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...

Philippians 1:1-2 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all of God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons; Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. When I was a senior in high school, I received a strange letter in the mail. Those were the days when mail carriers still brought something other than bills and circulars and announcements that “you are pre-approved” for “our plan to drive you into deeper debt” and other such junk mail. The thing that made this letter strange was that I recognized the writing on the envelope, but I couldn’t place it. There was no return address, but the writing was so familiar that I just knew I had seen it before. I just wondered: Who is this letter from?* When we read Greco-Roman letters, they make this matter a little easier; the writer identifies himself at the outset of the letter. So we know that Paul and Timothy wrote it. Paul was Timothy’s mentor ...

As many of you know, I am an avid long-distance runner. I have been a runner for most of my life – I joined the track and cross-country teams in 6 th grade and ran through high school. When I was in seminary, I picked up running again and have put many miles on many pairs of shoes. About five days a week in seminary, my friend Nate and I would run a 3 mile loop with my dog. I started running 5K races, but I never got any faster and I never ran any farther. Fast-forward a few years – my friend Rob, who is a United Methodist pastor up near Columbus, went and ran a marathon. I figured, if Rob can run one, I sure can. One thing I learned quickly about running a marathon was that you have to have a plan. This is true for most people training to run any distance, but it is vital for anyone wanting to run a marathon. I can pretty much go out and run any shorter race without much additional training, up to a half marathon, but not so with a marathon. To run a marathon, you’ve got to h...

Isaiah 54:10 “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Galatians 5:22-23: But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law. As we’ve been looking at the Holy Spirit over these past three weeks, I wonder something: are you any more loving and any more filled with joy than you were before? Part of being filled with the Holy Spirit is when you are, He brings about the Fruit. He brings that love and joy that we talked about over the past couple of weeks. One of the side effects of speaking on the Holy Spirit is that the devil doesn’t like it. He would rather you serve a distant impersonal God. He would rather you not know that your very body is a temple of the Holy Spirit – that the Spirit of God resides within you with power! He hates...

... for they shall be called sons of God. Peace is a hot topic right now. After all, we’ve been involved in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan for seven years – and we don’t know when it will end. As a nation we’re spending a lot of money on the war, and for a lot of people, it doesn’t seem like we’re getting the "bang for our buck" in the Middle East. Many Christians continue to debate the war; is it a just war? Is there really such a thing? This isn’t a new debate, however. There were Jews of Jesus’ time, even among his twelve disciples, who were called Zealots. This was the militaristic arm of the Jews, those who hoped to throw off the Roman rule. They sought and hoped for a warrior Messiah who would flex his muscles and return the power to them. Unlike us, most of whom enjoy relative peace, Israel only experienced peace as long as they obeyed their Roman rulers. The idea of pax romana allowed people to live like they wanted to, as long as they didn’t bother Rome. Was that re...

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 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 5:1-12 I have a good friend who really seems to believe that...

...for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9 When I was a little boy, I had a definite role in my family. I was the peacemaker, being able to get along well with both my brother and my sister. Unfortunately my methodology was often suspect. My preschool teacher reported that I needed to learn to solve my problems verbally instead of physically! It’s kind of like the fraternity brother and college roommate I had who proclaimed, “I’m a pacifist. If you don’t believe me, I’ll fight you to prove it to you.” You may laugh at those images, but that’s the kind of Messiah that Israel was awaiting. They were looking for someone in the line and character of King David, one who would destroy Israel’s enemies in order to bring peace to Jerusalem. Remember that in Jesus’ time, Israel was an occupied state. They didn’t even have their own sovereignty; they were ruled by Rome. Jesus had something else in mind when he talked about peace. In John 14, Jesus told his disciples that when he lef...