Brian's Sermons

Matthew 5:13-16: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Who remembers the old Mission Impossible show? One recurring theme was the mission: “Your mission, should you choose to accept it…” Over the past couple of months, we’ve been studying Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, more specifically, the Beatitudes, where Jesus pronounces the blessings of his Kingdom. He has been teaching his disciples a radically different way to live. There is a paragraph break here, and Jesus goes on from his “blessed are” formula but this is real...

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:10-12. Jesus’ ministry started out all the right ways. He was baptized in the Jordan and was tempted in the wilderness. From there, he went, healing the sick and preaching good news. Then Jesus gathered his disciples to instruct them about the kingdom. Through these instructions, which we have come to know as the beatitudes, Jesus pronounced various blessings. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, and the peacemakers. As we wrap up this section of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaims a blessing on those who are persecuted for their faith. As w...

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9 When I visit in the nursing home or hospital, I like to ask if there are any prayer requests – besides the obvious. I would visit Betty Hammond at Jenkins, and her prayer request was always the same. She would ask me to pray for peace. I knew she wasn’t being flippant or casual by asking – this wasn’t a Miss America contestant saying, “What I really want is world peace.” Betty truly wanted to see peace on earth. I think in our inner core, we all want peace. The difficulty is how we define peace. With everything going on in the news, you might have missed that last week marked the twelfth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Would there be peace if we somehow “won” there? What about if we immediately withdrew our troops? Or, perhaps a more legitimate question – will there ever be peace in the middle east? Is peace simply the absence of fighting, or, as someone once said, is peace simply when both s...

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8 A few years back, our family took a trip to Chicago. One of the activities we had planned was to go to the top of the Willis Tower (that used to be called the Sears Tower). But when we got there, it was rainy and overcast, and we decided it would be a waste of time to go up in the tower. After all, the big reason to go up to the top is for the view. There is no sense in paying the entry fee and going up, only to realize that all you can see is the inside of a cloud. This is a sticking point for God’s people since way back. In the book of Exodus, God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with great miracles: the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea… God led them with a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. They could see God somewhat. Then God called Moses up to Mount Sinai and gave him the Law, and meanwhile, the people came to Aaron, saying, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fel...