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| Because... | Brad's Blog Mid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on8/27/2008 2:34 PM | |
| Greetings on this drizzly day,
This past Sunday the sermon was about baptism and it’s meaning in our individual lives and the life of the church. I looked at where our founders came down on the issue of baptism – believers baptism vs. infant baptism; sprinkling verses immersion; symbol vs. reality – and where the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) stand today. It is an important topic, and it can be a challenging topic. Many of us who were not raised in the Disciple tradition sometimes feel a tug between how we were raised, and what our church practices today. Many of us who were raised in the Disciples tradition can remember a time where what we accept today was not necessarily what was acceptable years ago. But all of us are here now, and it’s important that we share our experiences and our beliefs on the subject. Many of you have shared your experiences and your beliefs with me, and so I’d like to share my experience.
I am one of the “pious unimmersed ... |  | |
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| | Sunday August 24, 2008 "The Cost of Baptism" John 1:19-29 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on8/25/2008 10:22 AM | |
| So, just what was John the Baptist doing?
I think the Pharisees had a logical question. What is this thing called “baptism” and what power did it hold over these people who had experienced it? If John wasn’t the messiah, then exactly what was he doing?
Baptism is seen as a uniquely Christian event by many, but it has it’s roots in Jewish tradition. Ritual cleansing baths were required before people could take part in certain ceremonies. The Assenes, a Jewish sect that lived in the desert surrounding the Dead Sea are one of those groups who believed in ritual baths as part of their spiritual disciplines. The Assenes were thought to be the orignators of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Qumran in Palestine in the late 1940’s and subsequent excavation has yielded much information about their daily lives and their faith practices. One of those was the use of a ritual bath, possibly as a prelude to every meal that they ate. The purpose of the daily baths is not ent ... | | |
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| | Singin' Like We Mean It! | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on8/21/2008 11:54 AM | |
| Greetings on this wonderful day!
If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought we were going to a worship service. It was after all, Sunday night, and a time when lots of people go to church. There were plenty of people making their way from the parking lot to their seats. When we got inside, I noticed that the back of the pavilion was almost full, but people in the front were coming in a bit more slowly. There seemed to be lots of breaking of the bread and sharing of the cup going on, so it was almost like communion. And to top it all off, besides Carol and me, there were three members of BCC present that we knew about: An elder, a deacon and the chair of the board! They had much better seats than we did, but they spotted us and came up to say hello. Hugs and handshakes went all around and it was just like the “Community Greeting” time before our worship. Yep, if I didn’t know better, I would have thought we were about to worship.
But, of course, it ... | | |
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| | Sunday August 17, 2008: "We Call Ourselves Disciples: People of the Book" 2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on8/18/2008 12:47 PM | |
| When Paul wrote the words to Timothy that we just heard, he might just as well have been writing to us. It is powerful advice that Paul passes on, and it is advice that can benefit us, just as it surely benefited Timothy those many, many years ago.
It is simple advice: remember what you have been taught and never forget the importance of the source of what you have been taught: the Holy Scriptures. Paul describes all scripture as inspired by God and always useful for the people of God undertaking God’s work. Then he goes on to explain just exactly why it is so important to hold fast to the ancient scriptures, as well as the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the heart of the argument is the fact that people don’t always want to hear tough messages, difficult instruction. Too often we hear what we want to hear. But Paul is firm: hold fast to the teachings of scripture so that God’s kingdom might be realized on earth, so that God’s work might move forward.
In the co ... | | |
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| | What A Gift! | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on8/13/2008 2:19 PM | |
| Greetings on this gray day,
Last week we had a great “Promotion Sunday” gathering in the fellowship hall during the Sunday School hour. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, a chance to celebrate the importance of our Christian Education ministry at BCC, and an opportunity to let our kids know how much they mean to us. Under the leadership of our Director of Christian Education, Debbie Kinney, our Christian Education ministry has become one of our signature ministries. When you get a chance, give Debbie and the whole CE team a word of thanks.
