Guerrilla Christianity

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

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S.D.G.

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)

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S.D.G.

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.

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.

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.

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

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S.D.G.

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.

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.

Sermon #331

Palm Sunday holds a certain tension for those of us who know the full story.  On the one hand, we come celebrating Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  On the other, we know deep down that the same voices crying "Hosanna!" on Sunday will be crying "Crucify him!" come Friday.  We can be like that, too.  We can come praising God on Sunday and the next day (or even that afternoon) go back to living the way of the world.  This Palm Sunday, we find ourselves preparing our hearts and minds for Holy Week - for the Passion, the Cross... and ultimately, the empty tomb.

Luke 19:28-40

Recorded at Hudson UMC on April 14, 2019 (Originally published April 17, 2019)

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S.D.G.

Sermon #492

We conclude our series titled "Gathered Up in Jesus" on the day we observe called Palm/Passion Sunday.  It is very easy to get caught up in the pagentry and the victory of Palm Sunday, to see Jesus' triumphal entry through the eyes of his disciples, and to immediately want to get to the empty tomb, but that is a mistake.  Without the bad news, the good news doesn't seem very good.  We must take time to gaze upon our Lord on the cross as he bore our sins.  We cannot fully appreciate our salvation without the full realization of the cup of God's wrath that Jesus drained to the dregs for our sakes.  Jesus understood fully well the moment that he was heading toward and the horrible things that would be done to him by week's end, and yet he went willingly, driven by God's agape love to restore our world and rescue us from our sin.  

Luke 19:28-40

Recorded at Hudson UMC on April 10, 2022

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S.D.G.