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Episodes
An Unconventional, No-Apologies Exposition of God’s Grace from an Evangelical-Methodist Point of View
Episodes
Sunday Jul 21, 2024
Sunday Jul 21, 2024
July 21, 2024
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a
Psalter: Psalm 89:20-37
Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 2:11-22
Gospel Lesson: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
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 Jul 19, 2024
Friday Jul 19, 2024
Sermon #291
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 (Originally published September 17, 2018)
S.D.G.
Wednesday Jul 17, 2024
Wednesday Jul 17, 2024
Sermon #612
One of the primary motivating factors in life is, ironically, death, or rather the fear of death. The evolutionist would tell us that the two things that drive every species on the planet is the desire to survive and the desire to reproduce. In reality, God made us without death in the world, yet we brought death into the world when we separated ourselves from the Source of Life through sin. And so Jesus died our death for us, that we would live forever, and in dying, he put to death death itself. And since the sting of death has been removed from us, we can live our lives in peace knowing that God invites us to live with him for all eternity.
Hebrews 2:10-18
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on June 23, 2024
S.D.G.
Monday Jul 15, 2024
Monday Jul 15, 2024
Sermon #611
As the writer of Hebrews begins to unpack the Psalms to identify the extraordinary nature of the Son of God (who has not yet been named in the epistle), he reminds us that we ought to pay attention to what is said, lest we drift away in our faith. The language used suggests mooring a ship to a dock lest it slide past the safety of the harbor. In reality, we can rely upon what scripture says about Jesus, because God's word is sure and foundational. Though the writer of Hebrews is pointing to the Old Testament, these are glimpses of things that have not been obvious, until the complete message is revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 2:1-9
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on June 16, 2024
S.D.G.
Sunday Jul 14, 2024
Sunday Jul 14, 2024
July 14, 2024
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
Psalter: Psalm 24
Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel Lesson: Mark 6:14-29
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.
Sunday Jul 14, 2024
Sunday Jul 14, 2024
Sermon #453
What should worship look like? Nowadays Christians are divided in their desire to worship the Lord in certain ways. Some prefer high church; some prefer a less rigid but still traditional service with a choir and pipe organ. Some prefer gospel music; some prefer contemporary christian music. Some prefer no music at all. When it comes down to it, worship does not need to be a certain format in order to glorify God; all that is required is that God is at the center of our worship. If our worship doesn't glorify God and point our hearts to Him, then it is worship that is more about us and our desires than about God and his glory.
2 Samuel 6:1-19
Recorded at Hudson UMC on July 11, 2021 (Originally published October 11, 2021)
S.D.G.
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
Sermon #290
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 (Originally published September 14, 2018)
S.D.G.
Monday Jul 08, 2024
Monday Jul 08, 2024
Sermon #610
Having laid down some extraordinary claims about the Son of God, through whom God has spoken in these last days, the writer of Hebrews now turns to the Hebrew Scriptures - specifically the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament rendered in the Third Century B.C. - to make his case that Jesus (who thus far is unnamed in the epistle) is no ordinary man but the divine Son. He is superior to the prophets in that he is the Son of God himself, and he is superior to the angels who are ministering spirits and created beings. Through the Psalms and the words of Moses, the writer of Hebrews presents the case that this is the begotten Son of God and not a created being. In fact, the angels themselves are commanded to bow down to Him. Hence, there is something extra special in the message that He brings.
Hebrews 1:5-14
Recorded at Hudson UMC on June 9, 2024
S.D.G.
Sunday Jul 07, 2024
Sunday Jul 07, 2024
Sermon #452
On the day in which we celebrate our independence here in America (this message was recorded July 4, 2021), we reflect on the foundation of Israel as a united kingdom under David after the death of Saul and the conquest of Jerusalem. There are some parallels to our formation as a nation and Israel's. For one thing, the entire nation assented to David's kingship. In the same way, General George Washington was unanimously (69-0) elected our nation's first president. Both nations were established with the understanding that all things come from God. We see the three reasons that David was chosen as king - that he is one of the Israelites' brethren, a descendent of Abraham; that he is a warrior strong in battle; and that God chose him to be king. But it is this last reason that ought to be the first - and only - reason given.
2 Samuel 5:1-5,9-10
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on July 4, 2021 (Originally published September 27, 2021)
S.D.G.
Sunday Jul 07, 2024
Sunday Jul 07, 2024
July 7, 2024
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Psalter: Psalm 48
Epistle Lesson: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Gospel Lesson: Mark 6:1-13
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.