Worship Series:
June 5, 2022 – December 31, 2023
SAINT JAMES UMC IS STEAMING LIVE!
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Being Present With Assurance
9:30 am Service
The overwhelming message of the Christmas story is the assurance that we, too, are children of the Holy One. In this, our very presence is a gift if we will only allow the Spirit to move in and through us. Every day of our ordinary lives, we can show up — be present — and proclaim the assurance of hope, peace, joy, and love to those who need it most.
Sunday, December 24, 2023
Christmas Eve – What a Gift!
4:00 pm Service
Welcome, friends, to this special day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. This year in this church, we have been spending time preparing for this night by becoming more “present.” You can see we have many presents here in the sanctuary. Being surrounded by them all Advent long has helped us be inspired to be more present — to ourselves, to each other, and to God. It all started with the idea that we can spend a lot of time worrying about finding the perfect Christmas gifts. Deep down we want people in our lives to know they are special and that we love them. But sometimes we overlook the greatest gift of all… our very presence. Relationship is the most needed gift in our world. Loneliness and isolation is, according to some experts, the “pandemic of our time.” So no matter how able you are to offer gifts that the world considers “valuable,” really what we need the most is simply to “be with.” That is what one of the names for Jesus — “Emmanuel” — means: “God with us.” And this is the best gift of all.
Sunday, December 24, 2023
Christmas Eve – What a Gift!
9:30 am Service
Welcome, friends, to this special day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. This year in this church, we have been spending time preparing for this night by becoming more “present.” You can see we have many presents here in the sanctuary. Being surrounded by them all Advent long has helped us be inspired to be more present — to ourselves, to each other, and to God. It all started with the idea that we can spend a lot of time worrying about finding the perfect Christmas gifts. Deep down we want people in our lives to know they are special and that we love them. But sometimes we overlook the greatest gift of all… our very presence. Relationship is the most needed gift in our world. Loneliness and isolation is, according to some experts, the “pandemic of our time.” So no matter how able you are to offer gifts that the world considers “valuable,” really what we need the most is simply to “be with.” That is what one of the names for Jesus — “Emmanuel” — means: “God with us.” And this is the best gift of all.
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Advent 4 – Being Present With Love
The faith narrative is careful to show us a lineage from King David to Jesus. It is no ordinary lineage; it is one that began in the shepherding of sheep, of leading and delivering the people in search of a home. Mary’s womb becomes part of that lineage of love, offering the world the gift of God’s presence “in the flesh.” As we enter the story of the birth of Love Among Us, we are invited to be present with love. We may think the perfect gift is outside our reach to give, but in reality we have all that we need… the heart’s love and presence.
Sunday, December 10, 2023
Advent 3 – Being Present With Joy
Today we will read the words of Isaiah offering a prophetic vision that Jesus then claims for his ministry. Likewise, we are called to claim the gift of being fully present with all people — those who mourn, those who grieve, those who have suffered indignity and oppression. Mary’s Magnificat is prophetic as well. She claims the overturning of injustice even before it has come to pass. In the difficulty of her situation, she “sings” with joy about the very real presence of God growing within her.
Sunday, December 3, 2023
Advent 2 – Being Present With Peace
In our Advent series, we are celebrating the gift of being truly present — to each
other and to the call of God to make this world a better place. We can be the gift of
presence with those who are experiencing life as less-than-peaceful. But this might also
be true of how we are personally feeling in this moment. Our lives can feel a bit chaotic
or in need of a makeover. The Good News is that God is continually making a way for
do-overs. In this we can find peace, even when life doesn’t feel so peaceful. This week
we focus on what it means to be a gift of non-anxious presence for those who need it
most.
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Advent 1 – Being Present with Hope
Advent can be filled with worry about finding the perfect Christmas gifts. Deep down we want people in our lives to know they are special and that we love them. But sometimes we overlook the greatest gift of all… our very presence. The 19th century poet, Christina Rosetti, wrote “In the Bleak Midwinter” that became a popular Christmas carol. Modern composer, Mark Hayes, set the last verse of that poem to music as our theme song for our Advent/Christmas series. It reminds us that even if we are feeling poor — in resources, in body or spirit — we can simply be a gift of presence, we can give our hearts.
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Live in Gratitude
Living a life of gratitude.
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Giving Thanks in the Tough Times
We celebrate the faithful responses in preparing for our ministry in the next year.
