Franklin First United Methodist Church

10/29/2026

Day 4: Faithfulness Is Not Insurance

Peter was not writing to people thinking about becoming Christians. He was writing to the already faithful, and he still told them to expect trials. Pastor Bryan was plain about it: faithfulness is not a barrier, not a talisman, not a guarantee against the troubles of this world. That is not why we give. If you have ever quietly hoped that generosity would keep a diagnosis away, a job safe, or a child out of trouble, Peter is not scolding you. He is freeing you. Your giving was never insurance. Rejoicing in the middle of trials is possible because the inheritance is kept in heaven, out of reach of them.

Reading
"In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials"
(1 Peter 1:6, NRSV)

Reflection
What trial are you facing right now that has made you wonder whether your faithfulness was worth it, and what would it look like to rejoice in what God has already given while it is still unresolved?

10/29/2026

TOMORROW: Enjoy a FREE Hayride from the Franklin Farmers Market to the FFUMC Giving Garden! What a perfect way to celebrate the fall season with friends and family!

10/28/2026

10/28/2026

Thank you, thank you, thank you! To every Trunk decorator, candy donor, volunteer, and family who came out- you made this year’s Trunk or Treat a sweet success!

10/28/2026

Day 3: What Influence Does This Buy?

A pastor friend of Pastor Bryan's once had a man show up with his checkbook and one question: what sort of influence would this gift buy? The answer was nothing. The apostle Peter faced a version of it long ago. A magician named Simon watched the apostles lay hands on new believers and offered them money for that power. Peter's answer was sharper than "nothing." Simon's name stuck to the sin. Buying church office or spiritual favor has been called simony ever since. If any part of you hopes your giving earns you a voice, a seat, or a pass, that hope deserves an honest look.

Reading
"But Peter said to him, 'May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God's gift with money!'"
(Acts 8:20, NRSV)

Reflection
If you are honest, what do you hope your giving, serving, or volunteering gets you, a voice, recognition, a sense of being owed, and what would it take to let that go?

10/27/2026

Day 2: God Moved

Pastor Bryan was blunt about what humans brought to the party in the first place: disobedience, rebellion, and sin. And God answered, again and again, with mercy, patience, and love. That order matters. God acted first, made the first move. John puts the whole Christian life in seven words, and the order is the point. Your love, your service, your giving all come second, as a response. Which means none of it can change God's mind about you. No matter how much you give or don't give, it will not make God love you one smidgen more, and it will not make God love you one smidgen less.

Reading
"We love because he first loved us."
(1 John 4:19, NRSV)

Reflection
Whose love have you been trying to earn, God's or someone else's, and what would you do differently this week if you believed it could not be increased or decreased by anything you give?

10/26/2026

Day 1: What Does Giving Get You?

Pastor Bryan answered his own sermon series in one word. What does giving get you? Nothing. Not in a transactional sense, anyway. Peter's letter explains why. Before anyone gives a dime, God has already handed over a new birth, a living hope, and an inheritance that will not shrink, fade, or lose value. You cannot buy what has already been put in your name. This Saturday is Reformation Day, which remembers Martin Luther's 1517 protest against the sale of indulgences, spiritual benefits offered for money. The church has learned this lesson the hard way. Christians don't give to get. Christians give because we have already gotten.

Reading
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you."
(1 Peter 1:3-4, NRSV)

Reflection
Where in your faith are you still quietly keeping score with God, treating prayer, church, or giving as deposits toward something you expect back, and what would change if you believed the inheritance is already in your name?

10/23/2026

Day 5: Found Faithful

Pastor Bryan was careful to say that giving is not a transaction, even when dollar signs are part of it. It is an act of service to God, maybe one among many, and an act of discipleship. Paul says what is required of stewards is that they be found trustworthy. Not impressive. Not wealthy. Trustworthy. So before next Sunday, sit down with whoever shares your finances and pray before you talk numbers. Ask what trust would look like this year, not what you can spare. The goal is to be found faithful in his service. God has already given you the faith to do just that.

Reading
"Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy."
(1 Corinthians 4:2, NRSV)

Reflection
When you decide what to give this year, are you starting from what you can spare or from what trust would look like, and what would change if you prayed before you ran the numbers?

10/22/2026

Day 4: Rather Be a Doorkeeper

Jesus' story about a servant coming in from the field is hard to hear, and Pastor Bryan said so plainly. But the question underneath it is not whether you will serve. Everybody serves someone or something. The question is whom. A resistant heart treats the duties of discipleship as burdens. A grateful heart starts to see them as joyful privileges. Psalm 84 already knew this. It is credited to the Korahites, and Chronicles remembers the Korahites as keepers of the thresholds of God's house. The ones who wrote this line actually worked the door. They would rather do that than live anywhere else.

Reading
"For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness."
(Psalm 84:10, NRSV)

Reflection
Which commitment of following Jesus, giving, worship, serving, prayer, have you been carrying with a resistant heart, and what would it take this week to start treating it as a privilege instead of a burden?