Brian's Sermons

You Think You’ve Got Enemies When I think of enemies, I think of the big ones. I think of Stalin’s Soviet Bear. I think of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. Today we have Al Qaeda and Islamic Fundamentalists. There are also pretend enemies, like the Boogieman – as a kid, I was scared of some guy named Mr. Freebish, who my dad threatened would come in and eat my vegetables if I didn’t eat them (I didn’t mind so much if he ate them; I was just scared of this stranger who would presumably break into the house to eat my food). Then there are characters from fiction, like Darth Vader. And over the course of our lives, there are times when we make other enemies, too. Like the bully down the street. Or the rival for your beloved’s attention. Or the person at work who always seems to at you. Most of us probably don’t have enemies who threaten to physically harm us, though if we have school-aged children or grandchildren, they might. Three weeks ago, we looked at Saul’s conversion to...

Today we start a new series, just in time for Lent. It’s a collaboration between me and my pastor cluster. We decided to call the series “Convinced” and focus on this truth: I am convinced that there is nothing that can separate me from the love of God. Let’s get started! We are a people at war, and there are casualties all around us. Almost everyone has been affected in some way or another. We are in the midst of a terrible battle, yet some don’t even realize we are at war. This is because the war isn’t one that is merely held in the physical plane; it is a spiritual battle. All you need to do to see the effects of this spiritual battle is look around you. Our country is a mess – politically, financially, and morally. And we’re the good part. It seems like a day can’t go by without a new suicide attack somewhere, usually with religion as its stated rationale. Sex crimes are reported all the time, and the perpetrators are priests, pastors, family, and other trusted members of society....

Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world Through October and November, we studied the armor of God and were reminded of the constant reality of spiritual warfare. Even if you’d rather not fight, as Aragorn said, "Open war is upon us, whether you would risk it or not." Now, can you imagine going into war without a strategy? Can you imagine setting an army loose without giving them a mission? Unfortunately this is exactly what we (the church in general) has often done. The United Methodist Church is a church in decline. I don’t want to pull any punches here; we have lost members and as we have gotten older, we have failed to attract young people to the denomination. We have failed to do what Jesus told us to when he said, "Go and make disciples of all nations." The UMC has realized that we have to do some things differently than before in order to reach new people, in order for our denomination to survive, in order to take the fight to the ...

... for they will receive mercy. Matthew 5:8 One of my favorite movies is the Lord of the Rings – well, as a trilogy, it’s technically three of my favorite movies, but that’s beside the point. In this movie, two Hobbits, Frodo and Sam, have a dangerous task – to take an evil, magical ring of power deep into enemy territory to destroy it. While they are on their way, Gollum, the creature who formerly owned the Ring, attacks them and tries to kill them. When they finally overpower him, Sam wants to kill him. Frodo won’t let him. Instead, Frodo shows mercy. As it turned out, Gollum led Frodo and Sam to their destination. He did not show them mercy – this was his way to later try to steal the Ring for himself. But his actions eventually helped destroy the Ring and seal victory for good over evil. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Showing mercy is counter-cultural. Instead of going for the jugular, mercy gives second chances. This beatitude walks hand-in-hand w...