Brian's Sermons

Philadelphia: Revelation 3:7-13 It has been a while since I have been in the pulpit here. But before Easter Revival, when I last preached here, we were looking at the seven letters to the seven churches in Asia, as recorded in the Book of Revelation. Today we get the letter to the church in Philadelphia. Some of the churches were doing pretty well, but there were some problems. Mostly with churches trying to coexist with the culture by inviting un-Christian aspects of the culture to infiltrate the church. So many of the letters are punctuated by sharp warnings. But not the church in Philadelphia. If you want to think of it this way, think of going to charge conference and presenting your report, and instead of picking at the little details, the DS and those assembled have nothing negative to say. The name “Philadelphia” means “city of brotherly love.” But the Christians here were receiving a less than loving response from the Jewish community. In fact, the church was being p...

Pergamum: Revelation 2:12-17 12  “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. 14  Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.  15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.  16  Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17  Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is vic...

You Think You’ve Got Enemies When I think of enemies, I think of the big ones. I think of Stalin’s Soviet Bear. I think of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. Today we have Al Qaeda and Islamic Fundamentalists. There are also pretend enemies, like the Boogieman – as a kid, I was scared of some guy named Mr. Freebish, who my dad threatened would come in and eat my vegetables if I didn’t eat them (I didn’t mind so much if he ate them; I was just scared of this stranger who would presumably break into the house to eat my food). Then there are characters from fiction, like Darth Vader. And over the course of our lives, there are times when we make other enemies, too. Like the bully down the street. Or the rival for your beloved’s attention. Or the person at work who always seems to at you. Most of us probably don’t have enemies who threaten to physically harm us, though if we have school-aged children or grandchildren, they might. Three weeks ago, we looked at Saul’s conversion to...

The presents are all unwrapped, the tree is losing its needles, the house is a wreck, stockings are thrown in the corner, Christmas toys are broken, and the fruitcake has been passed on to another unwitting victim.  Decorations are coming down, and people are turning off their Christmas lights.  Parties are done.  Festive music has stopped again for another year.  We’re heading into the coldest, grayest time of the year.  It’s the day after Christmas.  Christmas is over.  It can be a seriously depressing time of year. Charities often do really well around Thanksgiving and Christmas, as many people are cognizant of the “true meaning” of Christmas, whether or not their idea of the “true meaning” has anything to do with Jesus. But the day after Christmas, after we’ve all satisfied our need to help someone, the hungry are still hungry.  The homeless are still homeless.  The lonely are even more lonely. A few weeks ago, I was visiting with someo...

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers ...

...for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. We’ve come to the last of the beatitudes. We’ve found that we’re blessed when we realize our need for God, that we can’t do it on our own. We’re blessed when we mourn our sinfulness and turn away from it. We’re blessed when we willingly accept God’s rule in our lives, obeying in meekness. We’re blessed when we want a right relationship with God more than we desire food and drink. We’re blessed when we have mercy. We’re blessed when we have pure hearts. We’re blessed when we make peace. The result of all this? We’re blessed when we’re persecuted. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Wow. What a blessing. Doesn’t everyone want that? Isn’t that w...