Author Archives: Max Brennan

Max’s Corner

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Service for Julie

The memorial service for Julie Maxwell will be this Saturday at 1:00 pm, followed by lunch for family and friends. Julie was a beloved member of this church and cherished by her husband, Tracy, and her friends.

We hope you can be present.

NDE Study Off to a Good Start

We had 23 present for the first session at 9:30 am last Sunday. This will require us to move to the larger classroom next door for the remaining three or four sessions.

Each week someone who has had a near-death experience will share their story with the class.

This NDE study will be followed by an extended study of my to-be-published book, Discovering God. This study will also meet at 9:45 am each Sunday.

Breakfast This Sunday

It’s a “Winston Sunday.”

We had all 23 people from the NDE class join breakfast last week.

Food and fellowship at 10:30 am.

This Sunday

This is it: the sermon that will answer the question: Did God Kill Ananias and Sapphira?

See you in worship.

God Bless—MB

I have forgotten the date of our upcoming concert (and it is too late at night to call anyone to find out).

We will remind you on Sunday.

Or Jason or Mary may mention it in this newsletter. It is coming. And it will be great.

Did God Kill Them?

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Luke’s work, his Gospel and Acts, are among my favorite things in the Bible. But there is a story in Acts which may give us pause.

The early Christians in Jerusalem sold all their possessions and gave it to the church. They lived a communal life. (Acts 4:32)

Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold some land and gave part of the money to the church.

But they told the church they gave all of it.

Somebody found out and Peter confronted Ananias.

“How could you do this? Peter asked him. “You did not lie to us. You lied to God.”

And as soon as Peter said this, Ananias dropped dead at Peter’s feet. Peter called on some young men to carry the body away.

Later that day Sapphira came in, not knowing her husband was dead.

Peter asked her if she and her husband had sold their land for a certain sum of money.

“Yes,” she said, “that was the price.”

“You have schemed together to test the Spirit of the Lord,” Peter told her.

“Look over there,” he said. “You will see the young men who buried your husband. They will carry you out, too.”

And Sapphira dropped dead at Peter’s feet, just as her husband had.

And, we are told, “great fear seized the whole church.”

Yes, I think it would.

The implication is that God killed Ananias and his wife for lying about their offering.

I have a question for you—and I need answers from a lot of people. This is for my sermon a week from this Sunday.

Question: Did God kill Ananias and Sapphira?

Please give a reason for your answer.

My e-mail address is below.

revmaxb@tx.rr.com

Max’s Corner

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At Last—NDE Study Begins

My sister, Jackie, will begin a four-week study of near-death experiences this Sunday at 9:45. It will conclude each week at 10:30, just as breakfast begins.

These lessons will be encouraging, reminding us that life goes on after death. We will get a look at what heaven is like as well as insight into the depth of God’s love for us.

I will be sitting in and may chime in occasionally.

During the study, several members of our church will share their near-death experiences and glimpses of life beyond this one.

The class will meet in “The Corner Room”—through the door at the southwest corner of the fellowship hall.

When this study concludes, I will begin a continuing study called The Experience of God.

One great blessing of these studies is that church members will get to know one another better.

Breakfast This Sunday

It’s a “We-bring Sunday.”

I have been confused about this a couple of times lately—asking us to bring when someone was scheduled to do the breakfast. But this Sunday is definitely a “we-bring.”

Food and fellowship at 10:30.

This Sunday

Mary preaches this Sunday.

And Kristi and Blake will be back.

Shannon sang (and played) a beautiful solo last week. Lovely congregational singing, too.

I thought we had a good service.

I remind you that the memorial service for Julie Maxwell will be a week from this Saturday—July 20—at 1:00 p.m.

Remember the NDE study.

See you Sunday.

(I do hope to see you.)

Keeping Bad Company

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We are in trouble as a nation because many Christians have such a strange idea of the Gospel.

Clearly, they don’t seem to know the Gospel I know and preach.

Which I think of as the Gospel of mainstream Christianity.

Consider this:

One of the guys on that debate stage last week is supported by Christians, racial hate groups, and Neo-Nazis.

Strange combination.

Why would Christians be with racists and Nazis?

Paul tells us to be careful about the company we keep. I would call Nazis bad company.

Yet there they are, Christians with bad guys.

But this is a different kind of Christianity.

It has nothing to do with the Christianity I know.

Let me say something that may sound a bit radical here: All who use the name “Christian” do not worship the same God.

Someone wrote to me recently, “You went so far as to say that God is only a God of love.”

He said that’s not true, then he listed some really mean things he says God did. He wants me to know God is a rough customer.

Another said to me, “God does not love all people. God loves only the people who keep his commandments.”

Here are two Christians who do not believe in grace, God’s unconditional love for all humankind.

Their idea of “God” is so different from my idea of “God” that I don’t think we share the same religion.

Yet, we are all called “Christians.”

But some Christians see God as love. Some see God as stern and exclusive.

And the meaner your God is, the more likely it is you will find yourself marching in lockstep with racists and Nazis.

Max’s Corner

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Funeral Service

Ronnie Sullivan’s mom was buried today (Monday} in a service in her Catholic church in Abilene.

Mary will be back on Sunday.

Mary is feeling better and Ronnie and Mary are adjusting to life without Ronnie’s mom.

Our love is with them and the whole family.

Breakfast This Sunday

It’s a “Winston Sunday.”

Food and fellowship at 10:30.

Yes—A Hard Time

The Supreme Court decision announced Monday changes the nature of the presidency and places our nation in danger.

The possibility is real—we could lose our democracy.

We will not get discouraged.

We will pray.

And we will work.

This Sunday

Life is not easy.

Not for us. And certainly not for Paul.

You might think God would lay out an easy path for the greatest of all the apostles—called specifically—and dramatically—by God to proclaim the Gospel. He left us a list of his hardships.

And he shared two experiences that kept him going.

Sermon Sunday: “My Grace Is Sufficient.”

Barring unforeseen events, my sister’s study of near-death experiences will begin on Sunday, July 14, from 9:45 to 10:30 am. (Over at breakfast time.)

The memorial service for Julie Maxwell will be Saturday, July 20, at 1:00 pm.

Worship this Sunday will be at the same time it has been since 1897—11:00 am.

Some things don’t change.

See you then.

God Bless—MB