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