Discipling Life

 Fraudulent to Faithful: Living an Authentic Life  Author: Alan Swartz Date: November 16, 2025, Proper 28c EUMC & BCUMC Texts: Isaiah 65:17-25; Malachi 4:1-2a; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------— Introduction: The Urgency of Change and the Problem of Fraud It has been said that true change only comes when we reach a point of dissatisfaction—a moment when we realize we cannot remain where we are and must move forward. For the church today, that moment of dissatisfaction is upon us. The projections for this year, 2025, are stark: an estimated 15,000 churches in the United States will close their doors. Over the next two decades, somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 could follow. We are facing what one writer has called a “death tsunami,” as the baby boomer generation, which forms the bulk of the church, passes on. We cannot be satisfied with our current st...

God’s Victory Over Death and Deception: Standing Firm Against Deception November 9, 2025, Proper 27c – EUMC, BCUMC – Alan Swartz What causes conflict and distress in your family? We see that the deepest divisions arise not from a lack of care, but from deeply held, conflicting beliefs. In our homes and in our churches, we can find ourselves at odds over matters that feel profoundly important, threatening the very unity we cherish. The Apostle Paul addresses this very challenge, calling a fractured community back to what is most essential. He reminds them, and us, that the bonds of love must be stronger than the forces of division. For the Thessalonians, those forces of division came in the form of false teachers, false letters, and people who profoundly misunderstood the message of the Gospel that Paul preached. I know that when my own family gathers for Thanksgiving, it can sometimes feel like walking through a field of landmines. We have all sorts of opinions with family me...

  Unashamed: The Courage to Forgive and Proclaim A Sermon on 2 Timothy 1:1-14 and Luke 17:1-10 – Alan Swartz October 5, 2025 – EUMC and BCUMC (posted 11/5/2025) When Paul sat down to write his second letter to Timothy, he was in chains. A prisoner in Rome, facing an uncertain future, writing to a young pastor who was struggling with his own fears and doubts. And when Jesus spoke the words we heard from Luke’s Gospel, he was on the road to Jerusalem – walking deliberately toward the cross that awaited him there. Both of these moments – Paul in prison, Jesus on the road – remind us that faithful discipleship has always been costly. It requires courage. Not the kind of courage that comes from our own strength or willpower, but the kind that flows from God’s grace at work within us. Today we’re exploring what it means to live unashamed as followers of Jesus – unashamed in two specific ways that challenge us deeply: the courage to forgive, again and again, and the courage t...

  Fruits of Repentance Preacher: Alan Swartz Date: November 2, 2025 Place: Ebenezer UMC Scripture: Isaiah 1:11-17; Luke 19:1-10; Ephesians 2:8-10; Matthew 3:8-10; James 5:1-6; Ezekiel 16:49 Introduction One of the most astounding experiences of my ministry occurred when my wife Jo Anne and I lived in Oxford, North Carolina, during the 1990s. After preaching one Sunday morning, I was walking to my car when a parishioner came running up, eager to tell me how much my sermon had touched his life. As he explained what he had heard, I realized with shock that he had “heard” the exact opposite of what I had said. Someone once observed that a sermon is not simply the words that come out of the preacher’s mouth—it is the words that go into the hearer’s ear, the words we live by. As we gather around Scripture this morning, I pray that the Holy Spirit will speak to both preacher and congregation, that we may truly hear what God is saying to us. I. Grace and Works: The Fu...

 Expendable Resources: Faithful Service to God Alan Swartz – 10/26/2025 – EUMC & BCUMC The second letter to Timothy holds a unique and strategic place within the New Testament. It is the final letter we have from the Apostle Paul, his last will and testament, penned from a prison cell as he awaited his own execution. Along with his first letter to Timothy and his letter to Titus, it forms a collection we call the “pastoral epistles”—letters written not to a whole congregation, but to individuals entrusted with the pastoral care and leadership of the burgeoning church. To truly grasp the weight of Paul’s words, we must first understand the deep relationship between the aging apostle and his young protégé. Timothy and Titus were young men in whom Paul had seen the promise and power of the Holy Spirit. He had recruited them early in his ministry, mentoring them not only in the foundations of the faith but also in the practical and demanding work of church leadership. He trai...

 Enduring Faith: A Call to Persevere October 19, 2025 – Proper 24c – EUMC & BCUMC Introduction: A Season of Endings, A Call to Endure Today’s scriptures converge upon a powerful and recurring theme: the certainty of endings. We are brought to stand with the prophet Jeremiah as he bears witness to the catastrophic fall of Jerusalem. We listen in as the Apostle Paul, knowing his death is near, pens his last words of encouragement to his young protégé, Timothy. And we follow Jesus, who has turned his face resolutely toward Jerusalem, marching steadily toward the conclusion of his earthly ministry, aware that the same crowds shouting “Hosanna” will soon demand his crucifixion. From these disparate and dramatic moments of closure, a single, unifying message emerges with profound clarity—the critical importance of perseverance and steadfast faith in the face of trial and persecution. This call to endure is not a passive suggestion but an active command, one that Jesus himself w...