I once saw a list of professions ranked according to the degree of stress that can be found in that vocation. I looked for "minister." It wasn't there. I assumed there must be a mistake, so I looked under "clergy." It wasn't there, either. I looked under "pastor," and "priest." Not there. Later somebody told me that, as a matter of fact, ministry is considered one of the least stressful vocations. Which meant that all the worrying I've done for the last thirty years was for nothing. The fact of the matter ...
Two famous movie stars died this past week: Robert Mitchum, then four days later, Jimmy Stewart. Mitchum was a big name in the movies, a superstar, and extraordinarily productive. He must have made over 200 movies. In one year, I think it was 1944, he made eighteen movies. But Jimmy Stewart was a different kind of actor. Jimmy Stewart was in the pantheon that is reserved for those we lift up to be icons, mythical figures who represent what we believe in, and who act out on the screen the way we would like ...
Two famous movie stars died this past week: Robert Mitchum, then four days later, Jimmy Stewart. Mitchum was a big name in the movies, a superstar, and extraordinarily productive. He must have made over 200 movies. In one year, I think it was 1944, he made eighteen movies. But Jimmy Stewart was a different kind of actor. Jimmy Stewart was in the pantheon that is reserved for those we lift up to be icons, mythical figures who represent what we believe in, and who act out on the screen the way we would like ...
Traditionally the lesson that is to be read on this Sunday, the first Sunday in the season of Lent, is the story of Jesus' Temptation. There is a reason. Lent begins forty days before Easter, excluding the Sundays. Forty days were chosen as the length of the season because Jesus was in the wilderness during his temptation for forty days. The number has an even more ancient significance. Israel spent forty years in the wilderness, in what is called the Exodus. The Exodus and the Temptation are tied together ...
How many of you have a computer at home? How many of you ever surfed the net? If you do, you know there is an entirely new language to learn when you get involved with computers. I thought I would give us a little quiz just to see how well we are "with it" when it comes to talking computer lingo. I'll show you the word then you tell me the definition. ASAP – As soon as possible FYI – For Your Information LOL – Laughing Out Loud KIT – Keep In Touch TTYL – Talk To You Later BCNU – Be Seeing You G2G – Got To ...
We are concluding a series that we've entitled, "Picture Perfect". It is a series on the family. We have said for the last several weeks, "God desires for the family to show His love for His glory." We have seen how God has given each family member a specific role to play and a specific responsibility to fulfill. Husbands - Love As they relate to their wives, husbands are to always ask this question, "What is the loving thing to do?" Wives - Submit The question wives are to ask as they relate to their ...
The man who wrote "The Heart of Worship" is Matt Redmon, a worship leader in England. His pastor was trying to teach his church the real meaning of worship, and to show that worship is more than music. He did not allow any singing in their services for a period of time, while they learned to worship the Lord in other ways. During that time God moved on his heart to write this classic song. Listen one more time to these words: I'm coming back to the heart of worship, And it's all about you, It's all about ...
The Constitution of the United States had just been signed and America was officially a nation. Benjamin Franklin walked out of the meeting room where many people were anxiously awaiting the news. One lady by the name of Mrs. Powel walked up to Benjamin Franklin and said, "So Mr. Franklin what type of government have your delegates given us?" Benjamin Franklin gave this famous reply - "A republic madam, if you can keep it." What Ben Franklin meant by that was, the Constitution had laid the foundation for ...
A man lived in an old stone cottage that was badly in need of repair. He made do, day-by-day, and got on with his life, struggling to wrench a living from the meager land. Eventually the rain that leaked in on him got too heavy and the wind around his ears was too cold. He had to do something about the gap in his wall. Up on the hillside there was an ancient Celtic cross. It had stood there since time immemorial. It was silent and uncomplaining in the Atlantic gales that swept over it, but its very silence ...
Most every couple that gets married discovers there is good news and there is bad news about getting married. The good news is after the wedding there is the honeymoon. The bad news is after the honeymoon there is the marriage. If your marriage is anything like mine, then you cannot only remember the first fight you ever had with your spouse, but you probably remember it happened a lot quicker than you thought it would. It was like cold water being thrown in your face, because you realize that hardly ...
This paragraph serves as something of a transition in the argument. On the one hand, it flows naturally out of 4:11–16, with a set of two more imperatives to Timothy (in the second person singular), and the content continues to reflect concern over Timothy’s relationship to the church community, now in very specific ways related to his own youthfulness. This content, on the other hand, also serves as a kind of introduction to what follows: a long section on widows, old and young (vv. 3–16), a section on ...
Big Idea: God empowers his people by his Spirit for the common good of his community, not as a personal favor to the individual. When individuals use their God-granted power for personal gain, they act like pagans attempting to manipulate their idol god. Understanding the Text Moving to the next question posed by the Corinthians (see 7:1, 25; 8:1), Paul continues his discussion on worship and ecclesiology. Distinguishing the Christian assembly from the pagan proves exceedingly significant not only for the ...