Sunday, November 5, 2023
Blessed to Become
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Moving Forward, Face to Face, Side by Side
Sunday, October 22, 2023
The Things That Are God’s
Sunday, October 15, 2023
Who Are You – Committed or Forgetful?
Rejoice in the Lord always. God is worthy of our hearts’ delight. But today we are asked to consider if we are committed to offering praise to God or if we are forgetful ninnies, unprepared for bearing fruit for God?
Sunday, October 8, 2023
Fruit of Discipleship
In the scriptures found in the Bible, we find commandments of old and lessons from parables. But there is an older scripture—a scripture beyond words, a scripture as deep and mysterious as the night sky. For the heavens proclaim God’s glory with every colorful sunrise and budding flower.
The mysteries of God reveal themselves in so many ways: commandments given on tablets of stone, teachings told through poetry and the oral stories of God’s people through the ages, the testimony of pressing toward a heavenly goal, and even a Messiah who predicted the world’s rejection and his own eventual death. In these scriptures, mysteries emerge—each slightly different—but each with lessons to teach.
Today, do we dwell in a house of defeat and despair, or do we dwell with our redeemer and liberator in a house of freedom?
Sunday, October 1, 2023
The Table of Joy
Series: Come to the Table
Sunday, September 24, 2023
The Table of Grace
Series: Come to the Table
Sunday, September 17, 2023
The Table of Love
Series: Come to the Table
Sunday, September 10, 2023
The Table of Peace
Series: Come to the Table
- Rev. Patricia Abell, Pastor
- Antuan Hairston, Director of Music Ministry
- Clarice Snyder, Organist/Pianist
- Mary Anne Espenshade, Liturgist
- Jelinda Blum and Edie Candee, Children’s Message
Sunday, September 3, 2023
The Table of Hospitality
Series: Come to the Table
Welcome to our new worship series, “Come to the Table.” We will hear the call to dine with Jesus — an invitation that means much more than a simple eating experience. It never was simply about eating with Jesus. The table was the place where he fed people, and also challenged them to acts of hospitality that reflect God’s way. When we say “yes” to the place at Christ’s table, we accept a way of life that embraces God’s definition of love, peace, grace, and joy.
Sunday, August 27, 2023
Who Do You Say
Series: Pentecost
Sunday, August 20, 2023
Is It Fair?
Series: Pentecost
Sunday, August 13, 2023
What Are You Seeking?
Series: Pentecost
Sunday, August 6, 2023
Wrestling with Hunger
Series: Pentecost
Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer and invite God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, we engage in an act of imagination and visioning. Any time that we claim something of the prophetic vision or embrace a kingdom/kin-dom image of how we could be living in beloved community together, we are imagining a new reality.
This is a disciple’s task.
Sunday, July 30, 2023
It Was Alright
Series: Pentecost
Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer and invite God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, we engage in an act of imagination and visioning. Any time that we claim something of the prophetic vision or embrace a kingdom/kin-dom image of how we could be living in beloved community together, we are imagining a new reality.
This is a disciple’s task.
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Shine Like the Sun
Series: Pentecost
We are called to see more than what is—not that disciples ignore the world as it is.
We also hold out hope for what could be and for what is promised.
We lean into the promises of God with joy and confidence, even as we recognize how far we must go.
Sunday, July 16, 2023
The Soil and the Seed
Series: Pentecost
Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer and invite God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, we engage in an act of imagination and visioning. Any time that we claim something of the prophetic vision or embrace a kingdom/kin-dom image of how we could be living in beloved community together, we are imagining a new reality.
Sunday, July 9, 2023
The Yoke
Series: Pentecost
Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ isn’t an instantaneous event, but a lifelong process. John Wesley called it sanctification, this process of becoming more like Christ, and acknowledged that it is a journey.
Friends, we’re on the way, or as Wesley claimed, moving on to perfection in love. There’s a lot to learn as we grow.
Sunday, July 2, 2023
Quench Thirst
Series: Pentecost
Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ isn’t an instantaneous event, but a lifelong process. John Wesley called it sanctification, this process of becoming more like Christ, and acknowledged that it is a journey.
Friends, we’re on the way, or as Wesley claimed, moving on to perfection in love. There’s a lot to learn as we grow.
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Go, Tell It (God whispers, we tell)
Series: Pentecost
This week, we’ve got whispers and we’ve got shouts. That seems like a common human experience, doesn’t it? Some things we are willing to shout; other things we prefer to whisper. Except, pay attention here: we aren’t whispering; we are the shouters. God whispers; we shout. God speaks in the dark; we tell in the light. How does that work, exactly?
