Central United Methodist Church (Arlington, Virginia) Sermon Podcast

Championship Sunday: Commit Your All
Series: World Series of Stewardship (Final Week)
Scripture: 2 Chronicles 30:26–31:10 (Common English Bible)
Preacher: Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen
What does it mean to commit your all? In the final message of our World Series of Stewardship series, Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen explores the story of King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem, who rediscovered the joy of worship and responded with renewed generosity and commitment to God.
Using the spirit of a championship team as a metaphor, this sermon highlights five ways we can offer our whole selves to God's work in the world. First, we clear the field by removing the things that take God's place in our lives. Then we find our position, recognizing that everyone has gifts to contribute and no one is meant to sit on the sidelines. We learn from leaders who give first, offer our best in proportion to what we have, and practice faithful generosity through the ordinary commitments we make day after day.
Stewardship is about more than money. Through our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness, each of us has a meaningful role in the body of Christ. And when we bring what we have together, we can help build a community where everyone has enough and no one is left behind.
As we celebrate the conclusion of this series and make commitments for the year ahead, we're reminded that we don't give to earn God's love or win a place on the team. God's love has already been given to us through Christ. We commit our all as a joyful response to that grace, trusting that our faithfulness today will help create a foundation for generations to come.
Reflection Questions:
What is standing in the place where God belongs in my life, and what would it look like to take it down?
Where is my place on this team, and am I playing it?
Who gave first in my life, and how can I pass that on?
Which of these five—prayers, presence, gifts, service, or witness—is God inviting me to give more of this year?
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Build Your Runs: Inspire Others to Give
Series: World Series of Stewardship
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:1–15 (Common English Bible)
Preacher: Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen
What inspires someone to give generously—even when they don't have much to spare? In this message, Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen explores Paul's account of the churches in Macedonia, whose generosity flowed from their experience of God's grace. Rather than giving out of guilt or obligation, they eagerly embraced the opportunity to help others.
Continuing our World Series of Stewardship series, this sermon builds on last week's baseball metaphor. Just as a team works together to build a run, a church grows through the faithful generosity of many people, each contributing what they can. Some gifts are large, others are small, and some may go unnoticed—but every act of generosity can help move the whole community forward.
Paul reminds the Corinthians that a gift is appreciated not by what someone cannot afford to give, but by what they willingly offer. Stewardship isn't about comparison or giving beyond our means. It's about responding to God's generosity with our own prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.
We also explore how generosity connects generations. The gifts of those who came before us helped build the church we know today, and our own generosity helps create a foundation for those who will come after us. In the body of Christ, we give when we have something to share, receive when we are in need, and take part in a continuing chain of grace.
As we prepare to make our commitments for the coming year, we're invited to consider not just what we can give, but how our generosity might inspire others. We give because God first gave to us.
Reflection Questions:
The Macedonians gave out of their lack and begged for the privilege of giving. What do you think made that possible for them? What helps you give gladly, and what gets in the way?
Paul says, "A gift is appreciated because of what a person can afford, not because of what that person can't afford, if it's apparent that it's done willingly." How does this change the way you think about your own prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness? Where might you be holding back because you think what you have to offer is too small?
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Get a Base Hit: Steward Your Time and Talents
Series: World Series of Stewardship
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:1–4 (CEB)
Preacher: Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen
Do you ever feel like you're already stretched thin, with a full calendar, a long to-do list, and not enough time or energy to do one more thing? In this second message of our World Series of Stewardship series, Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen reminds us that God isn't asking us to hit a home run every time. Instead, we're invited to practice steady, faithful stewardship by offering what we have, right where we are.
Drawing on Paul's instructions to the church in Corinth, this sermon explores how ordinary acts of generosity and service can make a meaningful difference when we work together as the body of Christ. Just as a baseball team relies on more than spectacular home runs to win a game, the church is built through small acts of faithfulness repeated over time.
Paul's teaching offers three practical principles for stewardship: consistency, proportion, and planning. We are invited to give regularly, according to our circumstances, and with intention. These principles apply not only to our financial gifts, but also to how we steward our time, talents, energy, and presence. Whether it's making time for daily prayer, volunteering, reaching out to someone who may be lonely, or sharing our gifts with the church, every faithful act matters.
Stewardship isn't about comparison, guilt, or doing everything perfectly. It's about recognizing what we can offer in this season of life and trusting that God can use our contributions alongside those of others to accomplish something greater than any one of us could do alone.
As we look ahead to Commitment Sunday and consider our commitments for the coming year, we're invited to ask: What is one “base hit” we can make this week? Because a base hit, repeated faithfully, helps move the whole team forward—and we're never at the plate alone.
Reflection Questions:
What time or talent do you have that could be stewarded more intentionally?
What could you commit to doing consistently, not perfectly, but consistently?
What is one “base hit” you could get this week?

