Wedgwood Community Church

06/04/2026

05/31/2026

Sunday's service was live-streamed MAY 31, 2026 @ 11:00 AM. The scripture reading was NUMBERS 10:33-36 and the sermon given by Pastor Sean Brown is titled “By Which to Remember”

05/24/2026

Sunday's service was live-streamed MAY 24, 2026 @ 11:00 AM. The scripture reading was ACTS 2:15-21, 38-39 and the sermon given by Pastor Sean Brown is titled “On All People”

05/21/2026

May 20, 2026 Bible Study: Historical Jesus & the Gospel of Matthew Part 9

05/17/2026

Sunday's service was live-streamed MAY 17, 2026 @ 11:00 AM. The scripture reading was HEBREWS 13:11-14 and the sermon given by Pastor Sean Brown is titled “To the Disgraced”

05/11/2026

PASTORAL MESSAGE FOR MAY 2026

RIGHT WITH OUR CREATOR

Righteousness is a big and important concept in religion. What does it mean to be righteous? Divorced from any specific context, righteousness literally means to have right standing with another. If someone is in a court of law and the jury finds them not guilty, that individual now has right standing with society, and thus is righteous. If I damage my neighbor’s property, but then willingly pay for the damage, I have right standing with my neighbor again, and thus am righteous. If a homeowner hires a contractor to do some work in their basement, and the work gets done properly and the contractor paid promptly and in full, the homeowner and contractor have right standing with each other, and thus are righteous. In terms of social relations, righteousness can be thought of as a state of harmony and balance between all parties. Some think about righteousness in terms of someone having a just cause. So-and-so is on a quest to clean up the crime in their city, thus they are on a righteous crusade. When applied to religion, a common misnomer is to think that righteousness just means being super moral and squeaky clean—basically a goody two-shoes. This is a misnomer because the core definition of righteousness always continues to be right standing. In the case of religion, righteousness means the believer’s right standing before God.

Christian theology teaches that sin has corrupted the state of being God intended for us. We are born into a state of separation from God. All the gnarly sins we commit are a natural outflow from this state we are in. Because God is holy and free from sin, in our fallen state, we cannot be in the direct presence of God. Spiritually speaking, a holy God and a sin-corrupted human soul cannot occupy the same space, just as a disinfectant and a germ cannot coexist in a petri dish. Something would have to give. In this case, we would give—we would be obliterated in the presence of our holy and awesome creator, unless God proactively took steps to address this problem.

The good news of the gospel is that God has indeed taken steps to address this problem. God came down to our level, incarnating into flesh, and bridging the gap between us and the divine. Part of the incarnation included the atonement of sin. Our sins were not only covered over via Jesus’ death on the cross, the residue and stain of sin was removed from us altogether—completely wiped out and expunged on the cross. After our “germs” have been “disinfected” so to speak, what remains of us is that part of ourselves fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. Whenever God looks upon us, God does not see our past and present failures and guilt, God sees the perfection of Christ Jesus superimposed onto us. This is what allows us to be in right standing with our creator. This is what will allow us to spend eternity in glory and bliss in the direct, undistilled presence of God.
Faith is simply our act of accepting the truthfulness of everything stated above. We did nothing and indeed can do nothing to put ourselves in right standing with God. Through Christ Jesus, God took care of everything. All we need to do is accept this truth, be awed by it, and live lives of humble gratitude. That response is our journey of faith.

Unfortunately, the temptation is ever-present to prove ourselves. It does not sit well with us that something as valuable as absolute forgiveness and eternal life was so painfully wrought by another (Christ) and then just handed to us, no strings attached. In our merit-based world full of quid pro quos, we feel like we have to earn our place before God. Resist sin! Pray and go to church! Do charitable deeds! We convince ourselves that these are ways we can earn brownie points with God. An added bonus to the brownie points is that when we’re successful in these endeavors, we can smugly look down our noses at our fellow Christians who are not as successful. These are the rationales of self-righteousness, the erroneous thought that we can somehow behave our way into right standing with God (and superior standing to our fellow Christians). If that were possible, then the incarnation, and Jesus’ subsequent death on the cross, was not needed. True righteousness declares that under our own power we cannot obtain right standing with an awesome and holy God.

