Brian's Sermons

Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this . Over the past four weeks, we have been preparing for Christmas by looking at the prophecy from Isaiah 9:6-7. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,  Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing an...

We live in a church-saturated culture. There are all kinds of churches in all kinds of denominations. In fact, we have three churches on our block, all of different denominations! Many people have good reasons why they are in a certain denomination, but for many, it is more circumstantial than anything else. For example, Roy Gilliland (a well-known member of our local church) tells the story of becoming Methodist – when he was a boy, the Methodist church had heat. Others became Methodist because their parents or grandparents were Methodist or because they started dating a Methodist or married a Methodist. So a good question to ask is “Why United Methodist?” The sermon series we are starting today will explore some of the distinctive features of United Methodism, a denomination so varied that it includes 4George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton! I became a United Methodist after seminary, and it was all John Wesley’s fault. Truly to know what a United Methodist is, you have to s...

One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16 When is a child not a child? No, I’m not asking when a child becomes an adult. I’m asking when a child is not a child. You see, we are so immersed in our own culture that we miss the weight of Jesus’ words in this passage. When we miss the weight of his words, we thus miss out on what they mean, and in this case, he’s talking about the Kingdom of God; we risk missing out on the Kingdom altogether when we superimpose our 21st century ideas ...

Did Jesus offer credible credentials to back up his divine claims? Yes! Miracles: John 10:37 told John to look for his miracles. Isaiah said Miracles would be one way the Messiah would authenticate himself. Power over nature: walking on water Power over sickness: healing leprosy & blindness Power over death: raising Lazarus Jesus’ opponents never denied his miracles. Even the Talmud admits miracles, and Mohammed, the founder of Islam, admits Jesus’ miracles and his virgin birth. Character – often the closer we get to others, the more we see their flaws, but the opposite happened with Jesus! John & Peter saw him up close and personal: their assessment: 1 John 3:5 – in Him is no sin 1 Peter 2:22 – committed no sin, no deceit was in him. Who can have the same said about them? The way he fit the fingerprint of divine prophecy. Only the Messiah could fit this fingerprint: He was: Born of a virgin Of the seed of Abraham Of the tribe of Judah Of the house of David Born in Bethlehem ...

If an atheist told you that Jesus’ bones had been found, would you still be a Christian? How about if, instead of an atheist, it was someone at Main Street who told you; would you repudiate your Christianity? What if I, as your pastor came and told you, and Pastor Dave, Mitch Arnold, and Dave Hunt came in to back me up; would you still be a Christian? How about if you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone had found the bones of Jesus Christ, proving that He hadn’t resurrected, would that do anything to your faith? If it doesn’t change anything for you, then I would encourage you to figure out what the basis for your belief is, because it might be based more on wishful thinking than in fact. The truth is that nobody is going to find Jesus’ bones, because He rose from the grave. But this underscores the importance of the evidence we have that helps to prove what we believe is true. Nazareth, Bethlehem, December 25th, Quirinius, a Roman census, no room in the inn, a baby born in a ...