Brian's Sermons

Luke 2:1-20 The Christmas story is a familiar one – so familiar that we can lose sight of how radical it is. Looking at the historical big picture should show us that Rome is in control. This is when the Roman Empire was on the rise, annexing or conquering everyone around. Augustus Caesar is the emperor of the most mighty nation/empire known to man. What Caesar says, goes. So Caesar decides to flex his muscles and count his subjects. Just an aside, it is never a good idea to count how awesome you are, whether it is counting your subjects, as Caesar is doing, or counting your fighting men, as King David did in 2 Samuel 24. Why is this a problem? Listen to Psalm 20:7. Some trust in chariots some in and horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. There is a reason why God chose this exact time for the birth of the Messiah – it was when Caesar was counting how powerful he had become. Before you nod your head in agreement, remember this when you start counting your money

Isaiah 12:2-6 My boys and I are big Star Wars fans. One character who made a big impression on me was Darth Vader. I remember the first time I saw the menacing mask on the big screen – that guy was scary. I even dressed as Darth Vader for Trick-or-Treat. But recently I saw a picture entitled “the many emotions of Darth Vader” in which there were multiple pictures, all the same expressionless mask, and underneath each picture was listed an emotion. Hopefully most of us are a little more open with our emotions. But how do you show that you are really excited? One thing that has bothered me for over twenty-five years is how I can see church people behave so differently depending on the setting. I can understand decorum and respect and reverence, but the same people can stand for an entire basketball game and shout when their team scores and scream at the referee, but two hymns is too long to stand, and don’t expect to see any emotion. For some reason, we have divorced emotio

Malachi 3:1-4 What do you do to prepare for Christmas? Most of us have traditions that we follow: who puts up a Christmas tree? Who decorates with lights? Who buys Christmas presents? Who prepares for charitable outreach, like food baskets or gifts for those in need? Who prepares for a special Christmas program or party? What other preparations do you make for Christmas? A major theme of Advent is preparation. Advent is a kind of strange time; we’re supposed to prepare for something that already happened. Kind of like Good Friday, where we mourn over Jesus’ death, even though we know that Easter will come and we’ll be celebrating his resurrection. So how do we prepare for something that already happened? While we’re on the thought of what already happened, I want to look backwards from the passage we read in Malachi 3. Most of us don’t spend a lot of time in the little books of prophecy in the end of the Old Testament, the ones that are known as the Minor Prophets, so

Upside-Down (Advent #1) Luke 1:46-55 46  And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48  for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49  for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.   50  His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51  He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52  He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53  He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54  He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55  to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.” Christmas is all about a world turned upside-down. We enter a scene already in progress – angels have already met Elizabeth and Zechariah, foretelling the birth of John the Baptis

[I started this service by reading Psalm 136] This past week we celebrated one of the most vital religious holidays of our culture. This holiday was created to celebrate the one thing that is most important for Americans. People celebrated by doing some things that we do pretty much every day, but on a really grand scale. All kinds of people gathered in huge crowds to celebrate. Yes, I am talking about Black Friday, the holiday we celebrate by getting up insanely early to buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like. Our culture really is all about money; there is a reason people talk about the Almighty Dollar. People don’t set out to worship it, but that’s precisely what happens. The entire presidential election centered on the economy (nobody wanted to talk about foreign policy or anything else – it was all about jobs and taxes). Black Friday ends up overshadowing Thanksgiving, not even waiting until Friday anymore to open. That said, mo

Last Sunday in the “Dear Abby” column in the Columbus Dispatch, I came upon this letter: Dear Abby: I have a friend, “Dick,” who wears veteran hats — “Vietnam Vet,” “Proud To Be a Marine,” etc. — that imply he was in the service. The problem is, Dick was never in any branch of the military. He claims that he is “honoring” veterans by wearing the hats. But when he goes into a restaurant or other place that offers military discounts, he always inquires about them. And he has never refused the offer of one or admitted that he was never actually in the service himself. I come in contact with real military service people who deserve to wear these hats. I asked a couple of them about what to do with Dick, but you can’t print their responses. What’s your take? — Values Honesty in Ohio You can probably guess what Abby’s response was. Dear Values Honesty: The fact that I can’t print the reaction of legitimate veterans to what Dick is doing indicates how offensive and wrong it is

Have you ever followed a leader? Follow the Leader is a simple children’s game where everyone lines up behind one leader and then they try to mimic the leader’s actions. The leader is usually happy to get to lead and does simple things, like waving arms, jumping, or walking in zigzag patterns. If you don’t follow the leader more or less exactly, the consequence is you’re out of the game. Until the next round, that is. There are other times, however, when following a leader exactly is more important. For example, if you are walking through a minefield, it’s important to walk directly in the footsteps of the one leading you through. If a guide is leading you along a cliff, chances are that the guide knows where the footing is solid and where it isn’t. Most of us have probably found ourselves in a situation where we think we know more than the one who is leading us. That phenomenon is nowhere more obvious than the Monday Morning Quarterback, where everyone at home knows better t