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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 March 28, 2010 "The End of the Beginning" Luke 19: 28-40 | |
| By Brad Miller on3/31/2010 10:17 AM | |
| | It was sometime between 2:30 and 3:00 in the morning when the phone rang. It’s never good news when the phone rings between 2:30 and 3:00 in the morning.Good news can wait at least a few hours, but bad news doesn’t wait.Before I answered the phone I knew who it was, and I was right. There was a pause and in a voice choked with emotion, my friend Linda said simply, “It’s time. Can you come to the hospital?” I said “Of course, I’ll be there as fast as I can.”As I made my way to the hospital, the last 3 years ran through my mind. Linda was the wife of a good friend of mine named Mike. Mike was an artist of national, even international, renown, but I didn’t know that when I first met him. He was simply a guy who came to the noon time Men’s Bible study I was facilitating at the church where I served. After the meeting, we sat and chatted for almost an hour. Mike had told the group that the day before, he had been diagnosed with cancer, and he was going back the next day to get the full rundown of what the doctors ... |  | |
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| | Sunday March 21, 2010 "Press On" Philippians 3:4b - 14 | |
| By Brad Miller on3/22/2010 2:57 PM | |
| Sunday March 21, 2010
“Press On”
Philippians 3:4b -14
From the time I can really remember beginning to understand some of what is in the Bible, I wasn’t sure what to make of Paul. I wasn’t sure that I was ready to trust someone who did a 180 degree turn in their life like he did. He was the persecutor of the Christians, after all. He was responsible for imprisoning and possibly even executing those who were followers of Jesus, those who dared believe that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah.
But I have come to understand that it is precisely because Paul did that 180 degree turn in his life that we need to listen to him. Because Paul knows of what he speaks: he knows what it means to change; he knows what it means to turn his life around. He has something very important to tell us.
Today’s passage is one of those times when I look at Paul and realize that he understands what it means to struggle with giving one ... | | |
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| | Sunday February 28, 2010 "Stand Firm" Philippians 3:17-41 | |
| By Brad Miller on3/1/2010 9:37 AM | |
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Lent can be very confusing.
Especially if you were brought up in the protestant church in America in the mid to late 20th century. And yes, that means that I am saying, Lent can be very confusing to me.
So, let’s take just a few minutes to see if we can’t resolve some of the confusion.
First, when is Lent? Lent is a period of 40 days that runs from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. But of course, if you count the days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday you get 46 days. The 6 extra days are the Sundays in that time period and Sundays are not counted as official parts of Lent. Hopefully, you will understand why that is in a few minutes.
Second, what is Lent? Lent is a time of introspection and preparation. We are called to look hard at who we are and at where we are in our faith walk. We do this in preparation for two things: first, so that we might be a stronger witness for God’s love and grace in the ... | | |
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| | Sunday February 21, 2010 "God Given Bounty" Deuteronomy 26:1-11 | |
| By Brad Miller on2/22/2010 9:26 AM | |
| I never really understood why this passage was considered a Lenten passage, but every third year, it shows up as one of the suggested passages to be used during our Lenten observance. I never really understood that, until this year.
The Israelites wandered the wilderness for 40 years, waiting for the day when they would inhabit the “promised land.” They have seen their parents and grandparents generation die before the promise was made real. They must have had some reservations about this God that let them roam in circles for all those years. They must have wondered if they too would die before they saw this land.
This scripture passage is one of great importance for our Jewish brothers and sisters. It is one of the essential “identity” stories of their faith. It is the story of the Isrealite’s inheritance; they are heirs to God’s enduring promise, now spread out before them. It is the climax of the exodus story. Think about this: if my math is right, the ... | | |
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| | Sunday January 31, 2010 "Celebrating Renewal" Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10 | |
| By Brad Miller on2/1/2010 3:30 PM | |
| I’m tired.
I know that many of you are tired, too.
Tired of the negativity that seems to permeate so much of our world. Tired of preparing for the next piece of bad news that is coming. Tired of seeing people who are at best are nervous about what the future holds and at worst, absolutely paralyzed with fear. Tired of trying to make sense of a political process that seems intent on finding someone to blame rather than on finding solutions to problems. Tired of so called entertainment that seeks to tear down others and reality shows that are anything but reality. Tired of living in a world where many seem to decry what we do not have, rather than celebrating what it is we do have. Tired of being tired.
I’m just tired.
From talking with many of you, I know that you are tired, too. And here’s the first word of the day: it’s okay. It’s okay to be tired. It’s just not okay to simply accept it.
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| | Sunday January 24, 2010 "Honoring the Gift" 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11 | |
| By Brad Miller on1/26/2010 1:24 PM | |
| One day a few years ago my mother and I were sitting in the kitchen talking. We were talking about when my brother and sister and were young, reminiscing about things we had done, laughing about trouble we sometimes got into. It was a chance for me to ask a question I was really curious about.
“How,” I asked her, “did you and Daddy manage to make us all feel special, all feel loved, and all feel like we could do what we wanted to do, without a hint of favoritism?”
My mother did not hesitate for a second. “Oh, it was easy to not play favorites and to make each of you feel special, because the three of you were so different! You needed different things, you excelled at different things, you had different personalities, so there was no worry about treating you “the same”. The fact was, you weren’t the same, so we didn’t have to treat you the same!”
"You all had different gifts,” she continued, “So the best thing we could do you was to encourag ... | | |
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| | Sunday January 17, 2010 "Where to Start?" Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 | |
| By Brad Miller on1/26/2010 1:22 PM | |
| Have you ever been so ready for something to happen, but weren’t sure where you were to start to make it happen?
The people who knew John the Baptist were ready. They were ready for something, they just weren’t exactly sure what it was they were ready for. They were ready for the appearance of a messiah, a messiah that would lead them out of the oppression that they felt on a daily basis. They were ready to be able to fully and completely live out their religious and civic desires.
Oh, they were ready.
They just didn’t know where to start.
They looked at John the Baptist, and they wondered, “Is this where we start? Could John be the messiah?”
I’m not sure whether the question “could John be the messiah?” is a hopeful question or a question that is filled with some trepidation. The same question might be asked differently: “You don’t really think John could be the messiah, do you?”
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| | Sunday January 3, 2009 "Beginning Again" John 1: 1-18 | |
| By Brad Miller on1/26/2010 1:19 PM | |
| Sunday January 3, 2009
“Beginning Again”
John 1: 1-18
As we move through the Christmas season – and no, Christmas is not quite over – we have lots of opportunities to reflect on everything that has gone on over the past few month. The things we have talked about in worship and in our bible study classes; the gatherings with friends and families; the gifts exchanged; the relationships renewed; the stresses and strains that come with all the activity.
We have spent the better part of Advent and Christmas doing our best to reconnect with “the reason for the season” and celebrate the amazing story that surrounds the birth of Jesus. But, still somehow, we get to this point as Christmastide begins to wind down and the question still lingers: “What was that all about, anyway?”
The writer of the Gospel of John gives us a resounding, emphatic answer. John’s eloquent reply nearly thunders across the centuries: “In the begin ... | | |
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| | 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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