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...

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. Matthew 5:10-12. Jesus’ ministry started out all the right ways. He was baptized in the Jordan and was tempted in the wilderness. From there, he went, healing the sick and preaching good news. Then Jesus gathered his disciples to instruct them about the kingdom. Through these instructions, which we have come to know as the beatitudes, Jesus pronounced various blessings. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, and the peacemakers. As we wrap up this section of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaims a blessing on those who are persecuted for their faith. As w...

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9 When I visit in the nursing home or hospital, I like to ask if there are any prayer requests – besides the obvious. I would visit Betty Hammond at Jenkins, and her prayer request was always the same. She would ask me to pray for peace. I knew she wasn’t being flippant or casual by asking – this wasn’t a Miss America contestant saying, “What I really want is world peace.” Betty truly wanted to see peace on earth. I think in our inner core, we all want peace. The difficulty is how we define peace. With everything going on in the news, you might have missed that last week marked the twelfth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Would there be peace if we somehow “won” there? What about if we immediately withdrew our troops? Or, perhaps a more legitimate question – will there ever be peace in the middle east? Is peace simply the absence of fighting, or, as someone once said, is peace simply when both s...

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8 A few years back, our family took a trip to Chicago. One of the activities we had planned was to go to the top of the Willis Tower (that used to be called the Sears Tower). But when we got there, it was rainy and overcast, and we decided it would be a waste of time to go up in the tower. After all, the big reason to go up to the top is for the view. There is no sense in paying the entry fee and going up, only to realize that all you can see is the inside of a cloud. This is a sticking point for God’s people since way back. In the book of Exodus, God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with great miracles: the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea… God led them with a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. They could see God somewhat. Then God called Moses up to Mount Sinai and gave him the Law, and meanwhile, the people came to Aaron, saying, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fel...

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 As we have been discussing Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, something should be clear – we can’t do things the way culture dictates we do them. It’s back to the broad road and the narrow road – the broad one leads to death, and many are on it, while the narrow one leads to life, and few find it. It should also be clear that becoming the ones who Jesus pronounces “blessed” is not something that just happens by accident or by osmosis. It doesn’t happen because your parents were in church or even just because you come to services every Sunday! It all starts with being poor in spirit – realizing that we are absolutely powerless to save ourselves, that what we bring to the table is worthless for salvation. And so we empty ourselves for God to fill us. We mourn our sinfulness and through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and through the gift of the Holy Spirit, God gives us comfort. We hold our power under control and are given ...

Hunger and Thirst We are four weeks deep into Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, where Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven – how to get in and what the kingdom looks like. He begins by pronouncing blessings, which the church has traditionally called “the beatitudes” – blessings based on a new order of things. He blesses those who are poor of spirit and empty, because when we are empty, then he can fill us. He blesses the mourners with the comfort of the Holy Spirit. He blesses the meek, those who hold great power under control by giving them an inheritance of everything that can’t be bought. And today he tells us to come hungry. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled . I don’t know if you have ever had these restaurants around here, but one of my old favorite restaurants was called Bonanza. It was pretty much the same as a Ponderosa, a lower-scale steak joint with an all-you-can-stuff-down-your-throat salad bar. My brother and some friend...