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A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, June 28, 2026, fifth Sunday after Pentecost. “We Know Who We Are” series. ​​​ Texts: Romans 6:3-11; Luke 24:28-35​​​​   Humans are storytelling creatures. Our stories help us understand who we are and how life works. They teach us how people have lived and thought and loved and struggled through the ages. They give us a framework for how to be in relationship. Humans are also ritual-making creatures. Just as the stories we tell shape our sense of identity and reality, so too rituals shape our actions and the way we embody our values. Every culture has stories that shape human imagination and understanding. Every culture has rituals that shape human desires and loyalties. While powerful, formative, and often positive, we know stories can be told in ways that distort truth and do harm. And rituals can include habits that are unhealthy or destructive to persons or communities. Consumerism tells a certain story and has its rituals. White Christian Nationalism tells a certain story and has its rituals. Political tribes tell their own stories and have their rituals. Social media…well… All these things and more tell us who we are and what matters most. Christians also tell a story and practice rituals—it's a story of God's grace, mercy, and liberating love. And the rituals? Water. Bread. Cup. A few weeks ago, as we began focusing on the United Methodist way of living the Christian story, we thought together about the means of grace and the practices that shape us. We reflected on how we are all being formed by something. The question is: What is forming us? What stories, rituals, and practices are shaping our imagination, our desires, and our values? The sacraments are among the primary ways God shapes us into the people we are called to be. And because these rituals are so familiar, it is easy to participate in them without ever stopping to ask what they mean. Why do we call themsacraments? What do United Methodists actually believe is happening when we baptize someone or come to the Lord's Table? These are important questions to ask. Because if we are going to know who we are, then we need to understand the practices that have formed Christians for centuries and the theology that stands behind them. Let's begin with the word sacrament itself. United Methodists define a sacrament as “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” In other words, sacraments are the places where the invisible grace of God takes visible form. I could reasonably argue that, with that definition, every act of beauty, love, tenderness, and justice are sacramental acts. But the two liturgical sacraments recognized by our tradition are those Jesus specifically commanded his followers to practice in the stories recorded in scripture: baptism and communion. Here again, our rituals are embedded in our stories and our stories are embedded in our rituals. Stories and rituals belong together. In many cultures, stories are not merely told. They are enacted. Danced. Sung. The story becomes part of the people through repeated actions that connect memory to the body. Christians do something similar. We do not merely tell the story of God's grace.We enact it. We embody it. In baptism, we tell not just one story, but many: the story of dying and rising with Christ, of being washed by grace and mercy, and of being claimed and named as God's beloved and part of the Body of Christ. The beauty of sacrament is that it can hold multiple meanings at once. And we don't simply talk about those things. We pour water. We listen for the sound of the flow. We feel the water on our skin. In communion, we tell the stories of Christ's sacrificial, self-giving love, of God's provision and faithfulness; we reaffirm the story of God's mercy—of forgiveness, reconciliation, and belonging. But we do not simply describe those things. We break bread. We share the cup. The story is embedded in these rituals. The rituals carry the story. And over time, the story carried by the ritual shapes the people who practice it. One United Methodist resource describes the sacraments as God's “show and tell.” I love that image. If you've ever watched a child during show and tell, you know that simply describing something isn't the same as holding it in your hands. God doesn't simply tell us that grace is real. God shows us. Think about it: God showed us by drawing near in flesh, in Jesus of Nazareth. Andthat is just the most extraordinary way God has revealed a willingness to work through physical things. The God who came to us in a body still meets us through tangible signs: Water. Bread. Cup. So let's linger with some of the stories our sacraments tell. First, baptism tells the story of grace that comes before our response. In many churches, baptism is understood primarily as a public declaration of faith—as a person's decision to accept God's love and to follow Christ. There is truth in that. But United Methodists begin somewhere else. We begin with God's action. Before we choose God, God chooses us. Before we respond to grace, grace is already at work in our lives. Before we seek God, God is seeking us. That conviction