... himself that he had come "to preach good news to the poor...proclaim release to the captives...[restore] sight to the blind..." (Luke 4:18), "to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). To the woman he healed of a hemorrhage, the blind man who could now ... writer has it, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be SAVED" (John 3:17). Salvation is something much more than a promise of "Jesus and I, bye and bye, in the sky." It is nothing less than ...
... is: Be humble. No problem. Humility comes easily if you're a Catholic. The religion is impossible to live up to. Oh, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul and a few others are good Catholics. But the other 600 million or so have plenty of weaknesses to keep us humble... I vowed to ... 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13 2. Bill Reel, "Lent Is An Excuse To Be Better," NY DAILY NEWS, 2/18/88, p, 37 quoted in Pastor's Professional Research Service, 1/89-2/89-1 3. List found in my files credited to the Rev. Craig Gates, St. ...
... who sticks closer than a brother."(2) When we sit and eat together, something special, something wondrous can happen. And it does. It will. Right here. Today. Be ready for it. And when it does...ENJOY!!! Amen! 1. Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-13 2. Proverbs ...
... the reason one remains unidentified is to allow us to insert our own name into the story. Cleopas and David (or Cleopas and Debbie...or Connie or Jim or Jane or Bob or John), out on the road, home to Emmaus. This idea of inserting our own name into the story makes sense. They were just like us. They had the same concerns that have been common in ... Graves and Richard Ward, eds., (St. Louis : Chalice Press, 2001) 3. William Carter, "Where Does Easter Happen?" sermon delivered on The Protestant Hour, 4/18/99
... percent. * On days when Hillary Rodham Clinton was on an announced trip out of town, pizza orders to the White House went up an average 18 percent. (I'm not sure what that means. Maybe Bill pigs out when Hillary's not around.) Here is a pizza fact that has nothing to ... . 124-125. 4. Max Lucado, AND THE ANGELS WERE SILENT, pp. 33-35, 5. Chapter titled "Holy Religion." Contributed by Dr. John Bardsley. 5.Warren W. Wiersbe, BE RICH (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1976), pp. 60-61. 6. "Renewing your sense of purpose ...
... -mast, there was the heroic story of Kerri Strug. "Many of you watched the Olympics and were stunned when a 4-foot-8-inch, 18-year-old woman charged down a runway, vaulted through the air and landed on a leg so badly sprained that it could hold her upright ... to follow Jesus is a call to walk in his shoes. It is to live out the life of love that Jesus lived long ago. John Sherrill, Roving Editor of GUIDEPOSTS lay in a hospital bed, disconsolate and more than a little bored. Doctors said he would be there for 10 ...
... from the backwater region of Galilee. They didn't have the polished sophistication of London or San Francisco or New York. They hadn't read John Malloy's DRESS FOR SUCCESS or Amy Vanderbilt's BOOK OF ETIQUETTE. They were rather crude men even by the standards of their own day ... both, but if we have to make a choice . . . 1. PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, May/June 1995, p. 18. 2. Rebecca Manley Pippert, OUT OF THE SALTSHAKER (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1979), 15. 3. "What Was That Terrible Noise?" by Sharon ...
... that God could not have given Adam a greater gift than this one. All of creation pales in comparison. I love the way John Sullivan, pastor of the Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana put it. Speaking of his first date with his wife he said, "I ... save many marriages and enrich many more. The third big "C" after commitment and communication is cooperation. It is interesting in Genesis 2: 18 that God says, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a helper fit for him." (RSV) Notice ...
