Hometown Disadvantage | Rev. Katie Montgomery Mears Preaching | 6.21.26

This Father's Day sermon explores how the places and people that form us—our literal and figurative hometowns—shape our identity and sense of worth. Through examining Jesus's rejection in Nazareth, Pastor Katie Montgomery Mears addresses the pain of not being recognized after personal transformation, the tendency to define others by their past, and how familiarity can blind us to God's work in ourselves and others. The sermon emphasizes that our true worth comes not from our hometown or our history, but from the divine spark within us—God's presence that inhabits even the smallest, most overlooked places and people. It challenges listeners to recognize transformation in themselves and others, to discern whether God is calling them to stay rooted or to move forward, and to commit daily to following Jesus by seeing with new eyes.