Brian's Sermons

He Shall Be Called… Wonderful Counselor Isaiah 9:1-7 9 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— 2  The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is...

Judges 4:1-5 Today is Lay Activities Special Day. Ever since God began choosing people, his Kingdom has always been all about the lay people, the regular people. There were always leaders of the people, but it is God who causes the ordinary people of God to become great. We humans look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. After Moses died, Joshua became the leader of Israel. They began their conquest into the Promised Land, including the famous battle of Jericho where God brought the walls down. The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel . (Judges 2:7) But after Joshua and his generation died, things went downhill fast. After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil...

Psalm 51:16-19 When I chose Psalm 51 for the scripture for my first Sunday back from vacation, I had no idea that it would be a three-part series. I thought I would cover Psalm 51 in one sermon. .. As it is, we are in our third week on Psalm 51 and the plan is to finish up today. Next Sunday we will celebrate Palm Sunday, and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, Thursday evening at 7 we will celebrate Communion and look into the lives of Jesus’ Twelve Disciples, and Friday at noon we will gather with the community churches next door at the Presbyterian Church and look at Jesus’ coronation ceremony. Then it will be Easter, time to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! We started in Psalm 51, looking at the human condition, selfish, unholy, and full of sin – we stand in desperate need for God’s intervention. Last week we looked into the celebration that happens when lost people come to Christ – and how we are saved so we can have an impact on their lives, so ...

Acts 9:1-22 Over the past couple of months, there has been a lot of talk about God being removed from our schools – last week, despite out-of-town threats of lawsuits, the Jackson School Board voted to keep the picture of Jesus that has hung in the school since 1947. What began as a rule against a government-sanctioned state religion has been interpreted as a requirement for the government to suppress religion and keep it completely out of the public sphere. We need look no farther than Europe to see the decline of the church’s influence in the public sphere. Sometimes it can be easy to shake our heads at how society has gotten worse and worse. It can be discouraging enough that it’s tempting to just give up. Transform the world? That’s not my job, and, oh, by the way, it’s impossible. The world doesn’t want transformed. Or, maybe for some of us, it’s a little closer to home – my family doesn’t want transformed. We’ve begun praying for a whole list of people, many of ...

Because of Jesus, I am New There is nothing like early Christmas morning, seeing the joyful sight of a Christmas tree with beautiful gifts under it. My kids are at the age where there is such excitement about what is under the tree. Really, who doesn’t love getting new toys? There are some areas where almost all of us like the new. I think I can safely say we all appreciate our indoor plumbing, furnaces, air conditioning in the summer. Who still uses rabbit ears to watch your black and white TV? Does anyone still use an 8-track player or a Victrola? On the other hand, I remember when Tara’s grandfather died, his closet was full of gift boxes, all filled with the sweaters everyone had given him for Christmas. He would get a gift, look at it, grimace, and say, “ugh, another sweater” without ever even opening it. He didn’t want anything new; he was comfortable with his old, threadbare sweaters. I think it’s a man thing: we call it “my favorite” while our wives call it “a rag.” ...

2 Peter 1:5-11 Last week we looked at 2 Peter 1:3-4, in which we were reminded that God is sufficient to supply all of our needs, that his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. God makes it clear that he gives us everything we need. As we yield ourselves to his spirit, we find ourselves participating in God’s nature, having our sinful nature replaced by God’s sinless nature. And so in that context, Peter writes: For this very reason, (by which he refers to our participation in God’s nature) make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control; perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our...

John 6:1-15, 25-40 One of the great things about college ministry was that it was relatively easy to attract college students.  All you had to do was put up a sign that said, “Free pizza.” Everyone loves free food. I remember a really cool promotion held by Carmen’s pizza, the best Chicago deep-dish pizza place in Evanston (where I went to college) – during the first week of school, if you showed your student ID, proving you were a freshman, you got as much free pizza as you could eat.  The line was a block long. But college students aren’t the only ones who love free food.  Somewhat routinely, Chipotle offers free burritos (if you showed up on Halloween dressed like a burrito, you’d get a free one).  The first time I experienced this, we were driving by and saw a sign proclaiming “free burritos today” and of course we stopped! People were waiting for 45 minutes in a thunderstorm to get free food! Free food is always a draw.  But as this crowd gathered, th...