... to feed the hungry. Even though the lad who offered the five loaves and two fish is not mentioned in our text for the day, I am glad that the Gospel of John brings him to our attention. We have young people in this church and they are so important to the work of Christ. Every once in a while, when something important needs to ... offer the Master. What's yours? 1. Tom Peterson, "Child Survival," THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY, July 18, 1987. 2. Joseph Donkers, CREATION AND HUMAN DYNAMISM, 1985. 3. Sydney H. Schanberg
... lack faith in others? Do you see the world as a hostile and cruel enemy? Remember, what you see is what you get. Coach John Madden gives a beautiful example of the effect of perception on performance in his book, KNEE. He tells about Ray Wersching, kicker for the ... to note that Wersching is right. The hash marks, those chalked lines about 23 yards inside each sideline on a football field are 18 1/2 feet apart, the same width as the goalposts. In a sense, the goalposts come up out of the hash marks. "The ...
... his disciples what today we might call a reality check. "Who do people say that I am?" he asked them. "They say you are John the Baptist," one of them replied. Someone else said, "Elijah," while others said that he was seen as "one of the prophets." But then ... you live for him? 1. READER'S DIGEST 2. Ruth Bell Graham, LEGACY OF A PACK RAT, (Nashville: Oliver Nelson, 1989), pp. 18-20. 3. Bishop Earl G. Hunt, Jr., RECOVERING THE SACRED, quoting from Thomas 4. S. Kepler, "Leaves from a Spiritual Notebook," p. ...
... their wealth ” even to follow Jesus. ONE OF THE CONSISTENT THEMES OF THE GOSPELS IS THE DANGER OF POSSESSING GREAT WEALTH. John Wesley, who was winning people to Christ out of the lower socioeconomic strata of English society, found that those who ... with Tony Campolo, YOUTHWORKER, Spring 1994, p. 3. 4. Philip Yancey, "Learning to Live With Money," CHRISTIANITY TODAY 28, no. 18 (December 14, 1984), pp. 30-42. 5. David W. Richardson, EMPHASIS, September-October, 1992, p. 34. 6. James W. Fowler, BECOMING ADULT ...
... at noon. If it were not for pumpkin, we would be undoon." Those early immigrants to this land did not have it easy. John Palmer a pastor in Live Oak, Florida tells about the first Thanksgiving he and his new bride spent together. It was rather sparse ... Mort's grandfather was forced to flee Russia many years ago because he happened to be a Jew. He lived in an attic in Brooklyn for 18 months working as a tailor, so he could get together enough money to buy a train ticket to Fort Worth, Texas. He reared a fine ...
... a window of the burning car. The station manager tried to rescue him. "He tried to pull him out. It got too hot. He gave up," said Corporal John McLain. "He died a very painful death for $9 of gas," said Vince Sullivan, a witness who tried to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher. How very, ... turns Deadly," NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (January, 1989), p. 16. 2. TIME, November 18, 1991. 3. Thanks to Dr. Eric S. Ritz for this illustration. 4. Thanks to Ed Harper, Burlington, NC, for this illustration. 5. Stephen ...
... too. We remember with sadness and gratitude the sacrifices others have made in our behalf. Now we go out to tell our story. 1. NY DAILY NEWS, editorial, 5-30-88, p. 22. 2. Long Island, NY, 5-18-89, p. 6, "A Legion Turn Out to Place the Flag" (Thanks to Dr. John Bardsley for these first two clippings.) 3. Wallace O. Chariton, TEXAS WIT & WISDOM, Wordware Publishing, Inc., 1990. 4. Lockyer, Herbert, LAST WORDS OF SAINTS AND SINNERS (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1969) cited in Billy Graham, FACING DEATH ...
... us in many detrimental ways. It can also "free" us to love more deeply. From our Gospel lesson today found in St. Matthew 18:21-35 it so frustrates Peter that he asks our Lord Jesus Christ, how many times shall I forgive my brother? It was as ... of the Prodigal Son. Perhaps he had witnessed with his very own eyes the attempted stoning of the woman caught in adultery recorded in John 8:1-11. Peter by now was beginning to see that this thing called forgiveness was an integral part of this new kingdom and ...
