Saint Matthew United Methodist Church

Author: Max Brennan

  • Friday’s Word

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    Can a theological system be accurate?
    Is it possible to “get it right,” or is belief in God finally just guesswork?

    There are over 15,000 Christian denominations, so somebody must be guessing wrong. But we do not have to guess—any more than a scientist has to guess in their work.

    All that can be known to us about God is available through the experience of God. Every religious or spiritual experience tells us something about Him. Every Near-Death Experience (NDE) tells us something about heaven and the life that awaits us beyond this one. And all of this supports what we already know from the teachings of Jesus.

    The most accurate picture of God anywhere is found in Matthew 5:38–48 (and in Luke 6:27–36). How do we know it is accurate? Because it reflects the God we meet in experience. Every person who meets God in an NDE will tell you that the God of unconditional love Jesus describes is the God they encountered.

    Jesus was accurate about God. And listen! He was the only person in ancient history who was accurate. What does that tell you?

    Furthermore, Jesus himself appears in many of those NDEs and other spiritual experiences. What does that tell you? He appears to be, and functions as, the divine figure we call the Christ.

    By the way, because I preach the God we know in Jesus and in experience, I will claim my preaching is also fairly accurate.

    Check it out—live or online, Sunday at 11:00.

    saintmatthewumc.com
    [email protected]

  • Max’s Corner

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    It’s all about the concert this week. We’ve waited. We have HIGH expectations.
    MSB Gospel Group will be here THIS SATURDAY NIGHT—SEPT. 20—6:00 P.M.
    Now listen—we have sold tickets, but we can take more customers at the door. Just come with money in hand. We don’t want anyone to miss it.

    Pastor’s Class

    Same time, same station.
    At 9:45—followed by breakfast.

    Breakfast this Sunday

    It’s a “Winston” Sunday. Feel free to help.
    That’s at 10:30.

    Sermon this Sunday

    Sermon: Watching God Work
    I am fascinated by the way God works to bring people to faith. This Sunday, we will watch the conversion—over many years—of a woman who was a devout atheist. She made fun of Christians. She had no Christian friends.

    But then, in one sudden and overwhelming moment, the pieces all came together.

    Yep! We’re going to sing Amazing Grace.

    See you Sunday.
    God Bless—MB

  • Friday’s Word

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    I teach a class as well as preach most Sundays. I asked my class, “How do we handle it when a scriptural word disagrees with the teachings of Jesus?”

    Example from the Flood Story: “The Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved his heart.”

    A God who goofs and is sorry for his mistake is not the God of the Gospels. God doesn’t goof. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:48 that God is perfect. God is also omnipotent. So, God knew what we would be before God made us.

    It is not possible to reconcile that word from Genesis with the God we know through Jesus. But many Christians try. They are forced to, for they have built their faith on the idea that the whole Bible is inerrant.

    But we know that’s not true. I say “we” know it. Anyone who can read and think knows it. But scriptural inerrantists are taught not to think. They are taught not to believe their own eyes, not to read the clear meaning of words on a page.

    Result: The teachings of Jesus lose their authority, for the perfect God he proclaims must also be a God who goofs and grieves his mistakes. The God of perfect love must also be a God who destroys his creation.

    The Flood Story is a great story. But it is very bad theology.

    There is a center of authority within the Bible, and that center is Jesus. His word stands above all others. John tells us he is the Word.

    Of course, folks in my class knew this already. They can all read.

    Come. Worship with us.

    saintmatthewumc.com
    [email protected]

  • Max’s Corner

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    Sermon This Sunday: Lost and Found
    Scripture: The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin from Luke 15.

    I will tell you a salvation story that will shock you. (I mean—really!) The guy seemed beyond hope: a white supremacist, a pagan priest, in prison for shooting someone. Then—in a moment—transformed.

    Put on your Baptist boots. We will sing “Saved! Saved! Saved!”

    Friday’s Word

    Click on the link and read it before you leave these pages.

    A Week Away

    The great Gospel concert is coming—the MSB Gospel Choir. They must be good. They cost us $2,000 to get them here. We will not make much for Eastside Ministries with this concert—only what we sell over 100 seats. But I predict a great evening.

    Do sell those tickets. Bring a friend—or two.

    Pastor’s Class

    Paul Davies, physicist, says it will be disastrous for Christianity if alien beings are found on other planets. I’ll tell you why that is not true—this Sunday—in class. You are welcome. Join us.

    At 9:45—followed by breakfast.

    Breakfast This Sunday

    It’s a “We-Bring” Sunday. I am impressed with our great breakfast each week. Come early. Eat. Help with the food at 10:30.

    St. Matthew Online

    I received three calls praising the service, which looked and sounded great last Sunday. For some reason, I can’t find it—but I will take the word of the callers. Our new equipment makes a big difference.

    I’ve reserved a spot for you on a pew if you can make it this Sunday. You may not like it. It’s toward the front.

    Women’s Luncheon

    Hey! Remember the Women’s Luncheon Thursday—at 11:00—I think.

    God Bless—MB

  • Friday’s Word

    Max Brennan
    Categories:

    NDEs seem to verify much of what Jesus taught us: life after death, the forgiveness of sins, and the nature of God as love.

    They also point to Jesus as the divine Savior of the world.

    But some people who experience NDEs leave the church and Christianity.

    Why is that?

    If a person shares his NDE with a conservative pastor, the pastor will likely reject the NDE and may even suggest a demonic origin.

    That person who had the near-death experience is stuck. He knows his experience was real, so he chooses it over the church.

    And here’s another problem: The information from the NDE does not match what his conservative church has taught him.

    He discovered in his NDE that there is no “wrath” in God, no anger, only love.

    There is judgment.

    But the judgment comes from us, against our own sins. God has only love for us, and all our sins are forgiven.

    Just as Jesus taught us.

    In other words, NDEs fully support the teachings of Jesus.

    But they do not support the angry, punitive God of conservative Christianity.

    That angry God does not exist.

    And if that is the only God a person has heard of from the church, that person may well give up the church after an NDE.

    But some churches preach the loving God we meet in our deepest experiences.

    St. Matthew is one of them. We proclaim the unconditional love of God.

    And I am encouraging you—yes, YOU, in this hard time—to support such a church. Come. Sunday.

    At 11:00 a.m.

    saintmatthewumc.com
    [email protected]