Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in thy eyes, O Lord God; thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast shown me future generations, O Lord God! And what more can David say to thee? For thou knowest thy servant, O Lord God! Because of thy promise, and according to thy own heart, thou hast wrought all this greatness, to make thy servant ...
There is an old story about Albert Einstein. He was going around the country from university to university on the lecture circuit, giving lectures on his theory of relativity. He traveled by chauffeur-driver limousine. One day, after they had been on the road for awhile, Einstein’s chauffeur said to him, “Dr. Einstein, I’ve heard you deliver that lecture on relativity so many times, that I’ll bet I could deliver it myself.” “Very well,” the good doctor responded. “I’ll give you that opportunity tonight. ...
Big Idea: The guilt offering shows how to repent. Understanding the Text Leviticus 1:1–6:7 is addressed to the laity, giving them instructions about five types of sacrifices. It is organized around those that the layperson could voluntarily choose to offer (burnt, grain, and fellowship offerings), followed by those that the layperson must offer whenever certain offenses have occurred (sin and guilt offerings). The guilt offering is meant to address offenses against holy things, whether done by directly ...
We live in a complicated, anxiety-producing world. In our culture today, anxiety is one of the major ailments that people both suffer from and seek to relieve. We all know what happens when your body, mind, and spirit become afflicted with high anxiety. High anxiety can cause physical maladies, such as heart attacks, strokes, autoimmune disorders, eating disorders, and overloaded adrenal glands. Emotionally, anxiety can throw us off balance, cause depression, make us distracted and absentminded. It can ...
It happened almost twenty years ago. I had been here at St. Luke’s for only a few months. It was a beautiful spring day. The phone rang in our home on a Sunday afternoon. I answered and a young man on the other end of the line said he needed to tell me something and then ask me a question. The words came in a rush of emotion. He told me that a month ago, he was in our church and he felt God touching his heart and urging him to come down front to be baptized and to join the church. “It was so powerful,” he ...
It happened almost twenty years ago. I had been here at St. Luke’s for only a few months. It was a beautiful spring day. The phone rang in our home on a Sunday afternoon. I answered and a young man on the other end of the line said he needed to tell me something and then ask me a question. The words came in a rush of emotion. He told me that a month ago, he was in our church and he felt God touching his heart and urging him to come down front to be baptized and to join the church. “It was so powerful,” he ...
It was bound to happen. God knew it. Joshua knew it. Someday, a child would ask the question. · Someday, when the people were comfortably settled in the Promised Land and the tales of Abraham and Sarah living in tents had given way to high rise lofts and seaside condos; · Someday, when the stories of Moses and the manna had blended into a mosaic of ancient myth and the traveling tabernacle had been replaced by a permanent temple; · Someday, long after the bones of Joseph had found their final resting place ...
I would urge every preacher to attempt an experimental sermon occasionally, especially if he or she is normally a very routine, conventional person.51 -- John Killinger Change attracts attention. Every preacher knows this after watching people's attention shift to a child walking up the aisle and out the door to the bathroom. I was in a church once where a bird was flying around the sanctuary. The pastor could just as well have been reading out of the phone book for all the attention the sermon retained. A ...
One summer's day my wife and I journeyed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to attend a conference. We packed early in the morning and joined a colleague and his wife for breakfast. The other couple was also attending the Pittsburgh conference. After saying "goodbye" to our friends, we indicated that we would see them at the hotel in Pittsburgh. We were leaving directly from the breakfast while they were not leaving for another two or three hours, after they went home, packed, and took their children to the ...
Preface Strong Son of God, immortal Love, Whom we, that have not seen thy face, By faith, and faith alone, embrace, Believing where we cannot prove; Thine are these orbs of light and shade; Thou madest Life in man and brute; Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot Is on the skull which thou hast made. Thou wilt not leave us in the dust: Thou madest man, he knows not why, He thinks he was not made to die; And thou hast made him: thou art just. Thou seemest human and divine, The highest, holiest manhood, thou. ...
•Pentecost • Pentecost • Pentecost • Pentecost • Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. They are blessed with the benediction, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14) Christians know who God is and who the Christ is, but what of this Holy Spirit? The doctrine of the Holy Spirit has been among the most neglected of the doctrines of the Christian faith in recent ...
Big Idea: Jesus expects his disciples to practice a covenantal piety that centers on a longing for God’s kingdom to arrive and strives to please God, not humans. Understanding the Text Following on the heels of Matthew’s instructions about keeping the law, this passage indicates right ways of enacting religious practices of giving, prayer, and fasting. In each case, believers ought to act “in secret” to receive divine rather than human approval. Their behavior is to contrast with “hypocrites” who care ...
