Guerrilla Christianity

Sermon #612 One of the primary motivating factors in life is, ironically, death, or rather the fear of death.  The evolutionist would tell us that the two things that drive every species on the planet is the desire to survive and the desire to reproduce.  In reality, God made us without death in the world, yet we brought death into the world when we separated ourselves from the Source of Life through sin.  And so Jesus died our death for us, that we would live forever, and in dying, he put to death death itself.  And since the sting of death has been removed from us, we can live our lives in peace knowing that God invites us to live with him for all eternity. Hebrews 2:10-18 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on June 23, 2024 Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #611 As the writer of Hebrews begins to unpack the Psalms to identify the extraordinary nature of the Son of God (who has not yet been named in the epistle), he reminds us that we ought to pay attention to what is said, lest we drift away in our faith.  The language used suggests mooring a ship to a dock lest it slide past the safety of the harbor.  In reality, we can rely upon what scripture says about Jesus, because God's word is sure and foundational.  Though the writer of Hebrews is pointing to the Old Testament, these are glimpses of things that have not been obvious, until the complete message is revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2:1-9 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on June 16, 2024 Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #610 Having laid down some extraordinary claims about the Son of God, through whom God has spoken in these last days, the writer of Hebrews now turns to the Hebrew Scriptures - specifically the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament rendered in the Third Century B.C. - to make his case that Jesus (who thus far is unnamed in the epistle) is no ordinary man but the divine Son.  He is superior to the prophets in that he is the Son of God himself, and he is superior to the angels who are ministering spirits and created beings.  Through the Psalms and the words of Moses, the writer of Hebrews presents the case that this is the begotten Son of God and not a created being.  In fact, the angels themselves are commanded to bow down to Him.  Hence, there is something extra special in the message that He brings. Hebrews 1:5-14 Recorded at Hudson UMC on June 9, 2024 Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #609 Welcome to the 12th season of Guerrilla Christianity!  In this introductory sermon to the expositional series on Hebrews, we look at several things about this epistle in general, and then the opening four verses.  First, we look at some of the theories surrounding authorship, concluding that we do not know conclusively who the author of Hebrews is, but that the ultimate author is undoubtedly the Holy Spirit.  Second, we establish the timeline for when the letter was written and the circumstances surrounding its writing.  Thirdly, we look at the major themes of the letter - the superiority of Christ; his three offices of prophet, priest, and king; the regulative principle of worship; and perseverance in the face of persecution.  Then we look at the opening lines that describe this Son of God who is superior to the angels, through whom God has spoken to us in these last days.  This series will carry us through the majority of the Season after Pentecost, and it promises to be enlightening and insightful. Hebrews 1:1-4 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on June 2, 2024 Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

