Pastor Scott's Musings

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC... [Slide] The First Gentile Christians ( Acts 10:25-48 )   Cornelius has been called the very first Gentile Christian. His conversion takes center stage. Church leadership in Jerusalem were concerned that Peter broke holiness customs by entering the home of a Gentile. Not only that, Peter entered the home of Israel’s oppressor, a Roman centurion. I wonder if Cornelius truly is the first Gentile Christian. There are other contenders like the Samaritans.   [Slide] In Acts 8, Philip, one of the seven men commissioned by the apostles as servant leaders, went to Samaria. He preached the gospel, freed the demon possessed, and healed the paralyzed. Many came to faith in Jesus, including a sorcerer by the name of Simon. The locals called him The Great Power of God. When Peter and John arrived, they discovered none of the Samaritan Christians had received the Holy Spirit. Peter and John laid hands on them and prayed for them ...

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC... [Slide] Dual Citizenship ( Acts 9:1-22 ) [Slide] Happy 250 th to America! During our bicentennial in 1976, I visited the Freedom Train, a museum of American history on rails. Jimmy Carter was in the White House. The number one song in 1976 was Silly Love Songs by Paul McCartney and the Wings. It was a great summer! I’ll be 114 when the tricentennial rolls around! Think I’ll make it? An artificial heart, hips and knees, and kidneys, liver and pancreas, I’ll be good to go! [Slide] In our reading, we meet Saul, a Pharisee, of the strictest sect in Judaism. The Pharisees appeared shortly after the Maccabean Revolt against Greek occupation. In some ways, Pharisaism was a reaction to Israel’s unfaithfulness. In the Pharisee’s mind, oppression by foreign powers is the direct result of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. They created a system of over 600 laws to make sure Israel kept the law of Moses in every conceivable situation. The Ph...

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC [Slide] The First Martyr ( Acts 6:8-7:1; 7:51-8:4 ) [Slide] A line of souls await entry into heaven The angel asks the first man: Have you been married? Yes, I was. Welcome to Heaven. The next guy walks up. The angel asks, “Have you been married?” Yes, twice. You’re going to Hell. What? But... why? Listen, pal, Heaven is for martyrs, not for idiots.   What do you call people would just die to go shopping? Walmartyrs   [Slide] Today we’re talking about the first martyr of the Church. Do you know where we get the word martyr? It comes from the Greek which is spelled martys. It means witness or spectator. We came, we saw, but we didn’t have to die for it! Nowadays the word means someone who dies for a cause or is persecuted for a belief system.   The Martyrdom of Stephen Juan de Juanes [Slide] Stephen was introduced in the Book of Acts as one of seven men who were filled with the Holy Spi...

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC... [Slide] Priesthood of All Believers (Acts 6:1-7)   [Slide] A husband and his wife were always fighting each other. Neighbors could hear them yelling. The woman would shout, “When I die, I will dig my way up, out of the grave and haunt you for the rest of your life!” The whole neighborhood was afraid of her. At only 58, she died of a heart attack. She was buried at the local cemetery. Afterward, the husband went straight to the local bar and began to party. His neighbors asked, “Aren't you afraid she’s gonna dig her way up out of the grave and haunt you?” The husband laughed, “Let her dig. I had her buried upside down!”   [Slide] Today we are looking at an early Church fight. Widows, in the first century, were often destitute without their husbands. Therefore, the Church had an important mission to care for widows from the common purse. The church adhered to the instruction from Moses.   [Slide] When you finish tith...