Guerrilla Christianity

Sermon #431

This Lenten season we are going to be focused on the cross of Jesus Christ - what it meant to athe First Century Christians and what it means to us today.  For many of us, we don't appreciate the horror of the cross and what Jesus endured for our sakes.  But it is important to remember that Christ was afflicted for our sakes so that we could be reconciled to the Father.  In fact, Christ's sacrifice was a fulfillment of the Levitical laws of atonement that allowed the unclean to enter into God's presence cleansed.  This Ash Wednesday we invite you to join us as we begin our journey to the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Recorded at Hudson UMC on Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2021 (Originally published February 19, 2024)

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S.D.G.

 

 

February 14, 2024

Old Testament: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Psalter: Psalm 51:1-17

Epistle Lesson: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

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 #591

We conclude our brief Epiphany series on Transfiguration Sunday and we hear the words of God the Father as he declares to the disciples, "This is my beloved son; listen to him."  But what does it mean to listen to Christ?  Since 2007 there has been a movement among Christians called "Red-letter Christianity," which emphasizes the words that Christ spoke over all else.  This declaration might seem to affirm that theology, but in reality, the words of Christ carry the same weight as all the word of God, all 66 books of the Bible, which we understand is inspired (God-breathed) and inerrant (without contradiction or error).  Jesus, as the second Person of the Trinity, could not contradict scripture, and so we listen to him AS we listen to the rest of Scripture, because he carries the authority of the word of God in the flesh.

Mark 9:2-9

Recorded at Hudson UMC on February 11, 2024

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S.D.G.

Sermon #430

In the conclusion to our series, God with Us, we are looking at the Transfiguration of Jesus.  The Transfiguration marks the end of the season after Epiphany and points to the beginning of Lent which starts this coming Wednesday.  This event, which is recorded in three gospels plus Peter's second epistle, and alluded to in John's gospel, left an indellible mark on the three disciples who were there.  What we see from Mark's gospel is the point of view of Peter at the Transfiguration, and what we can learn is that when God shows up in the person of Jesus Christ, we must listen to him, and we can know with assurance that what he says is true. 

This sermon was recorded in the Hudson UMC parsonage on Valentine's day, 2021, as we in South Jersey had experienced an ice storm and the in-person service was closed.

Mark 9:2-9

Recorded at Hudson Parsonage on February 14, 2021 (Originally published February 15, 2021)

S.D.G.

 

February 11, 2024

Old Testament: 2 Kings 2:1-12

Psalter: Psalm 50:1-6

Epistle Lesson: 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Gospel Lesson: Mark 9:2-9

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 #264

This episode was recorded at Hudson UMC in 2018 but was never published.  We apologize for the poor sound quality.

Isaiah prophesied in Judah and Jerusalem at a time when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered and exiled by the Assyrian empire.  Isaiah's prophetic vision promised the same fate would befall Judah and Jerusalem if they did not discontinue their idol worship.  Ultimately, the southern kingdom of Judah would fall in 586 to the Babylonian empire.  Yet even before that occurred, God through Isaiah was promising restoration for those who are faithful to Him.  Our faith can be tested by our circumstances, but when we persist in our faith, God will carry us through.  God is not like idols made by men; he is powerful to save.

Recorded at Hudson UMC on February 4, 2018 (Previously unpublished)

S.D.G.

Sermon #590

As we continue to follow Christ in our Epiphany series, we see Jesus healing many and casting out many demons.  Then early in the morning, he goes out to pray.  It might surprise some to know that Jesus prayed to the Father.  Yet what we see in Jesus' model of prayer for us is that prayer, communication with the Father, was a priority for Christ.  He rose early in the morning to pray.  He got alone with God the Father.  He prayed before great ministry and after great spiritual victory.  In Jesus we see our Good Shepherd showing us how we are to pray, and we can learn much from him.  

Mark 1:29-39

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on February 4, 2024

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S.D.G.

Sermon #429

We are a society of instant gratification.  We see what we want, we desire it in our hearts, and we get it.  We are the Amazon Prime free overnight shipping give it to me now generation.  But these things that we acquire do not satisfy that deep longing in our souls.  The French mathemetician and theologian Blaise Pascal tells us that it is because we have an infinite void in us that can only be filled with the infinite - that is, God himself.  And Ecclesiastes tells us that God puts eternity in the heart of people.  So the thing that we are seeking is God.  Yet in today's lesson we will find that it is not so much us that are seeking Him, but God who seeks us.

Mark 1:29-39

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on February 7, 2021 (Originally published February 11, 2021)

S.D.G.

 

 

February 4, 2024

Old Testament: Isaiah 40:21-31

Psalter: Psalm 47:1-11, 20c

Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Gospel Lesson: Mark 1:29-39

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 #263

We are three weeks into our series "When God Speaks."  So listen up (Are You Listening?).  God has a clear message to us.  But now we come to an important instruction left to the people of Israel (and to us) about speaking in God's name.  When someone speaks in God's name, how do we know that it is really God's word?  Well in order to know that, we need to know the nature of God.  And so we hear a word from Moses in Deuteronomy, a dire warning for those who would speak in God's name and a good word for those who would receive it.

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Recorded at Hudson UMC on January 28, 2018 (Originally published February 17, 2018)

S.D.G.