lies behind one of the practices that often raises questions: infant baptism. Why do we baptize babies who cannot yet profess faith for themselves?Because baptism is first and foremost a story about God's grace, not our achievement. It is a visible reminder that grace comes first. Before a child can speak a word, God has already spoken a word over them: Beloved. Of course, each person must eventually respond to God's grace for themselves. But regardless of age, baptism reminds us that the first move always belongs to God. Baptism also tells the story of belonging—to God and to one another. In baptism, God claims me. And God joins us. When we baptize someone, we are not simply celebrating an individual spiritual experience or handing someone a ticket to heaven. We are welcoming a new member into the Body of Christ. That is why the congregation makes promises. We promise to nurture, encourage, teach, pray, and journey alongside one another. Baptism tells us who we are—beloved children of God. And baptism tells us who we are together—a people, a community, a body, a family bound together by grace and by a shared story. Baptism also tells the stories of forgiveness and liberation. The waters are a sign of God's mercy and cleansing, assuring us that nothing we have done or will do lies beyond God's capacity to forgive, that we are not bound to the worst things in our past or present, but freed for better things in our future. And the waters tell yet another story. Paul tells us in Romans that in baptism we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection. We die to an old way of being.We are raised into new life. Baptism is not simply about where we have been. It is about who we are becoming. It's about claiming the freedom and power God gives us to live a new kind of life. So baptism is the sacrament that initiates us into the Christian life both as persons and community. And Communion is the sacrament that nourishes us along the wayand continually reconnects us to Christ, to one another, and to our neighbors. We call it the Lord's Supper because Christ is the host. We call it Holy Communion because we are united with God and one another. We call it Eucharist (from the Greek word for thanksgiving) because it is an act of thanksgiving. But perhaps the most important thing to understand is that communion is more than remembering a dead prophet. It is being present with a living Christ. Certainly, we remember Jesus at the table. But United Methodists believe something more is happening—that communion is more than merely symbolic. We believe Christ is truly present. We call it a holy mystery precisely because we don't claim to fully understand how. But we trust that Christ meets us here and offers grace through the sacramental meal. Once again, as with Baptism, the sacrament is both personal and communal. At thetable Christ invites, forgives, and nourishes me. At the table Christ forms, nourishes, and sends us. Personally, we come seeking grace, forgiveness, strength, comfort, courage, and renewal. But communion is never merely about “me and Jesus.” Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 10 that because there is one bread, we who are many are one body. At the table we practice belonging to one another. We remember that our lives are bound together. We learn gratitude, humility, reconciliation, and love. The table does not simply feed individuals. It forms a community. This conviction also helps explain why United Methodists practice an open table.You do not have to be a member of this church, or a United Methodist, or to have everything figured out, or even to be baptized. The invitation belongs to Christ our host. And because grace comes before worthiness, Christ's table remains open. I will never forget the moment when a committed atheist who had been attendingthe congregation I served with her fiancé for more than a year, presented herself in line to receive the elements saying, “I have no idea why I am here, but I just felt that I needed to come.” People might encounter Christ for the first time in the midst of the gathered Body of Christ around the Table. Because sometimes people are moved to respond before they have language for what is happening. Sometimes grace reaches us before we understand it. John Wesley strongly encouraged frequent communion because he believed it was one of God's most powerful means of grace. Early American Methodists often received communion only quarterly because circuit-riding preachers and ordained elders were scarce. What began as necessity became habit. The church I grew up in still practiced quarterly communion! But in recent decades we have reclaimed Wesley's conviction that we need all the sacramental grace we can get! And so we return again and again to water, bread, and cup. Simple, ordinary things.Yet through them the story of God's grace is told, embodied, and practiced.Through them God reminds us who we are. Through them God reminds us whose we are. And through them God continues to shape us—both as individuals and as a community—into the likeness of Christ. Because over time, the stories embodied in our rituals become the lives we learn to lead. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.