Sunday, June 18, 2023
The Goodness of God
Series: Pentecost
Sunday, June 11, 2023
Fruitfulness
Series: Pentecost
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, June 4, 2023
Belonging
Series: Pentecost
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, May 28, 2023
Journey: The Places We Will Go
Series: Emerge
Oh, the colors, the beauty, the unabashed and exuberant expression of all that we are together! This celebration is like none other — brought to its fullest embodiment as we emerge and dare new heights!
In the emerging of the church in the book of Acts, a series of events in the life of Peter leads him to the understanding that God shows no partiality and all are welcome in this journey of new life in Christ.
Upon this rock, the Spirit builds a church that offers hope to the hopeless, strength for the weary, and new life to those who think theirs is over. Upon these things, this church will continue this mission to a world that so desperately needs a people who know the power of transformation!
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, May 21, 2023
Let Go: Leaving Behind What We Don’t Need
Series: Emerge
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, May 14, 2023
Unfold: Claiming New Possibilities
Series: Emerge
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Unwrap: Waking Up
Series: Emerge
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Open: Into the Light
Series: Emerge
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Coming Out: Leaving Comfortable Places
Series: Emerge
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Tombs and Cocoons: Trusting the Dark
Series: Emerge
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Who are you looking for?
Series: Seeking
EASTER SUNDAY
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, April 2, 2023
Where are you headed?
Series: Seeking
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Can these bones live?
Series: Seeking
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Who sinned?
Series: Seeking
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, March 12, 2023
Will you give me a drink?
Series: Seeking
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, March 5, 2023
How do we begin again?
Series: Seeking
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Who Will You Listen To?
Series: Seeking
The First Sunday in Lent each year sets the tone for the season by focusing on the temptation of Christ. As Christ fasted for forty days, so do we practice Lenten disciplines for forty days of Lent—spiritual practices that we are tempted to forego
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Super Sunday
Series: Glimpses of God’s kin-dom
Transfiguration Sunday is about the identity of the one we follow. Jesus the Christ is revealed in glory. This day is about faith. It shifts the focus from us and our work, to Christ and the work that has been done on our behalf. This is a day for remembering whose we are as the body of Christ; Truly a super Sunday.
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, February 12, 2023
But I Say…
Series: Glimpses of God’s kin-dom
Jesus is raising the standard of behavior in this text. He wants us to go deeper. In short, to not simply follow the rules, but to consider how our behavior, our choices, and our attitudes impact the wider community around us. It is a continuation of the salt and light idea.
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Notice: Technical difficulties resulted in sound being lost for the entire service. Our apologies.
Sunday, February 5, 2023
You Are…
Series: Glimpses of God’s kin-dom
“You are salt. You are light.” Jesus lays an expectation and blessing on us as we are called to be the church. How will we live out our call to light a path, ‘season’ those we meet, and stand up for those seeking light and love?
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Blessed Are…
Series: Glimpses of God’s kin-dom
Jesus gives us identity statements of blessing and promise, glimpses of what living in the
kin-dom of heaven is like.
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, January 22, 2023
Have the Same Mind
Series: Glimpses of God’s kin-dom
During this Season of Epiphany, we continue to see how the light of God shines in the darkness and in our lives. In the scripture to the church of Corinth, Paul instructs the body of Christ to refrain from fighting among themselves, but rather proclaim the message of Christ. There is a call to follow God, to seek Christ, and to look for the light.
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, January 15, 2023
Enough
Series: Glimpses of God’s kin-dom
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, January 8, 2023
The Water is Fine!
Series: Glimpses of God’s kin-dom
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, January 1, 2023
Sunday After Christmas: Sacred Doing
Series: Reflecting the Sacred
Sunday, December 25, 2022
Christmas Sunday: Surprisingly Sacred
In the early church, Sunday was known as the “day of light.” It is very special when Christmas falls on a Sunday, as it does in 2022. As light dawns on this morning, as the children scramble to the tree to see what has appeared, we remember that the sacred comes in the form of surprise sometimes, just as it did when light and life was known anew in the form of a baby in a humble stable. Can we dare to believe that we can know a surprising calm even in the midst of anxiety because of the in-breaking of this Prince of Peace upon our lives each and every day?
