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| Sunday March 30, 2008 "Can You Believe It?" Luke 24:13-35 | Brad's Blog Brad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on3/31/2008 2:20 PM | |
| You knew this was going to take some time, didn’t you? I mean, let’s be serious: one unbelievable event after another had transpired. If you didn’t witness every single one of them, you would have a tough time taking it all in. No matter who you heard it from, no matter how much you trusted them, if you don’t witness something so remarkably surprising, it is hard to understand what really happened.
Of course, I am talking about the events surrounding the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, his arrest, his trial, his death, his resurrection.
Think about this for a minute: suppose you are a follower of Jesus during those tumultuous days. You’re not one of the 12 disciples or the other close followers like Mary Magdalene, but you believe that Jesus is the one who the Hebrew scriptures have foretold. You believe he will deliver the Jews from their bondage, he will redeem them, he will show himself to be the Messiah that you have longed for.
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| | Living an Easter Life | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on3/26/2008 3:31 PM | |
| Greetings on this gorgeous spring day!
Yesterday, I had the privilege of going to a presentation by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author/poet, Alice Walker. She is most famous for having written the novel “The Color Purple”, but has also written 20 some other books of poetry and essays, as well as several other novels such as “The Temple of My Familiar.” It was a fascinating time of hearing an author read selections from her own work, in her own voice, interspersed with commentary and reflections upon 50 years of the writing life.
All of the selections she read evoked amazing images in my mind, and I was absolutely enthralled with Ms. Walker’s ability to make the written word come alive, to sing, to touch hundreds of people at once. One of the readings in particular really hit me. The story was one of her role in a protest march and the importance of activism on all levels. She described her feelings at being in the midst of these people as they stood up for wha ... | | |
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| | Easter Sunday March 23, 2008 "Roll Away the Stone" Luke 24:1-12 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on3/25/2008 9:26 AM | |
| This is the day we have been waiting for.
This is the day the Lord has made.
This is the day we rejoice.
This is the day we celebrate the resurrection. The day when the burial tomb was unsealed, the day the entrance was unblocked and God rolled away the stone of death. The day Jesus conquered death and by so doing offered life to all of the world. The day when each and every one of us was offered a chance to begin again, renewed, whole and at peace with God.
This is the day the Lord has made.
So what do we do about it?
We have arrived at this place along many different roads, but I would hazard a guess that they have not all been easy roads. We have arrived here in need of the comfort of this community, in need of the fellowship of like minded folks and in need of God’s presence in our lives. We have experienced good times and bad; times of despair and joy; loneliness ... | | |
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| | The Hardest Week | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on3/25/2008 9:04 AM | |
| Greetings!
This is a hard week.
As I look out my window I see a gray sky accompanied by a steady cold rain. In many ways, the gloom of the day mirrors what we feel as we move this week we call “Holy.” When I stop and really think about what was happening during that firs Holy Week, I can scarce take it all in. I can’t even imagine what the people who lived through it the first time coped.
First, there are the disciples of Jesus. Jesus is sending them cryptic messages about his not being around much longer, and that must have been confusing. They witnessed a joyous occasion when they entered Jerusalem, but that was to give way to even more confusion as Jesus is arrested later in the week. Their anger with their brother Judas must have led them to want to lash out, but they were overcome with a fear that drove them into hiding. And as they abandoned Jesus, can you imagine the guilt that must have induced in them? While they hid, Jes ... | | |
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| | Sunday March 23, 2008 "Turning the Tables" Matthew 21:1-17 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on3/19/2008 5:49 AM | |
| From the time I first understood that there was something called Holy Week, something has bothered me. Oh, I don’t think I am alone in this; it might bother some of you, too. How could Jesus enter Jerusalem to such a cheering, adoring crowd on Sunday and have the crowd turn against him on Friday?
People have tried to explain it away in lots of ways. But it the explanations all seem to ring just a little hollow to me.
Where was the outcry for the release of Jesus? How quickly could they turn away from Jesus? Was it just human nature?
If we focus on the triumphal entry, and then shift our attention to the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus, the contrasts are enormous, the possibilities for explanation are many. But it still bothers me.
I am bothered by the crowds actions because I am part of the crowd.
