Pastor Scott's Musings

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC... [Title Slide] Journey to Promise: Staff and Stoll                      ( Exodus 5:1-9, 22-23; 6:1-8 )   [Slide] A mother told her children what to pack for vacation. Once they were done, she inspected. Instead of finding enough underwear and socks, they had packed 6 dolls and two toy trucks. The children didn’t pack what’s practical. They packed what brought them joy.   [Slide] When God sent Moses to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, God told him to take his staff.   [Slide] Take in your hand this staff , with which you will do the signs.” (Ex 4:17)   That staff was the only thing God told Moses to take to Egypt. With that staff, Moses unleashed 10 plagues upon Egypt. He turned the River Nile into blood and split the Red Sea. With that staff, God broke Egypt and freed His people.   [Slide] In...

 Sermon for MIlledgeville and Centenary UMC... [Title Slide] Journey to Promise: The Call ( Exodus 3:1-14 )   Today we begin a journey through the wilderness with Moses and the children of Abraham. Moses was born in Egypt, the son of Hebrew slaves. The Pharaoh feared that the numerous Hebrew immigrants to his land would one day pose a threat to national security, so he enslaved them and he ordered all male babies to be thrown into the Nile. Moses’ mother hid her son in a basket and set him adrift, hoping to save him. The baby was discovered by Pharaoh’s own daughter who took him as her own. Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s palace.   When Moses was 40 years old, he killed an Egyptian taskmaster who was brutally beating a Hebrew slave. He fled Egypt in fear for his life. He met a kindly priest in Midian who sheltered him, gave him work, and eventually one of his daughters for a wife.     [Slides] Read Exodus 3:1-14   Here are a few comical mem...

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC... [Title Slide] Finding Jesus (Luke 2:41-62)   “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” [Slide] A preacher was interrupted during his sermon by two boys giggling in the back pews. He stopped, pointed right at them, and shouted, “Boys! Where is God?” They sat paralyzed and silent. The preacher asked again, “Answer me now! Where is God?!!” The boys jumped up and ran out of the church, not stopping until they got home. Their mother could see they were upset and asked what was wrong. One son said, “Oh Mom! We’re in so much trouble. They’ve lost God at the church, and they think we took Him!”   A parent’s nightmare scenario is to lose a child in a crowd. It happens. You’re browsing the store, checking out sales. [Slide] Your little one wanders off. Suddenly you realize they are not with you. You panic. You scan the crowd. You can’t find them. You call out their name, but they don’t answer. Now you’re...

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC... [Title Slide] The Magi (Matthew 2:1-12) The Wise Still Seek Him [Slide] A kindergarten class is performing the traditional Nativity scene for their adoring parents. The three kings enter the manger scene, dressed in royal color, with glittering cardboard crowns and costume jewelry.   The first little tyke bellows, "I bring you a gift of gold!"   The second confidently says, "I bring you myrrh!"   The third hesitates a moment, then mumbles, "Here, Frank sent this . . . "   Merry Christmas everyone! Like the magi from the east, we are gathered to worship Christ and His Nativity. Hail the newborn King!   Let’s have a quiz. How many kings visited the manger? That’s a trick question. There were no kings. These were magi.   We don’t know how many magi came to Bethlehem. Matthew doesn’t tell us. There could have been 2 or 20! We only say three because of the gifts of gold, frankincense an...