A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli with Foundry UMC, June 7, 2026, Second Sunday after Pentecost. “We Know Who We Are”series. Texts: Romans 12:1-2, 9-13; Acts 2:41-47   Last week we reflected on grace. We remembered that God's grace comes before we ever think about God, before we ever do anything right, before we ever earn anything. Grace comes first. Grace comes last. Grace is always the ground beneath our feet. This week the question is: If grace comes first, how does grace actually change us?   I grew up before car seats were common. Heck—I regularly rode in the back of my dad's or grandpa's pickup truck to get ice cream or drive out to the lake. Looking back, it feels like I was raised in the Wild West!?  As a teenager, I'd been driving a year or so when a new law was passed that required seatbelts. We started hearing about studies showing how seatbelts saved lives. There were those crash-test dummy commercials—remember those? But putting on a seatbelt wasn't something I thought about.  And so every time I got into the car, I had to remind myself: Put on your seatbelt. Sometimes I'd forget. Sometimes I'd remember halfway down the road. But I kept doing it. And then one day I noticed something. I was driving somewhere and realized I already had my seatbelt on. I hadn't thought about it. I hadn't reminded myself. I had just done it. What had once felt awkward and inconvenient had become a habit. It had become instinct. I had practiced and learned a new thing.   Most of us understand this when it comes to driving. Or learning an instrument. Or speaking a language. Or playing a sport. Or exercising.   A friend once told me, “Nobody likes running when they first start. You have to just do it. After a while you'll reap the benefits.” I never forgot the wisdom. You may not start out loving the practice. But you practice because of what the practice is shaping you to become.   And I've been thinking this week that much of the Christian life works the same way. Many of us want to become more loving, more patient, more generous, more courageous. We want to respond to conflict with grace. We want to be less fearful and more trusting. We want our lives to reflect the love of Christ. But how does that happen?   John Wesley believed that the goal of the Christian life was what he called “Christian perfection.” Unfortunately, that phrase has caused confusion for generations. Wesley wasn't talking about becoming flawless. He wasn't talking about never making mistakes. He wasn't talking about acting like we've got it all together. He was talking about becoming so filled with the love of God that God's love begins to overflow from our lives.   I often picture it like a pitcher being filled with water. As we open ourselves to receive God's love and mercy—God's grace!—we are filled. And just as a pitcher overflows once it becomes full, so God's love begins to overflow in our lives. Love spills over. Mercy spills over. Compassion spills over. Generosity spills over. Wesley believed that this could happen. In fact, he believed it was the goal of those who would follow Christ.   Or as the hymn puts it: “Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love.” I love that phrase. The impulse of thy love. Because it suggests a life in which love becomes our first instinct. A life in which generosity and mercy become as natural as breathing. A life in which our hands move at the impulse of God's love. Wouldn't that be something?   The question is: How do we become those people? And Wesley's answer was surprisingly practical. We practice. We train. We place ourselves again and again in the flow of God's grace. Wesley called these practices “means of grace.” Prayer. Scripture. Worship. Holy Communion. Christian conversation and accountability. Small groups. Acts of mercy and service.   And this week, I want to invite you to choose one. Not all of them. Just one. Spend a few minutes each day reading scripture. Or pray each morning before you reach for your phone. Or read a daily devotion. Or intentionally perform one act of kindness or service each day. Choose one way to place yourself in the flow of God's grace and practice it every day this week.   These are means of grace not because they are things that earn God's love or make God love us more. They are not means of grace because checking enough religious boxes gets us into heaven. But because these practices place us where God's transforming grace can reach us. God's grace is always present—whether we're practicing the means of grace or not. But these practices have been shown over the centuries to place us in the flow of God's grace in a very concentrated way.   There is a distinction between trying and training. Anyone can try to run a marathon. But only someone who trains will actually finish one. The same is true of the Christian life. Anybody can try to be more loving. Anybody can try to be more patient. Anybody can try to forgive. But becoming Christlike requires more than trying. It requires training in grace.   This is why Methodists became Methodists. John Wesley was nothing if not methodical. The early Methodists became known for their methods—the practices and habits that helped them grow in love of God and neighbor. And that brings us to Romans 12.   After eleven chapters proclaiming the mercy and grace of God, Paul writes: “I appeal to you therefore...on the basis of God's mercy...” Paul doesn't begin with an appeal based on obligation or guilt or fear, but rather an appeal on the basis of God's mercy. Grace comes first. Then Paul says, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” Notice that he doesn't say, “Present your beliefs.” He says, “Present your bodies.” The Christian life isn't simply a set of ideas we agree with. It is a way of life. It is embodied. It is practiced.   Then Paul says: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” This is such a perennial call—true in every age! It is easy to become conformed to the things of this world. All of us are being formed by something. The news forms us. Social media forms us. Fear forms us. Our families, culture, and education form us. The question is not whether we are being formed. The question is: By what?   Paul doesn't tell us to transform ourselves. He says, “Be transformed.” God is the one doing the transforming. Our work is to place ourselves where God's grace can do its work. And then Paul immediately shows us what a transformed life looks like: Let love be genuine. Love one another. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in suffering. Persevere in prayer. Practice hospitality.   These things are not feelings. They are practices. They are things we do again and again until they begin to shape who we are. Nobody wakes up one day naturally hospitable. Nobody wakes up instinctively patient. Nobody wakes up automatically generous. These things are formed through grace and practice.   And then our reading from Acts shows us what that formation looks like in community. The Spirit comes at Pentecost. Thousands are baptized. A movement is born. And what do they do next?   Luke says: “They devoted themselves.” That may be the most important phrase in the whole passage. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. They devoted themselves. Not occasionally or when it was convenient or when they felt inspired. They devoted themselves. They showed up again and again. They listened to the story of Jesus. They prayed together. They shared meals. They worshiped together. They cared for one another. And over time something happened. They became a different kind of people.   Their possessions became less important than their neighbors' needs. Their tables became larger. Their hearts became more generous. Their lives became more joyful. Their witness became more compelling. The Pentecost miracle of Acts 2 is not only that the Spirit came in a wondrous way and moved previously fearful disciples to do wondrous things. The miracle is also that people kept showing up. They devoted themselves to practices that opened them to God's grace. And God's grace formed them into a community that looked different from the world around them. They were not conformed to their age, but were transformed by the saving grace and love of God in Christ Jesus.   Friends, this is part of who we are as United Methodists. We have practices. We have rhythms. We have a path: prayer, presence, gifts, service, and witness, and all the means of grace handed down through generations. They're not handed down because God needs them, but because we do. Not because they earn us salvation, but because they help open us to receive the grace that is already being offered.   And over time, through worship and prayer, through scripture and communion, through service and generosity, God does what only God can do. God transforms us. God fills us. And little by little, sometimes so gradually we hardly notice, our lives begin to move at a different impulse. The impulse of love. The impulse of mercy. The impulse of grace.   “Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love.” That is the goal. It's not about perfectionism. The goal is perfect love—lives so shaped by God's grace that one day we discover we are no longer merely trying to love. By the grace of God, we have begun to move at the impulse of God's love. This week, choose one way to place yourself in the flow of God's grace. Not because God needs it. Because you do.  

