Guerrilla Christianity

S6E47: Raised in Glory (Epiphany 2019)

Sermon #323

Having established 1. that Jesus Christ has been resurrected, and 2. that there is a resurrection, Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 now turns to the topic of what our resurrected bodies will look like.  He uses the example of a seed to show that what is sown is not what grows.  In other words, we cannot know from the appearance of a seed what the tree that grows from it will look like.  In the same way, all of what our resurrection bodies will look like is contained in our bodies, but we can also look at Jesus' resurrected body to know what we will be on that last day.  

1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50

Recorded at Hudson UMC on February 24, 2019 (Originally published March 4, 2019)

S.D.G.

S9E25: Raised in Glory (Love Never Ends: Being the Body of Christ pt. 7)

Sermon #484

Now we come to the question of what our resurrected bodies will look like.  Paul brings us methodically through the image of a seed which dies and is planted in the ground, but then grows into a plant that is different from the seed itself, yet identical in substance.  He goes on to say that we are the same.  We start as seeds bearing the image of our earthly father Adam, from whom we inherit sin and death.  But then we die to self and are raised in the glory of our spiritual father, Christ, and so inherit righeousness and everlasting life.  The church as a body of Christ is the same, taking on the attributes of Christ in our members and so bearing the fruit of Christ's Spirit living in us.

1 Corinthians 15:35-50

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on February 20, 2022

S.D.G.

Lectionary Readings for Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Year C

February 20, 2022

Old Testament: Genesis 45:3-11,15

Psalter: Psalm 37:1-11,39-40

Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50

Gospel Lesson: Luke 6:27-38

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.

S6E46: Raised from the Dead (Epiphany 2019)

Sermon #322

What does the resurrection of Jesus mean for Christians today?  For some, the idea of unexplained phenomena (ooften called "miracles") don't fit in with our 21st century scientific sendibility.  For others, it's just something to remember once a year at Easter (alongside eating the ears off chocolate bunnies).  But in the text from 1 Corinthians 15 we find Paul arguing that if we don't believe in the resurrection, our very faith is entirely hopeless.  In other words, the resurrection isn't just another thing to believe about Jesus, it is THE thing we MUST believe about Jesus, and we are going to look at the resurrection with a critical eye and determine if it is truly worth believing in.

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on February 17, 2019 (Originally published February 20, 2019)

S.D.G.

S9E24: The First Fruits (Love Never Ends: Being the Body of Christ pt. 6)

Sermon #483

In Paul's time, people in the church in Corinth had some confused ideas about the theology of Christ (Christology).  Some of these ideas may have been influenced by the predominant schools of Jewish thought of the day - particularly the Sadducees and the Pharisees (of which Paul was one).  The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection of the dead, and so Paul countered this flawed theology by presenting an argument thusly: If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ was not resurrected; and if Christ was not resurrected, we are still in our sins.  This bad theology, which grew into outright heresy in the time of Arius and the Council of Nicaea, continues today even among some prominent church leaders, despite church doctrine to the contrary.  But is it really necessary to believe in the resurrection of Christ?  Paul argues emphatically yes - and I agree with him.

1 Corinthians 15:12-28

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on February 13, 2022

S.D.G.

Lectionary Readings for Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C

February 13, 2022

Old Testament: Jeremiah 17:5-10

Psalter: Psalm 1

Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Gospel Lesson: Luke 6:17-26

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.

S9E23: Hold Firmly (Love Never Ends: Being the Body of Christ pt. 5)

Sermon #482

We've been looking at what it means to be the body of Christ.  We started by observing the baptism of Christ and remembering our own baptism, the start of our membership in the body.  We turned our attention to the letter Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, and we began by looking at the spiritual gifts we are given to edify and build up the body.  Last time we looked at Agape, the godly form of love that is impossible to attain apart from the Spirit of God living in us.  Today we return to our roots as Christians.  What is the common ground for all members of the body?  What is it that brought us to the body?  It is the proclamation of the gospel.  And in our post-modern era, we find it more and more difficult to share the good news to a world that is increasingly ambivalent toward Christianity as a religion.  But as we will see, it is our duty and imperative to preach the gospel, not just with our lives, but with our words.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Recorded at Hudson UMC on February 6, 2022

S.D.G.

Lectionary Readings for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C

February 6, 2022

Old Testament: Isaiah 6:1-13

Psalter: Psalm 138

Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Gospel Lesson: Luke 5:1-11

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.

S6E44: Great News... For Them? (First Things First pt. 4)

Sermon #152

After Jesus' first sermon in his hometown synagogue, the people were at first amazed, then irate that he would not do the miracles in Nazareth that they heard about in the surrounding country.  Jesus reminded them that God's kingdom extends beyond the borders of Israel - in fact is borderless - and that in times past non-Jews had received grace that God withheld from the Jews.  Though the context is difficult to understand today, the sentiment is the same.  We often look around and think that there are others who are far less deserving than us.  Yet God loves all of his creation and called it very good in the beginning.  Why should we feel sole ownership over the gospel?

Text: Luke 14:21-36

Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on January 31, 2016 (Originally published February 8, 2019)

S6E42: The Greatest Love (Epiphany 2019)

Sermon #320

Those of us in English-speaking countries throw the word "love" around a lot.  I love this movie.  I love that burger.  I love my country.  But we also allow the dilution of the word to creep into our vocabulary in the church.  Love is love.  Love trumps all.  From 1 Corinthians 13 we learn that the love we often talk about is not the love that Jesus commanded us to have for each other, or the kind of love that is held up as the greatest love.  The greatest love of all is not learning to love yourself, as Whitney Houston sang.  Rather it is to love others before myself, and to do so sacrificially, the way God modelled love on the cross of Christ.

Recorded at Hudson UMC on February 3, 2019 (Originally published February 4, 2019)

S.D.G.