Jeremiah, the Crazy Old Coot Who Was Right When the World Was Wrong; How God Delivers and How Great it Is; and How to Say "Thanks." "Well, I don't like to say, 'I told you so', but ..." You've heard the line, maybe used it. You issue your warnings or give your advice. It is not taken. The events that follow fulfill all those warnings you issued, and then you say it or at least feel it. "Well, I don't like to say, 'I told you so' but I did." To be really truthful, there is often a definite feeling of ...
Recently a religious talk show hostess was interviewing a new believer. The new believer had come from the wrong side of the tracks-economically, socially, morally, and spiritually. As he gave his testimony, this man, who had seen it all and done it all continually thanked God for the change God had made in his life. "I can’t express," he said, "the gratitude I feel that God has changed my life." The talk show hostess knew where he was coming from-for she, too, had walked on life’s wild side before coming ...
Production Notes The drama may be presented either as a reader's theater presentation, with all parts read, or as a dramatic presentation with parts memorized. If produced as reader's theater, be certain that all parts are read with animation, in a mood appropriate in each case to capture the character of the person and the part. If offered as a dramatic presentation, characters may want to consider costumes and some simple props and staging. At those places where action is suggested (such as Jesus washing ...
I heard about a man that went to see his doctor because he was feeling absolutely terrible. The doctor gave him a careful examination, left the room to look at some tests, came back in with a very somber expression on his face, and said: "Sir, I don't know how to break the news to you, but you have rabies and you're going to die very soon." The man very calmly got out a piece of paper and began furiously writing. The doctor said: "What are you doing, making out your will?" He said: "Oh no, I'm writing out ...
The subject I am going to talk about today was described by the following: Sometimes it flies, sometimes it crawls, but it always passes in inexorably. We mark it, save it, waste it, bide it, race against it. We measure it incessantly with a passion for precision that borders on the obsessive.1 We are obsessed with it; we never seem to have enough of it; and yet scientists don’t even know how to explain it. When St. Augustine was asked to describe it, he said: “If no one asks me, I know what it is; but if ...
It is something that all of us will spend at least an hour doing every day and I mean every day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. In fact, we will spend 5 years of our lifetime doing nothing but this. It is universally above everything else the one thing everybody hates to do. In fact, there is nothing that we do that is more frustrating, aggravating, irritating and feels like more of a waste of time than doing this. Can you guess what it is? It’s waiting. An hour every day we wait on something. We are put ...
Jairus' little daughter was the sweetest child in the whole village. Everyone said so. She was slight in build and shy in behavior. And she was kind, more kind than any of the other children. Everyone said that, too. So when she fell ill and could not even venture beyond the framing of the front door of her house everyone in the town was greatly concerned. Her parents were well-respected, for her father was one of the 10 men in town who ruled the synagogue. He had lived within the bounds of the town all ...
At the end of a week-long retreat in a mountain camp setting a somewhat different kind of worship service was taking place. It was at the end of a day that had been set aside for introspection and talking about feelings of self-worth. There had been some discussion about how to deal with feelings of guilt and the need to feel forgiven, and how it is often easier to forgive someone else than to forgive oneself. Since this was a retreat of church people there was frequent reference to the forgiving nature of ...
In December of every year, the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City awards the coveted Heisman Trophy. Voted on by over 800 media members, the Heisman is awarded to the most outstanding college football player during that season. Past recipients have included such notables as Roger Staubach, Marcus Allen, and Barry Sanders. It is a great honor, and it represents the broad and non-partisan recognition of a player's outstanding season. In the case of this particular young man, let us say that he has just ...
Big Idea: God’s overpowering strength plus his overpowering love not only saves us but provides a life of joy. Understanding the Text This psalm belongs to the broad genre of royal psalms. Like Psalm 20, Craigie calls it a royal liturgy,[1] which suggests that it was used in worship. It is as if we are standing outside the temple and hearing the voices of worship, and we have a vague idea of what is going on inside the building as we try to picture the action in our mind’s eye. The question that the form ...
I believe that God is here. I believe that God wants to meet us here and speak His word of life and give His gift of grace. I really believe in the presence and power of God! There is no more urgent task confronting the contemporary Church than the intensification of the experience of God at the heart of our life together. Not God as an interesting relic of the past… not God as object of learned discussion…not God as obligatory word uttered and then forgotten… and not God assumed but not central. No, none ...
I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18) Props: river stones (rocks) passed out among the people at the beginning of the service or beginning of the sermon OR small tools (such as small hammer, nails, concrete trowel) OR bricks Setting: Consider holding your service outdoors on the lawn today. One option may be to read the entirety of Jesus’ sermon (scriptures ...
Do you know what God's favorite day is? I can tell you unequivocally, and without hesitation, that God's favorite day is today. Now I don't mean Sunday. I would say that if today were Monday or Thursday or Saturday. You see, I trust that God did work in your life yesterday. I know He wants to work in your life tomorrow. But the only day He can work in your life is today. The only day you can better the past, or prepare for the future, is today. Listen to this statement: Our Lord knows that the most ...