Redeemed to Change | How to Follow Jesus, Week 4 Texts: Romans 12:1–2; Galatians 5:16–25A lot of people want to change, but still feel stuck.In Week 4 of How to Follow Jesus, Pastor Kevin opens Romans 12 and shows that the gospel offers something deeper than self-improvement. Jesus does not only forgive you. He changes you. Christian transformation does not grow out of shame, pressure, or pretending. It grows out of mercy.This message explores what it means to be remade by grace, to stop hiding what needs to come into the light, and to walk honestly with God in the real struggle of change. It also shows how repentance, surrender, and holy rhythms become places where grace does its work in us.If you have ever felt tired of old patterns, frustrated by slow growth, or tempted to settle for appearances, this message is a clear reminder that redemption does not only forgive you—it begins to remake you. Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español) Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextstepsFollow us on Instagram: @iambroadriverchurch

Redeemed to Know | How to Follow Jesus, Week 1 Texts: Romans 5:1–5; 2 Corinthians 5:18–21; John 17:3A lot of people recognize Jesus. They know the name, the story, the language, and the general outline of Christianity. But recognition is not the same thing as relationship.In Week 1 of How to Follow Jesus, Pastor Kevin opens Romans 5 and shows that following Jesus does not begin with performance, pressure, or self-improvement. It begins with reconciliation. Through Jesus, sinners are brought near, given peace with God, and welcomed into grace.This message also shows that eternal life is not only about heaven later. It is life with God now. And that means Scripture and prayer are not religious checklists—they are the daily practices of people who have already been brought near through Christ.If you have ever confused church familiarity with actually knowing God, this message is an invitation to move from information to communion, from distance to nearness, and from performance to peace. Broad River Church | Norwalk, CT Join us Sundays: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM (English) | 1:00 PM (Español) Learn more or take your next step: https://broadriver.church/nextstepsFollow us on Instagram: @iambroadriverchurch

Texts: Romans 15:4-13, Luke 21:25-33With much indebtedness to the turn-of-the-20th-century lectionary work of Melville Scott

Texts: Romans 13, Matthew 21, with much appreciation to the work of turn-of-the-20th century English priest, Melville Scott, on the Lectionary.

Sunday Sermon by Kevin Jensen.God calls us, as children adopted into his glorious family, to widen our family circles to include both the family of God and those around us who need family.Texts: Romans 8:14-17, Job 29:7-17 & 31:16-23, James 1:26-27

Sermon brought by former FUMC associate pastor and current DS, Rev. Zach Roberts.Texts: Romans 12:1-2 and Matthew 16:13-23.

Sermon brought by former FUMC associate pastor and current DS, Rev. Zach Roberts.Texts: Romans 12:1-2 and Matthew 16:13-23.