Paul constantly had to deal with self-righteousness in his churches. Over and over again Paul stressed that we are saved and made right with God not by our deeds (sometimes worded as “works of the law”) but by God’s grace, which is received by us through our faith in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:27-28; Romans 11:6; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 3:9). When Paul says we are “justified by faith,” what he meant is that it is through our faith that we know we are saved and righteous with God. Knowledge of our salvation and righteousness does not come because we are holier and purer than all the other Christians in our pew; it does not come because we vigorously practice all the spiritual disciplines; it does not come because we give more or volunteer more than everyone else we know. Justification by faith means that we do not need to prove ourselves to ourselves, or to God, or to anyone else. All we need to do is trust that God took proactive (and costly) steps to make us righteous because it is in God’s nature to do so. Any good deeds we do are an expression of our gratitude for what God has already done in our lives. They do not change what God has already set for us in stone. Good deeds are our natural response to the grace of God.

How reassuring it is to know that the most important thing we could possibly possess was not something we had to work for and earn. Our cynical and selfish world operates under the assumption that “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” God begs to differ. In God’s system, the most important and precious of all our possessions—our present spiritual status and our future fate—was given to us for free, as a pure gift. Ours is a cold, unforgiving, exacting world full of calculated merits and demerits. Having to constantly measure up is exhausting. But God stands above the world and offers a free gift so good and so unprecedented that it boggles the mind. This is the gospel message in a nutshell. Let that gospel message strengthen you and carry you through the difficult seasons in life.

Pastor Sean Brown

05/10/2026

Sunday's service was live-streamed MAY 10, 2026 @ 11:00 AM. The scripture reading was JOHN 14:15-1 and the sermon given by Pastor Sean Brown is titled “Creditless Love”

05/07/2026

May 6, 2026 Bible Study: Historical Jesus & the Gospel of Matthew Part 8

04/13/2026

PASTORAL MESSAGE FOR APRIL 2026

DIVINE ROLES AND TASKS

Adoptionism was a belief held by some early Christians about the nature of Jesus’ relationship to God the Father. Later declared a heresy, Adoptionism states that God, at some point in Jesus’ life, “adopted” him as divine Son, Lord, and Messiah. Some who held this belief stated that the moment of adoption was precisely when the Virgin Mary gave birth; some said the adoption moment happened at Jesus’ baptism (recall the story where at the moment Jesus came out of the waters of the Jordan River, a voice from heaven declared, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”). Others believed Jesus was “adopted” at the moment of his death on the cross. Still others believed the moment happened at Jesus’ resurrection. Those who held this belief pointed to certain bible verses for proof. Acts 2:36 has Peter evangelizing a crowd, saying, “Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” In a separate sermon where he speaks about Jesus, Peter in Acts 10:42 says, “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead” (see also Ephesians 1:22). Romans 1:3-4 has the apostle Paul saying, “Regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirt of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead…” Declared, appointed, made—these are words that suggest that Jesus was not always these things.

What Adoptionism denies is that Jesus the Christ was eternally these things, thereby denying the preexistence of the Word before he incarnated into flesh (see John 1:1-4; 14). It is to suggest that God needed a human representative to endow with great power so as to make the good news of the gospel more understandable and to make God’s very self more relatable. God looked around and settled on a carpenter from the little town of Nazareth named Jesus. Perhaps even without Jesus’ consent, all of the power and authority of divine Sonship was then conferred onto him.
Once the Church became institutionalized and became the dominant power over all of Europe and the Mediterranean, orthodox beliefs started to be enforced via the sword. Central to orthodox beliefs were all of the nuances regarding the Trinity. Adoptionism’s adherents were relentlessly persecuted starting in the 4th Century because the obvious implication of their theology was the denial that God was eternally and co-equally Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Aside from the simple denial of the Trinity itself, there may have been deeper spiritual reasons why Adoptionism was perceived to be a threat to sound orthodox theology. I often say that what we believe matters. Seemingly harmless theological statements and doctrines can subtly morph into either edifying or destructive behavior. Violence, or the threat of violence, should never, under any circumstance, be wielded to enforce beliefs. Thus, the Church of the 4th Century and on was in grave error for violently persecuting those who believed in Adoptionism. That said, beliefs themselves should always be carefully assessed and run to their logical conclusion to determine if they have the capacity to build us up or tear us down.

