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Brad's Sermons |
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| Author: | Brad Miller | Created: | 10/30/2007 2:53 AM |  | | Archive of BCC Sermons by Brad |
| Sunday September 28, 2008 "Asking Too Much?" Ezekiel 18:25-32 and Psalm 25:1-12 | |
| By Brad Miller on9/29/2008 1:03 PM | |
| We don’t pay a lot of attention to the book of Ezekiel these days, but in the midst of this tumultuous time in our history, maybe we should.
Ezekiel was a prophet during the period when Jerusalem was overrun by the Babylonian armies, the city destroyed, the temple destroyed. It was a time when thousands upon thousands of Judeans were taken out of their beloved holy city and relegated to exile in Babylon. The raiding of Jerusalem and the temple took place in the year 597 B.C. and Ezekiel was one of those taken away into exile.
This was more than just an exile, however. It was a well calculated maneuver by the King of Babylon to make sure that it would be very difficult for Jerusalem to rebuild and Judea to rearm.
Here’s how it worked. The Babylonians didn’t just attack, destroy and leave a garrison or two to keep the order. They rounded up the best and the brightest of the Judeans and took them away, to Babylon, where they lived in exil ... |  | |
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| | Sunday September 21, 2008 "Our Polar Star" Ephesians 4:1-6 | |
| By Brad Miller on9/22/2008 1:45 PM | |
| For the past several weeks, we have been concentrating on an exploration of our faith heritage and traditions in this sermon series called “We Call Ourselves Disciples” and today we finish with this sermon called “Our Polar Star.”
In the previous 5 sermons, I have concentrated on different aspects of who we are and how we became, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Why is baptism by immersion celebrated? Why is the communion table open to all who come? What does it mean to our life together that we live in covenant with God and each other? Does that fact that we are a non-creedal church impact how we live our lives together? What role does the Bible play in our understanding of God’s revelation in the world?
Now, you may have noticed a thread running through all these topics, at least in some small way. When the founders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) have come to a place where a stand needed to taken, where decisions needed to be made ... | | |
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| | Sunday September 14, 2008 "We Call Ourselves Disciples: Gather Round the Table" 1 John 1:1-9 | |
| By Brad Miller on9/14/2008 11:09 PM | |
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As we continue our sermon series “We Call Ourselves Disciples: An Exploration of our Faith Heritage”, I can say with great certainty, that the most famous celebration of the Lord’s Supper in the history of this movement we call the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is one that never took place.
In 1809, Alexander Campbell was struggling mightily with issues of faith, the church and his role in it. He had been raised a strict Presbyterian, but had recently become acquainted with a Scottish pastor named Greville Ewing. Campbell attended small informal gatherings in Ewing’s home where any and all questions were freely and openly shared in lively discussions. Questions of how the church should organize itself, questions of interpretation of scriptures, questions about the nature of baptism and communion. It was a wonderfully freeing time for Alexander Campbell and set him on a lifelong effort to reform the church as he knew it and to restore the church to it’s origin ... | | |
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| | Sunday August 31, 2008 "A Covenant People" Genesis 17:1-9 and Acts 3:25-26 | |
| By Brad Miller on9/8/2008 1:38 PM | |
| The first covenant that I was aware of in my life came at the age of about 10 or 11. It took place, like so many important things in my life, in Barbeau, Michigan at the church camp my parents ran.
Those summers at Camp Conely were some of the most important and special times in my life. I loved seeing the campers come in each week…some new faces, some old friends. I loved the old trailer that we lived in back behind the lodge. I loved the food that the cooks, Mrs. Morrison and my mother cooked each day.
But what I especially loved, was that right down the river, my grandparents and my aunts and uncles on my mothers side all had cottages and every summer was one long family reunion.
I was especially close to my cousin Bryce, which is only natural, since he was born just 27 days after I was. We were close from the time we were infants, I am told, and those summers roaming the woods, fishing and playing together were the best.
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| | Sunday August 24, 2008 "The Cost of Baptism" John 1:19-29 | |
| By Brad Miller on8/25/2008 10:22 AM | |
| So, just what was John the Baptist doing?
I think the Pharisees had a logical question. What is this thing called “baptism” and what power did it hold over these people who had experienced it? If John wasn’t the messiah, then exactly what was he doing?
