Guerrilla Christianity

S7E07: Praise God (Practical Wisdom from Jude pt. 9)

In this final message on the Epistle of Jude, we look at Jude's closing words, both doxology (glory saying) and benediction (good saying), a beautifully composed sentence both glorifying God and encouraging the believers in their mission to seek and to save the lost. In these final verses we see how Jude exemplifies for us all a need to praise God in all that we do and say, and provides for us a pattern for such praise and worship.

Jude 24-25

Recorded at Hudson UMC on August 11, 2019

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S.D.G.

So now, after Jude has railed against these false teachers, what are we to do with them? What Jude tells us is that we ought to treat them like any other unsaved person - we ought to respond in mercy, even after contending for the faith. After all, Jesus responded to the unsaved with mercy. But we are to be careful that they do not drag us down, like someone who is drowning might drag down a lifeguard who is trying to save them.

Jude 22-23

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on August 4, 2019

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S.D.G.

Sometimes it is difficult for us to continue on in the face of adversity. Sometimes it seems like we don't have it in us to keep going when all we see is failure after failure. We are given a great promise of eternal life, and so we have a hope in us that others who are not follwers of Christ do not have. It is this hope in eternity that helps us as Christians to persevere when others might give up.

Jude 17-21

Recorded at Hudson UMC on July 28, 2019

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S.D.G.

Sermon #513

In this final message in the Prophet Margins series, we look at a somewhat uplifting prophecy of Jeremiah.  I say this because whereas the other prophecies that we've looked at went unheeded and ended in disaster for the people of Israel, this one prophecy came as a warning to the people of Judah, and immediately following the nation saw reforms that abolished Ba'al worship and restored the worship of God as prescribed in the book of the law.  And so we should be encouraged that God is still active and working to draw his wayward people back to himself.  Yet just a generation later, under the son of King Josiah, the nation of Judah would fall into worse apostacy, and would ultimately be conquered and carried off by Babylon for 70 years.  Yet God's promises are not empty and his word does not return void.  We can learn from these warnings in our lives with God today.

Jeremiah 2:4-13

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on August 28, 2022

S.D.G.

August 28, 2022

Old Testament: Jeremiah 2:4-13

Psalter: Psalm 81:1, 10-16

Epistle Lesson: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Gospel Lesson: Luke 14:1, 7-14

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.

I can think of no better message to kick off the eighth season of Guerrilla Christianity than this message which was preached at the Pitman Grove Camp Meeting in 2019. Very few Christians today share their faith in Jesus Christ, and perhaps it is because we have no idea who Jesus is. The writer of the book of Hebrews offers us the foundational testimony toward building a solid Christology (the study of Christ and His nature) which is important because by knowing Christ, we can know what He has done for us, what He offers us, and how He rescued us from sin and death. Then we can truly appreciate the vast greatness of the gospel, which ought to inspire us to tell everyone the best good news in the history of the world.

{For the last two weeks in June, 2020, we will be posting messages that were given at the Pitman Grove Camp Meeting auditorium. This year the Camp Meeting is on hold until at least August, so please enjoy these messages from years gone by.}

Hebrews 1:1-4

Recorded at Pitman Grove Camp Meeting on August 25, 2019 (Previously unpublished)

S.D.G.

We who are saved by Christ and washed in his blood ought not to take for granted what he has done for us. How we live our lives as Christians matters greatly to the one who purchased our lives and redeemed us by his own son. To say that sin does not matter is to say that what Jesus did for us does not matter. In fact, it matters a great deal. And so we are called to live lives that please God, rather than living lives that please the world.

Jude 14-16

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on July 21, 2019 (Originally published July 24, 2019)

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S.D.G.

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Sermon #512

Jeremiah was the prophet who prophesied to the southern kingdom of Judah in the years leading up to the Babylonian exile.  His words were often unheeded and so he was known as the weeping prophet, because he would weep over the sins of the people of Judah.  When God called him as a prophet, he was young and inexperienced; yet what we see in Jeremiah's calling is that it is not about our abilities, but our willingness to be obedient to God.  God takes the most unlikely of people, ill-equipped for the job at hand, and He goes before them in order to give them the ability to do what God is calling them to.  He does the same for us today, and so if God is calling you to a higher purpose than simply sitting in the pews, then he will strengthen you for that purpose.

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Recorded at Hudson UMC on August 21, 2022

S.D.G.

Sermon #511

Isaiah delivers to the people of Judah a parable of a vineyard owner who did anything and everything he could to yield a harvest of good grapes, and yet in the end the vine only produced sour berries that could not be used.  The question Isaiah poses is, is it the fault of the vineyard owner that the vine produced bad grapes?  Or is the vine at fault?  He then drops the boom on the people by telling them that God is the vineyard owner and they are the vine.  This prophecy, delivered before the exile of the northern kingdom, was a warning to the people of Judah, and they heeded its call.. for a while, at least.  But what does this prophecy mean for us today?  Are we producing good fruit?  Or are we, like the people of Judah, producing something that looks good and yet is unpalatable?

Isaiah 5:1-7

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on August 14, 2022

S.D.G.

August 21, 2022

Old Testament: Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalter: Psalm 71:1-6

Epistle Lesson: Hebrews 12:18-29

Gospel Lesson: Luke 13:10-17

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.