Episodes
2 days ago
2 days ago
Sermon #597
People often say it is impossible to know if there is a God, and if there is one, it is impossible to know anything about Him. Two weeks ago we looked at the difference between General Revelation - the existence of God revealed in creation - and Special Revelation - God's specific attributes revealed in the inspired word of God, the Bible. This week we dive deeper into how we can know God by reading His word. God's word reveals to us as much about ourselves as it does about Him, and if we truly love God we will desire to know Him more, and we can know Him more by reading about Him in the Bible. The question and challenge for us today is, how much time are you spending in God's word, and what is keeping you from reading the Bible, when it is God's revelation to us about Himself?
Psalm 119:9-16
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 17, 2024
S.D.G.
Monday Mar 11, 2024
S11E36: Our Testimony of Salvation (Draw Near to God pt. 5)
Monday Mar 11, 2024
Monday Mar 11, 2024
Sermon #596
What is your testimony? The stories we tell others, particularly to non-believers, about how we were saved by God's grace are powerful in that they are undisputable. They are OUR stories, and we lived them. In today's reading in Psalms, we encounter four stories of how God rescued the people of Israel when they humbled themselves and repented, calling out to Him. We see how our salvation is not dependent upon our faith in God, but that our faith in God stems from the grace we receive from him (as per Ephesians 2:8-9). And so we find our stories in these four testimonies, and we learn how we can likewise share our stories with others - that we were brought low by sin, that we cried out to God, and He delivered us, and now we praise Him in every aspect of our lives.
Psalm 107
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 10, 2024
S.D.G.
Sunday Mar 10, 2024
S8E47: Looking to the Cross (Journey to the Cross pt. 5)
Sunday Mar 10, 2024
Sunday Mar 10, 2024
Sermon #435
There is an odd story in the book of Numbers that involves venomous snakes biting the people (sent as a judgment by God for their disobedience). Instead of removing the snakes, God instructs Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole so that anyone who is bitten by a venomous snake can look at it and live. Jesus tells us in John chapter 3 that the bronze serpent is a type of the cross, meaning that God was pointing to Jesus on the cross in that moment. So what can we learn about the cross from that story? We will be looking at that and more in today's message in our Lenten series, Journey to the Cross.
John 3:14-21 (Numbers 21:4-9)
Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 14, 2021 (Originally published on March 15, 2021)
S.D.G.
Sunday Mar 10, 2024
Lectionary Readings for Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year B
Sunday Mar 10, 2024
Sunday Mar 10, 2024
March 10, 2024
Old Testament: Numbers 21:4-9
Psalter: Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 2:1-10
Gospel Lesson: John 3:14-21
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.
Friday Mar 08, 2024
S2E45: What's Wrong Here? (Lent 2015)
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Sermon #104
This week as we continue our Lenten journey we encounter a Jesus that we don't often see or even want to think about. Jesus' righteous indignation at the Temple moneychangers and merchants was justified, but what was he really angry about? We take a deeper look into the practice of sacrifice and why the moneychangers were necessary, and perhaps uncover some of the reason Jesus drove them out of the temple. It's a powerful image that can help us understand our relationship with God today. So Grab your Bible, turn it to John chapter 2, and prepare your heart and mind as we ask the question, "What's wrong here?"
John 2:13-22
Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 8, 2015 (Originally published April 13, 2015)
S.D.G.
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
S11E35: His Glory Revealed (Draw Near to God pt. 4)
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Wednesday Mar 06, 2024
Sermon #595
Psalm 19 is a gorgeous song that declares the glory of God in two ways. First, it informs us that God's glory is revealed in his creation. When we look at creation we can see the hand of God at work and we can know that he is greater than his creation. Second, the psalmist informs us that God's glory is revealed more completely in his holy word - in the Law of the Lord. Though we sinful creatures may imagine that God's law is somehow imposed upon us by a controling and unloving deity, the truth is that the law is there for our benefit, and ultimately for his glory.
Psalm 19
Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 3, 2024
S.D.G.
Sunday Mar 03, 2024
S8E46: The Message of the Cross (Journey to the Cross pt. 4)
Sunday Mar 03, 2024
Sunday Mar 03, 2024
Sermon #434
We can sometimes find ourselves frustrated when sharing the gospel with our friends and neighbors. We wonder to ourselves, why don't they get it? After all, we get it! But Paul reminds us in his letter to the church in Corinth that those who are unsaved simply cannot understand the gospel, because it is foolishness to them. In fact, it takes a move of the Spirit for us to finally understand what it means that we were sinners and deserving of God's wrath, but God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die the death we deserve, so that we may live forever in His name. To the world it's nonsense. To those of us who are saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 7, 2021 (Originally published March 8, 2021)
S.D.G.
Sunday Mar 03, 2024
Lectionary Readings for Third Sunday in Lent, Year B
Sunday Mar 03, 2024
Sunday Mar 03, 2024
March 3, 2024
Old Testament: Exodus 20:1-17
Psalter: Psalm 19
Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Gospel Lesson: John 2:13-22
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 Feb 29, 2024
S2E44: Our Misdirected Hearts (Lent 2015)
Thursday Feb 29, 2024
Thursday Feb 29, 2024
Sermon #103
Jesus told us that we are to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow him. In this day and age, however, we are so far removed from crucifixion as a means of execution that we don't fully understand the weight of his words. Today we take an in-depth look at what it means to deny ourselves, and why we need to take up our cross - our instrument of execution - daily. So grab your Bible, turn it to Mark chapter 8, and prepare your heart and mind as we examine our misdirected hearts.
Mark 8:31-38
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on March 1, 2015 (Originally published March 9, 2015)
S.D.G.
Monday Feb 26, 2024
S11E34: A Cry for Help (Draw Near to God pt. 3)
Monday Feb 26, 2024
Monday Feb 26, 2024
Sermon #594
In today's lectionary we find Psalm 22, verses 23 to 31. But if that is all we read of this psalm we might be tempted to think that it is merely a song of praise. Yet it is so much greater than that. Reading through the entirety of the psalm reveals that it is a prophetic psalm that David wrote looking forward to the crucifixion of Christ. But more than that, despite its overtures of utter desperation and complete hopelessness, it is a song of ultimate deliverance, and it makes the verses of praise at the end of the psalm that much sweeter. God hears us when we cry out to him for help. He may not answer in the timing that we want, but it is God's perfect timing. And his deliverance invokes in us a sweet cry of praise and adoration.
Psalm 22
Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on February 25, 2024
S.D.G.