Brownsburg Church of Christ

If Ecclesiastes were a painting, it would be a Jackson Pollock drip piece. On the surface, we're caught up in a nihilistic mind-scape, but truthfully the book of Ecclesiastes is a master course, intended for mature audiences, on finding meaning in life. It does this with a bait-and-switch at the end that brings everything into perspective (with little nuggets of wisdom scattered throughout). In a...

1 John was written so that we would have confidence in our relationship with God -- so that we "who believe in the name of the Son of God would know that we have eternal life." As we'll see our confidence is not in ourselves, but in Jesus.

Help Wanted: responsible interpreters of the Bible. Sadly, as long as there has been church history, there has been bad interpretation - and it's not so benign at times. What does it mean to take up the call of God to wrestle with the text and interpret well? What kind of obstacles lie in our way? Is this really that necessary? “The Bible is mankind's greatest privilege. It is so far off and so di...

In this sermon we explore the psalms and our own lives to consider how God is our safe place.

We're excited to invited you on this journey our church is taking for 2023, in interceding for the needs of our brothers and sisters in the community. But what is prayer really? As we look to a story about Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings3, we learn quite a bit about the biblical perspective on prayer. Despite what it seems on the surface, prayer is not about wish fulfillment, about rubbing the magic l...

In this sermon we walk through a parable of Jesus to help us see God's love and be changed by it.

Per a request to discuss the beliefs of universalists, Thailer addresses some of the biblical basis behind such concepts as the reconciliation of all people to God. On our way to understanding the desire for all to be saved, we might discover different ways in which our own vision of salvation falls drastically short. This discovery comes by analyzing Paul's longest sentence and one of his rarest...

Here we listen to the voice of Jesus as he describes his relationship with God grounded in mutual trust and devotion. Here Jesus entrusts himself to God in the fullest way, in the midst of violent acts of shame and accusation. From this we consider how we can learn to trust God's love and overcome the shaming voices in our own lives.

This is the last sermon in our series, "Here As In Heaven." We look at the Great Commission at the end of the Gospel as well as some of the most important themes of Matthew to consider our identity and role as lifelong students of Jesus. Truly we have received grace upon grace.

This is a very blessed time where the world actually affords us an opportunity to reflect openly on the birth of our Lord. So as we take this opportunity, we'll reflect on the meaning of Christmas and why it's associated with feelings of joy. What does the birth of the child mean in the face of suffering, and how can it change not only our lives but the lives of those around us? [click the link be...

In this sermon we simply listen to the scriptures and the story of the suffering and death of the Messiah.

With this lesson, we'll wrap up our series through the book of Exodus. It's only fitting that we bookend the series, ending where we began: discussing the nature of God and hearing another personal story about Moses - since the Bible does the same thing. The question here is: Who is God? and how can the answer we discover inform the way we view ourselves and the way we treat others?

In this sermon we survey the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees, seeking to understand the basis of their differences so that we can gain wisdom to turn from the pitfalls of toxic religion as we follow Jesus today. The good news is that Jesus came to free us from toxic religion and he calls us to a beautiful life in the reign of heaven.

What happens at Mt. Sinai as Israel prepares as a nation to receive the law of God?

In this sermon we listen to the story of Jesus and the "rich young ruler", exploring the pitfalls of wealth and what God really wants for his people. At the end of the day, this story teaches us to love better!

Now that we've been freed, we've a great need to be shown the way of the wilderness - a way of testing, of trial and trust. It's the way God teaches us his way and forms us after his image. It's the way he prepares us to act as his people, loving, serving and protecting even the lowliest among us.

In this final sermon of the interlude before we jump into the wilderness narrative of trial and testing, what can we learn from the Bible's first praise song?

In the last two sermons we've thought through our paradigms regarding scripture--how students of Jesus view the "Old Testament." In this sermon we move from paradigm to practice, to consider how students of Jesus apply the scriptures. We take a brief tour of the scriptures, considering how commands, stories and prophecies are designed to give us wisdom and transform us.

In this interlude, we're jumping forward to the New Testament to reflect on the necessity of the Old Testament before we tackle the lessons that God is trying to teach in the wilderness. To Paul, what we call the "Old Testament" is indispensable to our formation as Christians today.

So the Israelites are finally moving out of Egypt-land. We know that God does the miraculous by parting the sea, but what can fresh eyes show us in the tale? And what can an ancient hebrew prophetess teach us about faith?

Part 8 in the series "Exodus-Shaped" - In this final part of three lessons covering the monolith of the Passover, we discuss passover-as-Lord's Supper, so to speak. Jesus chooses the Passover as the meal to represent what he would accomplish on the cross. What should we understand about the First Supper that will shed light on the Last Supper?

Part 7 in the series "Exodus-Shaped" - In this second part of three lessons covering the monolith of the Passover, we discuss passover-as-baptism, so to speak. Why is the Passover teaching, which are the first collective commandments Moses ever gives Israel, taught so closely to laws concerning the firstborn? Why is the theme of the firstborn so prevalent in Exodus, or the Bible? In other words, w...

This sermon explores the second collection of teachings in the gospel of Matthew. Here Jesus commissions his twelve apostles to go through Israel proclaiming the kingdom and healing. He gives them instructions for their mission and for the inevitable persecution they will experience. The heart of this sermon is a reflection on opposition to the kingdom of God and our faith in Messiah.