Episodes
Monday Jan 17, 2022
S9E18: Varieties of Gifts (Love Never Ends: Being the Body of Christ pt. 2)
Monday Jan 17, 2022
Monday Jan 17, 2022
Sermon #479
This week we begin our journey through Paul's letter to the church in Corinth in earnest, and we begin by looking at some of the spiritual gifts that God gives to the body for the building of the body. Many Christians are confused about this, but Paul spells it out clearly, that the gifts of the spirit are for the benefit of all, not just for some; and also that not all the gifts are given to all believers, nor is there any one gift that is given to all by which we can identify true faith. Instead, God gives to one a particular gift, and to another person something different, so that we can work in union with each other to benefit the whole body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on January 16, 2022
S.D.G.
Sunday Jan 16, 2022
Lectionary Readings for Second Sunday after Epiphany, Year C
Sunday Jan 16, 2022
Sunday Jan 16, 2022
January 16, 2022
Old Testament: Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalter: Psalm 36:5-10
Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Gospel Lesson: John 2:1-11
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.
Friday Jan 14, 2022
S6E39: The First Step (First Things First pt. 1)
Friday Jan 14, 2022
Friday Jan 14, 2022
Sermon #149
In the Bible there is not one recorded miracle that Jesus performed prior to his baptism. Baptism for Jesus marked the beginning of his earthly ministry, and for us as Christians it marks the beginning of our walk with God. God knows us intimately before we know him - we call this "Prevenient Grace." So baptism is less about what we do and more about what God does in us.
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Recorded at Hudson UMC on January 10, 2016 (Originally published January 23, 2019)
S.D.G.
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
S6E37: Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Baptism of the Lord 2019)
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Sermon #317
For those of us who preach from the Lectionary, there is a danger of letting certain days on the church calendar become routine. But there is nothing routine about the Baptism of the Lord, which all four of the Gospel writers recorded for our benefit. Indeed, it is one of only a few events that is recorded in all four Gospels, and that alone should tell us that it is something extraordinary. On this Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we look at the baptism of Jesus and what His baptism says about ours - whether we were baptized as adults or children. And we are invited to remember our baptism and rejoice in knowing that God has loved us even before we knew Him.
Luke 3:15-22
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on January 13, 2019 (Originally published January 14, 2019)
S.D.G.
Monday Jan 10, 2022
S9E16: Well Pleased (Love Never Ends: Being the Body of Christ pt. 1)
Monday Jan 10, 2022
Monday Jan 10, 2022
Sermon #478
On Baptism of the Lord Sunday we commemorate both the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ and the remembrance of our own baptism into the body of Christ. And so we begin a new series for the season after Epiphany in which we will be examining the first letter of Paul to the church in Corinth to see what it means to be members of the body of Christ. Today, however, we are looking at Luke's account of the baptism of Jesus, and we see that in His baptism, Jesus identifies with sinners like us, and in our baptism, we identify with a righteous and holy Christ.
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Recorded at Hudson UMC on January 9, 2022
S.D.G.
Sunday Jan 09, 2022
Lectionary Readings for Baptism of the Lord, Year C
Sunday Jan 09, 2022
Sunday Jan 09, 2022
January 9, 2022
Old Testament: Isaiah 43:1-7
Psalter: Psalm 29
Epistle Lesson: Acts 8:14-17
Gospel Lesson: Luke 3:15-17,21-22
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.
Monday Jan 03, 2022
S9E15: Prophecy to the World (Looking Back, Looking Forward pt. 7)
Monday Jan 03, 2022
Monday Jan 03, 2022
Sermon #477
On Epiphany Sunday, we celebrate the revealing of Christ, not just to the Jews, but to the world. We commemorate the end of the 12 days of Christmas with the story of the wise men coming from the East to see the new born King of the Jews. What we find in today's text from Matthew, familiar though it may be, is that the actions of the religious people in Jerusalem belie their true heart. They had become accustomed to having Rome in power, and did not wish to shake their existence. And so, though the wise men go to Bethlehem, the priests and scribes stay behind in Jerusalem in their comfortable lives. We can be like that as well. And so on this first Sunday of the year we also reaffirm our covenant with God as Methodists, to dedicate our lives to God completely and without reservation.
Matthew 2:1-12
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on January 2, 2022
S.D.G.
Sunday Jan 02, 2022
Lectionary Readings for Epiphany Sunday, Year C
Sunday Jan 02, 2022
Sunday Jan 02, 2022
January 2, 2022
Old Testament: Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalter: Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 3:1-12
Gospel Lesson: Matthew 2:1-12
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.