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An Unconventional, No-Apologies Exposition of God’s Grace from an Evangelical-Methodist Point of View
Episodes
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
Sermon #334
Easter is a day when we celebrate the fact that Christ rose from the dead three days after being crucified for our sins. While we often focus on the promise of the empty tomb, some only observe the resurrection of our Lord without considering the reality of the cross. In today's message, we will see why, using the Old Testament model of atonement, both the cross and the empty tomb are required for the the complete deliverance of the sinner from his or her sin.
Luke 24:1-12
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on April 21, 2019 (Originally published April 26, 2019)
S.D.G.
Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
Sermon #494
For the season of Easter we are starting a new series called "We Are Witnesses" based on Acts 10:39, in which Peter tells the Cornelius and his family, "[W]e are witnesses of all that [Jesus] did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem." From Luke's account of the resurrection, we see how the women are witnesses to the disciples that Christ has been raised from the dead. We find that witnesses first of all see, hear, or experience something that others do not, and they also tell others what they know. A witness tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as per our legal parlance. So what is it that we know that others do not? What can we witness about Jesus and His love?
Luke 24:1-12
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on April 17, 2022
S.D.G.
Monday Apr 18, 2022
Monday Apr 18, 2022
Sermon #493
The Easter Sunrise service is my favorite service of the year, because it connects us in a tactile way to the women who went to the tomb early on the first day of the week, just as the sun was coming up. And we can identify with those grief-stricken women, having lost their Lord on the cross just two days before, and suddenly coming upon the stone that was rolled away on the mouth of the empty tomb. We can try to identify with what they were feeling. And we can wonder at the angels and at Jesus who asked Mary a simple question: "Why are you weeping?" It's not as if it is inappropriate for Christians to weep. The Bible tells us there is a time to weep and a time to laugh. But this was a time for celebration, not weeping, for as Mary soon found out, Christ was not in the tomb but he had risen indeed.
John 20:1-18
Recorded at Hudson UMC Cemetery on April 17, 2022
S.D.G.
Sunday Apr 17, 2022
Sunday Apr 17, 2022
Sermon #388
There is a lot of action in the Resurrection account from John's Gospel. First, the women arrive at the tomb to find it open, and they run to tell the disciples. Then John and Peter have a footrace to the tomb. John gets there first but doesn't go in. Peter goes in and sees the linen cloths. Then John goes in and sees it all. Then they return home, and in their absence Mary encounters the risen Christ, who tells her to go tell the other disciples, and she does. Eighteen verses packed with a lot of action, and we hear these words every year, but what truths can we glean from them this day? I ask the question, are you on the outside of the tomb, looking in? Or are you on the inside of the tomb, looking out? In other words, have you committed yourself to following Jesus? Have you repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus for your forgiveness? Or are you orbiting the faith wondering if it is true, if it is for you? If you are on the outside looking in, I invite you in. And if you are on the inside looking out, you are being sent to bring others to know that Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.
John 20:1-18
Recorded at Hudson UMC Cemetery (Easter Sunrise Service) on April 12, 2020 (Originally Published April 14, 2020)
S.D.G.
Sunday Apr 17, 2022
Sunday Apr 17, 2022
April 17, 2022
First Lesson: Acts 10:34-43
Psalter: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 15:19-26
Gospel Lesson (Easter): John 20:1-18
Gospel Lesson (Year C): Luke 24:1-12
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.
Friday Apr 15, 2022
Friday Apr 15, 2022
Each year on Good Friday, the churches of the Ministerium of Penns Grove, Carneys Point, and Pedricktown hold a joint worship service from Noon until 3 PM. The Seven Last Wods of Christ on the Cross are presented, with worship music and sermon messages for each word. Each year for the last six years I have participated in this service, and each year I have preached on a different word. This year was to be my seventh year, but because of the Coronavirus, the service was cancelled. And so, because I had already written the sermon, I recorded it... But I also decided to compile all seven of the messages into one podcast for Good Friday. And so, in the order below, I present to you the Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross.
1. “Father, forgive them…”
Luke 23:34
April 10, 2020 – Ebenezer UMC
2. “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:43
“The Tale of the Thief”
April 18, 2014 – St. Paul’s UMC
3. “Behold your son…Behold your mother”
John 19:26-27
“The Heart of the Master”
March 25, 2016 – St. Paul’s UMC
4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46
“Forsaken”
April 14, 2017 – St. Paul’s UMC
5. “I Thirst.”
John 19:28
April 13, 2015 – St. Paul’s UMC
6. “It is finished.”
John 19:30
April 19, 2019 – New Hope UMC
7. “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit”
Luke 23:46
March 30, 2018 – New Hope UMC
Compiled on April 5, 2020 (Originally published April 10, 2020)
S.D.G.
Friday Apr 15, 2022
Friday Apr 15, 2022
April 15, 2022
Old Testament: Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalter: Psalm 22
Epistle Lesson: Hebrews 10:16-25
Gospel Lesson: John 18:1-19:42
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.
Thursday Apr 14, 2022
Thursday Apr 14, 2022
Tenebrae is a Latin word that means "Darkness." The Tenebrae service is a reading of the Passion account from John's Gospel, broken down into 16 readings, and after each of the first fourteen readings a candle is extinguished until the entire sanctuary is clothed in darkness. This represents the light of Christ being extinguised on the cross, and it also represents the three hours of darkness that the people experienced as He hung on the cross. After the 15th reading, a loud noise is made, symbolizing the earthquake that occurred at the death of Jesus. It is a somber and solemn service of contemplation. We have attempted to recreate the service in its entirety here, and hope that you will be blessed in its re-enactment.
Entrance - Gathering
The Call to Worship:
God is light, in whom there is no darkness at all.
Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world,
and we loved darkness rather than light.
Hymn:
Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed (UMH #294)
Opening prayer:
Maundy Thursday (UMH #283)
The Passion of Jesus Christ
Sixteen readings, after each is extinguised one candle until the sanctuary is in "Darkness" (Latin: Tenebrae)
Sending Forth
Hymn:
Were You There (UMH #288)
Dismissal with Blessing
All depart in silence.
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on April 4, 2020
S.D.G.
Thursday Apr 14, 2022
Thursday Apr 14, 2022
April 14, 2022
Old Testament: Exodus 12:1-14
Psalter: Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel: John 13:1-17, 31b-35
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.
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Sermon #160
We are still in the midst of our Lenten series, based on Adam Hamilton's book 24 Hours that Changed the World. On this Palm Sunday, we find Jesus on the cross, which was literally the darkest moment in Christian history. The disciples were scattered, their Master was dead and laid in a tomb. Certainly this would be the end of all that Messiah nonsense, or so the religious leaders thought. Today we know that the crucifixion was not the end, but the beginning. But the first followers of Christ thought that it signalled the end of their movement and worse, potentially the end of their own lives.
Mark 15:25-39
Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 20, 2016 (Originally published March 28, 2016)
S.D.G.