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| Service and Sharing | Brad's Blog Mid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on2/29/2012 12:39 PM | |
| One of the things that we are focusing on as a congregation this year is the idea of service. Oh, this idea is nothing new to folks at BCC as you were reminded if you were at our last Praise on Peachtree worship service. But it is something we can always do more and better. And so, this year, we are working on a plan to reach out as a church more; provide opportunities for individuals and families to serve others in God’s name and basically make “service” another form of worship.
This past Saturday about 15 folks turned up at Campbell Stone to visit with friends, old and new, to share some laughter, to share some fun playing Bingo, to share some ice cream, and most importantly, whether we recognized it or not, to share God’s love. In that time of sharing we witnessed a 103 year old interact with a 5 year old. I reconnected with a friend I hadn’t seen in several years. We met some folks who have been residents for years, and some that just moved into Campbell Stone and are still sor ... |  | |
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| | Sunday February 26, 2012 First Sunday in Lent "Repent" Mark 1: 9-15. | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on2/29/2012 12:31 PM | |
| Lent is upon us, and I for one couldn’t be happier. You see, I love Lent, this wonderful time for us to find ways to rid ourselves of those things that hold us back and to embrace elements of our faith tradition that can move us forward into an ever deeper and fulfilling relationship with God as revealed by Jesus Christ. This time when we dedicate ourselves to focus on prayer, contemplation and study in hope of understanding more about who we are and how we can be worthy of the love of God that is represented in Christ Jesus.
While Lent is not scriptural, through the centuries the church has designated 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter as a way to follow Christ’s example and come closer to God. And I for one and glad of it.
The scripture we read this morning is one of the church’s templates for our Lenten journey. It is a succinct and straightforward account of the beginning of the ministry of Jesus.
In 6 verses Mark covers 4 ... | | |
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| | Sunday February 19, 2012 "Connections" Mark 9:2-10 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on2/22/2012 9:13 AM | |
| So, what is this story about?
It is a miraculous story. But not quite the same as the miracle stories of Jesus. No one is healed. No one is risen from the dead. No one is blessed. The importance of those stories are sometimes easier for us to grasp. It signals to us that Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God are true as he performs miracles as proof of his divinity. But this miracle is different. It this case, Jesus is the object of the miracle, not the miracle performer.
It is a story of jaw dropping surprise. Who could have expected Moses and Elijah to suddenly come on the scene and appear with Jesus? This is made all the more clear by the fact that the three disciples, Peter, James and John, did not know what to say, and when Peter finally did speak, said something that really wasn’t fully thought out. Build them houses on the mountain? Really? And then, add in the voice of God being heard by the three disciples, presumably for the first time. | | |
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| | Lent | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on2/22/2012 4:15 AM | |
| As hard as it is to believe, Lent is upon us once again.
Every year we spend time in prayerful introspection in an attempt to understand how we can be the people God would have us be. Some of us will think about giving something up as a way to be reminded that in our longing, God is always there, and to become more disciplined in our daily living. Like New Year’s Resolutions, Lenten sacrifices are usually about the same every year: give up alcohol, give up chocolate, give up red meat. There is nothing wrong with any sacrifice that helps us be more disciplined, but this year, a friend has challenged me with a question that is one that I would like to share with all of you: “What will make this Lenten season different?”
