G.K. Chesterton one time said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. Rather it has been found difficult and not tried." It would seem strange that after almost two thousand years of history there should still be confusion about the real nature of the Christian religion, and yet there can be no question but that it is widely misunderstood and hence misinterpreted. Some men reduce Christianity to something easy, while others make it impossible. With our contemporary situation bringing ...
"Life is truly a ride," says comedian Jerry Seinfeld. "We're all strapped in, and no one can stop it. As you make each passage from youth to adulthood to maturity, sometimes you put your arms up and scream, sometimes you just hang on to that bar in front of you. But the ride is the thing. I think the most you can hope for at the end of life is that your hair's messed, you're out of breath, and you didn't throw up." With equal wit, Cynthia Kraman asks, "What If the Hokey Pokey IS REALLY what it's all about ...
THE LESSONS Lesson 1: Genesis 14:18-20 An Old Testament prefigurement of the Eucharist. Melchizedek, King of Salem, brings out bread and wine to Abraham when the two meet before the sovereign's gates. Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Paul's report of the Eucharistic tradition. Writing to the Corinthian Christians, Paul reminds them of the teaching concerning Holy Communion which he first received from the eyewitnesses of the Lord and participants in the institution of this Holy Meal in the Upper Room. ...
COMMENTARY Genesis 14:18-20 An Old Testament prefigurement of the Eucharist. Melchizedek, King of Salem, brings out bread and wine to Abraham when the two meet before the sovereign's gates. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Paul's report of the Eucharistic tradition. Writing to the Corinthian Christians, Paul reminds them of the teaching concerning Holy Communion which he first received from the eyewitnesses of the Lord and participants in the institution of this Holy Meal in the Upper Room. Luke 9:11-17 Feeding the ...
Judas: So this is it. (The three look around the room. Judas continues in a sarcastic voice.) Yes, first class all the way. Matthew: Yes, it is a bit musty in here. It kind of reminds me of an old storeroom or attic. It will take quite a bit of cleaning to get this place in shape. Judas: (He throws his money bag on the table and a cloud of dust goes into the air.) That’s an understatement! I thought Peter and John were supposed to get everything ready. Where are they? Andrew: Peter told me that he, James, ...
Old Testament Text: Isaiah 50:4-9aNew Testament Text: John 12:9-19 Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me." (Isaiah 50:8) I am so glad Jesus lived long enough in the flesh to see Palm Sunday. He deserved it; you might even say He needed it. Everyone needs a day like the day Jesus had in Jerusalem.After spending our lives in thankless toil and turmoil, we all need at least one day of recognition and praise. It might come to you as a mother or father ...
What is the dominant image you have in your mind of Jesus? In reality, these are the only true pictures we have. All of the others are simply portraits or caricatures, which the artist has painted from the image the artist has in mind of the same Jesus. Very often the artist also reflects something of the art style of the period in which the picture was drawn. So your picture, at least in terms of your own faith and development, is as important to you as any other picture you might see. How then do you see ...
These were not the best of times for Israel. Bleakness, despair, and frustration ruled the day. Israel's King Uzziah died. He started his career as king well. He was a sixteen-year-old boy who succeeded beyond expectation. He was powerful, famous, and rich. His religious reforms were vital to Israel's spiritual life. Once he was king, Uzziah entered the temple to burn incense on the golden altar, which only the priests were allowed to do and was immediately stricken with leprosy as he lingered there. The ...
Jesus would turn over in his grave, if he were in his grave -- which, of course, he is not. However, I want to suggest to you this morning that the ultimate formula for worldly success is found in a portion of his words in Mark 8:34, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." In a secular sense that text alone would guarantee any person's success in the wonderful world of business or art or education or sports or whatever career you may choose. After all, ...
Temptation. Oscar Wilde is quoted a saying, "I can resist everything -- except temptation!" Humorist Robert Orben has observed, "Most people want to be delivered from temptation but would like to keep in touch." Another wag has asked, "Why is it that opportunity knocks only once, yet temptation bangs on the door constantly?"(1) Once there was a small boy who wanted a pair of skates. His parents, hoping to teach him the value of money, informed him that he would have to save the required amount from his ...
Does the nuthatch know what it is doing? Probably not. The nuthatch's tiny brain is not much larger than an average-size kidney bean, but the perky bird has a strong hunger awareness which propels it from one place to another seeking insect food. It finds bark beetles and pulls them from their lairs and eats the eggs of gypsy moths. We might not think that a few nuthatches could control the insect population of the forest, but what this bird and others like it do is a positive good in preserving the ...
Object: A stained glass butterfly. Other possibilities include a picture of a butterfly and/or a caterpillar or an actual chrysalis or live caterpillar in a jar (preferably with a twig or two and some leaves or blades of grass). Lesson: Self-esteem; encouragement of others; faith; hope. "Without a doubt, Julia was a caterpillar! She lived in a bright meadow at the edge of a dark forest. A clear stream meandered through the middle of the meadow. Sometimes Julia would crawl to the stream's edge and peer into ...
