Sermon #444

When we claim victory over something or someone, we are establishing complete dominance over that thing or person.  Just as the allied forces claimed victory over Germany and Italy on May 8, 1945, so Jesus also claimed victory over sin and death in the resurrection.  And we who confess that Jesus Christ is the very Son of God can also claim that victory.  By allying ourselves with the victor, we also become with Jesus the sons and daughters of God, reborn as it were in the Spirit of God.  

1 John 5:1-6

Recorded at Hudson UMC on May 9, 2021

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S.D.G.

Sermon #443

The Greek word "agape" describes a higher form of love.  It is a love that is completely selfless and giving, expecting nothing in return, and it is the kind of love that God shows to us in Jesus Christ.  Since agape is a Godly form of love, it stands to reason that the world at large does not and cannot conceptualize this kind of love.  Homer used the word only ten times in his writings; Euripides only thrice.  Yet the word "agape" appears in the New Testament 320 times, and 27 times it appears in this short passage from John's letter.  It seems important to the apostles and to Jesus, and so agape ought to be important to contemporary followers of Christ as well.

1 John 4:7-21

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on May 2, 2021

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S.D.G.

Sermon #279

The word "Abide" is not one that we use in conversation very often, if at all.  It means to dwell, or to remain.  It also means to live and be connected to, which is surely what Jesus had in mind when he told his followers to abide in him.  He gives us the image of a vine with branches bearing fruit, and he calls us to be those branches and to remain or abide in the vine.  In truth, we can do nothing apart from Christ, the true vine.  And so we need to practice our faith in such a way that we remain connected to Christ so that we can bear much fruit.

John 15:1-8

Recorded at Hudson UMC on April 29, 2018 (Previously unpublished)

S.D.G.

Sermon #112

As we continue to look at Jesus' "I Am" statements as recorded in the gospel of John, we come to this statement that Jesus said to his disciples in the upper room before his betrayal and crucifixion: "I am the true vine."  So we are looking at what it means to be a part of the vine, to be connected to the vine, and to bear fruit in keeping with the nature of the vine.  As Jesus said, the branches cannot bear fruit if they are not connected to the vine, and the same is true for us.  But Jesus also tells us that when we bear fruit we are pruned.  Sometimes when the church seems to be going through adversity, it is really in a period of pruning so that the branches may bear more fruit, all to the glory of God.

John 15:1-8

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on May 3, 2015 (Previously unpublished)

S.D.G.

Sermon #442

Those who experienced the resurrection first-hand (the apostles, and the many eyewitnesses to Jesus' resurrection as reported by Paul) had a certain boldness to their evangelism.  After all, they had seen the resurrected Jesus in the flesh.  We who have received their eyewitness accounts can also experience this boldness when it comes to conviction of sin.  While the Spirit within us convicts us of sin when we give into temptation, God's Spirit never condemns us - that condemnation was poured out on Jesus at the cross in our place.  So we have boldness before God because our hearts do not condemn us.  This is what John teaches us in his letter today.

1 John 3:16-24

Recorded at Hudson UMC on April 25, 2021

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S.D.G.