To believe that God would arbitrarily choose someone to confer such great power on, in order to fulfill specific missions, can potentially be problematic. Keeping in mind all of the suffering that Jesus as Son of God and Messiah would endure, we have to ask the question, would God just use someone like that? Yes, the missions were noble. Atonement for all the world’s sins, showing humankind how to live, opening the way to paradise for us, reconciling the world back to God, offering hope; as believers we should be eternally grateful that God took the steps necessary to accomplish these missions. The question is whether these missions were performed by someone appointed out of the blue and delegated with authority. Or, alternatively, were these missions performed directly by the One whose eternal nature it is to gladly perform them? Orthodox theology on the Triune God would opt for the latter possibility.

It is in God’s eternal nature to love to the degree where God becomes a human, patiently teaches us, suffers on our behalf, and establishes harmony and peace. God knew the risks involved in giving humankind freewill to embrace or reject God. Indeed, we did reject our creator. Yet our creator took proactive steps to ensure our eternal life, everlasting fellowship, and glory—all while respecting and continuing our freewill! If God would go to such great lengths to ensure human freewill, it seems hard to believe that someone who was not eternally divine would be pulled into such solemn tasks that required so much suffering, and would have such awesome authority thrust upon them. Arbitrarily choosing someone to perform the tasks Jesus performed and occupy the roles Jesus occupied seems a little too ruthlessly utilitarian. It would turn Jesus Christ into an instrument that was used by God. Talk of “declaring” and “appointing” and “making” sounds a little too much like how human kings and queens, stained by fallen sin-nature, flex their authority, in essence moving pawns around on a chessboard. Fortunately, alternative interpretations for such New Testament passages are abundant.

Authoritarianism is on the rise all around the world. Because of this sad reality, people are hyper-sensitive to questions of power and authority. Whenever we talk about God, power and authority always serve as the subtext. The nuances involved in the relationship between God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit highlight how power and authority work within God’s economy of things. Adoptionism hints at a potential misuse by God of power and authority. God does not need to choose and use a created entity. Far more likely is the spiritual truth that a part of God’s eternal essence is always as Son, i.e. servant, heir, and beloved. Part of God’s eternal essence is always as passionate sufferer, reconciler, peacemaker, and judge. Part of God’s eternal essence is always as “anointed one,” i.e. Messiah, anointed for the task of loving and saving and forgiving and restoring each one of us. It would not be necessary to transfer the roles and tasks that emanate from this essence onto a created entity. The roles and tasks are germane to who God is. They are roles and tasks endowed with unique power and authority. But God’s power and authority is always rooted in love, and always honors freewill. For these truths, we can give thanks and praise to our loving creator.

Pastor Sean Brown

02/16/2026

PASTORAL MESSAGE FOR FEBRUARY 2026

WHOEVER’S CLOSE, COUNTS

King Ahab, and his wife Jezebel, can be thought of as Israel’s first celebrity power couple. Today’s tabloids would have had a field day with this duo. Salacious intrigue followed them everywhere. Ostentatious, cruel, and sociopathic, they remind readers of the Bible of some of our leaders today. Reigning over the Northern Kingdom of Israel from about 874 to 853 BC, Ahab and Jezebel worked overtime to introduce worship of the Baals and other pagan gods across the land. This was just a little over 100 years after the death of King David, the one whom 1 Samuel 13:14 called “the man after God’s own heart.” Ahab and Jezebel’s almost militaristic foisting of paganism onto the masses marked a significant betrayal of what it meant to be a king of Israel and representative of Yahweh. Faith in Yahweh is precisely what distinguished the Hebrew people as unique in the first place. Now, this couple was in essence erasing the religious heritage of the people they were leading. They were blotting out the very identity of a nation. Neglect of their religious duties notwithstanding, this exceedingly wicked couple also violated basic moral principles. Violence characterized their reign. Most of Yahweh’s prophets (with the exception of Elijah and a few other unnamed servants of God) were hunted down and killed by Ahab and Jezebel. Archaeological evidence suggests that during this couple’s reign, Israel fiercely and unjustly oppressed the nearby nation of Moab. One biblical story in particular summarizes this couple’s greed and cruelty.

