Brian's Sermons

Matthew 22:35-40 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”   One of Zambia’s biggest problems is poverty. Any NGO or service operation will tell you this. We all know this. Nobody can say any differently, because we can all look around and see poverty. And we can see poverty in our own lives. The West would like you to think that poverty is all about money, or the lack of money. They say that all you need is money, which will solve your poverty problems.   The problem with this approach is that it never addresses the root cause of poverty. Nor d...

Last week we introduced an important and difficult concept. Poverty. We often think of poverty only in financial terms, but in reality, poverty is based in broken relationship. Broken relationship with God, broken relationship in ourself, broken relationship with others, and broken relationship with all creation. In the beginning, God created humanity to be in perfect relationship with him. But very quickly, we find Adam and Eve disobeying God. The response, as found in Genesis 3:23-25 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life . Now, instead of living in the Garden of Eden in perfect relationship with God, they have been banished, never to return. Never to walk together in the cool of the morning. Never again to speak face to face. Our relations...

One of my heroes as a child was a wrestler named Ted DiBiase. His nickname was the Million Dollar Man. He used to walk around with a briefcase full of money. He had it all. He was a champion wrestler. He had fame. He had more money than he even knew what to do with. But what he revealed later was telling. Although he had all of that, inside he felt empty. Though he was rich beyond measure, he was in poverty. How can someone who is rich be in poverty?   The truth is that poverty is more than a lack of money. In fact, in Revelation 2:9, the word of God to the church in Smyrna said this: “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)… You might be saying, wait, which is it? Are they in poverty, or are they rich? The answer is “yes.” They are both.   How about 2 Corinthians 8:1-2:  We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance o...

1 Samuel 1:12-18 I have grown up in an achievement-oriented society. We are known by what we accomplish. We want to be known as competent and strong.   Last week we looked at the story of Hannah, and we met Eli, the high priest of Israel, who loved to sit in his chair at the entrance to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. We saw Eli in direct contrast to Hannah — she was a nobody, yet she knelt in the presence of Yahweh. Eli was the high priest, yet he had no real relationship with Yahweh! Eli would have been the competent and strong man; he was the high priest.   But the contrast does not end here. Hannah dedicated her child to God, quite literally; he was raised in the Tabernacle. But look at Eli’s own sons — 1 Samuel 2:12 describes them this way: Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. Worthless. Can you imagine? In 1 Samuel 1:16, Hannah pleads, “please don’t think I’m a worthless woman.” We remember that it was she who was in positio...

Matthew 6:9-13 “This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Last week we began our look at the Lord’s Prayer. We first examined who it is that we pray to. We pray to God, who is our Father. As God’s beloved children, we are enabled to approach God directly, not through someone else, but personally. That God is our Father was a reminder of our unity in Him. As we discussed the opening phrase in the prayer, I focused on the first two words: Our Father. While we are reminded that God is personal and loves us as a Father, the next two words add more context. God is our Father in Heaven . God is not simply one of us. He is not bound by the rules and limitations of humanity. He is wholly other. So while we pray to a God w...

One of two "tamed" cheetahs at Chaminuka Game Park This week I got to see an amazing sight. I got to see two full grown cheetahs. They were big, majestic, and muscular. There was only one unfortunate thing. They were shut into a fenced-in enclosure. Now, that was probably a good thing for me and my family, but the reality is, a cheetah was not created to be fenced in. A cheetah was created to run free, to use its speed to take down prey in the open grassland. God also created us to be free. But when we live to please our flesh, our sinful nature, we make ourselves slaves to sin. Romans 6:16 poses the question: Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?  Jesus says in John 8:34 Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Everyone. Jesus didn’t offer qualifications. He dem...

Laodicea: Revelation 3:14-22 The second and third chapters of Revelation contain seven letters to the seven churches in Asia. We have looked in-depth at each letter, and we have heard again and again: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. We have seen the reminder to return to our first love, to persevere in the face of suffering and persecution, to hold fast to solid Christian doctrine, to keep free from moral compromise, to remain spiritually alive, and to hold on. Today we hear a harsh warning to those who are lukewarm Christians. This letter is from the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation, the reliable witness with true testimony. Because he is the firstborn of God’s creation and in him all things were created, he rules over it all. This letter comes to the church in Laodicea, the wealthiest city in its region. It was famous for its fertile ground for grazing sheep, especially a breed with a luxurious blac...

The Fourth Word: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) One thing I’ve heard frequently, especially since I have arrived in Zambia, is what is sometimes called the Prosperity Gospel or “Health and Wealth Gospel” or “Name it and Claim it.” This is the teaching that if you ask for something in faith, God will necessarily give it. In this teaching, suffering is never in God’s will, so if one suffers, it stands to reason that they are out of or apart from God’s will. Perhaps they have sinned and they suffer the consequence of sin. Perhaps they do not have enough faith, and so they suffer. There are several problems with this teaching. The big reason is that it does not fit within the context of scripture. Though there are some verses that seem at first blush to support this teaching, in context they do not. When the Apostle Paul begs God three times to remove the thorn from his flesh, God does not remove it in order that through Paul’s weakness, God’s strength w...

A quote attributed to Zig Ziglar says, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” As Christians, we have an unfortunate problem that sometimes, in our attempt to be (as the Apostle Paul put it) “all things for all people,” we end up aiming at nothing and thus that’s what we hit. In its roots, the Methodist movement has always had holiness as its goal. Last week we looked at the difficulty for us; holiness is not so easily achieved because of our sin problem. We have so corrupted God’s image within us that we cannot even approach him… Thankfully, because of God’s character, he bestows grace upon us when we least deserve it. The Holy Spirit extends Prevenient Grace, the grace that goes before us, and woos us, calls us, invites us to him. But if this was where God’s grace stopped, we would be in trouble. It would get us to the door but no farther. It would be cruel, for God to show us our sin but to leave us in it. But that’s not what God does. God finds us in our sin and...

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 What do you think of when you hear the word "meek?" One picture generally comes to my mind and that is a mouse or a mousy person. Meek doesn’t seem like a positive word – people generally don’t want to be described as meek. It carries the connotation of being weak or being a push-over. You can probably think of someone who you might describe as “meek” – and it’s probably not a good thing. Meekness seems to present a contrast with strength. The Greek word that has been translated "meek" or "humble" or "gentle" is πραος pra-os . Praos can also be used three interesting ways: it describes a soothing medicine; it is used by sailors to describe a gentle breeze; and is used by farmers to describe a broken colt. If you think about it this way, medicine can be soothing, but too large of a dose can be devastating. Sailors love a gentle breeze, but a gentle breeze can turn into a...