Big Idea: Yahweh poses questions about the physical world to demonstrate that Job’s knowledge is too limited to explain how God works in his world. Understanding the Text Throughout the speeches in chapters 3–37, the various human speakers claim to know what Yahweh thinks about Job’s situation, but in chapter 38 Yahweh finally breaks his silence and speaks for himself. Yahweh addresses Job in 38:1–40:2, focusing on his design for the world (38:2), and then Job replies briefly in 40:3–5. Yahweh resumes ...
I am told there are at least eight million cats and eleven million dogs in the Big Apple. Since New York is mainly concrete and steel, when you have a pet that dies, you can't just go out in the back yard and bury it. In response, city officials decided that for fifty dollars they would dispose of your pet for you. Now in that grand city was a certain enterprising lady. She thought to herself, “I can render a service.” So she placed an ad in the paper: "When your pet dies, I will take care of the carcass ...
Big Idea: The pretentious religiousness of scribes and wealthy worshipers and of the magnificent temple buildings contrasts with the simple devotion of a poor widow. Understanding the Text In place of the question-and-answer scenario of the first part of Jesus’s public ministry in the temple (20:1–40), we now have a series of pronouncements by Jesus that bring that phase of the Jerusalem story to an end. They begin with a response to the leaders’ hostile questioning, in which Jesus raises the question of ...
Psalms 100 [1] Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. [2] Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. [3] Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. [4] Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. [5] For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. 1 Tim. 2:1-7 [1] First of all, then, I urge that ...
It is because we are a people of such high intelligence, and perhaps the threat of product liability litigation, that the following warning labels were recently found on consumer products? On a Duraflame fireplace log: "Caution - Risk of Fire." On a children’s Batman costume: "Warning: Cape does not enable user to fly. On a bottle of hair coloring: "Do not use as an ice cream topping." On a cardboard sun shield for a car: "Do not drive with sun shield in place." And, for the first time parent, this label ...
"I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; You will have no other gods before me. You will not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you will not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but ...
The wonderful writer Max Lucado tells about a time his wife Denalyn called as he was driving home. “Can you stop at the grocery store,” she asked, “and pick up some bread?” “Of course,” he said. “Do I need to tell you where to find it?” she asked. “Are you kidding?” Max asked. “I was born with a bread-aisle tracking system.” Like a knowing wife, Denalyn said, “Just stay focused, Max.” “She was nervous,” says Lucado. “Rightly so. I am the Exxon Valdez of grocery shopping. My mom once sent me to buy butter ...
[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: Last Words New Title: Before It's Too Late, Turn Around A lawyer was trying to console a weeping widow. Her husband had passed away without a will. "Did the deceased have any last words ...
Over many decades, the little magazine Reader’s Digest has been a reliable source of humor drawn from everyday life. In one issue several years ago a nurse wrote in to tell about what was then a new piece of equipment. The nurse worked in a gynecologist’s office and they were beginning to use a battery-operated device called a mini-dop on expectant mothers to listen to the heartbeat of their babies. The problem with these early devices was that sometimes they picked up interference from the radio or ...
“If you call the Sabbath a delight then you will find your joy in the Lord.” --Isaiah 58:13-14 “Happy is he who is aware of the mysteries of his Lord.” --Abraham Joshua Heschel Visuals: Have Hubbel Space Images scrolling on screen during your sermon / Psalm 92 may be spoken with a musical background or sung You may also opt during or after your sermon to have people sing the psalm (you can find tunes with words on youtube) https://youtu.be/1I_X2bxfAq8 (This version by James Block is particular beautiful.) ...
Anyone who has browsed through a gift shop sooner or later has come to a polite but insistent sign, "Please Do Not Touch." It was refreshing, therefore, to come recently upon a sign of different tone. In the gift shop at O’Hare Airport the word above some African wood carvings said, "Please touch. You can’t appreciate these until you do." There are many evidences that this in fact was the mood in which the New Testament writings first came into being. Those writers were sure they had come upon something ...
Big Idea: Honoring God as king, and being ready for the return of the Lord, must take priority over the ordinary concerns of life. Understanding the Text Several themes from our last section are developed here: God’s fatherly care, the absolute priority of serving God over all other concerns, and especially the tension between material concern and true discipleship—12:22–31 is a sort of commentary on 12:15 and the parable that illustrates it. This last theme of “God and mammon” will be picked up again ...
A colleague once told how "a certain woman phoned her personal banker to arrange for the disposal of a $1,000 bond. The voice on the phone asked for clarification, Is the bond for conversion or redemption?'' The confused woman paused and then inquired, Am I talking to the bank or the church?''" (1) Today, I come speaking on behalf of the church of Jesus Christ. This is my training. A six-year-old boy, home from his first day at church, was asked what he thought of the service. "It was OK," he replied, "but ...