According to 1 Kings 21, a regular everyday guy named Naboth owned a vineyard next door to Ahab’s palace in the city of Jezreel. Minding his own business and keeping out of politics, Naboth did nothing to provoke the royal couple. But Jezebel wanted his property, at first offering to buy it from Naboth, who refused to sell it because the land was an ancestral inheritance. Commentators theorize that Naboth was motivated by his piety, not wanting to violate the Law of Moses’ command which prevented the permanent selling of land. Perhaps realizing that Naboth’s piety was for real and could not be bought, Jezebel resorted to treachery. Producing false witnesses and deceptively writing a letter in her husband’s name, she convinced the elders of the city of Jezreel that Naboth had cursed God and cursed the king. The elders stoned Naboth to death, thus making it seem like a community-sanctioned and just ex*****on where no foul play would be suspected. Thereafter, Jezebel and Ahab (who became aware of Jezebel’s plot) happily seized Naboth’s vineyard. Yahweh immediately sent the prophet Elijah to pronounce judgment on the couple. Elijah did not mince words, promising that ruin would come to Ahab and his descendants, and that Jezebel’s body would be devoured by dogs at a site near Naboth’s vineyard. Remarkably, Ahab repented and Yahweh postponed immediate punishment (1 Kings 21:27-29). Jezebel, on the other hand, remained defiant. Years later, her death transpired just as Elijah had prophesied (2 Kings 9:35-36).

Jezebel and Ahab negatively altered the course of Israel’s history. From their reign onward, pagan religion was legitimized and became mainstream practice for centuries. Wonton violence became the norm, epitomized by the systematic killing of Yahweh’s prophets. From scripture’s perspective, the mainstreaming of paganism into Israelite society directly led to more bloodshed, sexual immorality, greed, bribery, deceit, poverty, and exploitation. Furthermore, in the realm of foreign policy, Ahab and Jezebel did Israel no favors, increasing hostilities with neighboring nations like Aram and Moab. For all their faults and personal immorality, I find it interesting that it was their act of treacherously killing Naboth which served as the last straw for God. It was only after this deed that Yahweh sent Elijah with tidings of doom for the royal couple.

One lesson that can be drawn here is that how we treat those closest to us matters the most. For all of the royal couple’s disastrous policies, for all of their violence from afar against religious and political opponents, it was how they treated their literal neighbor that drew the greatest wrath from God. Motivated by pure selfishness, folks might have really poor opinions on economic policy. Driven by racism and xenophobia, folks might have really poor opinions on immigration and foreign policy. Perhaps some have not a shred of empathy for those halfway around the world who are not like them. Many may have never given to any charities or volunteered for any good causes. Maybe folks have disdain for “those types of people,” despite having never met one face-to-face. Not only do they harbor immoral thoughts, they may have taken action to bring about negative results, such as voting a certain way, donating to campaigns, or protesting. All of this is regrettable and is certainly a mark on one’s character. But it pales in comparison to how they actually treat those around them. God might look past our bad opinions and selfish motivations, but when we start mistreating those proximate to us, it puts us in a different category—a category that gravely disappoints God.

I’m reminded of a story I read about the legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. Wooden was in a young man’s living room, trying to recruit him to play basketball for UCLA. This recruit was one of the best high school players in the nation, highly coveted by the top programs. During the interview, Wooden became disturbed by how the recruit treated his mother, how he snapped at her, dismissed her comments, and was short with her. Wooden cut the interview short and refused to offer the recruit a scholarship. When asked why, Wooden said that if that is how the man treated the person closest to him, how would he treat his coaches, teammates, and opposing players?

The Parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates this point nicely. Jesus told it in response to the question, “who is my neighbor?” The implication of the parable was that anyone who might cross your path is a neighbor to you. In this case, the Good Samaritan’s “neighbor” was a man robbed, beaten, and left for dead along the side of a road. Extraordinary help was given by the Good Samaritan to the stricken man. Of course, the kicker was that it was a Samaritan giving extraordinary help to a Jewish man. Jews and Samaritans were enemies. Thus, from the perspective of Jesus’ Jewish audience, the Good Samaritan—while having bad politics and bad worldviews and being a downright enemy—acted righteously in how he treated someone who was directly in front of him. When we treat those near to us with love, mercy, and kindness, it covers over a multiple of our sins. If there was a scale to judge others by, it seems to me that scripture advises lending less weight to those who merely have good opinions or who virtue signal as altruistic, and lending much more weight to those who show kindness to the people who are close to them, whether those close to them are strangers, family, neighbors, co-workers, friends, or even enemies. Judge accordingly, and be inspired by those who consistently show kindness.

Pastor Sean Brown