S11E47: The Trinity in the Cross (Trinity Sunday 2024) Sermon #608 On this Trinity Sunday (the first Sunday after Pentecost) we look at the work of all three persons of the Godhead in salvation at the cross of Jesus Christ.  At the heart of the doctrine of the Trinity is the relationship between the three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Father is eternal and uncreated.  The Son is eternally begotten of the Father and is likewise uncreated.  The Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from both the Father and the Son, is personal and not ephemeral, and each person is glorified and magnified equally.  Yet there are not three gods but one God.  It is an eternal mystery that Christian theologians have struggled to understand for centuries, and yet in this passage from John's gospel, we see the effortless way Jesus explains the work of the Father, Son, and Spirit in the salvation of the cross to an earnest Pharisee named Nicodemus.   John 3:1-17 Recorded at Hudson UMC on May 26, 2024 Who Is God in Three Persons? Paperback by John R. Tyson (Amazon) Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #453 What should worship look like?  Nowadays Christians are divided in their desire to worship the Lord in certain ways.  Some prefer high church; some prefer a less rigid but still traditional service with a choir and pipe organ.  Some prefer gospel music; some prefer contemporary christian music.  Some prefer no music at all.  When it comes down to it, worship does not need to be a certain format in order to glorify God; all that is required is that God is at the center of our worship.  If our worship doesn't glorify God and point our hearts to Him, then it is worship that is more about us and our desires than about God and his glory.   2 Samuel 6:1-19 Recorded at Hudson UMC on July 11, 2021 (Originally published October 11, 2021) View on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #452 On the day in which we celebrate our independence here in America (this message was recorded July 4, 2021), we reflect on the foundation of Israel as a united kingdom under David after the death of Saul and the conquest of Jerusalem.  There are some parallels to our formation as a nation and Israel's.  For one thing, the entire nation assented to David's kingship.  In the same way, General George Washington was unanimously (69-0) elected our nation's first president.  Both nations were established with the understanding that all things come from God.  We see the three reasons that David was chosen as king - that he is one of the Israelites' brethren, a descendent of Abraham; that he is a warrior strong in battle; and that God chose him to be king.  But it is this last reason that ought to be the first - and only - reason given. 2 Samuel 5:1-5,9-10 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on July 4, 2021 (Originally published September 27, 2021) View on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #451 The death of Saul and Jonathan is one that affected David deeply.  On the one hand, Saul had been trying for several years to kill David, seeing him as a threat to his own rule over Israel.  On the other hand, David was very close friends with Saul's son, Jonathan, and certainly his death would have devastated David.  Yet even though Saul was paranoid, murderous, and pagan in his religious practices, David still considered him to be the Lord's anointed king, and throughout his flight from Saul he refused to raise a hand against him, even when he was in a position to kill Saul.  And so we see David's heartfelt lamentation for both Saul and Jonathan, coming at a time when there should be joy over the gaining of the kingdom.  David was a servant, and he also realized that there is a time for joy and a time to weep. 2 Samuel 1:1,17-27 Recorded at Hudson UMC on June 27, 2021 (Originally published on September 6, 2021) Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #450 The story of David and Goliath is a very familiar story to anyone who was raised in the church.  It is one of the first stories we learn in Sunday school.  And because of its familiarity, as adults sometimes we can gloss over the greater meaning of the story.  David was a shepherd, not particularly exceptional and decidedly not a battle-hardened warrior like Goliath.  Yet David had something that Goliath did not, and that is faith in God.  He saw Goliath as a little problem because he knew that his God is a big God who spoke and the worlds were formed.  And he also knew that victory would not come because of his ability but rather because of his lack of it, for, as he said, the battle is the Lord's.  God uses the weak to confound the strong, and ultimately He gets the glory for it. 1 Samuel 17 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on June 20, 2021 (Originally published August 16, 2021) Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

April 3, 2022 Old Testament: Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalter: Psalm 126 Epistle Lesson: Philippians 3:4b-14 Gospel Lesson: John 12:1-8 Scripture quotations from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. S.D.G.

Sermon #441 What is hope?  The worldly definition is that hope is a desire for something as yet unfulfilled.  The Christian definition of hope is inextricably tied to the promises of God, that he has fulfilled those promises in the past and will fulfill them again in the future.  That is our hope, and it was the hope of the early disciples who continued to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus because they had seen it with their own eyes.  Their hope was in the past fulfillment of Jesus' words, that he must be betrayed, killed, and raised to life again on the third day.  When that promise was fulfilled, their faith was solidified in the hope that his promise to prepare a place for us would likewise be realized. 1 John 3:1-7 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on April 18, 2021 (Originally published April 23, 2021) Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #93 When we come to Christ we fulfill our potential as image-bearers of God.  But without receiving and using the gift of salvation we are like an unopened present, whose value goes unrealized.  God beckons us to him and when we respond and receive the gift, He restores us to the original image in which He created us, and we are then given a new heart with new desires.  Isaiah's prophetic vision shows us the heart of God as it pertains to us - not a rigid system of rules but a tender and compassionate heart of love. Isaiah 61:10-62:3 Recorded at Hudson UMC on December 28, 2014 (Originally published on December 31, 2020) S.D.G.

Sermon #402 When we talk about our life as Christians we talk about light and darkness.  Jesus said we are the light of the world.  The thing about light is that it pushes out darkness.  Darkness cannot overcome even the weakest of lights.  In fact, the more complete the darkness is, the more even a weak light will shine.  In the reading in Philippians today, Paul is exhorting the church in Philippi to be the lights in the world, and we can take his words to heart for ourselves as well.  Philippians 2:12-18 Recorded at Hudson UMC on July 26, 2020 (Originally published July 27, 2020) S.D.G.

