Brian's Sermons

Mark 6:6b-13 I am convinced that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Today is the 4 th Sunday of Lent, and we are in our fourth message in the series: Convinced. Last week we talked about the freedom that is possible in Jesus Christ. Know this: God’s plan for all of his people is freedom. Freedom from bondage, from sin, from guilt, from sin, from death. Did anyone experience any freedom between last week and this week? Chances are, some of you felt great when you left this place, only to fall flat on your face a little later in the week. Two years ago, I preached a whole series on The Emotionally Healthy Church , a book by Peter Scazzero, and one of the points that was brought out in that book and sermon series was the fact that whatever we see is only the tip of the iceberg. Only 10% of an iceberg shows above the waterline, while 90% lies underneath. Many of us have an “underneath” that we’ve never touched. Honestly, that “underneath” has be...

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Therefore the Kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him millions of dollars was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. “Be patient with me,” he begged, “and I will pay back everything.” The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt, and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and began to choke him. “Pay back what you owe me!” he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.” But he refused. Inst...

6th message in our series: Putting the Pieces Together: a Journey toward mature discipleship*. The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!" Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. John 12:12-16 It is a fantastic scene: Jesus coming into Jerusalem triumphantly: for as humble as it may seem, this was the answer to prophecy from Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! See...

4th message in our series: Putting the Pieces Together: a Journey toward mature discipleship*. Rabbi Edwin Friedman tells the story of a man on a journey. As he hurried along toward his destination, he came to a bridge that crossed high over a dangerous river. After starting across the bridge, he noticed someone coming from the opposite direction. As the stranger came to greet him, the man realized that he had a rope wrapped many times around his waist. The stranger began to unwrap the rope as he walked. Just as the two were about to meet, the stranger said, "Pardon me, would you be so kind as to hold the end of the rope for me?" The man agreed, and, without a thought, reached out and took it. "Thank you," said the stranger. Then he added, "Two hands now, and remember, hold on tight." At that, the stranger jumped off the bridge. "What are you trying to do?" he shouted to the stranger. "Just hold tight," came the reply. "If you let...

4th in the Series: Putting the Pieces Together: a Journey toward mature discipleship* Why is it that we are such emotional wrecks? When it comes to the beneath the surface stuff, that 90% is killing us! We are in our 4th message in the series: Putting the Pieces Together; a Journey Toward Mature Discipleship, and we’ve already established that God made us emotional beings on purpose, and that exploring beneath the surface and breaking the power of the past is hard, necessary work. We don’t break the power of the past just to let it fester on the surface, but to let God transform and redeem it. One of the ways God does this is by working through our brokenness and vulnerability. When we sing Jesus Loves Me, we sing about this: "we are weak, but He is strong." Through our weakness, we can see His strength. God does this all the time; He acts miraculously but does it in such a way as to demonstrate that it is He who is acting, not us. Gideon, whose story I shared a couple of mon...

3rd in the Series: Putting the Pieces Together: a Journey Toward Mature Discipleship* We are in our third week of putting the pieces together – our journey toward mature discipleship. We have established that we are emotional beings, and that it’s our duty to look beneath the surface of our lives, to see the 90% of us that usually never surfaces. As we look under the surface, however, the Gospel provides our safety net, reminding us that we’re God’s beloved sons and daughters. As we look beneath the surface, especially as we reflect on our past, I wonder if there might be any emotional baggage or unfinished business from my past affecting us today. What makes us ask, "What would everyone think? We’ve got to keep up appearances. Nobody must ever know." Many of us have those skeletons in our closets, those things about our past that we’re ashamed to admit. For some, it’s abuse. For others, it’s extreme poverty. For some, it’s addictions. For the rest, it’s something else. The t...