Brian's Sermons

The Seventh Word: “Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46) Easter Sunday (Luke 23:44-49) 44  It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,  45  for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  46  Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. 47  The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”  48  When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.  49  But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. All week, we have been looking at Jesus’ words from the cross. We are reminded that while God had a plan all along, a plan of resurrec...

Last week we started Jude’s letter to the church – we got all the way through the first verse, the “who wrote it” and “who was it written to” of Jude.  Today we continue with his introduction.   Jude continues with the introduction to his letter: Mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.  I like the way the New Living Translation puts it: May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love. The concept of mercy is rooted in God himself.  In Exodus 33, Moses asked God to show him His glory.  And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Do you think it’s fair for God to say “I’ll have mercy and compassion on whoever I want to have mercy on”? What do you think?  Let’s push on this for a moment. Does this mean God plays favorites?  To this I ask: does G...