Sermon #304 Laity Sunday is a day when we celebrate the work of laypersons in the church of God.  On this Laity Sunday we at Hudson UMC asked our Lay Leader Wayne Niebauer to describe a time when he felt abandoned by God, and how he could point to where God was at work in that moment.  We often feel like in our hard times we are all alone, and yet when we look back at those times we can often see how God was at work, and it is in the retrospective view that we can gain confidence in hard times when they come.   Text: Mark 10:35-45 Recorded at Hudson UMC on October 21, 2018 (Originally published December 6, 2018) S.D.G.

Sermon #291 It is easy for us to slip quietly past this affirmation, but that would be a mistake.  We are told so much in the Gospels about the earthly ministry of Christ and very little about the forty days after the resurrection, and less about the actual ascension (only Luke records his account in his Gospel and in the book of Acts).  Yet the Ascension of Christ means three major things in the life of the Christian.  It means that Easter is not over; it means that the incarnation is not over; and it means that we have a brother sitting at the right hand of God and interceding for us sinners.  Indeed, affirming faith in the Ascension should be great joy for Christians everywhere. Text: Luke 24:44-53 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on July 22, 2018 (Originally published September 17, 2018) S.D.G.

Sermon #290 We come to the pivotal point in the Christology of the Apostles' Creed, and, as some might say, it's all uphill from here.  Now, in the message today I make a strong assertion that to believe in the resurrection is nothing less than necessary for our salvation, and I stand by that statement (and back it up with Biblical text).  Yet there are many in the church today, professing Christians, who either do not believe in the Biblical account of the resurrection or don't believe it happened at all.  And if that is true, then we as a church, we as preachers of God's word, have failed in adequately emphasizing the importance of this one crucial aspect of the reality of Christ, that on the third day he rose from the dead.   Text: Matthew 28:1-10 Recorded at Hudson UMC on July 15, 2018 (Originally published September 14, 2018) S.D.G.

Sermon #289 To say that Jesus descended to the dead seems like a redundant statement after affirming that he was crucified, dead, and buried.  To say that Jesus descended to hell (another translation of the Greek version of the Apostles' Creed) seems like a theological conundrum.  How could Jesus, the Son of God, sinless and holy, descend to the place of torment where people who deny God and refuse His grace end up?  Although we as Methodists do not regularly recite this affirmation in the Creed, it bears examiniation.   Text: 1 Peter 3:18-22 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on July 8, 2018 (Originally published September 10, 2018) S.D.G.

Sermon #287 Two major considerations face us today as we continue our examination of the Apostles' Creed.  First, what is the point of mentioning Pontius Pilate?  When Jesus was betrayed by so many - the crowds, the Sanhedrin, Judas Iscariot - why do we affirm that he "suffered under Pontius Pilate?"  Next, we look at the dual nature of Christ and that he was fully God and fully human, as demonstrated in that he was "crucified, dead, and buried - none of which makes any sense if Jesus were only God and not human. Text: John 18:33-19:16 Recorded at Hudson UMC on June 24, 2018 (Originally published September 5, 2018) S.D.G.

Sermon #250 What does it mean to be a Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching, Christ-adoring church?  We will be looking at this question over the next three episodes, beginning with the first part: who are we as a Bible-believing church?  What is the United Methodist stance on the Bible as God's holy word?  And what is the theological foundation of our belief?  We begin looking at Who We Are by first affirming: We Believe the Bible. 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on November 5, 2017 (Originally published December 4, 2017) S.D.G.

Sermon #67 It's a mistake to think that coming to Christ will automatically exempt us from the bad things that happen in life.  We are never promised an easy life for coming to Christ.  We have to endure hardships just like everyone else.  But the difference is, we have faith that God is always in control, and that our suffering is just for a season.  This week we look at one of the greatest and hardest promises in the Bible, the promise of Romans 8:28.  So grab your Bible, open it to Romans chapter 8, and join us as we Join Creation's Song. Romans 8:26-39 Recorded at Hudson UMC on July 27, 2014 (Originally published August 10, 2014) S.D.G.