Daniel’s Prayer and the Seventy Weeks: Chapter 9 is unique for three reasons. First, it starts with Daniel reading a prophetic text rather than receiving a vision as in the surrounding chapters (chs. 7, 8, and 10). Second, the particular name of Israel’s God, Yahweh, is only found in this chapter (vv. 2, 4, 8, 10, 13, 14, 20). Third, most of the chapter is taken up with a prayer. Elsewhere, the author makes clear that Daniel believed in talking to God (2:18; 6:10), but only here does he record the lengthy ...
Since this is Mother’s Day we want to honor all our Moms. We are more grateful to you than you can imagine. Our message for today is on the “Secret to Happiness.” I believe that I could say without fear of contradiction that one of the secrets to happiness is to have a good Mom. That’s not always possible, but for those of us who have been so fortunate, we can say that it is one of the great blessings of life. And so today we salute those women who have loved us and poured their lives into ours. In 1816, a ...
Characters (in order of appearance) First Child (Lead Angel) Second Child (Lead Shepherd) Third Child (Mary) Fourth Child (Second Angel) Fifth Child (Third Angel) Joseph Director (Mrs. Cassidy) “Real” Joseph (RJ) Mother (offstage voice) Costumer Stage Manager Narrator Second Shepherd Third Shepherd Angel Choir Props Scripts Robe Angel costume parts Sewing accessories Notes This is another play that would work well with multigenerational casting. The Director, the “Real” Joseph, the Stage Manager, and the ...
Every once in awhile I am surprised by a film which offers a message that I never expected. When I checked out Brubaker, an old Robert Redford film from the late '70s, from my local video store I expected some romantic adventure from one of Hollywood's biggest stars. That's not at all what I got. Instead I saw a wonderful and thought-provoking portrayal of human nature. Brubaker turned out to be a spellbinding film about the futile attempt of an enlightened prison warden to reform a hopelessly corrupt ...
For all of his charisma as a leader, his skills as a diplomat, his savvy as a politician, Moses was not the sort for whom making speeches ever came easily. Rhetoric simply wasn't included on his resume, public speaking never being one of his fortes. And of course, back at Sinai before this improbable pilgrimage began, he had admitted as much to Yahweh: "O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue" ( ...
Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:31-35
Sermon
Roger G. Talbott
Once upon a time, a strange old man came to a small village. He carried a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. This sight was odd enough to cause the people of the village to notice what the old man did next. The old man took the bowl to the plowed field next to the village and he put some dirt into the bowl until it was about half full. Then he went to the village pump and filled it with water to about an inch below the brim. Then the old man sat down on a rock next to the pump and began to stir the water into ...
... we are addressing a generation accustomed to acting primarily on visual stimuli ... In our modern age the preacher must therefore translate the biblical message into one that awakens all the senses, into words that cause a congregation also to see and feel and smell and taste. Otherwise the people listening may never hear the words in which the gospel is framed.15 -- Elizabeth Achtemeier The printed word communicates by a line of thought. Television communicates by images. Clearly we must use language ...
I understand the stories the pastor told and thought they were interesting, but I couldn't see how the sermon fit together. -- A 15-year-old's comment during the writing of this book Many sermons with good material fall flat simply because the audience doesn't follow the flow of the message. With today's audience listening superficially with a short attention span, there are some basic principles one can use so that the sermon will be (a) heard, (b) understood and (c) remembered. Our View And Their View ...
Of all the wonderful gifts that God has given us, one of the greatest is friendship. It certainly makes my own personal “Top Ten” list. When we’re going through some emotional or physical trial of life, friends can help to reassure us that God is there with us, and we don’t have to face any obstacle life throws in our path alone. I remember my two best friends from my high school days - Larry and Freddy. We were “The Three Musketeers” in those days. Wherever you saw one of us, the other two were not far ...
Some years ago a book was written by a noted American historian entitled “When The Cheering Stopped.” It was the story of President Woodrow Wilson and the events leading up to and following WWI. When that war was over Wilson was an international hero, There was a great spirit of optimism abroad, and people actually believed that the last war had been fought and the world had been made safe for democracy. On his first visit to Paris after the war Wilson was greeted by cheering mobs. He was actually more ...
COMMENTARY Zechariah 7:1-10 Not fasting but justice and compassion Yahweh desires. Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai. He supported Haggai in his call for re-building the temple. Zechariah preached in Judah to the returned exiles between 520 and 518 B.C. He probably saw the temple completed in 516. While Haggai was primarily concerned with the re-building of the temple, Zechariah called for repentance and social righteousness. In today's passage the question is raised whether weeping and fasting should ...
If you should ask the question: "What is wrong with our world today?" you would probably get as many answers as there are persons who are interrogated. Indeed, it is often like the lady foreman of the all-woman jury who was asked by the judge whether the jury had reached a verdict. "Yes, your Honor," she replied, "we have reached twelve verdicts." I suppose I’m considered a male chauvinist pig for using that story, but it could apply in either men or women. Yet the writer, Glen Drake, has placed his finger ...
We live in an age of gaps. There is the generation gap (best known, probably, because of the alliteration of the title, and for the fact that we have all felt ourselves a part of it at one time or another), and the marriage gap, the racial gap, the economic gap, and a host of others. In a world desperately needing unity lest it blow itself to smithereens, we live separated by chasms and gulfs. It would seem that God - if He is really a part of our world in the present age - speaks to our separations. Hence ...