Sermons are listed below with the most recent sermons first. Sermons may be browsed by date, books of the Bible, speaker, and more. Check back often for updates.
From Dust & Death to Dust & Life
This year’s Ash Wednesday service begins the season of Lent in ongoing restrictions. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. La Jolla UMC and Pacific Beach UMC offer this joint online Ash Wednesday worship service. This will be a time of prayer and song with leaders and musicians from both congregations guiding us together as we begin this season. Included in this worship service will be symbolic ways…
Practical Theology
This is the final week of our series on Reading the Bible Again, informed by Marcus Borg’s Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, we shift from how to read into how to live as we dive into the theme of practical theology. In week one, on “Epiphany & Creation,” Pastor Bob related how Marcus Borg, on whose book our series is…
Revelation & Apocalypse
This is the sixth week of our series on Reading the Bible Again, informed by Marcus Borg’s Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We near the end our conversation about how to read our Bibles, and this penultimate week in this series brings us to the book of Revelation. Many people of faith have a complicated relationship with these…
Gospels & Acts
This is the fifth week of our series on Reading the Bible Again, informed by Marcus Borg’s Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue our exploration with the core writings that help Christians claim their unique identity of faith: the Gospels and Acts. These five books share the “good news” of Jesus Christ with the world, telling age-old…
Letters & Epistles
This is the fourth week of our series on Reading the Bible Again, informed by Marcus Borg’s Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are jumping into the New Testament with the letters and epistles from Paul and other authors. The reason we are starting the New Testament here instead of with the Gospels is that many of these…
Prophets & Wisdom
This is the third week of our series on Reading the Bible Again, informed by Marcus Borg’s Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week we are taking a look at the prophets and Wisdom Literature in the Hebrew Bible. The prophets, from Elijah, Elisha, and Nathan, through to Zechariah and Obadiah, are fascinating to read and study. The…
History & Law
This is the second week of our series on Reading the Bible Again, informed by Marcus Borg’s Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week we move beyond the creation stories and into the story of Moses as the leader of the Exodus and the bringer of the Law. These narratives are told in the first five books of…
Epiphany & Creation
This is the first week of our series on Reading the Bible Again, informed by Marcus Borg’s Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week combines the opening of the Gospel of John with the opening of the book of Genesis, both creation stories. On a Sunday that is traditionally understood as Epiphany Sunday, we explore the possibility of…
Lessons & Carols
It’s Christmas Eve! May the light of Emmanuel shine in us all. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our traditional Christmas Eve service, live-streamed from our Sanctuary. The Christmas story is told through Scripture and song, and concludes with candle lighting. Scripture: Luke 1:26-35, 38; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-20; John 1:1-14
Family Christmas Pageant
It’s Christmas Eve! May the light of Emmanuel shine in us all. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Enjoy a fun family-friendly online worship service premiering at 5pm featuring the Christmas story, lots of carols, and videos of families sharing creative pageantry and even stop-motion storytelling! Scripture: Isaiah 9:2, 6-7; Luke 1:26-35, 38; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-20; John 1:1-14
Confusion & Wonder
This is the final week of our Extended Advent series, and the fourth week of a the 20th century Advent model. As we worship online, let us continue to pray for our community as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week’s worship gets into the good stuff! This week we really get into the familiar and exciting parts of the story! It’s almost Christmas and there’s just a little more online shopping to finish up!! But not everyone is…
Desperation & Hope
This is the sixth week of our Extended Advent series, and the third week of a the 20th century Advent model. Let us continue to pray for our community as we work to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week’s text jumps a bit from previous texts in this series. We started with Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians and Ephesians and then moved to Mark for two weeks. This week we jump to the Gospel of John with a text that…