Ahab’s War against Aram: Elijah has recruited Elisha, and we expect to read now, perhaps, of his anointing of Hazael as king over Aram and of Jehu as king over Israel (19:15–18). Instead, we find a story in which a different prophet takes up the running (Elijah does not appear at all) and in which a different king of Aram (Ben-Hadad) loses a war with Ahab. The message of chapter 19 is thus underlined. Elijah is not the only servant of God left, in spite of what he has claimed (19:10, 14), and the quiet ...
Ahab’s War against Aram: Elijah has recruited Elisha, and we expect to read now, perhaps, of his anointing of Hazael as king over Aram and of Jehu as king over Israel (19:15–18). Instead, we find a story in which a different prophet takes up the running (Elijah does not appear at all) and in which a different king of Aram (Ben-Hadad) loses a war with Ahab. The message of chapter 19 is thus underlined. Elijah is not the only servant of God left, in spite of what he has claimed (19:10, 14), and the quiet ...
“You are worth your weight in gold!” We use this phrase to indicate someone who is extremely useful, helpful, or valuable to someone else. It can refer either to a person or to a thing, but we most often use it to refer to a person. The idea behind the phrase is gratitude –that “we” could not manage without that person, because he or shehas become so valuable to us and to our process or goal in what he or she is able to accomplish on our behalf. While we might say this about an old refrigerator that has ...
Theme: Which is more important, religious duty or religious zeal, the doer or the worshiper? Summary: A talk show with Martha and Mary going at it about which is right, religious duty or religious zeal. This sketch leads right into the Sermon. Playing Time: 3 minutes Setting: A TV studio Props: Microphone Costumes: Dress appropriate for church Time:The present Cast: Phil Dennehy -- host Mary Martha -- her sister Lazarus -- their brother Dr. Fitznour -- an expert (THERE IS A PANEL OF FOUR PEOPLE SEATED ON ...
Exodus 33:12-23; Matthew 22:15-22 Without wanting to be either flippant or blasphemous, I don't think it out of line to say that there is something a little odd about the story where Moses gets to see the back side of God. This is Moses, the one who went up the mountain and brought down the tablets of the law; the one at whose uplifted rod the waters of the Red Sea parted and then came back together; Moses, the person who filled more roles than any other in the Torah -- prophet, priest, military leader, ...
Mt 10:16-39 · Rom 5:12 – 6:11 · Jer 20:7-13 · Gen 21:8-21 · Ps 86
Sermon Aid
Russell F. Anderson
COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Genesis 21:8-21 Sarah jealously guards the rights of her natural son, Isaac, by ordering Abraham to throw out her slave girl, Hagar, with her son. God speaks to Abraham in his distress about the plight of Hagar and her son, telling him to do as Sarah wished because his descendants would be counted through Isaac. Furthermore, God would also make a great nation through Ishmael. Lesson 1: Jeremiah 20:7-13 Jeremiah was born about 650 B.C. and began his ministry in the 13th year of King ...
The setting for the movie Dead Poet’s Society is a proper New England prep school steeped in tradition and discipline. Into this rather stiff environment comes a new English instructor played by Robin Williams. He has an unorthodox method of teaching. He stands on his desk at times to make a point. He electrifies his students. He has them reading poetry as they practice soccer so that they will see the connection between the two. He prods them to think for themselves, to get in touch with their feelings, ...
"So do not be afraid: you are worth much more than sparrows!" (St. Matthew 10:31 TEV) The other day I was visiting a man about forty-five years old in the hospital. He was not a member of our parish, but I was informed that he had a spiritual problem and that he might appreciate visiting with a minister. He did have a spiritual problem, one that we all can have at times. You see, the man had been in an automobile accident a few days ago. He was "out with the boys" one night - actually something he rarely ...
"The first breath of freedom stirs the air." So exclaimed President Reagan in his address to the students and faculty of Moscow State University, as he commented on his talks with Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the Moscow Summit of June, 1988. Mr. Reagan went to Moscow as an agent of peace and a champion of human rights. The people of the U.S.S.R., who are enslaved under the Communist regime, must have the opportunity to chart their own courses in life, and Mr. Reagan envisioned himself as their ...
Christian unity elevates authentic and powerful salvation. The fiery and abrasive Amos said many things his listeners did not want to hear! He was about as rugged as any individualist could be. Continually at odds with the power structures of his day, the prophet spoke directly, with no regard for those who tried to compromise his message. Our Lord’s plea for his church to be One is not a way of reducing denominations and Christians to forms that are listless. Ecumenism, by its very nature, seeks integrity ...
"You will not steal" Exodus 20:15 A long time ago, when the broadcasting of baseball games was just beginning, a sports announcer was describing one of the contests over a local station. In the late innings a Detroit Tiger runner got on base, representing the game’s tying run. With two outs, and no order from the bench to do such a thing, the runner took off for second base, only to be thrown out, ending his team’s chances for victory. To defend the player and soothe the hometown fans, the announcer tried ...
A little boy was once asked by his Sunday school teacher if he knew the Ten Commandments. "No ma'am," came the reply, "my dad said that I don't have to know them since they are doing away with them anyway." It is one thing to be ignorant of the Ten Commandments; it quite another to mock them with impunity. Millions dismiss them as mere platitudes fit for nothing more than a dusty old bookshelf. They disdain them because they are "religious." There are still others who want to do away with the Ten ...