Christmas Eve, December 24, 2022
It is not difficult to imagine this night as “reflecting the sacred.” We gather, sing, light candles and dare to believe that love truly enters the world time and again and anything is possible. What may be more difficult to understand, however, is that this love is ours, not because we’ve been “good” (as if God is Santa Claus), but simply because we are beloved. Our very being reflects the sacred. The incarnation of God in human flesh is proof.
4pm: Family Service
4pm: Family Service
8pm: Lessons, Carols & Candlelight Service
Sunday, December 18, 2022
PEACE Sacred Knowing
SERIES: Reflecting the Sacred
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, December 11, 2022
JOY Sacred Space
SERIES: Reflecting the Sacred
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, December 4, 2022
LOVE Sacred People
SERIES: Reflecting the Sacred
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, November 27, 2022
HOPE Sacred Time
SERIES: Reflecting the Sacred
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, November 20, 2022
Scoffers
SERIES: Face to Face with Jesus
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, November 13, 2022
Tourists
SERIES: Face to Face with Jesus
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, November 6, 2022
Puzzles
SERIES: Face to Face with Jesus
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, October 30, 2022
Out on a Limb
SERIES: Face to Face with Jesus
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, October 23, 2022
Moving Forward to the Future
SERIES: Stand in Faith Unashamed
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, October 16, 2022
ALL Are Laity!
SERIES: Stand in Faith Unashamed
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, October 9, 2022
Live Out Loud
SERIES:Stand in Faith Unashamed
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, October 2, 2022
The Holiest of Meals
SERIES:Stand in Faith Unashamed
9:20 am – Ringing of the Bell
9:30 am – Live and Online Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday, September 25, 2022
CROSSED!
SERIES: Having Words with Jesus
SCRIPTURES: Luke 16: 19-31 (CEB)
Sunday, September 18, 2022
TOSSED!
SERIES: Having Words with Jesus
SCRIPTURES: Luke 16: 1-14 (CEB)
Sunday, September 11, 2022
LOST (the Cost of Discipleship)
SERIES: Having Words with Jesus
SCRIPTURES: Luke 15: 1-10 (CEB)
Sunday, September 4, 2022
Counting the Cost
SERIES: Having Words with Jesus
SCRIPTURES: Luke 14: 25-33 (CEB)
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Faithfully Filled
SCRIPTURES: Jeremiah 2:4-13 (CEB); Psalm 81:1, 10-16 (CEB)
Sunday, August 21, 2022
Faithfully Known
SCRIPTURES: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Luke 13:10-17 (CEB)
Sunday, August 14, 2022
Finding Rest
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 62: 1-9 (CEB)
Sunday, August 7, 2022
Rhythms of Prayer
Sunday, July 31, 2022
God is… Forever Faithful
Sunday, July 24, 2022
Week 5 … Anchored by Faith, Rooted in Love
This week we conclude the series ‘BeUMC, Be the Light’.
We have celebrated our Wesleyan heritage and embraced what God has done in creating, designing and empowering us.
Today we celebrate our roots of Love through hymns that anchor our faith.
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Week 4 … For Whom the World is Our Parish
We build our community and we make disciples. Disciple-making is the heart of our work, of course. But you remember that the purpose of making disciples is not to strengthen the church. Rather, we make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Rather than a general rule guiding our worship, this week it is an environment or an arena within which we do our work, just as John Wesley believed he worked.
Sunday, July 10, 2022
Lesson 3: The People of God … Stay in Love With God
“the love of God is this, that we obey God’s commandments” (1 John 5:3).
That is certainly what the ordinances are about, the disciplines as we know them. They are all about love—the love of God that is also expressed in the love of neighbor.
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Lesson 2: The People of God … Do Good
Sunday, June 26, 2022
Week 1: The People of God … Who Do No Harm
SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 3:29-30 (CEB), Galatians 3:23-29 (CEB)
My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you.
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Pentecost
Message: Growing Up in the Noise
Scripture: Luke 8: 26-33, Galatians 3: 23-26
United in Spirit, that’s Pentecost … the celebration of the gift of Holy Spirit moving all over to join our hearts and minds
There is a unity of Spirit that across both the Pentecost experience and the scripture readings.
The unity of a diverse group of people (Acts 2), the unity of all of Christ’s followers adopted into one united family (Romans 8), and the unity of love connecting both our Trinitarian God and our human community (John 14).
- Debra Boston, Liturgist
- Donna Benson, CLS – Message
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Pentecost
Message: The Great Requirement
Scripture: Micah 6:8 (CEB); John 16:12-15 (CEB)