At the Promotion gathering, we played a Bible Trivia game that resulted in 16 backpacks being loaded with school supplies. (Don’t ask me to explain how this worked, just trust that it did!) We had a great time displaying our Bible knowledge and doing something good for someone else. You see, these backpacks were being filled with supplies and then donated to the clients of the Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Servi ... | | |
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| | Sunday August 10, 2008 "We Call Ourselves Disciples: The Good Confession" Matthew 16:13-19 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on8/11/2008 11:54 AM | |
| “I believe in God the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.
On the third day he arose from the dead, he ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father almighty. Hence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen”
How many of you here know what that is? Many of us grew up reciting it every Sunday in church. It is the “Apostles Creed” and has for a long, long time been one of the most succinct statements of faith in all of Christianity.
How many of you here believe every word of it?
If we were to go through the creed li ... | | |
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| | Sunday July 20, 2008 "Picking Your Spot" Acts 9:20-31 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on8/7/2008 2:36 PM | |
| July 20, 2008
“Picking Your Spot”
Acts 9: 20-31
We are a suspicious bunch, aren’t we?
Oh, I’m not talking specifically about you and me, but more about humans in general. And in this 21st century world, we have been taught that there is a lot to be suspicious about, haven’t we?
Personally, I’m suspicious of anyone who wants to give me something for free. Especially if they need to take my credit card number, just so it’s on file if I decide to upgrade my free stuff to something more expensive in the future.
I’m suspicious of anyone who begins a sentence with, “You, know, I like you, so I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do,”…. I am doubly suspicious of the same person that ends that same sentence with, “And I’m not gonna make a dime on this deal.”
I’m suspicious of politicians that claim that they have all the answers to correcting the economic downturn; lower gasoline prices; ... | | |
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| | Sunday July 13, 2008 "Figured It Out Yet?" Matthew 8:23-27 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on8/7/2008 1:51 PM |
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| This seems to be as straightforward a passage as we are going to find. It is a passage that is meant to invoke a feeling of awe. It is a passage that gives us insight into the fears that rightly gripped the disciples, and maybe us, too. It is a passage that gives us insight into just who Jesus is.
But I’m not sure it succeeds on all those points. Now, don’t get me wrong – if I really get into this story, I am in awe of the power of Jesus. If I really put myself in the boat with Jesus and the disciples, I can admit that my fear level would be just as high as the disciples. If the spray on my face and the rolling waves suddenly stopped leaving us safe and calm, I might also ask myself, “Just who is this man I am following?”
But how often do we really get in the boat? Not often enough, I think. We come to worship, we read our Bible, we say our prayers. But how often do we really spend our time sorting out just exactly who Jesus is? We are Christians, of c ... | | |
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| | A New Start | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on8/7/2008 1:34 PM | |
| Greetings on this sticky day!
As much as the weather says otherwise, summer is winding down. School started for some Georgia counties this week and will start for almost everyone else next week. Vacations are winding up. College football teams are starting to practice. Halloween decorations are out in some stores. Baseball season is winding down … much too quickly for the Detroit Tigers. There is no getting around it: summer is almost gone.
For me, the end of summer is a bittersweet time. Bitter because of the end of the more relaxed atmosphere of the summer; sweet because it means that the programs of the church are about to crank up for another year of witnessing the love and grace of Jesus Christ in our lives! It all kicks off this Sunday with “Promotion Sunday” for our school aged children. Instead of our normal Sunday school classes, all ages – children and adults – will gather in the fellowship hall at 9:45. We will begin with coffee and donuts, the ... | | |
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| | Recycle. Renew. Restore. | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on7/16/2008 2:46 PM | |
| Greetings!
When God created the heavens and the earth, humans were given dominion over all living things. The animals of the ground, the birds of the air, the fish in the seas. The plants that beautify and sustain. All of these things are important to God’s awesome creation. All of these things are under our care. They are under our care because we have the ability to make good use of these things. And because if we don’t take wise care of these things, we will ultimately suffer. How might that be? If we hunt animals to depletion, if we abuse the land through bad planting processes, if we pollute the earth so that plants and birds and animals can’t survive…well, we won’t either. I once heard someone scoff at the idea that if we don’t do something to clean up our environment the earth would not survive. Until I heard their reasoning: “Believe me, we don’t need to clean up the environment to save the earth. The earth will survive. We need clean up the environment to save ourse ... | | |
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