Solomon. The third king of Israel. The son of David and Bathsheba. Solomon is remembered for a number of things: his building program which included Jerusalem's original magnificent Temple, his immense wealth generated through trade and administrative reorganization, his 700 wives and 300 concubines (or PORcupines, as some Sunday School students will tell you), and his legendary wisdom, the result of the prayer we read in our lesson. If there is any single story commonly remembered of King Solomon it is ...
Sexy stuff, huh? In our pew Bibles, the heading on the page we just read says "Song of Songs" but, as you know, in many Bibles the heading says "Song of Solomon." So saying, it is not generally thought that King Solomon was the author - granted he was a lusty fellow with 700 wives and 300 concubines, but that in itself, in my view, would mitigate against his authorship (when would he have had time?). More likely, Solomon's name became attached to the book in some sort of dedication. The original-language ...
According to Victor Borge, the composer Bizet was the original hard-luck man. He stayed up nights to finish an opera by the deadline, only to find out afterwards that the production had been postponed for a year. He wrote a symphony and misplaced the manuscript before anybody could play it. He entered a composing contest with only one other entrant, and ended up with second prize. Once he went to visit his girl friend and tapped on her window at the precise moment her mother was emptying a chamberpot from ...
A few months ago Pat Robertson got extremely upset when a reporter referred to him as a "former TV evangelist." In Robertson's camp this was considered slander. A cynic said recently in QUOTE magazine, "Parents used to worry if they caught their children playing doctor. Now they worry if they're playing evangelist." It has been 60 years since Sinclair Lewis wrote his fiery indictment of the traveling evangelist. His spiritual predecessor of Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart was named Elmer Gantry. In this ...
It is difficult to pick any text from the Scriptures that fits everybody. Consider today's lesson from the Epistle. It deals with the problem of idleness. "If anyone will not work, let him not eat," Paul roars. That's great. To tell the truth, though, I don't know many idle people in this congregation. I know such people do exist. I read a story this week about a fellow who was employed by a duke and duchess in Europe. "James," said the duchess to this employee, "how long have you been with us?" "About ...
In a Roman Catholic parochial school, Sister Marie was teaching the Biblical story of the Ascension of Jesus to a class of elementary children. Fascinated by the story, one boy in the class asked Sister Marie, “How fast was Jesus traveling when He ascended into the heavens?” Startled at first, Sister Marie caught her breath and replied, “Well, let’s see. We know that He was not traveling faster than the speed of sound, because the Bible says that He spoke words of blessing to the disciples as he parted ...
The enigma of human relationships and how that relates to the living God is all about us. It always has been and likely will be. This is precisely what Saint Paul lifts up before us. We would like for all of this to be greatly simplified but it never is and so we continue to seek to live the Christian life as best we know how. The history of the church is saturated with just what the apostle puts before us. In a way we are caught between two worlds and we have no choice. We live as well we can and hope for ...
Several years have now passed since the television series Survivor first debuted to become a summer ratings sensation. The concept was simple: place a group of individuals with diverse backgrounds, skills, and personalities into close proximity with a common purpose, namely survival on a deserted island, and let the audience watch as their relationships develop, or fall apart. This, of course, is not to be confused with a much earlier comedy series based on the "seven stranded castaways" of Gilligan's ...
Paul's admonitions, advice and arguments before the Corinthian church serve not only to reveal what was wrong in that community, but also to celebrate what was right. By straightforwardly dealing with the contentious claims and competing camps, Paul can give us the impression that he was frantically involved in just keeping this church from self-destructing. We forget what the Corinthians were doing right especially as detailed by today's epistle lesson. This community was experiencing vital manifestations ...
In our spiritual voyages, surprises — sometimes outlandishly — come to us. We scratch our heads and wonder if what we are experiencing is fact or fiction. It may or may not be a time of inspiration. However, it may be one of instruction, as we view it in retrospect. You and I are to remember that every occurrence may very well be a teaching event. Mary's act near the time of Jesus' crucifixion is a scene mostly outside of our expectations and predictions. It catches us off guard and the same may have been ...
Do you remember the movie 1988 movie, Twins? It was comedy that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito as, of all things, twin brothers. Even if you know nothing about the plot of the movie, the mental picture of those two actors standing side-by-side as twins is itself pretty funny. The setup for the move is that the brothers are the result of an experiment to grow a perfect man, who is the Schwarzenegger character, named Julius. But in the course of manipulating his genes when he's in the ...
Are you ready to vote? These days it seems as if that were a perpetual question. One campaign is hardly over before the next one begins. The political commercials on television are endless: the charges and the countercharges, one side "pointing with pride," the other "viewing with alarm." Someone once said, "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it wrongly, and applying unsuitable remedies." Sounds like a perfect description of what we get with all these thirty- ...
Chapter 8 of Paul's letter to the Romans is one of the greatest chapters in all of scripture. It has many verses that we know by heart. For instance, verse 18: "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us." Or the verse that follows it: "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God." And then there are the powerful closing words of the chapter that are often read at funerals: "For I am convinced ...