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An Unconventional, No-Apologies Exposition of God’s Grace from an Evangelical-Methodist Point of View
Episodes
Thursday Mar 30, 2023
Thursday Mar 30, 2023
Sermon #385
Psalm 130 is a song of ascents, which means the Jewish pilgrims would sing it to themselves and to each other as they went up the mountain to the temple in Jerusalem. It is a song that is meant to keep our eyes fixed upon God, and what is it that this song tells us about God and His relationship with us? We are sinners, and our state is hopeless without the forgiveness of God. But we have hope in God's word, the promise that he has redeemed and he will redeem again. And we have this assurance in God's steadfast nature. It is a psalm of hope and assurance, and a reminder of the greatness of God's grace.
Psalm 130
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 29, 2020 (Originally published on March 30, 2020)
S.D.G.
Monday Mar 27, 2023
Monday Mar 27, 2023
Sermon #49
The account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is a familiar story, and like all such stories it may be easy to miss the important details. Once again we see that Jesus performs a miracle for the purpose of demonstrating who he is and so that God would be glorified. But there is something promising in his "I am" statement: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." (John 11:25-26) Though spoken to Martha, the sister of Lazarus, this promise is for us as well. Everyone, Jesus said, everyone who believes in him, though they die, yet shall they live. Our life in Christ is like this. We are dead in our sins, yet an encounter with Jesus raises us to newness of life. It's what we call being born again. And with it is the promise of eternal life as promised in John 3:16.
John 11:1-45
Recorded at Hudson UMC on April 6, 2014 (Originally published April 3, 2020)
Watch the scene from "The Greatest Story Ever Told"
S.D.G.
Sunday Mar 26, 2023
Sunday Mar 26, 2023
Sermon #217
Psalm 110 is a truly remarkable song among the Jewish book of songs, in particular because from it is quoted passages in the New Testament more often than any other passage of scripture in the Old Testament. It is a song of praise for a king, but specifically points to the coming Messiah which will deliver his people Israel. Jesus himself pointed to this Psalm, written by King David, as evidence that he, the Christ, was greater than David because he came before him. What else can we learn about the nature of Jesus the Christ from this prophetic and messianic Psalm?
Psalm 110
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on April 2, 2017 (originally published April 1, 2020)
Buy the companion DVD and other resources for A Journey Through Lent
S.D.G.
Sunday Mar 26, 2023
Sunday Mar 26, 2023
March 26, 2023
Old Testament: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalter: Psalm 130
Epistle Lesson: Romans 8:6-11
Gospel Lesson: John 11:1-45
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 Mar 24, 2023
Friday Mar 24, 2023
Sermon #384
The Shepherd's Psalm is one of the best-known and most-memorized passages of scripture apart from the Lord's Prayer, and like the Lord's Prayer, we mostly know it from the King James Version. We also primarily know it as a prayer from funerals, and for when we are in imminent ang grave danger. The risk in expositing such a well-known passage of scripture is the potential to miss something. Today as we examine the 23rd Psalm, we find that the nature of God and His relationship with us is revealed inthe picture of a shepherd watching over his flock. David, the shepherd King of Israel, knew more about being a shepherd than most of us, and the picture he paints of God as our shepherd is one where God provides for us, guides us, and protects us from eternal dangers. In this crisis of the coronavirus outbreak, it is well worsh our time to give this Psalm a second look.
Psalm 23
Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 22, 2020 (Originally published March 23, 2020)
S.D.G.
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Sermon #48
Why do good things happen to bad people? Why do bad things happen to good people? These are some of the questions that confound people, believers and non-believers alike. What we see in the account of Jesus' healing of a man born blind is that God can use both good situations and bad for the benefit of those who love him, and for his own glory. Every healing Jesus performed resulted in the glorification of God the Father, and this blindness, we are told, is so that God would be glorified. Trouble is, the religious people of the day were themselves so blind that they couldn't see the glory of God in this miracle. Could we fall into that same trap today?
This message was preached originally during Lent of 2014, but its message is pertinent to us today, when there are so many people asking if we are being punished for our sin by COVID-19. What does God's word tell us about the nature of suffering, and what is God's response to it?
John 9:1-41
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 30, 2014 (Originally published March 27, 2020)
S.D.G.
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Sermon #542
As Christians, we are called to be light in a world of darkness. In Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus, he encourages the believers there to be light, so that those in darkness will come to the light of God in Christ. Now, we can't perfectly be light all the time, but with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, increasingly we become more and more Christlike. And that is what it means to be Christian - the word means "little Christ," and from the beginning it has been understood by believers and pagans alike that we are to live our lives as Christ's representation in the world.
Ephesians 5:8-14
Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 19, 2023
S.D.G.
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Sermon #541
As we come to Romans chapter 5 we are faced with a harsh reality, that before we came to Christ we were at war with God. Jesus said those who are not for me are against me. There are no passive spectators in the war between God and the world of darkness and sin. Yet what is demonstrated in His grace is the infinite height, depth, and breadth of God's love - that while we were still sinners, while we were actively opposed to God and warring with Him, Christ died for us, for the ungodly. That is a remarkable statement, and it is one of my favorite verses in all of scripture (Romans 5:8). It fully encapsulates the reality of the good news, that we are sinners in need of God's grace, and that He supplies all that we need.
Romans 5:1-11
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 12, 2023
S.D.G.
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
Sermon #216
We as a society are infatuated with celebrity, to the point that when we see someone famous we tend to get... well, giddy. But when is the last time we were giddy over being in the presence of God? Psalm 98 is a song of praise - one of the "royal" psalms that exalts God in his kingship, and the words of the psalm are positively giddy. How can we get back to that place where our giddiness over God causes us to gush in worship? By remembering God for the deliverance he gave us in the past, by acknowledging his present reign, and by looking to the future judgment he will bring.
Psalm 98
Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 26, 2017 (Originally published March 25, 2020)
Buy the companion DVD and other resources for A Journey Through Lent
S.D.G.
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
March 19, 2023
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalter: Psalm 23
Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 5:8-14
Gospel Lesson: John 9:1-41
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.