Guerrilla Christianity

S10E37: The Free Gift (Reconciled to God pt. 2)

Sermon #539

When someone offers you a gift, what do you do?  You thank them and hopefully appreciate the gift and the thought behind it.  What if it is an extravagant gift, one that is extremely valuable?  Sometimes the temptation is there to say, "What do I owe you for this?"  But if the gift is given in love, there is no obligation, no strings attached.  That is how God's gift of grace in Jesus Christ is described in the Bible.  In fact, it is called a "free gift" for a reason - it is offered without price, although it cost a great deal, and it is given in love with no obligation, and all we need to do is to receive it.  In the Epistle to the Romans today, we see how the curse of sin, brought into the world by one man (Adam), was reversed by a single act of righteousness by one man, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:12-21

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on February 26, 2023

S.D.G.

S1E16: Renounce (Lent 2014)

Sermon #46

Renounce. It's not a word we use very often. It means to give up or put aside voluntarily. Today as we look at the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, we reflect on what it means to renounce worldly things for a relationship with God. So grab your Bible, open it to Matthew chapter 4, and join us as we look at how God calls us to "Renounce."

Matthew 4:1-11

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 9, 2014 (Originally published May 8, 2014)

S.D.G.

S7E24: Prayer of Seeking (A Journey Through Lent pt. 2)

Sermon #213

Fear. It's what drives us. It's what motivates us to action. The ancient Greek response to fear is not to get to attached to things or people. The modern humanist perspective is that we should get over our fear, conquer our fear. The Biblical response to fear is what we see in the Psalm today. David, facing enemies behind him and in front of him cried out to God to deliver him from his fear. Fear can be healthy, but it can also be crippling, and so David's prayer is one we can use to arise from our fear into a place of faith, the antithesis of fear.

By the way, I just wanted to make a note about the quality of this recording. This recording was originally saved but unprocessed (I never listened to it), and when I went to put it together for the podcast, it turns out that both this recording and the one from Ebenezer had a lot of scratchy noise and I have no idea what it is. Being that this was a Communion Sunday, I am guessing that the microphone was behind my alb (I also used to keep it behind my tie but this time it may not have been). Rest assured I was not holding a newspaper the entire time. But the message is there so focus on that.

Psalm 34

Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 5, 2017 (First published March 6, 2020)

S.D.G.

Lectionary Readings for First Sunday in Lent, Year A

February 26, 2023

Old Testament: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7

Psalter: Psalm 32

Epistle Lesson: Romans 5:12-19

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 4:1-11

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.

S7E21: Ash Wednesday (Selah - Life in a Minor Key pt. 1)

Sermon #380

The season of Lent is upon us, and with it comes a new series based on the Psalms. The word "selah," as we have explored in the past, is a Hebrew word that most scholars believe means "pause, and reflect on what you just heard." Last week God told Peter, James, and John to listen to Christ, and so we are pausing to listen to what God is saying to us.

Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent. It is a somber and solemn reminder of the sin that separates us from a holy God, the sin that sent Jesus Christ to the cross. Though we lament our sin with fasting and mourning, we mark our sorrow with the ashes of repentance, and we are reminded in scripture that God's grace is greater than our sin, and that the promise of repentance is the promise of restoration in Jesus Christ. Today we look at the words of Psalm 51, which is David's outpouring of repentance after his grave sin in 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12. This Ash Wednesday, we invite you to reflect upon your sin, repent, and trust in the Lord Jesus for your salvation.

Psalm 51:1-17 (2 Samuel 11-12)

Recorded at Hudson UMC on February 26, 2020 (Originally published February 28, 2020)

S.D.G.

S10E36: The Righteousness of God (Reconciled to God pt. 1)

Sermon #538

For the season of Lent 2023, we will be looking at what it means to be reconciled to God.  Throughout this Lenten journey, we will be looking at Paul's writings as they pertain to our journey of faith in Christ.  In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul tells the church in Corinth to "Be reconciled to God."  The ministry of reconciliation has been given to the church by our head, Jesus Christ, whose ministry of reconciliation brought us to God the Father.  Now it is upon us to be light in a world of darkness and sin.  On this Ash Wednesday, we see how Jesus bore our sin on the cross and imparts to us his righteousness through faith and repentance.  

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Recorded at Hudson UMC on February 22, 2023

S.D.G.

S7E23: Preparation (A Journey Through Lent pt. 1)

Sermon #212

In this season of Lent (2020), I would like to present to you some of my unpublished sermons from years gone by. And since this year I am preaching through the Psalms during Lent in a series called "Selah - Life in a Minor Key," I want to go back to 2017 when I preached through a series of Psalms using Tim Keller's book, "A Journey Through Lent," which our Ministerium was also presenting as a Wednesday night Bible study. As with other sermons that I appropriated using other peoples' format, I made the series my own and preached from the Psalm of the week guided by the Holy Spirit and what He was showing me. So to kick off this series, which will be presented in parallel with our current series, we are going back to March 1, 2017, which was Ash Wednesday, and we are beginning with "Preparation." We prepare for renewal. We prepare for relationship. We prepare for resurrection.

Matthew 6:1-6,16-18

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 1, 2017 (Originally published March 5, 2020)

S.D.G.

Lectionary Readings for Ash Wednesday

March 2, 2022

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.

S10E35: A New Vision (All Things New pt. 8)

Sermon #537

In the conclusion to our "All Things New" series, we are taken with Peter, James, and John up a high mountain to see a new vision of God.  Here Jesus has been walking with the disciples, and although Peter had declared just six days prior that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, the disciples may have still had some confusion over who this Jesus was in their midst.  And so they see him transfigured in all his resplendant glory for the first time.  It was an event so earth-shattering that all three of the Synoptic Gospels record the events in perfect detail, and both Peter and John refer to it in their writings as well.  What can we know about Christ in this new vision?  That he is no mere man but that he is the second person of the Trinity - Jesus is God.

Matthew 17:1-9

Recorded at Hudson UMC on February 19, 2023

S.D.G.

S4E27: Shine! (The Great Invitation pt. 8)

Sermon #211

We come to Transfiguration Sunday and the end of our Great Invitation series. All along the way we have been challenged to obey the command of Christ to go make disciples of all nations... but have we? And if not, is there any reason that we ought to obey the word of Christ? We find out in today's episode.

Matthew 17:1-9

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on February 26, 2017 (First published March 15, 2017)

S.D.G.