It is a convicting question, and one that each of us must deal with in our own way. That is the beauty of Lent, all of us on a journey together, yet each of us working on our own issues. The support of the community is important, but ultimately, it w ... | | |
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| | Unsettled | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on2/15/2012 3:21 PM | |
| | I have been looking at starting a new devotional regimen and have been looking at several different books over the last few weeks. This morning I was looking at one that I was unsure of going into it. It is one that someone gave me a while back and as I paged through it, it seemed like it was aimed at women, specifically women who are struggling with weight loss, so I set it aside at the time. But even though it seems to be aimed at women, I also know the experience of struggling with my weight. And so, this morning, I picked it up and began to read. It is called “Made to Crave Devotionals”. On the first page, the author, Lysa TeurKeurst, lamented her lack of ability to carry out a new year’s resolutions. But that all changed one year. That year, she did not resolve the “normal” things that get resolved every year. Instead, this is what her prayer for the start of the new year was: “Lord, Unsettle me. Unsettle me in the best kind of way. For when I allow your touch to reach the deepest parts of me ... | | |
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| | Heavy Music | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on2/9/2012 10:11 AM | |
| | Music has always been important to me. It is noted in my baby book that my first favorite song was “The Mickey Mouse Club Theme”. My mother played the violin, piano and organ and my father played the tuba. My brother, sister and I all took piano lessons growing up, sang in church and school choirs, and each learned another instrument. I remember the first time I heard and saw the Beatles on TV. I remember driving down the road standing in the back of a pickup truck (which really shouldn’t be done!) singing “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones with my cousins and siblings. I remember the first time I heard Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and the excitement the first time I saw them in concert. The seasons of my life have been meaningfully marked by music: seeing Bob Dylan live (when diction was a concept that hadn’t yet eluded him!); seeing The Faces in their last concert ever; seeing Bruce Springsteen in the auditorium at Michigan State; enjoying Bob Seger in small venues (other people might call them “b ... | | |
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| | Sermon February 5, 2012 "I Believe in the Holy Spirit..." John 14:15-17, 25-26 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on2/9/2012 10:08 AM | |
| “I believe in the Holy Spirit…’
This is the beginning of last part of the apostles creed, and in some way, for me it holds the most power and the most mystery. The Holy Spirit is that part of the Trinity that is probably least understood, and so maybe that is why the 21st century mainline Protestant church doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about it. We understand God to be the creator when we look at the creation that surrounds us. We understand Jesus is our redeemer when we stand in awe of his teaching, his mind numbing death and his miraculous resurrection. But the Holy Spirit, well that’s another story.
We first hear of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 11:1-3…many of you probably remember the prophetic voice of Isaiah declaring “A shoot will grow up from the stump of Jesse; a branch will sprout from his roots. The Lord’s spirit will rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of planning and strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lor ... | | |
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| | Accountability | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on2/1/2012 1:58 PM | |
| In the last couple of days, I have heard the word accountability used a lot. For a lot of people it is a scary word, conjuring up visions of an overseer or a boss looking over our shoulder to make sure we are doing things correctly. I have heard it in terms of our political process. For example, when someone says that an office holder needs to be accountable to the people. I have heard it in terms of business. Such as when a board of directors or an officer of a company must be held accountable to the stockholders. I have heard it used in legal proceedings. For instance, when a guilty party must be held accountable for their crimes.
It’s an important word, accountability. It implies that there are consequences to our actions, and so, it’s good to have someone holding someone else accountable to make sure that the consequences are not bad ones. I have heard it used as a pejorative when someone says, “Well, they’re accountable to no one but themselves,” implying that they don’t c ... | | |
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| | Civility | | Brad's Blog
| By Brad Miller on1/25/2012 12:35 PM | |
| I like to joke that after 15 years away from my role as professor of Political Science that I am now “in recovery.” We are firmly in that period of time I used to refer as “the silly season” where candidates stake their claims and do their best to court voters. But things have changed over the years. It is no longer the “silly season” but in my mind has become “the ugly season”. The news from various campaigns is full of candidates belittling the other candidate’s motives, actions and character. I wait to hear concrete plans for policy and practice and I hear nothing but sniping. Our governing bodies seem to have lost the ability to compromise or to work together to find solutions to problems, thereby sending a message loud and clear that WHO is right is more important than WHAT is right. And it makes me more than a little bit sad and I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t worry me a bit, too.
A lot of this was on my mind this morning as I heard the latest campaign news, the rehas ... | | |
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| | Sunday January 22, 2012 "I Believe in God..." Genesis 1:1-31a | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on1/23/2012 11:46 AM | |
| I believe in God.
Not a real shocking statement, is it? After all, I am a Christian minister, and it is kind of assumed, isn’t it? That assumption is a two edged sword, though. While it can be rightly assumed that I believe in God, there is still the question that lingers for many, including many Christians.. That question is “Why do I believe?” And that is a question that believers have wrestled with for centuries.
Over the course of the next three Sundays I want to explore one of the great statements of faith of orthodox Christianity, The Apostles Creed. If you turn to page 359 in your hymnals you will see something called “The Apostolic Affirmation of Faith”, which is the Disciple way of saying, “The Apostles Creed.” By tradition, The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a non-creedal church, which means we have no creed or confession that we hold up as a “test of membership.” For us, acceptance of Jesus as the Christ is our only “test of member ... | | |
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