Brian's Sermons

1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! 3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, sh

When I was a young teenager, Jehovah’s Witnesses frequently targeted our neighborhood. They would go out in pairs, knocking on doors, handing out their Watchtower magazines, trying to get new converts. One day they rang the doorbell and my sister, who was in middle school, answered the door. They talked for a while, and soon it became apparent to them that they weren’t going to convert her. As they were leaving, one of them turned to her and said something along the lines of, "Even though we don’t agree with each other, it’s nice to talk to someone who actually knows what they believe." So I ask the question today, "Do you know what you believe?" Could you have an intelligent discussion with Jehovah’s Witnesses or other pseudo-Christian cults? This week, we kick off a series where we will be looking at the question of what do United Methodists believe. To get to that, we need to start with the very beginning… in the Garden of Eden. One thing I often hear is that hum

I am starting a series on the distinctives of United Methodism, and this is the introductory sermon. You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the Scriptures say, I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,chosen for great honor,and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced. Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, The stone that the builders rejectedhas now become the cornerstone. And, He is the stone that makes people stumble,the rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them. But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal pries