The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. "And the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me ...
Rev. James W . Moore tells a story about his six-year-old granddaughter Sarah who was visiting some friends of the family. He says: These friends are a wonderful couple who have been happily married for over 40 years. They have just moved into their dream retirement home. They love each other very much, but on this particular day when Sarah was there for her visit with our friends, they were still in the process of moving and arranging furniture. They were trying to move a large chair through a narrow ...
Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4
Drama
Joe Barone
Narrator: We don't often talk about money in the church, but the scripture talks about it all the time. Now don't panic! This is not going to be a sermon about money. It's going to be about just what the sermon topic says -- "What's A Savior Worth?" If you listened to the scripture, you heard two different stories, one story of a young woman who poured a flask of expensive oil on Jesus' head, and another story about Judas who sought out the authorities and negotiated with them to betray Jesus for 30 pieces ...
COMMENTARY Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 The church decided not to require circumcision to be a Christian. Here is the first possible division in the church. The issue was whether it was necessary for a Gentile to become a Jew before becoming a Christian. The problem is given in verses 1-2 and the solution is in verses 22-29. The basic issue was, is a person saved by keeping the Law (circumcision) or by grace? A conference was called at Jerusalem where Peter and James took the position that it was not necessary to be ...
Lk 16:19-31 · 1 Tim 6:6-19 · Joel 2:23-30 · Am 6:1-7
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
COMMENTARY Joel 2:23-30 After the plague of locusts Yahweh will bless the land with plenty and his spirit. Today's Lesson 1 is taken from the latest of the prophetic hooks written in the post-exilic period around 400-350 B.C. Judah experienced a plague of locusts accompanied by drought and famine. Joel calls upon the people to gather in Jerusalem to repent and pray for relief. Because the people obeyed, Joel assures them that Yahweh will give them plenty to make up for the years of drought. Never again ...
Israel was always getting into trouble with God, especially when it came to their worship of him. One would think the nation would have learned its lesson for all time when it made and worshiped the golden calf during its trek from Egypt to the Promised Land. Not so, for over and over again, they allowed their religious rites to become corrupt, especially by developing all sorts of ceremonies meant to please God while, outside the Temple, they lived rather secularly oriented lives. Apparently, their ...
In our fast-paced and advertisement-oriented world, it is easy to get trapped. In fact, there are people who specialize in trapping the public. The invitation comes in the mail. You are invited to visit a new condominium complex at some beach or lake or mountain setting. They'll give you gas money to drive there. They'll give you free lodging and free meals. Why, you even have guaranteed prizes waiting on you, perhaps a new Oldsmobile Cutlass or a color television. Of course, you could also wind up with a ...
Now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven." And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. (Luke 24:50-51) The ...
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as he sat at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and ...
It’s a long way from the bottom to the top. But that is the call of the Christian life. "That like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4b). The title of this chapter belongs to Thornton Wilder. In his book, the scene opens on New Year’s Eve, 1899, just before the new century is born. A group of men are sitting around the stove in a country store. Dr. Gillis, the community seer, is facing the question, "What will the new ...
Narrator: (Welcome) Since the Fourth Century, Christians have remembered the Passion of our Lord with a service of Tenebrae, or shadows. Tonight we are going to add to that format an even older tradition: the Passover Festival. The word "Festival" comes from a root word meaning "memory." The Passover Festival was a time to remember God’s deliverance of his people from bondage, declaring that even though evil may prosper for a season, God’s way shall ultimately prevail. During our service this evening, as ...
We were just completing our evening meal when the phone rang. The kids started laughing because the joke around our house is that we cannot sit down to eat without the phone ringing just once. Sometimes it is someone trying to sell us siding for the house ... or it’s a phone call for one of the kids ... or a phone call from someone just to chat. On this night, the call was to let me know that Bob had taken a turn for the worse. A family member was calling and asking if I could come to the hospital. I ...
Suppose reliable word came that within hours this area of the country would be attacked by enemy missiles. Orders from the military broadcast over the emergency stations tell us to evacuate our town and literally run for our lives. Perhaps we would quickly plan some strategy of escape, maybe with some close friends and relatives. Or we might hold a hurried congregational meeting and decide to leave in some sort of protective caravan. No matter what our specific response, all of a sudden we would experience ...
"You will go to prison for six months," said the Judge. So John Bunyan went to prison for nothing worse than preaching in the little Bedford Baptist Church. "Baptist" preaching was against the law. But Bunyan persisted in breaking the law. He told Justice Keeling, "If I was out of prison today, I would preach again tomorrow, by the help of God." So it was back to prison. This time for twelve years. And again for six months. John Bunyan, who gave us the great classic, Pilgrim’s Progress, spent one fifth of ...
