Guerrilla Christianity

Sermon #158

This week as we continue our journey through the 24 Hours that Changed the World by Adam Hamilton, we come to the criminal trial of Jesus by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.  Here we find in Pilate a ruthless and harsh Roman authority who is curiously reluctant to condemn Jesus to death.  Yet in the end he relents, not because of justice or mounting evidence against Jesus, but because he wanted to appease the people.  We even see him trying to give the Jews a more undesirable choice - freeing Jesus or freeing the murderous insurectionist Barabbas.  And yet we also see that the place Jesus took on the cross was not just Barabbas', but also yours and mine.  So grab your bible, turn it to Mark chapter 15, and prepare your heart and mind as we see a study of three men - Jesus, Barabbas, and Pilate.

Mark 15:1-15

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 6, 2016 (Originally published March 21, 2016)

S.D.G.

Sermon #329

This Lenten season our focus has been on returning to God with all our heart.  In today's reading from Joshua, we see how the people of Israel came together to remember how God had delivered them from their slavery in Egypt.  We also see how God's provision in the wilderness is ended so that the people would begin to enjoy the produce of the land that God was giving to them.  When God does a new thing, He sometimes needs to end the old so that we do not return to it out of comfort and familiarity.

Joshua 5:9-12; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 31, 2019 (Originally published April 3, 2019)

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S.D.G.

Sermon #490

In this familiar parable, Jesus teaches the religious people of his day that any time a sinner comes to repentance, there ought to be a celebration.  Yet these same people were grumbling because Jesus was associating with sinners and tax collectors.  In the story, Jesus shows us what it means to be lost and what it means to be found.  Many times we were told that Jesus came to seek the lost sinners, to bring them to repentance.  Here he makes the point that those who belive themselves righteous only show their true nature when it comes to welcoming lost sinners home.  

Luke 15

Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 27, 2022

S.D.G.

March 27, 2022

Old Testament: Joshua 5:9-12

Psalter: Psalm 32

Epistle Lesson: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Gospel Lesson: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

S.D.G.

Sermon #157

This week as we continue to look at the 24 hours that changed the world, we come to the trial of Jesus by the Sanhedrin.  It's been widely accepted that this so-called trial was a sham, a travesty of justice, which was set up to serve the purpose of once and for all getting Jesus out of the picture.  The Jewish religious rulers had already determined that they would have Jesus executed, and now they just needed a reason to do so.  And the irony is, the so-called religious people were condemning to death the very God they supposedly worshiped and adored. But this trial wasn't just about Jesus.  As we will soon see, it was a trial for two people, and in the end both were convicted.  So grab your Bible, turn it to Mark chapter 14, and prepare your heart and mind as we see Jesus condemned by the righteous.

Mark 14:53-72

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on February 28, 2016 (Originally published February 29, 2016)

S.D.G.

Sermon #328

Lent is a season of denying ourselves so that we can grow closer to God.  In the reading from Isaiah today, God promises to the people of Israel rich abundance if they only repent, turn away from their sin and return to God.  In today's message, we will examine what it means to repent, and why it is important to confess to specific sin in our lives in order to truly return to God with all our heart.

Isaiah 55:1-9

Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 24, 2019 (Originally published March 27, 2019)

S.D.G.

Sermon #489

There are two inter-connected parts to this message, and they both have to do with repentance.  First, some people came to Jesus talking about how Pilate had massacred some worshipers in Galilee, and their unspoken question was, what sin did they commit to deserve such deaths?  We ask the same in times of disaster, but the truth of the matter is, as Jesus said, we must all repent or we will perish like them.  The second part of the message deals with the fruit that we bear as repentant sinners.  We are told in Psalms 1 that a person who meditates on the law of God day and night is like a tree planted by streams of living water and we will bear fruit in season.  And so we ask ourselves, as followers of Christ, what kind of fruit do we bear, and how does God's word inform us on what kind of fruit we should be bearing?

Luke 13:1-9

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 20, 2022

S.D.G.

March 20, 2022

Old Testament: Isaiah 55:1-9

Psalter: Psalm 63:1-8

Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Gospel Lesson: Luke 13:1-9

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 #156

As we continue our Lenten journey through the 24 Hours That Changed the World, we come to one of the darkest places in the gospels, the Garden of Gethsemane.  In today's reading we are given a glimpse into the humanity of Christ, and we hear the very private prayer of Jesus to God the Father.  It's a moment that we can all relate to, the feeling of helplessness, that the world is pressing down upon us.  Yet Jesus caps off his prayer with a demonstration of his own faithful obedience to the will of God, when he says "Yet not what I want, but what you want."  It's a very telling moment, and one which we, as followers of Christ, can use to grow even closer to the nature of Christ.  So grab your Bible, turn it to Mark chapter 14, and prepare your heart and mind as we join Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Mark 14:26,32-42

Recorded at Hudson UMC on February 21, 2016 (Originally published February 23, 2016)

S.D.G.

Sermon #327

[In 2019], the United Methodist Church held a special session of General Conference at which our voting body affirmed our current statement on homosexuality.  In response, many annual conferences, including Greater New Jersey (of which both Hudson UMC and Ebenezer UMC are members), had special sessions to discuss the ramifications of the vote at General Conference.  In response to these, we took a look at what it means to be a loving church, using Christ as our example.

Luke 13:31-35 and John 8:1-11

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 17, 2019 (Originally published March 25, 2019)

S.D.G.