Author Archives: The Rev. J. Gary Brinn

Sometimes life just sort of, well… sometimes life sucks. Let’s face it, the economy is in the toilet, people are going hungry. Any wealth that is produced gets re-directed to support the extravagant lifestyles of the elite, or worst, ends up overseas in the hands of our enemies, folks who suppress our religion. The bickering … Continue reading →

I am much too young to remember, of course, but some of you are, shall we say, chronologically-gifted, so you will remember when the Beatles released their Abbey Road album. On the cover of the album is a photograph of the band crossing the aforementioned road, and Paul McCartney alone is barefoot. This combined with … Continue reading →

I can’t even imagine. One minute you’re doing what folks in Galilee, that remote outpost of the equally remote province at the edge of the empire, you’re doing what you do, which is just barely scraping by, and the next you’re following a man so charismatic that he is able to pull you away from … Continue reading →

Two weeks ago, at the start of our current sermon series, we attempted to speak of God the Creator, or more properly to un-speak of God, for we had to admit that we are at one end of three thousand years of God-talk going back at least to the earliest psalms, and that we humans … Continue reading →

The second sermon in a series on the basics of a belief that is marked as progressive, postmodern and Protestant. In the year 451 of the common era, there was some serious fighting going on in the church. No mere whining about the the quality of coffee hour, these folks were arguing over the question … Continue reading →

This sermon is the first in a series designed to introduce some basic concepts of a theology that is progressive, postmodern and Protestant. So first you go to the store… Home Depot maybe, or Father Nature, or some other nursery, and you buy the various things you need for the garden that season, lime and … Continue reading →

a sermon delivered on September 4, 2011 I realize that in this day and age, when marriage has failed as a consumer product because it requires attention to the other, is not sufficiently self-centered to meet the standards of our culture, it may seem a bit rude to complain about one’s own childhood. After all, … Continue reading →

delivered on August 7, 2011 at Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ During the extended period that began with the Enlightenment, the guiding premise for modern thinkers was that human reason and the scientific method alone could create a better world. In many ways reason was deified, attained the status of a god, with many … Continue reading →

delivered on July 31st, 2011 They say you can’t really get more than one point across in a sermon, and they are probably right, but I was on a tear this week and there are way too many in this one, so I figured I’d tell you what they were so you could choose which … Continue reading →

Everyone knows Amy Winehouse died, that the NFL lockout has ended, that a Christian terrorist slaughtered innocent children in Norway, that right-wing extremists are holding the US economy hostage in their attack on the Christian value of caring for the poor and vulnerable. But few will know that a great Christian thinker died last week. … Continue reading →