Guerrilla Christianity

We are beginning a new series based on the general epistle of James, and we will be looking at the five promises that we make when we join the United Methodist Church... That we will faithfully participate in the ministries of the local church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness. This week we begin by asking the question, where does generosity come from? As we are made in the image of a giving and generous God, it stands to reason that, at the heart of everyone, there is a giving and generous spirit. That explains why even those who do not believe in God still feel a tug to give when there is need in the world. As James points out, every good and perfect gift is from above, and so when we give, we are acting as image-bearers of God to the world. Pure religion, then, is when we express the heart of God in all things, and give generously of the things that God has entrusted to us.

Text: James 1:17-27

Recorded at Hudson UMC on September 2, 2018

S.D.G.

When we affirm our faith in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, we often don't think of the fact that we as Christians are promised resurrection in THIS body. For some of us that might give us pause, especially those of us who are older and live with the aches and pains of life. Yet God promises us eternal life through Jesus Christ, and that means that the few years we live here on earth are eclipsed by the magnitude of the eternity that stretches out before us. Even so, many who call themselves Christian still live for this life, and do not consider the life to come. We wrap up our series on the Apostles' Creed with "We believe... in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

Text: 1 Corinthians 15:12-28

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on August 26, 2018

S.D.G.

Most Christians today are pleased with the modern doctrine of forgiveness. After all, if God is faithful and just to forgive all sins, then we are in the clear, right? Not so fast. Jesus tells a parable about a man forgiven much who refuses to forgive and finds himself on the wrong end of his lord's wrath. Then He says, "So shall my Father do to each one of you, if you do not from your heart forgive your brother's sins." Ouch! This is difficult teaching but critical in our understanding of what it means to believe in the forgiveness of sins.

Text: Matthew 18:21-35

Recorded at Hudson UMC on August 19, 2018

S.D.G.

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

S.D.G.

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

S.D.G.

Our exposition of the Apostles' Creed brings us to the end of the Christological statement of faith. We who have embraced Christ by faith for forgiveness of sins can rest assured in the final judgment. But what about those who have not? Jesus said he will come again, and he talks about his return as a time of judgment - what the Old Testament calls the "great and terrible day of the Lord." Jesus came once as a savior. He will return as a judge. Though our society may want to clip the wings of Jesus and portray him only as loving and merciful, make no mistake: God is a God of justice, and He poured out His justice on Jesus at Calvary. He did that for you and for me. The question is, what will you do with the life God has given you in Jesus Christ?

Text: Matthew 25:31-46

Recorded at Hudson UMC on July 29, 2018

S.D.G.

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

S.D.G.

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

S.D.G.

In July, New Hope UMC in Penns Grove received a new pastor, Zachary Taylor of Franklinville, NJ. He was appointed to replace the retiring PAstor Sherry Zappola, who has been a longtime friend of mine and a member of the Penns Grove Ministerium and the Wednesday prayer group I belong to. In talking with Pastor Zach I came to understand that, while we were very different in our politics, we are very similar in our view of the authority of scripture and the current state of the United Methodist Church, and indeed Christianity as a whole in modern-day America. This is the first of what I hope will be many conversations with local people in ministry.

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on September 6, 2018

S.D.G.