Ronnie McBrayer

Making Meaning: Turn, Turn Turn, Part 3

This is Ronnie's third in a series of talks exploring the Book of Ecclesiastes alongside the work of Viktor Frankl.
"Consider this: Any two human beings share 99.5 percent of the same DNA and genetic material. No one is all that different from his or her neighbor. What makes us unique are our experiences. Your life can never be duplicated, and what you have experienced, no power on earth can take away from you! All you have done; all you have taken in through your senses and into your soul; all you have thought, all you have suffered; all the joys and triumphs you have celebrated; all the happy mornings and sleepless nights; all the prayers of gratitude and all the cries for help - you brought them into being with the single solitary life God has given you to live. And there will never be another person like you. We all step into the same river, but we do not share the same water.

Making Meaning: Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em, Part 2

This is Ronnie's second in a series of talks exploring the Book of Ecclesiastes alongside the work of Viktor Frankl.
"Work - what you do - is essential to finding meaning in life. I did not say that work IS the meaning of life. No. But when our attitude is attuned, work can be a source of great satisfaction. As the proverb is told: 'Find something you love to do, and you will never work a day in your life.' That doesn’t mean every day will be easy. We are not so naive. It won’t always be 'fun.' Meaningful work is hard work - but it’s meaningful. So, every job, every bit of work, if it incorporates the skills a person has, it meets the needs of others, and it is pursued with chutzpah and gusto - it is impossible for that work not to matter. It has to be meaningful - for every one it touches."
 

Making Meaning: Like A Bird on a Wire, Part 1

Viktor Frankl said: “If you have a WHY to live, you can endure almost any WHAT, that life gives you.” How does that statement stand up against inexplicable suffering; in an unjust world; in a society that seems to be growing more insane by the day? How does it compare with the words from the writer of Ecclesiastes? In this adventurous new sermon series Ronnie takes on the subject of "making meaning" in life. He is quick to point out that "meaning does not necessarily mean sense, as some things will never make sense in life. It’s not the search for answers: Some questions have no answers. Some situations have no solutions. It’s not a quest for explanation, resolution, fulfillment, or closure. It is the search for true purpose" (Ecclesiastes 1).

Renovations

"Here is a hard and fast rule if you start a renovation project at your home: It will take you longer than you planned; it will cost you more money than you budgeted; it will lead to other renovations and necessary updates that you did not anticipate; and it will be more difficult than you first thought. Because once dive deep with the idea of seeing what is 'down there,' once you start pulling away the veneer, start crawling about above and poking at what is hiding behind the sheetrock, all bets and expectations are off...If you go to work on you life - allow God to work in your life - it works the same." 
(Based on Psalm 139)

The Searchers

In a creative twist, Ronnie imagines the Magi searching for Jesus, not as "three kings from orient are," but as cowboys riding west into the unknown. Ronnie concludes this Epiphany talk: "Christ is  both the way and the destination, the road and the arrival. He is the voice that calls us - and the voice that answers. He is the thirst within - and the water that satisfies that thirst. He is the source of our hunger and the satisfaction for that hunger. He is the light in the distance, and the light shining down on us. He is the unexpected discovery that we find in ordinary places. He is the wonder in our wanderings, and the end to our all our searching."

Wait and See

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance,” borrowing a line from the Apostle Paul: Whatever you think will happen in the future will likely NOT happen as you think it will. Or put another way: “If you want to hear God laugh, just tell him about your plans.” God doesn’t go about ruining the plans we have or raining on our hopes and dreams. I don’t think that at all. I think God allows life to take its course, having equipped us with the internal strength and holy wisdom we need to navigate the road ahead. And that road will be a winding one, so much so, that when we get what we have been waiting for - when what we hoped for comes to fruition - it’s not exactly as we thought it would be. We do the best we can. Then we "wait and see" leaving all results in God's hands.

A Christmas Special, Part 4

Charlie Brown cries out in desperation: “Everything I do turns into a disaster…Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” And then it happens, what Lee Mendelson called, "The most magical two minutes in all of TV animation." Linus answers his best friend. “Sure, Charlie Brown. I can tell you what Christmas is all about.” He takes center stage. “Lights, please,” he says. And with seven-year old Christopher Shea providing the voice of Linus Van Pelt, under the spotlight, Linus reads from the King James Version of Luke 2: “Fear not, for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.'" Linus turns to his friend and sweetly, innocently concludes: “That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

A Christmas Special, Part 3

"The Grinch franchise  (the 1966, 2000, and 2018 films) is the most popular, the most watched, and most lucrative holiday production in history. This 'heel…this vile one with termites in his smile…this seasick crocodile…A skunk with a heart full of unwashed socks…the king of sinful sots.' How can he be the most popular Christmas character since the nativity of Jesus and the coronation of Saint Nickolas? His enduring legacy is what he teaches us: No one has slipped so far into resentment and boiled so long in bitterness that they can’t be redeemed - that they can’t be reborn - restored - saved even - by grace." 
(This is Part 3 of Ronnie's 2023 Advent Series.)

A Christmas Special, Part 2

"All these misfits - pushed away and ostracized - they aren’t bad. They aren’t wrong. They just are. And all they want is what we all want - a chance. A chance to be loved, a chance to belong; a chance to be themselves; a chance to thrive in spite of their misfitting and misgivings; a chance to be a part of the great reversal, where the down and out are no longer consigned to a far away, fog-encased island - but they are seen, valued, brought into the community, and made whole...They wanted what Mary sang about in her Magnificat and what Jesus preached about in his first sermon, the Son sounding like his Mother, a place where the last are made first." 
(This is Part 2 of Ronnie's 20223 Advent Series.)

A Christmas Special, Part 1

"For me, there was a clear sign that Christmas was indeed near. If you were a child of the 1960s, 70s, or 80s - or a parent during those decades - you will share this memory with me. It was the return of the animated Christmas special!  I cannot tell you, a wide-eyed, bespectacled child of the 1970s, the undiluted and perfect satisfaction of sitting on the floor in front of a 19 inch black and white television, taking in the wonders of the annual Christmas cartoons. So, to celebrate Advent this year, I’m taking us back to my favorite Christmas specials; and on this first Sunday of the season, with the candle of hope burning, and expectation in the air, I will begin by saying, 'Happy Birthday!' Because that’s what Frosty the Snowman said every time that magic hat was put on his head and he sprung to life..."