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An Unconventional, No-Apologies Exposition of God’s Grace from an Evangelical-Methodist Point of View
Episodes
Sunday Apr 21, 2024
Sunday Apr 21, 2024
April 21, 2024
First Lesson: Acts 4:5-12
Psalter: Psalm 23
Epistle Lesson: 1 John 3:16-24
Gospel Lesson: John 10:11-18
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 18, 2024
Thursday Apr 18, 2024
Sermon #439
As Christians we have a temptation to say that we ought not to mourn in times of sadness. Yet there is much biblical evidence that mourning is a proper response to sad events, such as the death of a loved one. The disciples, who heard Jesus' teaching about his own death and resurrection, still mourned when he was killed on the cross. But their mourning was turned to joy when they encountered the risen Christ. What we see in today's teaching from Easter Sunday 2021 is that Christ turns our mourning to joy when he speaks our name.
John 20:1-18
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on April 4, 2021 (Originally published on April 8, 2021)
S.D.G.
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Sermon #601
We're beginning a new series for the season of Easter based in the first general epistle of John. The purpose of John's letter was to dispute the twin heresies of Docetism and Gnosticism that was rising in the First Century church. Using statements that contrast dark and light, righteousness and sin, John systematically presents a case that shows that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all (1:5). He also addresses the Gnostic assertion that some secret knowledge is required for salvation, saying that all that is necessary is repentance and faith. He assures his readers that when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all iniquity (1:8). All this is made manifest in the work and person of Jesus Christ, the personification of God's love to the world. And the word that we use to describe this perfect love is the Greek word Agape. This will be the focus of our series and it is the message that we receive this day.
1 John 1:1-2:2
Recorded at Hudson UMC on April 7, 2024
S.D.G.
Sunday Apr 14, 2024
Sunday Apr 14, 2024
Sermon #441
What is hope? The worldly definition is that hope is a desire for something as yet unfulfilled. The Christian definition of hope is inextricably tied to the promises of God, that he has fulfilled those promises in the past and will fulfill them again in the future. That is our hope, and it was the hope of the early disciples who continued to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus because they had seen it with their own eyes. Their hope was in the past fulfillment of Jesus' words, that he must be betrayed, killed, and raised to life again on the third day. When that promise was fulfilled, their faith was solidified in the hope that his promise to prepare a place for us would likewise be realized.
1 John 3:1-7
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on April 18, 2021 (Originally published April 23, 2021)
S.D.G.
Sunday Apr 14, 2024
Sunday Apr 14, 2024
April 14, 2024
First Lesson: Acts 3:12-19
Psalter: Psalm 4
Epistle Lesson: 1 John 3:1-7
Gospel Lesson: Luke 24:36b-48
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 04, 2024
Thursday Apr 04, 2024
Sermon #438
Easter Sunday is the day when we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and so it seems fitting to focus on the resurrection of Jesus throughout the Easter Season. The resurrection is what gives our faith validity. Without the resurrection, Jesus was merely a good teacher (although how good could he be, since he claimed to be the Son of God?). The resurrection is the receipt for the debt that Jesus paid for us on the cross. It puts the final stamp of approval on his ministry, and proves to the world who he is - the second person of the Trinity and seated at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus' death and resurrection is the good news, and as Paul tells us in his letter to the church in Corinth, we can believe in the resurrection because there were so many eyewitnesses. Ours is indeed a faith based in evidence.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Recorded at Hudson UMC Cemetery on April 4, 2021 (Originally published on April 6, 2021)
View episode on YouTube
S.D.G.
Monday Apr 01, 2024
Monday Apr 01, 2024
Sermon #600
Why were Jesus' followers so willing to die for the truth of the resurrection? Why was the Christian Sabbath shifted from the seventh day to the first day of the week? Why did Paul insist that believing in the resurrection was of utmost importance? On this Easter Sunday (2024) we take a look at a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth in 54 AD, and he stresses that the knowledge of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the good news of the gospel, and by it we who are believers are being saved. It's not some throwaway doctrine that is unnecessary on this side of the Enlightenment, when many religious leaders are embarassed by the miracles of Jesus. The resurrection is THE paramount miracle of Jesus, that he died and rose again according to the scriptures, and in fact everything we believe about Jesus Christ depends on the truth of the resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 31, 2024
S.D.G.
Friday Mar 29, 2024
Friday Mar 29, 2024
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 Words 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 (2020) 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, we present to you the Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross.
1. “Father, forgive them…” Sermon #387
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” Sermon #51
April 18, 2014 – St. Paul’s UMC
3. “Behold your son…Behold your mother”
John 19:26-27
“The Heart of the Master” Sermon #161
March 25, 2016 – St. Paul’s UMC
4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46
“Forsaken” Sermon #219
April 14, 2017 – St. Paul’s UMC
5. “I Thirst.” Sermon #107
John 19:28
April 13, 2015 – St. Paul’s UMC
6. “It is finished.” Sermon #332
John 19:30
April 19, 2019 – New Hope UMC
7. “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit” Sermon #273
Luke 23:46
March 30, 2018 – New Hope UMC
Compiled on April 5, 2020 (originally published April 10, 2020)
S.D.G.
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
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 (Originally published April 9, 2020)
S.D.G.
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
March 27, 2024
Old Testament: Isaiah 40:4-9a
Psalter: Psalm 70
Epistle Lesson: Hebrews 12:1-3
Gospel Lesson: John 13:21-32
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.