Brian's Sermons

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 My kids love this time of year – it seems that everywhere we drive, we are surrounded by fields, and most of them are being harvested right about now. The boys love seeing combines working the fields. Anyone who works on a farm will tell you that many aspects of farming are solid metaphors for life. Jesus recognized that as well, and saw that he could explain aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven through farming metaphor. Because Matthew wrote his Gospel primarily for a Jewish audience, he uses the language “Kingdom of Heaven” largely because Jews would avoid using God’s name. This is, in fact, where we get the name “Jehovah” for God – Jews were so careful when they wrote God’s Name, Yahweh, that they would write the consonants for Yahweh, but they would write the vowels for Adonai , meaning Lord. So when we see him referring to the Kingdom of Heaven, we are not talking simply about Heaven. We are talking about the same thing that Jesus talks about when he teac...

On the Journey: Sanctification As we continue in week 3 of “The Journey” I want to share with you something that happens every year at Annual Conference. In the course of Ordination in the United Methodist Church, every candidate must go before the assembled Annual Conference and answer what are known as “The Historical Questions.” There’s always a nervous laugh at one of the questions: “Are you in debt so as to embarrass you in your work?” But the first four questions we are asked are as follows: 1.       Have you faith in Christ? 2.       Are you going on to perfection? 3.       Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life? 4.       Are you honestly striving after perfection in love? The first one is an obvious but unfortunately necessary question; faith in Christ is necessary for new birth; as we discussed last week, it’s the one condition of justification, which is when Go...

Luke 1:39-45 Have you ever had an experience where something incredible happened to you, but you couldn’t share it with anyone because you knew nobody would ever believe it?   Not in the “he’s always crying wolf” scenario, where maybe you’ve got a reputation for always telling outlandish stories, but in the “this could never happen to anyone” category.   And you’ve just got to tell someone, but you know that nobody would believe it.   Last week we took a look at Mary, who had an amazing encounter with an angel, who told her that God was going to fulfill his promises to the patriarch Jacob… through her.   That she was going to be the mother of the Son of God. Really, who would believe that story?   From a nobody from Nazareth… and an unmarried young woman at that.   But Mary knew someone who would believe her, so she hurried to the home of her relative, Elizabeth.   And before she can utter a word, Elizabeth knows .   There is a reason why ...

These days there is a growing trend of “spiritual but not religious.” Another way of saying it is: “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” While I agree that I hear from God in different (sometimes unusual) ways, and often while I’m running alone, that is only one small segment of my spiritual life.  The truth is those who think they can live the Christian life apart from others are simply deluded.  I’ve heard an illustration that fits; a pastor went to the home of a church member who hadn’t been to worship in a while, one of the “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian” crowd.  The man invited the pastor in, and they went and sat in front of the fireplace. Silently, the pastor took the fireplace poker and pulled a hot coal out of the fire and onto the hearth.  As they watched, it slowly changed from red hot to white to black as it cooled off.  Without saying a word, the pastor again took the poker and slid the coal back into the fire.  Im...

Luke 24:13-35 I love long distance running.  I run all the time. I especially love getting out and running on new trails.  Just keep me off the treadmill, and I’m good. But what I really love is running with other people.  I went to Zondervan’s National Pastors Convention two years, and one of my highlights there was the Runners’ Club.  A whole bunch of us would gather at 7 am to put in some mileage. While we ran, we would talk and get to know each other.  A month or so ago, I met with some guys to run a 12/5 mile loop through the Hocking Hills, and I came out with new friends – and they now call me “Reverend Run”.  When I’m at Annual Conference, I will put in early morning miles with Rob Turner and Blaine Keene.  We talk about all kinds of things, even intensely personal matters. When I was in high school, I didn’t care so much for track meets; what I liked was practice.  Time to spend running, talking, fellowshipping with each other, to use a ...