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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 December 20, 2009 "Daylight Again" Isaiah 9:2-7 | |
| By Brad Miller on12/23/2009 12:11 PM | |
| The prophet Isaiah had seen darkness.
Isaiah, son of Amoz, prophesied in the latter half of the eighth century BC and witnessed the rise of the second Assyrian empire. Under the aggressive policies of it’s king Tiglath-pileser III, Assyria eventually conquered or annexed much of Syria and its neighbors, including the kingdom of Israel and it’s capital. In opposition to the growing Assyrian presence, Kings of the region formed a coalition to resist the encroaching empire and to fight together. King Ahaz of Jerusalem refused to join in the fight and was immediately overrun by this new coalition.
Rather than wait for God’s promised deliverance, Ahaz sided with the Assyrians and became a protectorate of Assyria. But this meant bowing to the dictates of Tilgath-pileser and led to the wholesale deportation of Israelites into forced exile.
This is what darkness meant to the people of Isaiah’s time: total domination by the Assyrians and strai ... |  | |
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| | Sunday November 29, 2009 "In Those Days" Jeremiah 33:14-16 | |
| By Brad Miller on12/2/2009 9:28 AM | |
| Advent can be a strange time.
Advent is part of our Christmas celebration, yet it is something completely distinct and different, too.
Advent is about preparation, but it is not always clear what it is we preparing for.
Advent is firmly rooted in future, yet cannot be fully appreciated unless we can position ourselves in the past.
Advent is about celebrating what is to come, even though it already HAS come.
Advent is about taking comfort it what HAS come, and preparing to be surprised by what we already know.
Yes, you could say that Advent is a confused and confusing time.
And nowhere is that confusion more acutely felt than in the Jeremiah passage we heard read this morning.
But before we get to Jeremiah’s confusing times, let’s think a bit about our confusion with Advent.
Advent is the beginning of the ... | | |
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| | Sunday November 22, 2009 "Alpha and Omega" Revelation 1:4b-8 | |
| By Brad Miller on11/23/2009 4:07 PM | |
| Today is Thanksgiving Sunday and one of the things that I am most thankful for is the opportunity to be here at Brookhaven in ministry with each and every one of you. And I want to make that clear: we are in ministry together. That means we face the tough times together and celebrate the good times together. We welcome new babies and new friends into this fellowship together and we say goodbye to old friends together. We join together in prayer to strengthen not only ourselves, but also all those who we know need God’s presence. We learn together. We laugh together. We cry together. We live our lives dedicated to spreading God’s word and doing God’s will, together.
So, together we gather to give thanks. And it starts with a simple question: what are we thankful for? I know some of the things I am thankful for: I am thankful that I grew up with loving parents and an active and vital church and neighborhood family. They have all had a hand in helping to shape who I am, and for ... | | |
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| | Sunday November 15, 2009 "Becoming Hannah" 1 Samuel 2: 1-10 | |
| By Brad Miller on11/17/2009 9:23 AM | |
| The scripture this morning is 1 Samuel 2: 1-10, but we need some context before we get there.
Here’s how I remember the story:
There was a woman named Hannah who was married to a man name Elkanah. But Hannah wasn’t Elkahnah’s only wife. He had another wife named Peninnah. Here is what distinguished Hannah from Peninnah. First, Peninnah had children, while Hannah had none. Second, Peninnah was not a very nice woman – taunting and ridiculing Hannah whenever possible – all because Hannah had no children. Somehow, in Penninah’s mind, that made her better than Hannah. And apparently, Hannah thought so, too. She let Penninah’s ridicule and provocation get to her, and so she became depressed and spent a large amount of time, weeping for her affliction.
The third thing that distiniguished Hannah from Peninnah, is that their shared husband, Elkanah, loved Hannah best. Whenever they ate the meal following the sacrificial ceremony of blessing ... | | |
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| | Sunday October 18, 2009 "Risky Business" Luke 4:18-19 | |
| By Brad Miller on10/21/2009 4:29 PM | |
| This faith stuff is very definitely risky business.
Look at our messiah if you have any doubts about that. Fully divine, fully human, he walked among the people of Israel and Palestine and taught and lived and ministered and preached. Then he died because of what he had dared to say and do.
The example of Jesus is one that we must take to heart if we are to understand the notion of risk taking, because his life and death are the very definition of risk taking. Stepping out in faith to do God’s will and to serve God’s people. Moving beyond one’s comfortable existence and putting one’s very life at risk.
