Brian's Sermons

Remember that when we look at the Ten Commandments, we have to start with God, Yahweh, the all-powerful Lord of Hosts, our Provider, our Healer, our leader, the One who gives us life, who is the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. The fact that He is the One who gives us the Ten Commandments is what gives the Ten Commandments their context, their power, and their reason for existence. We also pointed out that God gives us the Ten Commandments for our protection — as God wants the very best for us. In the play, Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare’s character Juliet asks the question: “what’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” The idea is that we are all the same; a name is just what we call something or someone. But God obviously has some different ideas. The third of the Ten Commandments is this: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. ...

The Ten Commandments: Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.   One of the things I love to do is to play games. I especially love strategy games. But one of the hardest things about strategy games is learning the rules. Once you know the rules, you can figure out how to play the game. God gave his people rules to live by. We call them the Ten Commandments. The first five of the Ten Commandments help us know how to love God. The final five help us know how to love one another.   We are now on the third sermon in our series o...

The Ten Commandments: Exodus 20:1-17 20  And God spoke all these words, saying,   2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.   3 “You shall have no other gods before me.   Last week we started a new series on the Ten Commandments. We recognize the Ten Commandments as the basis for Jewish and Christian laws, but also as the baseline for Christian behavior. The first five tell how to interact with God, while the last five tell how to interact with one another. The introduction reminded us who gives us the Ten Commandments — that they come from Yahweh, our God, the all-powerful God who relates to His creation as Father to son.   And it because of who God is that the first commandment can be: You shall have no other gods before me . It is important to know who this God is — Yahweh, I am who I am, or “I will be who I will be.” God is the God who is .   Our God is Elohim...

The Ten Commandments: Exodus 20:1-17 20  And God spoke all these words, saying,   2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.   3 “You shall have no other gods before me.   4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.   7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.   8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and...

1 Samuel 3:1-10 3:1 The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. 2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been rev...

1 Samuel 1:12-18 I have grown up in an achievement-oriented society. We are known by what we accomplish. We want to be known as competent and strong.   Last week we looked at the story of Hannah, and we met Eli, the high priest of Israel, who loved to sit in his chair at the entrance to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. We saw Eli in direct contrast to Hannah — she was a nobody, yet she knelt in the presence of Yahweh. Eli was the high priest, yet he had no real relationship with Yahweh! Eli would have been the competent and strong man; he was the high priest.   But the contrast does not end here. Hannah dedicated her child to God, quite literally; he was raised in the Tabernacle. But look at Eli’s own sons — 1 Samuel 2:12 describes them this way: Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. Worthless. Can you imagine? In 1 Samuel 1:16, Hannah pleads, “please don’t think I’m a worthless woman.” We remember that it was she who was in positio...

1 Samuel 1:9-20 We have been looking at some characters from the Old Testament. Some are true heroes of the faith. Others have demonstrated how flawed and sinful humans are. In today’s text, we begin a new chapter in the story of God’s people. They have lived through the times of the judges, times where Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. But the book of 1 Samuel provides a transition to the times of the kings. The immediate context of what we read this morning is this: There was a man named Elkanah who had two wives. Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was barren. In those days, it was customary for a husband to take a second wife if his first wife could not give him a son/heir. The second wife, Peninnah, had sons, and she tormented Hannah day and night. Hannah was greatly grieved. So at the point of this scripture, the entire family went to the Tabernacle in Shiloh for worship.   Hannah goes to pray. When she goes, we meet Eli, the high priest. Here he sits,...