Archive for category: Sermons

Scripture:  Philippians 4:10-20  Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have.  I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. (4: 11-12)

What brings true contentment? There is  important research from an excellent book, The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want.  According to the author, social scientists have discovered that once a person’s basic needs have been met, additional money and possessions have virtually no impact on their contentment levels. So if money and things don’t lead to contentment, what does? Although numerous factors contribute to our overall happiness, none is more important than gratitude. How can we enhance gratitude in our lives?

Don’t Be a Financial Fool – October 24, 2021

Scripture: Luke 12:13-21  15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

This first sermon, based on Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21, warns listeners not to make the acquisition of money and things their ultimate priority. The classic movie, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams,  tells the story of a rich and powerful old man called “Big Daddy.” Tragically, in the end Big Daddy, like Jesus’ rich fool, was absolutely bankrupt in things that really matter. The bottom line: don’t let this happen to you.

Scripture:Genesis 25: 19-33  So she went to ask the Lord. And the Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb;

        two different peoples will emerge from your body.

One people will be stronger than the other;

    the older will serve the younger.”  (25:23)

This part of Genesis begins with the birth of not one son but two: Isaac begets Esau and Jacob. From their birth, we are told that both of these sons are destined to be nations: Jacob’s descendants will become Israel and Esau’s will be Edom.read here. Running throughout Genesis and the entire Old Testament is the theme of God preferring the younger brother to the elder, allowing the younger to leapfrog over the older and receive his honor.

God’s approval despite all the shortcomings we discover about Jacob would be most reassuring. Jacob, like every one of his ancestors, is a flawed hero.Messing up is deep in Israel’s genes; God carrying them along regardless is deeper still.   The nation of Israel is born out of family dysfunction, including the family  he marries into,  which will be with them throughout their existence. The Israelites, from beginning to end, are not models of virtue or faithfulness to God. Yet how does God react to all this? God does not overlook these misdeeds, as a clueless parent might allow children to run amuck in a restaurant. Rather, God disciplines the people and then presses on with the plan anyway, even with a less-than-stellar cast of characters. God looks past the inadequacies of his people to execute his plan to bring order back into a chaotic world.

Bryan Bearden Preaching

Scripture: Genesis 12:1-9  The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12: 1-3)

God chooses Abraham, a former resident of Babylon, to become the father of a nation (Israel) and a source of blessing or curse on all the other nations (depending on how they act toward Israel). No reason is given for why Abraham was chosen. However, Abraham coming out of Babylon to enter the land of Canaan and make it his home mirrors Israel coming out of Babylon and returning to her homeland after the exile.

Scripture:  Genesis   6: 9-22    “I am now bringing the floodwaters over the earth to destroy everything under the sky that breathes. Everything on earth is about to take its last breath. But I will set up my covenant with you. You will go into the ark together with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives.” (Gen. 6: 17-18)

The most familiar parts of the Bible are often the parts we have the hardest time reading through ancient eyes. And everyone is familiar with the story of the flood. At least, they think they are! This isn’t  merely a beloved children’s story with cute animals. For ancient Israel, as for other ancient cultures, a cataclysmic and tragic flood had to be explained somehow. And Israel’s explanation was no more a ​”​“historically accurate”​”​ account than the others. This is the reason given for the flood, Israel’s theological explanation for a massive tragedy: it was God’s response to human failure, the failure to reflect God in the world as image-bearers. God wipes the slate clean and starts over by choosing Noah, the righteous one, as the new beginning.