, fundamentally changed the world. And you can do the same.

Where in the World?

January 06, 2020 00:00 - 16 minutes - 15.2 MB

Everything we think we know about the magi is probably all wrong. We know they weren't really kings, there may have been more than three, they weren't necessarily all male, and it may have taken them up to two years to travel to see Jesus. But what we do know is that they saw the star and embarked on a journey to see the Christ child, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  As the new year is now upon us, we, like the magi, are on a journey. As much like the magi, we have no idea w...

What in the World?

December 31, 2019 21:28 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MB

How often do we stop and pray during the day? How often do we just stop and thank God for His love in our lives? In our everyday life experiences, how often do we accept His love and acknowledge His presence? In our modern life, full of technology and modern conveniences, we may not always acknowledge His presence. But now, more than ever, we need God in our lives. As we have become more and more separated from one another, Pastor Bridget urges us to come together as a community, to be toget...

How in the World?

December 10, 2019 01:20 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MB

We don't always think of Mary as a woman with tenacity or spunk, but she is. After all, she had an angel appear to her telling her that she would bear the Messiah, not knowing what it would mean to raise God's son and eventually watch him die. Yes, Mary is a woman with tenacity, and upon hearing the angel's message she boldly states, "Yes, let it be with me according to your will." Who does God call in extraordinary times? Ordinary people like Mary. Ordinary people like you.  Do you have jus...

The World is Waiting

December 02, 2019 02:00 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MB

We open the Advent season with a new sermon series "Joy to the World!" with a message of hope. As we prepare for Christ coming into the world, we enter the season in a state of reflection.

Sheltering Wings

November 25, 2019 23:31 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MB

This is the third sermon in the series "Ruth: Lessons in Loving Kindness" where Pastor Bridget and Neil explore faith in turmoil.

From Humble Beginnings

November 25, 2019 00:00 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MB

This is the last sermon in the series "Ruth: Lessons in Loving Kindness." Sometimes life doesn't go the way we intended. Sometimes we find ourselves struggling to understand why things happened the way they happened, or the timing or the place in which they happened. This is where we find Ruth and Naomi. Widowed, facing famine, lost, struggling with everything. But in short order, they go from thinking the hand of the Lord has turned against them, to singing and celebration. For Ruth gives b...

Grains of Grace

November 11, 2019 00:00 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MB

This is the second in the sermon series "Ruth: Lessons in Loving Kindness" where Pastor Bridget and Neil explore faith in turmoil.

Home is Where the Heart Is

November 04, 2019 00:00 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MB

This is the first in the series "Ruth: Lessons in Loving Kindness" where Pastor Bridget and Neil will explore faith in turmoil.

Service

October 20, 2019 20:00 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MB

When God calls us, so often we make excuses as to why it isn't our time to serve. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing; even Moses argued with the burning bush for more than a chapter when God called him to lead the exodus out of Egypt. "Can't somebody else do it?" "This isn't a good time for me." "I'm too old." "I'm not old enough." But we don't get to age out, we don't get to say I'm not old enough. You can put off the calling of God, but the reality is we feel better when we finally give i...

Gifts

October 13, 2019 23:00 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MB

In the Bible, Jesus talks more about money than anything else. It's like he knew that even today, money is one thing we struggle with the most: what we do with money, how we live with money. 

Presence

October 07, 2019 18:57 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MB

Being "present" in the church means a lot more than just physically showing up. Being present is about making room for others. It's not just about "us" -- it's about the "us" who aren't "us" yet, the "we" who aren't "we" yet. And sometimes that means that we have to change who we are and how we are in order to continue being what we are. We will always be about fellowship, community, study, prayer and worship, but how we do these things -- how we show up and be present -- in these things may...

Prayers

September 29, 2019 19:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MB

When we become professing members of a United Methodist congregation, we profess our faith in God, our desire to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, and our commitment to join with our church community to keep the vows of our Baptismal Covenant.  One of those vows is to faithfully participate in the life and ministries of our local congregation through our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. But, how can we go beyond the words we profess to actually living into these vows?

Hearing and Doing

September 25, 2019 15:27 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MB

Practice. It takes practice and effort before we become proficient in anything, and faith is no different. Love, grace, trust, acceptance, loving one another. These are all things that take practice. None of us are up to the task when we start, we have to grow into it. We become the believers Christ wants us to be through our actions, through practice. In this sermon, Pastor Neil reminds us that faith is not something we do while we praise God in church, we must continue to offer our praises...

Logs and Sawdust

September 15, 2019 19:00 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MB

Judgement. We're something we're all really good at, isn't it? We judge and we condemn and we have prejudice but Jesus reminds us in the sermon on the mount that this isn't our job. Our job is conversation, sharing love and compassion and kindness, going out into the world to spread the gospel. From the series "Counter-intuitive Wisdom from the Sermon on the Mount."

Pray for Who?

September 08, 2019 20:00 - 24 minutes - 22.1 MB

You've heard it said, "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand" (Deuteronomy 19: 21). But when Jesus gathered the disciples at the mount, he told them to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute you. We might hear this and question, "You want me to pray for who?" when all we want is what we think is fair. In this sermon, Pastor Neil reminds us that faith isn't about fairness, it's about graciousness. From the series "Counter-intuitive Wisdom from the Sermon on the Mount."

Be Reconciled

September 06, 2019 23:27 - 20 minutes - 19.3 MB

Anger, forgiveness, reconciliation. Jesus spoke of forgiveness in his sermon on the mount, but what does it mean for you? Forgiveness isn't about the person you are angry at -- forgiveness is about you. Because so often we carry around the burden of anger and hostility around like a backpack. In this sermon, Pastor Bridget recalls a personal story about reconciliation and an opportunity lost.

A Paradoxical Blessing

August 28, 2019 17:40 - 24 minutes - 44.4 MB

Blessings sometimes feel like burdens, challenges or obstacles. You are blessed because we seek to walk in the ways of Jesus Christ. Whatever burden we bear may it be a blessing in the future.

Books

Where the Heart Is
1 Episode