Guerrilla Christianity

Sermon #604 We've been learning about agape which is a transcendent and perfect Godly love. While 1 Corinthians 13 may be known as the "Love Chapter" of the Bible, this chapter before us uses the word "agape" in some form 29 times. That's over 1/5 of all the uses in the entire New Testament. And if John is using the word so frequently, we ought to look to see what John is saying. In this 15-verse passage, John shows us how agape comes from God, how we can know God through agape, and how we can know we are saved because of God's agape love in us. Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on April 28, 2024 Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #444 When we claim victory over something or someone, we are establishing complete dominance over that thing or person. Just as the allied forces claimed victory over Germany and Italy on May 8, 1945, so Jesus also claimed victory over sin and death in the resurrection. And we who confess that Jesus Christ is the very Son of God can also claim that victory. By allying ourselves with the victor, we also become with Jesus the sons and daughters of God, reborn as it were in the Spirit of God. 1 John 5:1-6 Recorded at Hudson UMC on May 9, 2021 (Originally published May 21, 2021) Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

May 5, 2024 First Lesson: Acts 10:44-48 Psalter: Psalm 98 Epistle Lesson: 1 John 5:1-6 Gospel Lesson: John 15:9-17 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 #603 I saw a meme on Facebook this week that put forth the notion that religion is defined by what we hate. Yet if we learn anything from John's first epistle, it is that the central theme of Christianity is love, and not just any kind of love, but agape love. The word "agape" means a higher form of love, a godly love, a transcendent love that is sacrificial and puts others before us. And so Jesus commands us to love God, to love one another, to love our neighbor, even to love our enemies. But do we see that in the world? Is the aforementioned meme that far off from what is portrayed in the media concerning Christianity? If we are to truly be followers of Christ we need to let our love be on full display both by what we do and by what we say - in other words, in our deeds and in the truth. Recorded at Hudson UMC on April 21, 2024 Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #602 It's often been said that we are all children of God, every one of us in humanity's fold. But this simply isn't true. John's gospel tells us that to those who receive Jesus, who believe on his name, God gave the right to become sons and daughters. So how can we know if we are truly regenerated, reborn into the family of God, adopted as sons and daughters of God? It is through our association with God's attributes, especially his righteousness. Apart from Christ we cannot practice righteousness, but only practice sin. But once we are adopted, we practice righteousness, though we may still fall to sin. We wonder if we have lost our salvation because we dip our toes into the pool of unrighteousness, but God's word assures us that it's those who practice lawlessness as a general rule that are lost. 1 John 2:28-3:10 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on April 14, 2024 Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #443 The Greek word "agape" describes a higher form of love. It is a love that is completely selfless and giving, expecting nothing in return, and it is the kind of love that God shows to us in Jesus Christ. Since agape is a Godly form of love, it stands to reason that the world at large does not and cannot conceptualize this kind of love. Homer used the word only ten times in his writings; Euripides only thrice. Yet the word "agape" appears in the New Testament 320 times, and 27 times it appears in this short passage from John's letter. It seems important to the apostles and to Jesus, and so agape ought to be important to contemporary followers of Christ as well. 1 John 4:7-21 Recorded at Ebenezer UMC on May 2, 2021 (Originally published May 17, 2021) Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #442 Those who experienced the resurrection first-hand (the apostles, and the many eyewitnesses to Jesus' resurrection as reported by Paul) had a certain boldness to their evangelism. After all, they had seen the resurrected Jesus in the flesh. We who have received their eyewitness accounts can also experience this boldness when it comes to conviction of sin. While the Spirit within us convicts us of sin when we give into temptation, God's Spirit never condemns us - that condemnation was poured out on Jesus at the cross in our place. So we have boldness before God because our hearts do not condemn us. This is what John teaches us in his letter today. 1 John 3:16-24 Recorded at Hudson UMC on April 25, 2021 (Originally published on May 4, 2021) Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

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.

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) Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

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 Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

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) Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

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.

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.

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 Watch on YouTube 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 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.

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.

March 26, 2024 Old Testament: Isaiah 49:1-7 Psalter: Psalm 71:1-14 Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Gospel Lesson: John 12:20-36 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.

March 25, 2024 Old Testament: Isaiah 42:1-9 Psalter: Psalm 36:5-11 Epistle Lesson: Hebrews 9:11-15 Gospel Lesson: John 12:1-11 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.

Sermon #598 When we look at the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, we find a story that we know very well. After all, we celebrate Palm Sunday every year; ever since we were kids in Sunday School we learned about how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people threw their cloaks and palm branches at his feet, crying "Hosanna!" But it's that word, Hosanna, which always confused me as a child. I thought it was a cry of praise for Jesus the conquering king. But it is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words "yosa 'ana" which means "Save now, we beseech you!" The people were crying out to be saved, and Jesus came to do just that... But not how the people expected. Psalm 118 Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 24, 2024 Watch on YouTube S.D.G.

Sermon #437 Like so many other stories in the Bible, the account of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem is so familiar to us that we might just gloss over it's deeper meaning. What we see in these eleven brief verses in Mark's gospel is that Jesus is who he says he is - the very Son of God, God of very God, and complete and utter master over time and space. And what we might deem as human failure after such a great victory, God considered to be the ultimate victory over sin and death. This Palm Sunday I pray that you will hear these words anew and learn from God's Spirit as we celebrate God's coming kingdom. Mark 11:1-11 Recorded at Hudson UMC on March 28, 2021 (Originally published March 31, 2021) View on YouTube S.D.G.