Jesus’ ministry in it’s broadest sense was a ministry of service. Service to all of humanity by providing a link to a relationship with God. Service to those sick and suffering he met along the way by providing healing. Service to those who were the outsiders by providing hope. It is the hallmark of his ministry and as the church ... | | |
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| | Sunday September 20, 2009 "Draw Near to God" James 3: 13 – 4:3, 7-8a | |
| By Brad Miller on10/12/2009 10:18 AM | |
| As we continue our study of James, we look back to the lessons of the last to weeks: James proclamations that how we live our lives matters and what we say and how we say it matters.
Today’s scripture continues in this vein, but here, James begins to move toward helping us understand exactly what it is we should do to live the Christian life. This is especially welcome in light of the passage last week where James is so clear about we are NOT to do, but a bit less helpful in helping to define what we are supposed to do, and how to do it.
In this passage, James is stepping away from his diatribe style and moving instead into what Biblical scholars call an interrogatory style. In short, it means he is framing his advice by raising questions and providing answers.
The first question James raises is “Who is wise and understanding among you?”
If we were to look around this sanctuary this morning, each of us could come u ... | | |
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| | Sunday September 13, 2009 "Godspeak" James 3:1-12 | |
| By Brad Miller on9/16/2009 2:54 PM | |
| Last week, we spent some time looking at James, the brother of Jesus, and his views on living the Christian life through good works. Good works that glorify God and that make our faith come alive for all to see. The message of James was not that faith is unimportant. Rather it was that stepping out in service because of our faith was something that Jesus instructed us to do on several occasions. To James, and to Jesus, how we live our lives, the actions we take, the lives we touch, are all important testimony to our faith.
In this weeks scripture, we see James addressing something similar. Whereas last week we heard a resounding “how we live is important” this week the message is only slightly altered. This week James wants us to see that “what we say is important.”
It’s easy to understand that if we put our faith into action and do our best to help those who need assistance, people will take notice of that and when we do it all to God’s glory, people will ... | | |
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| | Sunday August 23, 2009 "Where God Lives" Psalm 84 | |
| By Brad Miller on8/24/2009 2:35 PM | |
| What is so important about church?
In particular, what is so important about the building we call the church? It is only bricks and mortar. As to the collection of people who call themselves “the church”, what makes them any different from a group of people that gather this morning at the YMCA, or at a social club?
On the surface, there might seem little difference between the people gathered here and at the Y. We have a purpose in mind when we come to this place, just as they do. We enjoy this particular church and if we didn’t, we might seek out another church, or we might just decide that we can just stay home and read our Bible instead of coming to church. The people at the Y also have choices: they could go to a health club, or even buy home workout equipment so they wouldn’t have to go anywhere.
But of course, for those of us sitting here, there is something different about coming to church.
Our Hebrew an ... | | |
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| | Sunday August 16, 2009 "Wise Living" Ephesians 5:15-20 | |
| By Brad Miller on8/17/2009 9:03 AM | |
| Nobody wants to be a fool.
At various times, Jesus himself told the disciples to be careful about who they call a fool, because being called a fool is the mother of all insults.
When we label someone a fool, we diminish them. When we label someone a fool, we consent to ignore them. When we label someone a fool, we are operating at the height of arrogance.
Why? Because at times, we are all fools.
How’s that for an uplifting message? But you know what? It is a fact. And sometimes, our foolish behavior is the behavior that we think will shield us from the hurt and worry of the world around us.
No, none of us want to be a fool, but sometimes we are. None of us want to behave foolishly, but sometimes we do. As we own up to our foolishness, the important thing to ask is, how can I avoid acting foolishly in the future?
In today’s scripture lesson, taken from the lette ... | | |
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| | Sunday July 26, 2009 "This I Pray" Ephesians 3: 14-21 | |
| By Brad Miller on7/28/2009 1:08 PM | |
| Today’s scripture is sometimes called “the Apostles Prayer” and is nothing short of a great example of how we are to pray for one another. It is found in the letter to the church at Ephesus, generally attributed to the Apostle Paul.
There is much evidence that the writer of this letter did not personally know the people to which the letter is addressed. The form of greeting and the message is general and not pointed at specific issues and problems like so many other of Paul’s letters. We know that Paul had spent time in Ephesus; there is good reason to believe that he was actually imprisoned in Ephesus, but this letter does not indicate a familiarity with the people of the Ephesian church. But the people of the church in Ephesus knew of his missionary activity. Paul understood his mission to be aimed primarily at people like those who lived in Ephesus. He believed that the mission upon which he embarked was to make Christ known among the Gentiles and to encourage the Jewish beli ... | | |
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