The birth of John the Baptist puts a different spin on the birth of Jesus. We get to see the birth and life of Jesus through the eyes of relatives who were going through the same odd happenings that had surrounded Mary and Joseph. Zechariah and Elizabeth are the proud parent's of John, who would later be called The Baptist, new parents who are allowed to see into the future and understand that there was hope, a great hope coming to the world. Zechariah’s song reminds us that the backdrop of all this hope ...
Do you like to be told what to do? Some do. Some don't. But there are times when even the "don't's" want all the help they can get. After all, there are times when we would have no idea how to proceed WITHOUT some instruction. I suspect that would have been the case if we had been in the garden with the women on that first Easter morning so long ago. Had we all been there, we would have been glad to get any direction at all, because without it, we would have been wandering around like chickens with our ...
"Give us this day our daily bread." Is that really a concern of yours? Are you truly worried about whether or not there will be food for you to eat today...or tomorrow or the next day? Probably not. We who live in America know very well that there is MORE than sufficient food for all OUR citizens - TOO much for many of us. Granted, we have a problem in getting the food properly distributed (as in Bosnia), but the food IS there. That would make it sound as though our prayer for daily bread is irrelevant. ...
Do you like to be told what to do? Some do. Some don't. But there are times when even the "don't's" want all the help they can get. After all, there are times when we would have no idea how to proceed WITHOUT some instruction. I suspect that would have been the case if we had been in the garden with the women on that first Easter morning so long ago. Had we all been there, we would have been glad to get any direction at all, because without it, we would have been wandering around like chickens with our ...
Why did you come here today? Have you given it any thought? Why did you come here today, to church? There are all the usual reasons, I suppose: It’s our habit! It’s what we do on Sunday mornings! That’s probably as good a reason as any! Thank God for good habits! But maybe it’s more than that for you. Maybe you’ve had a rough week, a strange week, a tiring week. Maybe things aren’t working out in your marriage. Maybe the first days of University are more than you’d bargained for. Maybe life on the job isn’ ...
Cathy and her boyfriend, Irving, who is a golfing fanatic, are on vacation. They are on the golf course. Cathy: Here's your ball, Irving! It was over in the weeds! Irving: AACK! You moved the ball! You're not allowed to move the ball, Cathy! Cathy: Who cares? We're the only ones out here! Irving: It's against the rules! You can't break the rules!! Cathy: You hate rules! Irving: But this is a SPORT! It's no fun without rules! It's pointless unless everyone plays by the exact same rules! As Irving walks away ...
Dr. Bryant Kirkland, former pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, tells of traveling to preach on the West Coast one winter: "I needed the time on that three hour flight to study and prepare," he said, "so I buckled down and let everyone near me feel the tension ” don't bother me, I'm a busy man with places to go and work to do. A young woman and a baby slipped into the seat next to mine. I thought, This will be difficult,' so I kept a straight face and looked very Presbyterian. ...
Mussa Zoabi of Israel claims to be the oldest person alive. He says he's 160 years old. Unfortunately, Guinness Book of World Records isn't going to print his name simply because his age can't be verified. Mr. Zoabi is older than most recordskeeping systems will go. But here's the interesting thing! However old he really is, Mussa Zoabi knows exactly how he managed to live so long. He'll tell the secret to anybody who wants to know. He says: Every day I drink a cup of melted butter or olive oil! Doesn't ...
For the past two weeks, we have been looking at the life of Jacob, a man whose name means "one who strives." He was called that because he came out of the womb with his hand grasping his brother Esau's ankle. It was thought that he was seeking to be the first born--because the first-born received a greater portion of the inheritance. We've already seen how Jacob stole his father's blessing, which had been intended for his brother, Esau, and is forced to flee to Haran--the home of his uncle Laban. On the ...
The Texas millionaire stipulated in his will that he be buried in his favorite possession: his $90,000 Rolls-Royce. When the time came, two laborers were shoveling the last bit of dirt onto the now-buried luxury car. One finally turned to the other and said, “Boy! That’s living!” Not really. Not according to Jesus. Death comes to everyone, from the richest to the poorest, and the finest car in the world won’t make a difference on the other side of eternity. “For what shall it profit a man, to gain the ...
An interesting article appeared awhile back in the Clinton SC Chronicle titled “When The Editor Left Town.” It said: “Mr. Jim Galeway and Miss Georgianne Bentlow were married Monday at the home of the bride’s parents. Mr. and Mrs. Alex Bentlow, the Rev. A.A. Deckett officiating. The groom is a popular young bum who hasn’t done a lick of work since he got expelled his junior year in college. He manages to dress well and keeps a supply of spending money because his dad is a soft-hearted old fool who takes up ...