Brian's Sermons

When I was a little boy, we learned that the way of salvation involved confession, repentance, baptism, and a final step, live-the-Christian-life. I don’t think this was intentional, but the way I heard it, it seemed like adults never had any trouble with this last step. It sounded like living out the Christian life was easy. Last week, as we looked at the Methodist way of salvation, we specifically looked at the end goal of Christianity, which is holiness, Christ-likeness, or Christian perfection. The last two weeks I have made the comparison of living the Christian life with riding the GoBus from Athens to Cincinnati. We have the choice to get off the bus at any time. But how do we stay on the bus? How do we live the Christian life? John Wesley was very methodical; this is where the term “Methodist” came from. He and his Holy Club figured out what helped keep them “on the Go Bus” and regularly, even religiously did it. From studying the Bible to fasting to caring for the hu...

Psalm 1 1  Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4  Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6  For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. In college, I had a friend named Scott. Scott was the only kid on our floor who wore a tie. Maybe he was the only one who owned a tie. Scott was extremely conservative; not only did he vote conservatively, but he also dressed...

Psalm 119:33-40 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness. It seemed to happen every time we went on a road trip. Whether my best friend David was driving or I was driving, inevitably we would end up going the wrong way. When I say “wrong way” I don’t mean we got lost. I don’t mean we took a short cut or a long cut. We didn’t end up in bad neighborhoods or go to places our parents wouldn’t approve of. I’ll just tell you what happened. We were on Spring Break in Oklahoma, where...

Psalm 19:7-11 The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous.  They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. The Bible is comprised of 66 books, written by nearly 40 authors over 1500 years, and it has been translated into over 2000 languages. It contains history, philosophy, theology, systematic thinking, poetry, letters, visions, wisdom literature, rule codes, prophecy, apocalyptical literature, parables, prayers, and sermons, among others. There is no other book quite like the Bible. It is the best-selling book (and, accordin...