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Step Up to the Plate: Offer Your Whole Self
Series: World Series of Stewardship
Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:11–19 (CEB)
Preacher: Lay Leader Lane Timm
What does it mean to step up to the plate and give God your whole self? As we begin our World Series of Stewardship sermon series on Laity Sunday, we explore how stewardship goes far beyond our financial gifts. It includes our time, talents, energy, presence, prayers, service, and witness.
Drawing on the dedication and teamwork of baseball, this message invites us to consider what it means to show up fully for God and for one another. In 1 Timothy 6:11–19, Paul calls us to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness, reminding us that a life of faith requires active commitment—not simply showing up or giving out of habit.
Through the United Methodist membership vows of prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness, we are challenged to recognize the gifts God has given us and consider how we can use them to build God's kingdom. Whether through generosity, serving others, being truly present in worship, or sharing our faith with compassion, each of us has something meaningful to offer.
Inspired by the example of Washington Nationals player Ryan Zimmerman, who continued to show up for his team with dedication and leadership, we are invited to step up to the plate in our own lives. Stewardship isn't about guilt or obligation. It's about thoughtfully asking God, “Here I am. All of me. Use me.”
As this series begins, consider where your heart is invested, how you are using what you've been given, and what it might look like to offer your whole self to God.
Reflection Questions:
·         What does stepping up to the plate look like in your life this week?
·         If you have financial resources available, how will you use them generously?
·         If you have time available, how will you invest it in God's kingdom?
·         How are you invited to witness to your faith in this current season of your life?
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Befriending Death
Scripture: Romans 8:31–39 (CEB)
Preacher: Rev. Cathy Abbott
How might facing our own mortality help us live more fully?
In this message, Rev. Cathy Abbott reflects on what it means to befriend death—not by giving up on life, but by learning to approach our finiteness with greater trust in God, deeper dependence on others, and a renewed sense of wonder at the world around us.
Drawing on her experience of watching her father grow older and decline in health, Pastor Cathy shares her own struggle with mortality and the grief that accompanied his death. Even as a person of faith who believes in the resurrection, she found herself wrestling with fear, sadness, and the reality that death would eventually come for her, too. Her experience raises an important question: How do we face our own mortality as people who trust in God?
Our culture often keeps death at a distance. We may avoid talking about it, treat aging as something to resist at all costs, or believe that acknowledging death means giving up hope. But Pastor Cathy invites us to consider another possibility: that learning to befriend death can free us from some of our fear and help us live more intentionally in the time we have.
Drawing on the spiritual writing of Henri Nouwen, she explores the idea that befriending death is part of our spiritual formation. Rather than viewing death only as an enemy to fight, we can begin to see it as a homecoming—a return to the God who has never stopped loving us. Romans 8 offers a powerful assurance that neither death nor life, nor anything else in all creation, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
What might it look like to live with that kind of trust?
Pastor Cathy shares a story about a dying piano teacher whose hospice nurse asked her a simple question: “What does a good day look like?” At first, the answer was something as ordinary as being able to go to the bathroom independently. Eventually, the teacher expressed a desire to give piano lessons one last time. With the help of her hospice team, she did just that, and her students later gathered to give her a recital. Even near the end of her life, she found a way to share her gifts and receive the love of those around her.
This story reminds us that a good day does not have to look the way it once did. Even as our abilities change, there can still be purpose, connection, and joy. Befriending death invites us to ask what matters most now, what we can learn through difficult experiences, and how we might continue growing in love.
Pastor Cathy also explores Henri Nouwen’s suggestion that facing our mortality calls us to become like children again, acknowledging our dependence on God and on one another. In a culture that prizes independence, productivity, and control, allowing ourselves to receive care can be difficult. Yet we were never meant to navigate life alone. Learning to loosen our grip and lean into the love of others can become an act of faith.
Finally, drawing on the poetry of Mary Oliver and the example of Jane Goodall, Pastor Cathy invites us to approach life with curiosity and amazement. Mary Oliver imagined reaching the end of her life knowing she had been “married to amazement”—fully awake to the world rather than merely passing through it. Befriending death can help us appreciate the beauty, relationships, and ordinary gifts we might otherwise take for granted.
The invitation is not to stop grieving, ignore the realities of aging, or pretend that death is easy. It is to trust that God's love holds us through every season of life. As we become more at peace with our finiteness, we may discover a greater capacity to live each day with courage, wonder, and love.
Reflection Questions:
• What does a good day look like?
• Henri Nouwen suggests that befriending death involves becoming like a child again, leaning into dependence on God and on others. Is there a place in your life right now where you are resisting that kind of dependence? What might it look like to loosen your grip and lean in?
• Mary Oliver wrote that she wanted to live like someone “married to amazement,” fully awake to the world around her. What is something in your own life that you want to pay more attention to or not take for granted? What would it look like to live that way this week?
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