We are a vibrant community church seeking to make disciples and transform lives in Catonsville, Maryland and beyond. Learn more at https://www.catonsvilleumc.org
Catonsville United Methodist Church
Claim This Podcastby Catonsville UMC - David Jacobson
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Podcast Overview
We are a vibrant community church seeking to make disciples and transform lives in Catonsville, Maryland and beyond. Learn more at https://www.catonsvilleumc.org
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Publishing Since
1/12/2020
1 verified contact email on file for Catonsville United Methodist Church
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Recent Episodes
March 8, 2020
March 8, 2020 – Born into the Kingdom
A sermon on John 3:1-17 by Pastor David Jacobson The post March 8, 2020 – Born into the Kingdom appeared first on Catonsville United Methodist Church.
March 1, 2020
March 1, 2020 – Facing Temptation
A sermon on Matthew 4:1-11 by Pastor David Jacobson A few years ago I learned that there is a Japanese TV show that’s been running for 30 years called “My First Errand.” Apparently, it’s common for Japanese parents to send their kids out on a first errand at a very young age. Kids as young as five or six are sent across town, sometimes via public transportation, with instructions about what they are to do and bring home. The TV show has hidden cameras placed along the route to track the kids’ progress. According to a 2015 article in the Atlantic about this show, the goal of this practice is to demonstrate “[n]ot self-sufficiency, in fact, but ‘group reliance,’… ‘[Japanese] kids learn early on that, ideally, any member of the community can be called on to serve or help others.’” I think that sometimes, God will do this type of thing with his kids. God will give us a clear task, not to foster self-sufficiency, but to demonstrate God-sufficiency. God might be out of sight, but that doesn’t mean that God is far off. The scripture says that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.” Jesus had just been anointed by the Spirit of God at his baptism. He had just heard a voice from heaven speak, “this is my Son with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus had had a powerful experience of God, to say the least. Sometimes people who have experienced God in a powerful way make the mistake of thinking that times of comfort and ease are ahead. After all, you can’t have a more powerful friend than God. Shouldn’t life be smooth sailing? That isn’t frequently the case, though, is it? It’s very common that on the other side of a life-changing encounter with God, someone will find that they are facing profound new temptations. But we shouldn’t be surprised that an advance of the kingdom of God is often met with a counter-attack from the kingdom of darkness, if you will. When Jesus begins his ministry, he will be on the front lines of the battle between those two kingdoms, facing the attacks of the enemy all day, every day. And so, it seems that in preparation, the Spirit of God leads him into the wilderness to face the core temptations that would come his way. But Jesus’ temptation is also more than that. Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness. In Deuteronomy 8:2–3, Moses reminds the people about their years in the desert. He says, “Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart…. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, … in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Sound familiar?) Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness. Jesus spends 40 days. It’s a representative amount. Jesus fast represents Israel’s time in the wilderness. He’ll face the same temptations. Let’s look more closely at the temptations that Jesus faced. First: Hunger It says that “He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.” And the devil said, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” The hunger must have been awful after 40 days in the wilderness. When Israel got hungry in the wilderness, they grumbled at God. Would Jesus require instant gratification at the end of his fast? Or would he trust God to provide? Jesus answered the devil, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” He is remembering the words of Deuteronomy 8. I think Jesus understands exactly what is going on. His job is to succeed where Israel had failed. The temptation for instant gratification is one of the greatest that we face. Unfortunately it’s also something that our culture values, cultivates, and enables. And obviously they’re many benefits and conveniences of ou
February 28, 2020
Ash Wednesday 2020 – Rummage
An Ash Wednesday message from Pastor David Jacobson Since this is a service where we do a lot of confessing– I have a confession to make. I hope this don’t scandalize anyone… I hope you don’t think less of me. Over the past few months, I’ve let my car get really messy. In retrospect I see how it happened, but along the way I hardly realized it was happening. Just a couple months ago I had vacuumed the whole thing out and it was squeaky clean. But I’ve picked up a few bad habits. First, I frequently take a can of soda with me when I get in the car. Ok, no big deal. But then, 90% of the time, I forget to take the empty can out as I exit the car. Add to that the fact that I have kids who will frequently want to take a snack in the car. We then forget to take the empty packaging out of the car. So one piece of trash at a time, my car gets messy. And of course I can’t handle having a little trash bag, so the empty soda can goes on the floor of the passenger seat. Sorry passenger. I’m not typically ready at a moment’s notice for passengers. Yes, I have a long way to go. But today I cleaned up. I finally decided to deal with the mess that I’d made for myself. Similarly, I’ve got all types of stuff in my basement. Things that we used to use years ago but no longer do. Even some things that we’ve never used. And so we’re in the process of cleaning out our basement. And of course we’re rummaging around for the things that are important, but forgotten, or things might have value to others, say, for a rummage sale. So between my car and my basement, I’m thinking a lot about the ways that we make messes in our lives. At a spiritual level, we make messes in our lives. We make bad decisions. We choose to do the wrong thing. And it doesn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but just like my trash piled up one piece at a time, our bad decisions pile up one decision at a time. At some point, we have to look at the pile and say, “wow, I’ve got one big mess on my hands.” Lent is a time for us to purge the junk that has accumulated in our lives, as well as to find some of the treasures that we’ve forgotten or neglected. Lent, of course, is the season of the church year that runs from today until Easter. And just like lots of us go and clean out our basements and closets ahead of the rummage sale, we need to do some soul clean out work ahead of Easter. We need to deal with those things that are separating us from God. That’s what this whole service is about. It’s not a cheery service because we’re getting serious about turning from our sins. At the same time, Lent isn’t just about throwing out the spiritual trash in our lives. It’s also about filling our lives treasures that we might have been neglecting– with things that glorify God and cultivate a deeper relationship with God. Jesus highlights three very specific practices for his disciples that are meant to draw us into closer relationship with God. The first is almsgiving, which is simply giving money to the poor. Giving money to the poor means that we won’t have that money later. And so even as God is using us to provide for someone’s needs, we learn to trust that God will provide us with the grace we need to be content with less. The second practice that Jesus teaches on is prayer. Praying cultivates dependence on God. It’s a giving over to God those situations that we either can’t or shouldn’t control, and trusting God for the result. Giving money to the poor. Praying. So far so good, right? And then there’s the third one…. The one that I’m pretty sure only applies to people that don’t like food as much as I do: fasting. Fasting is simply choosing to not eat in order to seek a deeper relationship with God. We make ourselves feel physical hunger so that we have to turn to spiritual food for nourishment. And then our prayers take on an earnest desperation: “Fill me, God. Stay close to me in my discomfort. Don’t forget those who are crying out to you beca
10 total episodes available
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