Sermon #136

Ambition is a human quality and at times it can be an admirable trait.  After all, if someone does not strive to better themselves they become stagnant or slide back into oblivion.  But when it comes to the Kingdom of God, ambition, Jesus tells us, is not a characteristic to be desired.  In today's reading we meet James and John, two brothers who were fishermen, who took their ambition to great heights whey they aksed to sit at Jesus' right and left hand when he comes into his kingdom.  But in the upside-down structure of God's kingdom, the person who humbles himself is the greatest.  For when we seek to make ourselves more important, what we are really doing is diminishing God in our lives.  So grab your Bible, turn it to Mark chapter 10, and prepare your heart and mind as we see what it means to be servants, everywhere and always.  

Mark 10:35-45

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on October 18, 2015 (Originally published November 24, 2015)

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.

August 18, 2024

Old Testament: 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14

Psalter: Psalm 111

Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 5:15-20

Gospel Lesson: John 6:51-58

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 #7

Well this week we have a bonus sermon, one that I gave a couple years ago when I was a layperson.  From the Gospel of John, this message centers on Peter's declaration to Jesus, "You have the words of eternal life."  We sometimes forget that we can only be satisfied in Christ.  We try to fill our lives with things that the world tells us to value.  In this message, from the Summer of 2012, we look at what the world has to offer, and how it pales in comparison to God's abundant grace.  So grab your Bible, turn it to John chapter 6, and join us as we look at Christ's words of eternal life.

John 6:53-69

Recorded at Pitman Grove Tabernacle on August 26, 2012 (originally published November 14, 2014)

S.D.G.

Sermon #294

What we find in the words "I Believe in... the holy catholic church, the communion of saints..." can be troublesome to some.  How can we profess belief in one church when there are so many denominations?  Often it is used against us as Christians to say that we can't even agree with each other.  And yet, there is undeniably something universal about the body of Christ, and what we affirm in this section of the Creed is not antidenominational, but rather that it is the Holy Spirit acting in all believers, no matter what church or denomination they may belong to, that makes us one.  

Text: Matthew 16:13-20

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on August 12, 2018 (Originally published October 3, 2018)

S.D.G.

Sermon #616

A priest is one who intercedes on behalf of the people to God, to make sacrifices to atone for sin.  The high priest is one who makes atonement for the sins of all the people, in this case, the people of Israel.  But the high priest is himself a sinful person and so he must first make atonement for his own sins before making atonement for the people.  This is not the case for Jesus Christ, who was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin.  Having no sin to atone for in himself, he was able to be our sacrifice and atone for the sins of the world.  And like the scapegoat described in Leviticus, he was able to take our sin far away from us.

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on July 21, 2024

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S.D.G.

Sermon #457

The episode of David's sin does not simply end with his repentance.  As is often the case, the wreckage of this single momentary lapse in judgment follows not only David but also his immediate and extended family for many years, and even affects the nation of Israel as it descends into civil war, led by David's third son Absalom.  We often do not think about the consequences of our sin.  Forgiveness may be available through Jesus Christ and the grace of God, but ultimately our sin still has real world consequences that can follow us for years, and may even be generational, as we see in this incident.  Though the sin may look appealing in that moment of temptation, and though we may think if anything we are only hurting ourselves, it is rarely the case that the consequences of our sin ends with us.

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

Recorded at Hudson UMC on August 8, 2021 (Previously unpublished)

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S.D.G.

August 11, 2024

Old Testament: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

Psalter: Psalm 130

Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Gospel Lesson: John 6:35, 41-51

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 #293

We turn our attention in the Apostles' Creed to the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.  There is much misinformation regarding the Holy Spirit given in the last hundred years or so, and so we take a look at some of the myths about the Holy Spirit and debunk them, then examine how the Holy Spirit works in the life of the baptized christian to bring about the purposes of God here on earth.

Text: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on August 5, 2018 (Originally published October 1, 2018)

S.D.G.