Brian's Sermons

Luke 1:1-4 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning. It seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Who likes to read? I love to read. In fact, last Sunday I went to the library and picked up three books – by Tuesday evening I was halfway finished with the 3rd book. I have always loved reading. Are there any other bibliophiles out there? Today we’re looking at a prolific author. In fact, Dr. Luke wrote almost half of the New Testament. If you’re scratching your head, flipping through the book of Luke, wondering how I can say that, you have to know that Luke is only volume 1. Most scholars, in fact, don’t just refer to Luke, but t...

( 2 Chronicles 25:1-16 ) One thing I’ve heard pretty frequently from people who don’t fully understand what it means to be a Christian is that they are trying to live a life in balance: they just want to make sure that their good deeds outweigh their bad. I know many people think this way, but there is a term coined specifically for this way of thinking: ridiculous. Seriously. All this mentality does is determine what is the minimum effort one can give in order to be “OK.” Many of us find ourselves doing this. I can remember working a 9-5 salaried job right after college; our boss joked cynically about nailing things down so they didn’t get swept away by the great gust of wind at exactly 5:00 every afternoon (as all of us rushed to get out). We didn’t have any vested interest in staying beyond 5. I know many of us have given less than our all, but have you ever been given the bare minimum? Maybe you’re a boss, and you’ve seen your employees just barely do enough to merit a paychec...

John 4:4-30; 39-42 What do you think of when you hear the word “evangelism?” Perhaps some of you think of the sandwich board wearing “the end is near” shouting kind of street corner Christian. Maybe you think of someone well-versed in scripture, someone like Rudy who is always prepared to give an answer to anyone who has a question or objection to matters of faith. Maybe you simply think of someone who shares God’s love. Unfortunately, to many people, evangelism has a bad connotation. Because instead of being euangelion , which means “Good News” evangelism has instead become the art of “Bad Newsing.” Which is good news: “you’re going to Hell!” or “You can go to heaven”? Which is good news: “you’re a hopeless sinner!” or “You can be forgiven”? If I asked you to name a good evangelist, you might come up with a name like Billy Graham, one of the most influential and well-known Christians of our time. Everyone respects Rev. Graham, and he has a fantastic platform from which to share ...

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a rough couple of weeks. Your encouragement has been very refreshing. Today we’re going to continue to look at some character studies in the Bible, some of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly people from within the pages of scripture. Do any of you have a nickname? Rudy is always teasing me because whenever I talk about college, I start telling a story about a friend in the fraternity, and they always have some wacky nickname. My pledge class had such nicknames as Homey Dog, Scud, Shack, and Goat. One of the fun things we would assign to pledges was to find out (or make up) how certain brothers got their nicknames. Honestly, most of them came because guys were messing around and decided “that would be a good nickname for so and so...” and it stuck. Most of the nicknames weren't all that flattering, though. Today we are focusing on someone whose nickname was a little more flattering than the fraternity names I mentioned. Early in the book of Acts, th...

Did you know that there are three specific days that have greater church attendance than any other days of the year? They are Christmas, Easter, and … Mother's Day. For Mother's Day, a lot of mom's kids know that their moms love their church and they know that one of the best ways they can honor mom is, even if they don't usually do so, this one day they can honor her by going to church with her. Meanwhile, how many come to church to honor their fathers on Father's Day? It's not usually one of the top attended services. What does this say about fathers? This summer, we've been doing some character studies, looking at some Good, some Bad, and some Ugly people from the Bible. This morning in honor of Father's Day, I'm going to attempt to look at two Bible Fathers: Eli and Job. When it comes to lousy priests, Eli's name rises toward the top. He was the priest of Israel, but he seemed to be a spiritual midget. From the first time we meet Eli in...

1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." 5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." 6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am...

This Sunday was Youth Sunday, so instead of a standard sermon, several junior and senior high students presented testimonies. I love their honesty and their willingness to get in front of the congregation and share their stories. Here are some highlights I got as I listened to them share in the 9:00 service: David B: talked about how he benefits from being mentored by the praise band. Johanna W: talked about having a real relationship with God and how important that is, no matter how long you've been in church and no matter how old or young you are. Travis T: talked about going to the altar, being surrounded by friends who are praying for you, and about doing his best to follow Jesus, even when it's hard. Here are some highlights from the 11:00 service: Sydney P: she also shared about how being a Christian is not simply about going to church, but is an active choice. She also (wisely) shared: It's not about me. Elise B: talked about God putting something into our lives t...