Sermons from First United Presbyterian Church

Watch the Sermon here  The First United Presbyterian Church “The Heart of the Matter: More Than We Could Ask or Imagine” Rev. Amy Morgan October 26, 2025 Ephesians 3:20-21   Now to God, who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  He could not have imagined it. He could not have imagined how a tiny startup, operating out of a garage in Los Altos, California, would someday be worth almost 4 trillion dollars. Which is really too bad. Because back in 1976, Ronald Wayne owned a 10% share in Apple as the third original investment partner in the company. He sold his stake to the other two partners, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, less than two weeks after the company went into business, for $800. Today, his share of the company would be worth hundreds of billions of dollars.   Lack of imagination can be costly. And chu...

Watch the Sermon here The First United Presbyterian Church “The Heart of the Matter: Filled with All the Fullness of God” Rev. Amy Morgan October 19, 2025 Ephesians 3:18-19 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. It’s the classic question, right? Is the glass half full, or half empty? It says something about how we perceive reality. Are we grateful for the half we have, or upset about the half that is lacking? Are we hopeful that the rest will fill up, or are we anxious that we’ll empty out?   But these are not the only two ways we experience life. Sometimes, we feel like this: fill glass all the way full. Our metaphorical bucket is full. We feel like we’ve got enough – time, energy, resources, emotional capacity, knowledge, etc. We feel like we are enough. We’re feeling confident, groun...

Watch the Sermon here   The First United Presbyterian Church “The Heart of the Matter: Rooted and Grounded in Love” Rev. Amy Morgan October 12, 2025 Ephesians 3:16-17 I pray that, according to the riches of God’s glory, the Holy One may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. As we walked around City Park in New Orleans a few weeks ago, Jason and I marveled at the incredible root systems of the oak trees, which can easily live more than a thousand years because of the way their root systems grow. Young trees develop a deep taproot, which anchors the tree and seeks stable moisture sources. Once the taproot is well-established, the lateral root system begins to spread out in all directions and can eventually reach 2 to 4 times the width of the tree’s canopy. The canopy can spread up to 150 feet or more, so we’re talking about 300 to 600 fe...

Watch the Sermon here   The First United Presbyterian Church “The Image of God: Relationship” Rev. Amy Morgan October 5, 2025 Matthew 3:16-17 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 28:16-20 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. ” 5,280. That’s a number we’re pretty familiar with around here. As clos...

Watch the Sermon here The First United Presbyterian Church “The Image of God: Elements and Objects” Rev. Amy Morgan September 28, 2025 Exodus 3:1-6 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. John 6:25-35 When they fou...