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...

The Benefits of Discipleship Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is hard. Two weeks ago, we looked at how hard it is. Following Jesus doesn’t mean everything will now be easy. He said we have to prioritize him over everything else. Today we will look at the benefits of discipleship. Before we get to today’s topic, I have a question for you. Would you invite a false prophet to speak at church? Would you invite a false prophet to come and teach you individual lessons at home? Would you willingly look to a false prophet for guidance in your daily life, to disciple you? This is exactly what we are doing when we leave the television on. When we’re watching Bollywood, African Magic, Telemundo. They are discipling this nation, and they are offering a false gospel. They offer guidance that says: Money is the answer to your problems. Your spouse isn’t good enough; you need to have an affair. There is adventure in lying and cheating. You need this product or that product to fulfil...

Last week’s sermon was all about discipleship.We focused on Jesus’ last command before ascending into Heaven: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, even to the end of the earth . (Matthew 28:19-20).   Since this was the last thing Jesus said to his disciples, we also looked at how Jesus called his first disciples, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, who were all fishermen. He told them to “come, follow me” and he promised that he would make them fishers of men. They immediately followed. It can be easy to say “be Jesus’ disciples” — especially as a pastor — but listen to what Jesus said in Luke 14:25-33.   25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, ...

Last Sunday in the “Dear Abby” column in the Columbus Dispatch, I came upon this letter: Dear Abby: I have a friend, “Dick,” who wears veteran hats — “Vietnam Vet,” “Proud To Be a Marine,” etc. — that imply he was in the service. The problem is, Dick was never in any branch of the military. He claims that he is “honoring” veterans by wearing the hats. But when he goes into a restaurant or other place that offers military discounts, he always inquires about them. And he has never refused the offer of one or admitted that he was never actually in the service himself. I come in contact with real military service people who deserve to wear these hats. I asked a couple of them about what to do with Dick, but you can’t print their responses. What’s your take? — Values Honesty in Ohio You can probably guess what Abby’s response was. Dear Values Honesty: The fact that I can’t print the reaction of legitimate veterans to what Dick is doing indicates how offensive and wrong it is...

Acts 9:31: The Church was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. For the last several weeks, we have been looking at the Holy Spirit, not just to know more about Him, but to get to know Him better. Our goal is never just to know more about God; we can know all about Him without ever knowing Him. I hope this series on the Holy Spirit has at least made you interested in Him, but a sermon series won’t cause you to be filled with the Spirit. The Bible says that the way to receive God is to seek Him with your whole heart. In Jeremiah 29:13, God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” What is it like to seek God with your whole heart? If you’ve ever been deep in the water where you aren’t sure if you’re going to make it to the surface in time to breathe, your desire for air is what God is talking about. The Psalmist puts it this way: As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul...

(We are going back to the basics at Wellston Hope UMC - this is part of that series) Last week, we looked at what is called the Great Commission – where Jesus told his followers to go and make disciples of all nations. Our mission statement comes from that commission: to be and make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. But after I finished preaching last week, I realized something: we need to be on the same page when it comes to sharing the gospel. In Galatians 1:6-9, Paul writes to the church in Galatia, saying: I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.   But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!...

When I was in Kindergarten, our class took a field trip to the police station. I only remember one aspect of that trip; our class, teacher and all, went into a large cell and the officer closed that door. It was terrifying. As a pastor, I have had occasions where I’ve visited people in jail – it seems like the process is different everywhere you go. In Wapakoneta, I had to go up to a two-way mirror and show ID and who I was coming to see. Then I would go through a metal detector and the first door would open. I would go into a short hallway with two-way mirrors surrounding me, and the door would close behind me with an ominously loud clang. There is something very scary and permanent when the jail doors close behind you. It is easy to recognize that someone in jail is imprisoned. There are physical bars, locked doors, and sometimes razor wire and guard towers. But what can be harder to recognize is the fact that imprisonment is our basic human condition. Last week when I talk...

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...