Light the Way: Light

In worship this week, we took a look at the Eight Beatitudes in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as found in Matthew 5:1-20.

Pastor Cara Scriven explores the Beatitudes asking what they tell us about the type of life Jesus was offering to his followers, then and today.

Light the Way: Light

In worship this week, we took a look at the Eight Beatitudes in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as found in Matthew 5:1-20. Pastor Cara Scriven explores the Beatitudes asking what they tell us about the type of life Jesus was offering to his followers, then and today.

Posted by Puyallup United Methodist Church on Sunday, January 27, 2019

Light the Way: Resistance

This week, Pastor Cara Scriven took us into the story of Jesus' temptation after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, as found in Matthew 4:1-10. She encourages us to consider how we can resist, as Jesus does, the tendency to elevate our preferences and desires over others.

Light the Way: Resistance

This week, Pastor Cara Scriven took us into the story of Jesus' temptation after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, as found in Matthew 4:1-10. She encourages us to consider how we can resist, as Jesus does, the tendency to elevate our preferences and desires over others.

Posted by Puyallup United Methodist Church on Sunday, January 20, 2019

A hard truth to accept...

This week, Christians remember the story of the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:1-17), often taking a moment to reflect upon their own.

In her sermon, Pastor Cara Scriven draws special attention to the fact that God declared his love for Jesus before he had even accomplished much. Like Christ, we can find joy in knowing that God's love for us is not based on what we have, or haven't, done; a difficult and important spiritual truth to accept.

This week, Christians remember the story of the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:1-17), often taking a moment to reflect upon...

Posted by Puyallup United Methodist Church on Sunday, January 13, 2019

Epiphany and too much of a good thing...

On Epiphany Sunday we looked at the story of the Holy Family fleeing (Matthew 2:1-23) Israel to Egypt to escape Herod, a king threatened (by a baby). Pastor Cara Scriven looks at parallells between this story and that of Moses who led God's people to freedom from Egypt and its ruler.

Pastor Cara asks us how things in our lives, good when first experienced, can also trap us. Looking particularly at The United Methodist Church's upcoming General Conference, she wonders aloud if we'll choose to be a church that liberates, or one that traps people in the past.

On Epiphany Sunday we looked at the story of the Holy Family fleeing (Matthew 2:1-23) Israel to Egypt to escape Herod, a...

Posted by Puyallup United Methodist Church on Sunday, January 6, 2019

Waiting for ... our time to serve

In her sermon for the last Sunday of Advent, Pastor Cara Scriven takes a close look at the role of Joseph in the very first messy, less than perfect, Christmas (Matthew 1:18-25). When faced with the choice of what to do in a difficult situation, Joseph chose the hard path and together with Mary, soon would welcome the Christ child to the world.

How might we too invite God into our lives by our willingness to serve, even in unanticipated, messy situations?

Waiting for ... our time to serve

In her sermon for the last Sunday of Advent, Pastor Cara Scriven takes a close look at the role of Joseph in the very first messy, less than perfect, Christmas (Matthew 1:18-25). When faced with the choice of what to do in a difficult situation, Joseph chose the hard path and together with Mary, soon would welcome the Christ child to the world.

How might we too invite God into our lives by our willingness to serve, even in unanticipated, messy situations?

- To watch the SNL clip referred to in the sermon, visit: https://youtu.be/4WvwX18oMR4Posted by Puyallup United Methodist Church on Sunday, December 23, 2018

Waiting for ... Stuff

We aren't always very good at waiting, and there can be great value lost in skipping ahead impatiently. In a humorous example, Pastor Cara Scriven shares how her younger brother learned this important lesson one Christmas morning.

As we look at today's scripture (Isaiah 42:1-9), which is often understood to be speaking prophetically of Jesus, Cara encourages us to wait with the text before jumping to that conclusion. What did it mean to those who originally heard it? What else could it mean for us today?

We aren't always very good at waiting, and there can be great value lost in skipping ahead impatiently. In a humorous...

Posted by Puyallup United Methodist Church on Monday, December 17, 2018

Waiting for ... Us

For the second message of our Advent sermon series “Waiting for...”, Pastor Cara Scriven takes us inside the story of Esther (4:1-17). Esther’s unique status as consort to the King of Persia gave her the ability to speak up on behalf of her imperiled people. But before she could speak, Esther had to decide to do so, as the risks to herself were not inconsequential. 

In her message, Pastor Cara asks us to listen this Advent for where God might be calling us to also act. How might we respond?

Waiting for ... Us

For the second message of our Advent sermon series “Waiting for...”, Pastor Cara Scriven takes us inside the story of Esther (4:1-17). Esther’s unique status as consort to the King of Persia gave her the ability to speak up on behalf of her imperiled people. But before she could speak, Esther had to decide to do so, as the risks to herself were not inconsequential. In her message, Pastor Cara asks us to listen this Advent for where God might be calling us to also act. How might we respond?

Posted by Puyallup United Methodist Church on Sunday, December 9, 2018

Waiting for ... God

As we enter into the season of Advent, we begin our new sermon series, “Waiting for...” with a message based on the expectant words of the minor prophet Habakkuk (1:1-3; 2:1-4; 3:17-19).

In response to Habakkuk’s longing for justice, Pastor Cara Scriven explores what it mean to wait for God today, in an impatient world filled with personal struggles, societal challenges, and mounting political anxiety.

As we enter into the season of Advent, we begin our new sermon series, “Waiting for...” with a message based on the...

Posted by Puyallup United Methodist Church on Sunday, December 2, 2018