... . Paul says that no matter how many other gifts we have, if we don't have love, we don't have anything. That splendid story teller John R. Aurelio used Paul's analogy for a story in his book COLORS. He says that one day when the heart was feeling in an especially ... , (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1995), pp. 6970. 2. BOTTOM LINE PERSONAL, a newsletter Cited in THE PROGRESSIVE, FORBES, May 18, 1995, p. 30. 3. THE PRESENCE, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993), p. 101. 4. "Izzy and the party people," ...
... expressing dissatisfaction. And that brings us to our second lesson: THERE IS AN APPROPRIATE WAY TO EXPRESS DISSATISFACTION. Jesus taught us in Matthew 18:15 that we are to go directly to the person with whom we disagree in order to express our concerns face to face. ... St. Paul. That's a good word for us all. 1. Adapted from a sermon by Dr. Fred Craddock. 2. John White, "Breaking the Grumblers' Grip," LEADERSHIP (Spring, 1993), p. 98. 3. Bob Phillips, THE BEST OF GOOD CLEAN JOKES (Eugene: Harvest House, 1989), p. ...
... the sanctity of sex. They receive so many confusing messages. It is a confusing world. That's why I cannot help but be attracted by John 16:13: "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth . . ." If there is one thing we need today ... for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:1920) Most of the great moral tragedies in this world have been performed by loners. A lonely madman, the socalled Unabomber, takes out ...
... Car that can carry 36 passengers. It's in two pieces with a hitch in the middle like a tractortrailer so it can bend around corners. It has five axles. A normal Town Car is 18 feet long; most city buses are only 40 feet but this baby is 66 ½ feet long. It has two fax machines, cellular telephones, TV sets, love seats and a microwave. It's going to get ... Press, 1983). 6. Nell Mohney, "We Can Often Find Hell in the Here and Now," Kingsport TimesNews, March 24, 1995, p. 10D. Contributed by Dr. John Bardsley.
... of Rene Russo. Rene is one of the most glamorous women in Hollywood, and has acted in movies with such megastars as John Travolta, Kevin Costner, and Mel Gibson. These things are at least external indicators of success. But for many years, Rene Russo did ... immediate circumstances. "Paul encourages us," said this writer, "to fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen (2 Cor. 4:18). When we do, we can rejoice even in hardships because we see Christ's larger victory." (3) And that is Christ's message to ...
... is one proverb which describes the followers of Jesus in those days following his crucifixion, it has to be Proverb 29:18 which reads, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (2) Though Jesus' followers may not have been physically dead ... DIES CAN HE LIVE AGAIN?" (4) The resurrection of Jesus is the answer to Job's question. A PERSON CAN RISE FROM THE DEAD. John Dunne writes of the impact of the resurrection upon humankind: "The Resurrection is an enormous answer to the problem of death. The idea is ...
... Kanun reads, "Blood never loses its color." (4) Revenge is natural; love is Christ like. There is a verse in the book of Ephesians (3: 18-19) that says, "I pray that you . . . (may) grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ; and to know ... a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence. One morning there was a knock on John's door. He opened it to find a man With a carpenter's toolbox. "I'm looking for a few days work," he said. " ...
... loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him" (14:21). And again in John 14 we read, "Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day ... sentimentality? No, authentic Christian faith. For that is the love God has for us. 1. "Virtual Baby," June 4, 1995, p. 18. 2. READER'S DIGEST. 3. Dan Rather with Micky Herskowitz, THE CAMERA NEVER BLINKS TWICE (New York: William Morrow, 1994). 4. ...
... about the Kingdom of God. On one occasion he said to them, "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." I. "Wait." He said to them, "Wait.". Lawrence O. Richards makes the point that the ... (A Dutton Book, 1992), pp. 96-97. 5. Barbara Brown Taylor, "The Day We Were Left Behind," CHRISTIANITY TODAY, May 18, 1998, p. 48. 6. Lester E. Smith, Marathon, NY.