Brian's Sermons

*See the end for a note on source James 4:1-10 We spent five weeks discovering Life Together: through the “One Another” verses in scripture, we explored what it means to be Christians; how we are to serve and encourage one another, live in harmony with one another, bear with one another, forgive one another, and, above all, to love one another.  Loving one another is ultimately important because it’s the only true reflection of God’s character.  Knowing God’s character is vital to living life as a Christian, because His character informs our actions.  Many of us struggle with really knowing God; we picture God as a bearded man in the sky or an aloof judge or powerful, holy Creator and we forget about his Fatherly kindness.  In Matthew 7, Jesus tells us that whoever asks God receives, whoever seeks will find, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. He goes on to say, “If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how m...

Over the past month, we have been looking at the scriptures, trying to understand what it means to live life together as Christians. We’ve encouraged one another and served one another.  We’ve lived in harmony with one another and hung in there with one another.  But really none of that is important at all if we miss out on today’s lesson.  The reality is that we as a church often focus so much on doing church that we can miss out on the main point.  We emphasize numerical growth, often through powerful programming.  We teach our congregations well, making sure that we all know about God and that we actually know God. We emphasize individual spiritual growth, stressing spiritual disciplines – both inward and outward.  But without love, none of that matters.  This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy ...

We have spent the last three weeks looking at the “one another” verses in scriptures, learning how God meant us to live life together.  You see, from the creation of Eve, humanity has always been in community – God’s plan is for us to grow in Christlikeness, and a huge aspect of Jesus Christ is that He isn’t solitary; he is always in community with the Father and the Spirit.  And neither are we called to be solitary Christians.  So far, we’ve encouraged one another, served one another, and lived in harmony with one another.  And today, we’re going to hang in there with one another. Here’s what it looks like to hang in there with one another: for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until we are parted by death .  Anyone ever heard those words before?  We make these vows at a Christian marriage ceremony, which is actually more than just a wedding.  A Christian marriage is a picture to the world of God’s love for His Chu...

Shortly after I had graduated from college, I took a job at my college in the deans’ office. While I worked with faculty and staff, the other side of the office worked with students.  During the summers, we were usually able to catch up on our work because most of the students were not on campus.  I remember someone making the comment that “if it weren’t for all the students, working at the university would be a perfect job.” It can be easy to forget that without the students, there would be no university.  When it comes to the church, the same is true.  Without the people, there would be no church.  So today we continue in our Life Together series, where we look at the “one another” commands in the Bible.  In the first week, we encouraged one another, and last week we served one another.  Today we get to live in harmony with one another. This can be a confusing and complicated topic, so let’s dive in. In 1 Peter 3:8, Peter gives final commands. Fin...