Baptism is seen as a uniquely Christian event by many, but it has it’s roots in Jewish tradition. Ritual cleansing baths were required before people could take part in certain ceremonies. The Assenes, a Jewish sect that lived in the desert surrounding the Dead Sea are one of those groups who believed in ritual baths as part of their spiritual disciplines. The Assenes were thought to be the orignators of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Qumran in Palestine in the late 1940’s and subsequent excavation has yielded much information about their daily lives and their faith practices. One of those was the use of a ritual bath, possibly as a prelude to every meal that they ate. The purpose of the daily baths is not ent ... | | |
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| | Sunday August 17, 2008: "We Call Ourselves Disciples: People of the Book" 2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5 | |
| By Brad Miller on8/18/2008 12:47 PM | |
| When Paul wrote the words to Timothy that we just heard, he might just as well have been writing to us. It is powerful advice that Paul passes on, and it is advice that can benefit us, just as it surely benefited Timothy those many, many years ago.
It is simple advice: remember what you have been taught and never forget the importance of the source of what you have been taught: the Holy Scriptures. Paul describes all scripture as inspired by God and always useful for the people of God undertaking God’s work. Then he goes on to explain just exactly why it is so important to hold fast to the ancient scriptures, as well as the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the heart of the argument is the fact that people don’t always want to hear tough messages, difficult instruction. Too often we hear what we want to hear. But Paul is firm: hold fast to the teachings of scripture so that God’s kingdom might be realized on earth, so that God’s work might move forward.
In the co ... | | |
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| | Sunday August 10, 2008 "We Call Ourselves Disciples: The Good Confession" Matthew 16:13-19 | |
| By Brad Miller on8/11/2008 11:54 AM | |
| “I believe in God the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.
On the third day he arose from the dead, he ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father almighty. Hence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen”
How many of you here know what that is? Many of us grew up reciting it every Sunday in church. It is the “Apostles Creed” and has for a long, long time been one of the most succinct statements of faith in all of Christianity.
How many of you here believe every word of it?
If we were to go through the creed li ... | | |
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| | Sunday July 20, 2008 "Picking Your Spot" Acts 9:20-31 | |
| By Brad Miller on8/7/2008 2:36 PM | |
| July 20, 2008
“Picking Your Spot”
Acts 9: 20-31
We are a suspicious bunch, aren’t we?
Oh, I’m not talking specifically about you and me, but more about humans in general. And in this 21st century world, we have been taught that there is a lot to be suspicious about, haven’t we?
Personally, I’m suspicious of anyone who wants to give me something for free. Especially if they need to take my credit card number, just so it’s on file if I decide to upgrade my free stuff to something more expensive in the future.
I’m suspicious of anyone who begins a sentence with, “You, know, I like you, so I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do,”…. I am doubly suspicious of the same person that ends that same sentence with, “And I’m not gonna make a dime on this deal.”
I’m suspicious of politicians that claim that they have all the answers to correcting the economic downturn; lower gasoline prices; ... | | |
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| | Sunday July 13, 2008 "Figured It Out Yet?" Matthew 8:23-27 | |
| By Brad Miller on8/7/2008 1:51 PM | |
| This seems to be as straightforward a passage as we are going to find. It is a passage that is meant to invoke a feeling of awe. It is a passage that gives us insight into the fears that rightly gripped the disciples, and maybe us, too. It is a passage that gives us insight into just who Jesus is.
But I’m not sure it succeeds on all those points. Now, don’t get me wrong – if I really get into this story, I am in awe of the power of Jesus. If I really put myself in the boat with Jesus and the disciples, I can admit that my fear level would be just as high as the disciples. If the spray on my face and the rolling waves suddenly stopped leaving us safe and calm, I might also ask myself, “Just who is this man I am following?”
But how often do we really get in the boat? Not often enough, I think. We come to worship, we read our Bible, we say our prayers. But how often do we really spend our time sorting out just exactly who Jesus is? We are Christians, of c ... | | |
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| | Sunday July 6, 2008 "Faith Like A Child" - Message by Lauren Evans, Director of Youth, BCC | |
| By Brad Miller on7/9/2008 9:45 AM | |
| | Faith Like a child, seems a bit backward doesn’t it….Why would we want to spend our time worrying about becoming more child-like, when we have finally made it to adult hood. When I was a kid I couldn’t grow up fast enough. I wanted to drive a car like my dad and go to work and get money like my mom. I wanted to make my own rules, my own bedtime, and not have to answer to anyone. Well here I am, and I must say that some parts of being an adult are nice. I can get in my car and drive to the store if I have a sudden urge for mint chocolate chip ice cream. I can stay up late, and I don’t have to finish all of my vegetables. Why would I want to go back to being completely dependent; to wearing whatever my mom put on me, sharing my toys and having to take a nap everyday…wait a minute- a nap would be kind of nice right now.Jesus tells the disciples in Mark that the kingdom of God belongs to the little children. He goes on to say that anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter ... | | |
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