Brian's Sermons

Luke 1:26-55 I once met a guy who talked to angels.   He was also homeless.   When we hear people talking about spiritual encounters, our western modern response is frequently skepticism; we understand that there are spiritual forces out there somewhere, but they just don’t manifest themselves in a visible, tangible way.   This was also true during the period about which Luke narrates.   We are following the “Intertestimental Period,” the time between the Old and New Testaments, in which God had been silent.   For 400 years, the prophets weren’t speaking, because God was silent.   And then an angel appeared, not to prophets, not to kings, not to a warrior or to the powerful, but to a young, unmarried woman.    You have to understand that in those times, a woman derived her worth by the man she was attached to.   A young woman’s worth came from her father, and the Bible doesn’t tell us who he was.   We know that she was related to Elizabeth, who was married to Zechariah, the pries

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Last week I talked about being stuck – how the man by the Pool called Bethesda was stuck there – 38 years as an invalid with no way to get healed.  Sometimes when we feel stuck, it’s easy to also feel all alone. A few years ago at a Youth Workers’ Convention, the speaker asked us to stand if we were going through a tough time.  I hesitantly stood, and then looked around and saw nearly half of my fellow youth workers standing, including my friend I was rooming with.  The truth was