And I don’t think I am being too presumptive to say, at times, we all can identify with t ... | | |
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| | Sunday March 9, 2008 "Setting an Example" John 13:1-17 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on3/13/2008 7:50 AM | |
| “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him, not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
I think that may be my favorite passage in the entire Bible. It comes from what I consider to be my favorite gospel, the Gospel according to John. John’s Gospel is different than the other three. In fact, scholars talk about the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke as the “synoptic” gospels, while the Gospel of John is in a category all by itself. Matthew, Mark and Luke are “comprehensive” writings of the life of Jesus that more or less follow the same pattern. John, on the other hand, differs in form and even in function. John is an evangelizer, wanting people to come to know the messiah personally. And in so doing, he is n ... | | |
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| | Stepping Up | | Brad's Blog
| By Brad Miller on3/12/2008 8:25 AM | |
| As I sit in this beautiful office, I am reminded that I am the recipient of planning and sacrifice of many, many people before me. When I came on board here at BCC, we were about 6 weeks away from having the “official” occupancy permit for the latest addition to the church. We had a work day the weekend before I arrived and set up desks, plugged in phones and computer lines, moved copiers, outfitted classrooms, etc. I remember someone (who for liability reasons will remain nameless but has the initials H.K.) telling Judy, Jennifer and me that if, prior to the “official” occupancy date someone who looked like an inspector came in, just stand up and say we were just over here setting things up and go back to the old office. Well, it all worked out and on December 31, 2001 we got the official permit to inhabit this beautiful new facility.
When the decision was made to move on this much needed expansion, a note was secured with the Board of Church Extension (a financial ministry of the ... | | |
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| | The Warm Embrace of Family | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on3/5/2008 2:38 PM | |
| Greetings on this lovely day,
There are days when God seems distant and aloof. Those can be lonely and hard times, even if we have faith that God is there. When we find ourselves in those times we yearn for God’s presence, we long for the warm embrace of God’s love, we want nothing more than to be comforted by God’s grace. These are times when the importance of being part of a faith community is so very clear.
I don’t think we can overestimate the importance of the faith community in helping us through the tough times. When we find it difficult to discern God’s presence, for whatever reason, our church family can and does help fill that void. When we can claim membership in a faith community, we are surrounded by people who will help us when we are down, care for us when we are ill, pray for us when we are unable to pray, and celebrate with us when are restored spiritually and physically. When we claim membership in a faith community, we have a family alway ... | | |
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| | Sunday February 24, 2008 "Living the Blessing" Matthew 5:1-12 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on2/25/2008 12:42 AM | |
| When we hear a scripture like the one we just heard read, it is easy to say, “Oh, I’ve heard this a thousand times before. How am I supposed to get something new out of this?”
I think it helps if we approach it like we would any scripture, and forget for the moment that is the opening salvo of Jesus’ most important and extended sermon on Christian living.There are questions I think we should ask ourselves whenever we delve into the scriptures. What is the context, the situation in life, of this scripture? For whom was the original message intended? How would they have heard it? How can an ancient text have an impact on us, in wildly different circumstances today?
Let’s start with the context of this passage.The Gospel according to Matthew tells us that Jesus was baptized by John in the river Jordan. Immediately following this event, Jesus is led into the wilderness where the preparation for his ministry is begun. It is, indeed, an odd preparation, but it seems to ... | | |
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| | God is Good! | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on2/21/2008 10:02 AM | |
| Greetings on this grey morning,
There is a woman who lives in our apartment complex that moved in about 2 years ago. She is, I would guess, in her 70’s and we introduced ourselves as her grandchildren were helping her move in. Her name is Dolly and for years she has made her living as a child care worker in a church child development center. She told us she was an active member of her church and was thrilled when she found out that both Carol and I were ministers. She asked lots of questions about Brookhaven and Decatur Christian churches and never failed to greet us with a smile and a sincere inquiry into our health, how the church was doing, etc.
About a year ago, I noticed that her car was in the parking lot during the day. I ran into someone coming to visit her and they told me that she had been very ill with congestive heart failure and other ailments and was having a very difficult time. I sent her my best and told the caregiver where our apartment w ... | | |
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