# Serm: "Lions and Tigers and Tax Collectors"on Notes**Series: Come to the TableScripture: Luke 5:27–32***Theme: Jesus’ table is a place of radical grace, surprising inclusion, and divine transformation.*I. **The Power of the Table in Divided Times**Our nation feels more divided than united. People seek hope in politics and economics, but true transformation comes through surrendered lives and the...  Read More

As many of you know, Cason was approached by a developer and offered 1.4 million dollars to sell our parsonage.  Via a Called Church Conference, the congregation unanimously voted to accept the offer.  At that same meeting, the church created a Parsonage Committee, charged with locating a new property for a parsonage.The Nominating Committee asked for volunteers to serve on the committee, and afte...  Read More

As we reach the halfway point of 2023, the issue of disaffiliation remains unresolved for many churches throughout The Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church. In April of this year, the Bishop called a Special Session of the Annual Conference, where fifty-five churches were formally approved for conditional disaffiliation from The Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church at tha...  Read More

"I'm tired of the same old worship experience. I feel disconnected from God and am looking for a new way to connect with Him. I'm not comfortable with going into a sanctuary or with organized religion."These are just some of the things I hear when it comes to today's worship services. These sentiments are not limited to Cason but are expressed in churches everywhere. The main problem is that we ha...  Read More

There is an interesting phenomenon in churches: people don't want to talk about money. Correction, people don't want the church talking about giving money to the church. It never fails that when the subject of giving comes up, the immediate reaction of individuals is not introspection; not reflecting on what they give or what they could give. No, inevitably the reaction is "the church needs to wat...  Read More

Cason is very blessed to have Pastor David as he willingly stepped into the shoes of our Pastor Alexis when she was transferred to Sebastian Methodist Church last year. It is now a year later, and he is about to finish his seminary studies and will graduate in May. Next will be his ordination.Pastor David came to Cason to participate in the Bethlehem Production and became a Casonnite in 2007. He b...  Read More

I wanted to take time this week to talk to you about an upcoming book study that I will be hosting at 6PM, starting March 6th.  We are going to be looking at the book When Helping Hurts, a book by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. This book comes at the right time, as many North American Christians and churches have a growing interest in helping low-income people. The authors do a fantastic job of ...  Read More

Welcome to Ordinary time!  That’s what the liturgical calendar calls the space between epiphany and Ash Wednesday.  Seems pretty anticlimactic after the paramount seasons of Advent and Christmas.  Contrary to what people may believe, Ordinary Time is far from vanilla or insignificant.Ordinary Time isn’t meant to be ordinary at all. Rightly understood, it is a time not only to rest from what has pa...  Read More

Happy 2023! It’s the start of a new year, an opportunity to look at where we were, where we are, and where we’re headed.  I’m sure you all have been making the annual resolutions, or if you’re like me, you might have already broken a few.One of the reasons that it’s hard to keep resolutions is because we’re not fond of change.  As much as we talk about change, and want to change, when it comes rig...  Read More

As we come to the end of our time of preparation and expectantly wait for Jesus to enter the world on Christmas, I’ve been spending some time reflecting on the state of this blessed occasion in our world today. Christmas…it’s a word that for millions brings joy, excitement, and fond memories. The excitement of waking up and finding presents under the tree, of Christmas dinner, and cookies.  But, t...  Read More

Rejoice!  Again I say Rejoice!  I love that word.  As I told you on Sunday, rejoice literally means joy practiced and repeated.  And the definition points to something that we don’t often think about, namely that joy has to be practiced.  God provides for us joy in the form of His son Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection.  Yet, it is up to us to accept that joy, to practice living in and through t...  Read More

More than two thousand years ago, a star appeared in the East as a beacon and a guide to the newly arrived Messiah, Jesus. We talked a bit last week about the biblical account of the star. It receives a more central role in Christmas pageants than it got in the Gospel accounts of the Christmas story. But despite its brief biblical appearance, it was a star that led people to Jesus, just as the sta...  Read More