​​Sunday Sermon by Walt RantaHow should we think about sin after we are baptized? Scripture reminds us not to say we have no sin, but rather to confess our sin, and God will forgive us. Yet we must also not give ourselves over to sinful living, thinking that we can always simply confess our sins and be forgiven. Those who continue to sin willingly have no sacrifice for sins remaining. When we are baptized, we die to sin and become slaves not of sin, but of God, and we must thereafter live for God—continually forgiven, and with hearts truly seeking to do what is right.Texts: Romans 5:18 to 6:23 and other selected passages

Nothing (Can Stop It)Whatever you have imagined could ever keep God from loving you...it is simply not the truth. Nothing can stop the love that God has for you!Texts: Romans 8:35-39, Luke 15:3-7Connect with Us: https://thecrossrds.comStreaming License # CCLI: CSPL043706 

Theme: What is the Good News? And how can you share it effectively?Texts: Romans 3:1, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:9, Romans 10:9What is the Romans Road? And how can you effectively share the Good News of Jesus Christ?In this message, we revisit the Romans Road and learn how it can be an effective tool in sharing God's heart and love for people.YouTube: https://youtu.be/DOIWnIePeAQChurch on the Park TV: https://video.ibm.com/recorded/133134425Go to https://inspiration-fire.myshopify.com to download the teaching bundle that includes the latest Revisiting the Romans Road Infographic. To connect, give or enjoy other messages visit https://www.brisbanefire.comIf you'd like a copy of our latest book – Colossians: The Mystery (Inspiration Translation) – visit https://inspiration-fire.myshopify.com/products/colossians-the-mystery-digital-book-inspiration-translationThanks for your love and support, enabling this ministry to spread God's Word.

OUR WEBSITE - the456.org/simplerpod show Steven some love @thegardenaudio subscribe, follow & leave reviews pls check out @simplerpod on the social platform of your choice if it's fb or insta see what's happening in our personal/disc golf/art lives @piercelove_ @micahmariano @converseandcanvas RYAN'S ART - converseandcanvas.com EAGLE'S WINGS - facebook.com/eagleswingsdiscgolf THE FOUR56 CHURCH - the456.org

Texts: Romans 5:1-5 and John 16:12-15Pastor Julie Bergdahl is this week's guest preacher as part of our 100th anniversary celebrations. Pastor Bergdahl served as Bethlehem's first female Associate Pastor from 1991-1994 and Bethlehem was Pastor Bergdahl's first congregational call! On the festival of the Holy Trinity, she reminds us that we are activated by the Spirit, who puts arms and legs on our faith.  Support Our MinistryMore information about Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Fairport, NY

Texts: Romans 13:8ff, Matthew 21:1ff

So Illumine's got a new ministry center....now what? This sermon takes a look at what life together looks like, and focuses in especially on worship. And by the way...it's not just Christians who worship.Date: October 10th:Texts: Romans 12:1; Hebrews 10:16-25

Pr. Steven Parks of Concordia University-Irvine, CA

Texts: Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17 Subject:  Jesus and Nicodemus Theme: How Can This Be? Holy Trinity Sunday, May 30, 2021; Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV Pastor Jason Adams

Texts: Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17 Subject:  Jesus and Nicodemus Theme: How Can This Be? Holy Trinity Sunday, May 30, 2021; Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas,

This is the sermon preached at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vallonia, IN, on Sunday, July 19th, 2020. Texts: Romans 6:1-11 and Matthew 5:20-26

Texts: Romans 6:3-11; Isaiah 57:13b-15.

This is the second installment in our series on church history, when we explore the era of Constantinian Christendom and its effects on the mission of the church. For the first episode in this series please click here. Texts: Romans 13:1-7; Philippians 3:17-21; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13; Luke 22:25-27

Texts: Romans 6:1-14; Matt. 6:24 Subject: Dying and Rising with Christ 7th Sunday of Easter; June 2, 2019, Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV Pastor Jason Adams

Texts: Romans 3:28-30; 5:1-11; Matthew 11:28-30 Subject: God's Love Poured Out 6th Sunday of Easter; May 26, 2019, Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV Seminarian

Texts: Romans 3:28-30; 5:1-11; Matthew 11:28-30 Subject: God's Love Poured Out 6th Sunday of Easter; May 26, 2019, Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV Seminarian

Texts: Romans 3:28-30; 5:1-11; Matthew 11:28-30 Subject: God’s Love Poured Out 6th Sunday of Easter; May 26, 2019, Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV Seminarian Lourdes Olson

Texts: Romans 1:1-17; Matt. 9:10-13 Subject: Gospel as Salvation 5th Sunday of Easter; May 19, 2019, Reformation Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV Pastor Matt Metevelis

Texts: Romans 13:8ff and Matthew 21:1ff.

n Romans 12:12 the Bible says, "Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.” What are you expecting from God? All through the Bible God’s people are called to rejoice in the promises of hope and “Live Expectantly.” Join us as we continue the Live It series. Remember to Come Early—Be Friendly—Worship Loudly. Texts: Romans 12:12, Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 9:28-29